Little Snow Runner

Hello again fudgey friends,

well this was the scene I woke up to today....


but it wasn't going to stop me running. Dedicated or mad....you decide!

I wrapped up in my base layer trousers & then my long running trousers, long sleeved top, running jacket, high viz, hat & gloves and off I went. I had only got about 300m when I realised it was far worse than I thought & I wouldn't be going very fast or very far. The snow at this point was maybe about 4 inches deep, but it was starting to snow again & was really heavy.Mr Fudgey took this from our window whilst I was out....


By 600m I had to take off my glasses & put them in my pocket. The roads weren't even clear & the snow was so deep I couldn't see where the kerb was. I managed to make it to my friend's place (about 2km) where I stopped for a cup of tea before heading back home.
Mr Fudgey snapped me running up our street.

and then in our utility room


I loved running in the snow even though it was pretty hard going - it was tough on the ankles. I got some rather strange looks from people who clearly thought I was a bit crazy, but one man said 'Good on you'
Today I never saw another runner at all!

But do you know what I'd go out & do it all over again given half the chance...I loved running in the snow.

Hope you are all safe & warm where ever you are.

Take Care
love
Fudgey xxxxx

A whirlwind week

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all?
It's been a busy busy week for me again & I can only see this continuing till into the New Year. Unfortunately due to lack of spare time I’ve not blogged as much as I would have liked so you’ll need to saddle up for a special Sunday catch up – I promise I’ll try not to ramble on.

A Birthday & A restaurant review
Wednesday was Mum Smith’s birthday & we were all going out for a meal to a place in Linlithgow called Livingston’s. Mum Smith had been before and had told us it was wonderful and she wasn’t wrong. Everything about it was just fantastic. The service & the food were both first class. It was a really classy place but not at all pretentious. I ordered the spinach & ricotta gnocchi, the roast breast of duck with Savoy cabbage, polenta cakes & beetroot sauce & the nutty lemon parfait with marscapone sorbet. All presented beautifully & absolutely delicious. We had a gorgeous bottle of Malbec & finished off with coffee & home made tablet. It wasn’t the cheapest place but it was a case of truly getting what you paid for – well what Dad Smith paid for. Thanks Bertie x
I'd love to go back in daylight so I can appreciate the surroundings too.
If you are looking for somewhere for a little Christmas treat - do check out their website - the festive menus look lush.

Late Night working

Mr Fudgey had taken Wed, Thurs & Fri off so he could spend some time with his brother, but I only had some time off on Friday & Thursday night turned into a late one at the office - about 7.45pm but I did get so much done in that lovely still time after 5.30pm when most people had gone home. I got home to find my fabby hubby had made some food & had been busy putting up our dark green curtains - they make the place look so cosy & I love them.




Entertaining part 1
On Friday, Mr Fudgey & I had invited Mum & Dad Smith & Paul for dinner. The menu:
Starter: Haggis filo parcels with plum chilli sauce
Main: Spanish baked risotto with homemade garlic & herb doughballs
Dessert: Mini cheesecakes
We had a nice meal & then great fun playing the wii. I think everyone enjoyed the evening.

Entertaining Part 2
We woke up on Saturday morning to find we'd had some snow overnight - so my plan of walking to the post office was kind of scuppered - plus my parcels were larger than I expected. Thankfully Dad Smith dropped us off at Uphall Post office on our way to do the weekly grocery shop - & that is the first of my Christmas parcels in the post :-)
After our shopping & a lovely bacon roll & cup of tea at Mum & Dad Smith's & saying our goodbye's to Paul (yes I cried - but not till Paul had left us), Mr Fudgey & I spent the afternoon doing housework & getting the house all in order & ready for our second evening of entertaining. We had invited KMac & the boy for dinner & I was going with a Chinese style menu.
Starter: Duck spring rolls & oriental chicken crackers, prawn crackers & homemade sweet & sour sauce & more plum chilli sauce.
Mains: Garlic chicken, 5 spice pork, stir fry veggies, egg fried rice & egg noodles
Desserts: profiteroles & mini toffee & chocolate cups.
It was another really lovely evening & I can't wait to entertain more in our new hoosie. I never took any photos though - I actually forgot to!

