running

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It’s time for the Super Seven Series!

It’s January, and if you’re a runner in the Manawatu, that means one thing – it’s time for the Super Seven Series!

Starting a week from today, the Super Sevens consist of 7 weekly runs of 7kms each, run every Tuesday afternoon from 14 January to 25 February. By far the biggest race series in the region, between 1400 and 1500 people from Palmerston North and its neighbouring towns turn out every Tuesday for a run along the Manawatu river. While I’m sure there’s some serious racing going on at the front of the field, for the most part it’s a laid back, social event, with participants of every shape and size joining in on the fun.

Hundreds of people next to the Manawatu River on their way back to the finish.

Hundreds of people next to the Manawatu River on their way back to the finish.

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A sorry sight.

Yesterday, before discarding our 2013 year-planner (that had been stuck on the bathroom door for the past year), we decided, with some reservations, to add up the numbers and get an idea of our running/walking “accomplishments” of 2013.

I’m putting accomplishments in inverted commas because 2013 must have been more or less our worst running year since we first took up the habit at the turn of the century. Despite our best intentions, and numerous attempts to get back into some training schedule, our running just never got off the ground, and until the last quarter of the year we pretty much never managed to get beyond the breakdown phase of our training. Continue reading →

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New Year’s Resolutions – the Easy (!?) Eight

Well, here we are – hard to believe it’s 2014 already! It’s the first day of the new year, and with Christmas, New Year’s Eve and all the festivities behind us, we can start to look forward to the year ahead. As corny and silly as new year’s resolutions can be, I guess it’s pretty hard to avoid – even if your main resolution is to not have a new year’s resolutions list, we all secretly have a few things in mind that we want to take on, achieve, improve on, perhaps even avoid or quit. 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.

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Run Mahana 21.1km – 1 December 2013

Uhum, this was actually a wee bit of a stretch before the start.
Briefing at the Woollaston Estate parking area – the orange caps are the pace setters.
Gerry a few second before the start on a sunny day in Nelson.
On the 1.1km out and back section on the first lap, one could see the front runners. A rare sight for the back of the packers.
Gerry at one of three water tables. Some also had jelly sweets to keep the blood sugar levels intact.
A little helper picking up the used cups.
Always happy to see/be around olive trees!
Prices were up for grabs in the “Mohana” category for Movember.
A clown en route for a bit of entertainment.
More monkey business with just one km to go.
Gerry flying past the vineyard on his way to the finish.
Photo by Shuttersport. The two of us still up for a laugh and a bit of fun.
The famous sculpture at the entrance to the estate.
Lovely venue for the start and finish of the race.
Gerry and I with our Woollaston Sav’s courtesy of the farm.

When Gerry signed up for this event about two month ago, I could barely cover the 5km loop we’ve been using as training for about three weeks. Worst is, it’s mainly downhill! I certainly didn’t expect to run 21km two months later. But we kept at it, did our little training run almost every day and even started to add “long runs” on weekends to get us used to a bit more distance than 5km. Continue reading →