Health

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Catch-22

hip

Once, on day four of a five-day event, I was just knackered. Luckily I could pull myself together and still made the cut-off for the day. This pretty much resembles my current state of mind.

Any person doing any form of physical activity is bound to have some form of injury at some point. That’s just the laws of nature. Some people are lucky and hardly ever get injuries or niggles, while others are plagued by problems. It is what it is, and what will be, will be, to quote Allan Karlsson from the Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson.

So it came about that I developed a hip niggle. I didn’t give it much thought and it was presumably just another result of my misalignment (curvy spine, fused vertebrae with sacrum, rotating pelvis, leg length discrepancy, etc). It would not be the first time I battle with a niggle and will certainly not be the last. Continue reading →

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AMI Round the Bays 21.7km

Setting up early morning.
The little cannon that was used for the start. Don’t be fooled by its size!
Have your picture framed, courtesy of Malaghan, for the Run for Research members.
At the start – warming up shenanigans.
I decided to go red, orange and white for Malaghan.
Gerry, fresh and ready to go.
More entertainment to make up for the few minutes late start.
The Start banner – far, far away!
On Oriental Parade – the crowd starting to thin out a bit.
Cobham Drive where we encountered the first 10km returnies.
Gerry, clearly having a good day on the road.
Past the halfway point – me at full speed.
The out and back section is very sociable.
Gerry really having a blast at the turnaround point.
Fly, fly away – only about 7km to the finish.
Our walk through Mt Victoria Tunnel on the way back to the start, some 4km from the finish.
Comfort/reward food in the form of beer and pizza.

Let me say upfront that I am no good at asking people for money. As much as I would run around any Bay, around New Zealand or around the World for that matter to support a good cause, I just can’t get myself to ask people for money. I assign this to the fact that for the first 40 years of my life I lived in a country where the vast majority of the population are in need, and begging is just part of the make-up of daily life. You end up being overcome with guilt, because you simply cannot help everybody everyday who are constantly begging you on every corner and every turn you take for money, or food, or clothes, or anything else that might help them survive to see another day. And you become a bit allergic to asking for money yourself. I am sure fundraising for sponsorships come with much less baggage in a first world country where most everyone lives above the poverty line, so maybe in years to come we will get more comfortable at it. Continue reading →

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Queen Charlotte Track (2 – 5 December 2013)

A couple of years ago, in search of some interesting off-road running events, I read about the Queen Charlotte Track – a 26km run from Ship Cove to Punga Cove/Camp Bay. It sounded magnificent and I’ve since been keen to take part in this event. But as we know, traveling between NZ’s two islands is almost as expensive as going to Australia! This truly is a country of two halves (as Paul Bennett pointed out in his book). Continue reading →

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Runner’s Pasta recipe

A few years ago (well, actually about 10!), Runner’s World SA featured this recipe by Graeme Shapiro (owner and chef at Wild Poppy Cafe Fremantle in Perth, Australia). We’ve since made it more times than I care to remember and it never fails to please all your taste buds. And if you don’t have all the ingredients, fear not, as I’ve tried various combinations of more or less the same ingredients, leave out some, add other – you’re bound to still have a winner.

runnerspasta_s

The Runner’s Paste

  • 1 box (500g) fusilli or fresh taglierini pasta
  • 1 packet (250g) basil pesto or olive tapenade
  • 1 jar (200g) artichoke hearts
  • 150g calamata olives (stones removed)
  • 150g roasted pepers
  • 2 handfuls (30g) fresh basil – torn into pieces
  • 100g pine nuts (or slithered almonds) – toasted (pop under the oven grill for a few minutes)
  • 100g sun-dried tomatoes (preferably marinated) – finely sliced
  • 250g cooked bacon – dice into pieces (smoked salmon/smoked chicken breast/tuna are other great options)
  • 200g goats cheese or feta – crumbled into pieces

Method

Place the cooked pasta into a large bowl, add the pesto and toss through to coat the pasta. Add the rest of the ingredients. If you are serving the pasta warm, add the cheese last just before serving. Garnish with fresh basil or parmesan/pecorino shavings.