I'm going to leave this here for now & do another post re today's run in the snow a wee bit later. I want to go now & get my laundry sorted & the dinner started.
Be back soon folks.

love
Fudgey xxx

Returning to normality

Hello Fudgey Friends,

How are you all? What have you been up to?
I'm good - normal routine & routine are starting to return, though I seem to be busier than ever with one thing or another - I think it's getting to that time of year though. I had hoped to blog again before now but time simply ran away from me!

Friday
I never went to the gym at all on Friday, I decided that as I was planning to go to the Zumbathon for 2 hours on Saturday and to run on Sunday that I'd take a rest on Friday. Unfortunately I ended up in my bed at 9pm burning hot but feeling shivery & with a terrible headache. At 5am on Saturday morning I submitted & took some painkillers. It's very unlike me to feel like that - but I was completely wiped out.

Strictly Saturday
I felt better when I got up on Saturday but still not quite right & I had to resort to more painkillers around 1pm when I started to fell yuck again. So I never made it to the Zumbathon or to collect the Christmas items I'd reserved at Argos :-( We did have a successful shopping trip to Morrisons & I finally got a potato crock :-)
The slow cooker was in use again & I made Hungarian Goulash - it was very tasty.
They say laughter is the best medicine & oh how I laughed - nearly cried at Ann & Anton's Samba - sheer comedy gold. Whether you think Ann should have been out weeks ago or not - you can't say it's not entertaining


Surprise Sunday
I actually got up & ran on Sunday & it felt fantastic.
Focus was increasing the distance rather than the pace as since the kilomathon my regular Sunday long runs have been irregular & only about 5 - 6k. I want to build a good base between now & the end of the year so I can start my marathon training feeling strong. Was really pleased with a nice steady consistent pace & the rain mostly held off. I foolishly took my gloves off at around 4k & zipped them in my pocket.....bad move - blue hands by the time I got home!

Then I got an absolutely fantastic surprise. As I'd ran into our street I saw Dad Smith's car in the drive & wondered why he was at ours so early, came in & no one about. Mr Fudgey came downstairs & was asking if I was OK - how was the run etc. I was trying to get my breath back after being out in the cold & coming into the warm, and was leaning forward, hands on thighs, looking at the floor. Then Mum Smith came down & said morning & then another figure I assumed to be Dad Smith till I heard the voice & looked up & there was my lovely brother in law Paul - all the way from Buffalo. Only Dad Smith had known that Paul was coming over for a week. Mr Fudgey & I haven't seen Paul since our wedding last August - so this was a fabby fudgey wudgey surprise.

Back to the normal routine
Monday lunchtime I squeezed in a cheeky 22 min treadmill sprint interval session - certainly got the blood pumping, then after work I went to the Superhero body pump class as part of the Children in Need events at my gym. There were 5 classes back to back but I only stayed for the pump class as I needed to get home, but next time if I'm a bit more organised in advance I'll do more - I might even join in the dressing up!

Today - Even though my lovely personal trainer is on holiday I know he'll know if I don't keep up the strength training & do the nice new programme he wrote for me. Deliberated whether to go after work or tomorrow morning but since mornings at the gym aren't really happening in my world at the moment & getting into work early is good as I'm so busy - I opted for this evening.
Quick 5 min cross trainer warm up
then 4 supersets of 10 underhand grip cable pull downs superset with 10 upright rows 15kg bar
4 supersets of 10 assisted pull ups superset with 20 hammer curls (10 each side) 6kg dumbbells
3 supersets of 15 leg press (first set 60kg & next 2 sets 62.5kg) superset with 20 medicine ball lunges with 6kg medicine ball
Should have also done squats superset with calf raises - but a) squat rack was being used & b) I was a little short on time
finished with abs 3 supersets of 15 jackknifes & 10 hanging leg raises

Travelling home on the bus I could feel my upper body objecting to me already! Still just had a really deep & bubbly bath whilst listening to The girl with the dragon tattoo.....life is good :-)
If anyone has any other good book tape suggestions please let me know as I'm thoroughly enjoying listening to books on my journey to work.

Other Running related news
An update on 1000km in 2010 - well as you know I achieved this in October but I've still been logging my runs & am now up to 1045.11 km (649.41 miles)

I have also signed up for The Great Scottish Santa Run in Edinburgh on 12th Dec - only 1.5km - should be a good bit of festive fun & then a wee gander round the Christmas market & a shot on the big wheel - perfect Sunday out.

and that lovely friends is all for today - I had better get to bed as I want to be in work early again in the morning - lots to do :-)

Take Care all
lots of love
Fudgey
xxxx

Hooray I'm back

Hello Fudgey Friends,

I'm back on line at last. Been sitting thinking about blogging for the last 37 or so minutes & just don't know where to start.

Moving House
1st November was the big day & it was all good other than a small delay in getting the keys for the new house.
Both Mr Fudgey & I had a week off to get sorted & it was busy busy week, & an expensive one....trips to buy new washing machine & tumble dryer, big food shop to restock, ikea trip & a new tv.
Though I never got to the gym I certainly wasn't idle....listing boxes & furniture & running up & downstairs.
We were very fortunate that the place was in walk in condition so we've only had a few little things to do like putting hooks on the backs of doors and a lock on the downstairs toilet door. There are plenty of other things we'd like to do and put our own stamp on the place but nothing that is really urgent.
The two of us have been sleeping so well since we moved and love the new place. The kittys are settling in too. Clyde thinks he owns the place - we just pay the mortgage!
I can't believe we've been here nearly 3 weeks.

Thank you
An enormous Thank you to Mum & Dad Smith for all their help during the moving period - we are very very very grateful. Thank you to the rest of family & friends too for their support over the last few challenging months & for all the warm wishes & new home cards we received, We are so lucky to have such fantastic family & friends xxx

Still working hard
So the first week of November saw a serious decline in my regime but I'm back on track & those who follow me on facebook or dailymile will know I've started my strength training - with my challenge to be able to do a pull up. OMG I never knew how hard it would be.....but I'm enjoying it.....so here are my workouts since start of the month

07/11 - Exploring the new neighbourhood 5.02 km

08/11 - Spin class

09/11 - PT this strength training is really tough
quick cross trainer warm up then 2 sets of a burpee, jump & pull up - 10 reps
3 supersets of 15 squats 60lb superset with 15 squat jumps with 25lb weights
3 supersets of 10 assisted pull ups & 10 single arm row 25lb (10 each side)
5 supersets of 10 lat pull down & 10 shoulder rotator

10/11 - Circuits Oh how my upper body hurt after yesterday's PT session. started strength training to be able to do pull ups - hope it's worth it!
Today's stations: step ups, step lunges, oblique twists, sit ups with weight, ski sit with shoulder raises, shuttle runs, chest press, tricep dips, press ups, punch bag, skipping, spin bike high resistance & squats ....1 min each station - 2 circuits

11/11 treadmill 4.18 km - Running has been suffering due to the house move so I manged to snatch a quickie at the gym before work. Not a bad effort so far this week, spin, PT, circuits & a run. My upper body hates me - can't lift arms above shoulder height & pulling doors is an effort - but it feels so good to hurt again - yes I'm crazy!

15/11 more exploring new hood 6.07 km -went out just as it was starting to get dark about 4.30pm & had a great run. Everything just felt so good - think the enforced rest due to house moving & the change of focus to strength training has really helped. Best run in ages

16/11 - PT
oh how much I love having a personal trainer & even though it's really hard work I'm enjoying the change of focus with the strength training - it probably isn't something I'd have done without a PT
today's session
4 x supersets underarm grip pull down 10 reps 30kg superset with 10 upright rows with 15kg bar
4 x supersets assisted pull up 10 reps superset with 16 hammer curls (8 each side) with 6kg dumbbells
3 supersets of 15 reps leg press 65kg superset with 20 medicine ball (6kg) lunges
3 supersets of 15 jackknifes & 10 hanging leg raises
hanging leg raises were a bit crap to be honest today but we did them on the roman chair & I couldn't get a grip I was comfortable with

lovely lavender & waterlily bath when I got home to relax & unwind

17/11 - Circuits my fave class of the week
stations this week: upright row, mountain climbers, squats, plyometric step ups, tricep dips, bicep curls shadow boxing with dumbbells, swissball crunches, walking lunges with 5kg plates, press ups - 2 circuits a minute each station & then a press up challenge & abs to finish off

Hoping for a dreadmill session in the morning too....so all in all not a bad effort over the last 3 weeks.

Also have the Zumbathon for Children in Need to look forward too on Saturday.

Work, Food & General Chat
After the week off it was good to get back to work and I've been pretty busy the last 2 weeks in fact I can't believe tomorrow is Friday. The house move has certainly had a positive effect as the longer journey too & from the office helps segregate home and work & the fact that I'm so much more relaxed & sleeping well has meant I feel like I'm functioning better during the day and though I'm a busy bee I'm really enjoying work at the moment.

Getting back on track with the healthy eating - it was a bit out of sorts with the move but now back into routine and finally can use the slow cooker we got for the wedding. So far have made lentil soup, vegetable soup & oriental honeyed pork. & I have some photos....

Slow cooker


Lentil soup


Oriental Honeyed Pork



so all in all life is pretty fudgey right now. Very glad to be back on line & reconnected with the world.

And now I'm going to say goodnight as I need to get to my bed if I want to attempt to gym in the morning.

Will be back soon

lots of love
Fudgey

Still not back on line

Hello Fudgey Friends,

I'm missing you all loads.

I feel really cut off with no internet or phone at the new house.

Not a very happy fudgey this morning as although we had an engineer out yesterday - our phone doesn't work & we don't have the router yet - so not net access either - though obviously need to get the phone line sorted first. Just a bit PO'd that it seems like a waste of a half day's holiday.

I've also come in to a whole raft of blood pressure raising mails & messages at work..........grrrr

maybe I should go home & start today again!

On a more positive note I did have a cracking run yesterday evening & I made some yummy banana bread.

Hope to be back soon with proper blogs.....eg when we get online at home.

Take Care all

Fudgey xxxxx

A very quick hello

Hi Fudgey Friends,

I'm missing you all & all my fellow bloggers - but love love loving the new house. It's been a busy busy busy week - we've hardly stopped - need to go back to work for a rest!

Am at Mum & Dad Smith's just now so thought I'd do a very quick post to let you know I'm good & that I'm thinking of you all.

Can't wait to get back into a routine - only a PT session & 1 run this week due to big house move. Started my strength training for my latest ambition to be able to do at least one full pull up - oh man it is so hard & I had major DOMs yesterday. Great to change the focus a little though. Out this morning for a quick 5k run in the new hood - perfect bright but cold morning after all that miserable rain. I even went off road - might need to invest in trail shoes.....got a little muddy but had great fun.
Spin & Pump tomorrow though, PT on Tuesday & Circuits on Wed - week looking fab already. Miss all you fudgey followers - can't wait to get back online - hopefully 15th Nov

Righty better go & get on want to get my shoes all unpacked & in the wardrobe we reassembled this afternoon!

Take Care everyone
lots of love
Fudgey