La Grande Classique

Tomorrow I start training for La Grande Classique, it’s a 10 Mile race from the base of the Eiffel Tower in Paris to Versailles on September 25, 2011.

I’m going to be using the 10 Mile Training Plan from the fitness motivator but with slight modifications.

Week One training

Monday 3 Miles – 20 minute cross train

Tuesday – 40 minute cross train

Wednesday 3 Miles

Thursday 40 minute cross train

Friday 4 Miles 20 minute cross train

Saturday rest

Sunday rest (doing the long run on Friday because I’ll be away on the weekend)

Goal for the week is to complete 10 Miles and complete all the cross train sessions

Banana Bread and Early Morning Run

I think my body is just a little confused with the time change. For the first time in my life I woke up at 5:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep. After tossing and turning for 45 mins I got dressed and laced up my shoes and headed out for my first ever pre 7am run. It was nice and cool out. I did a quick 5 k then headed home. It’s been a few days since I’ve been able to get a run in, boy did it feel good to get back into it.

Later in the morning I made Blueberry Greek Yogurt Banana Bread. I got the recipe from The Daily Garnish and it turned out great.

I didn’t have any fresh blueberries on hand, so I used dried ones. I also added raw pepitas for a little extra crunch.

Baking away.

Cooling.

Eating.

Molly approved.

Time for a nap!

Bye bye London… For now!

The ride to Windsor took forever, we were kicking ourselves for not taking the train. We always take the train, but today we were itching to blast the ipod in the car and I wanted to see some of the English countryside. Not much countryside, just a whole lotta traffic jam.

To keep us busy on our trip there I made Dom and I berry smoothies. They were a mix of fresh raspberries, blueberries, banana, ice and milk.

I also brought some extra berries along for the ride.Once we got there we took a little stroll around. We didn’t have time to tour the inside of the castle, we’ll have to go back for that another time. It sure did look amazing from the outside.We were waiting for our friends Bronwyn and Christian to arrive so we went for lunch on a patio by the river. Dom had a burger and I had an amazing salad. There is a serious lack of really creative salads.

My salad had:

• beets
• feta
• roasted hazelnuts
• watermelon
• green beans
• rocket (arugula)
• mint
• polenta croutons

After lunch we spent the afternoon catching up with friends, then headed home. Dom made me a fantastic goodbye dinner. Not so healthy, but oh so amazing.

Dom’s Mussel and Clam Linguine

• 1lb 2oz mussels
• 1lb 2oz whole clams
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• ½ red chilli, finely sliced
• 2oz white wine
• 1 lemon, juice only
• small bunch flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
• 14oz whole wheat linguine
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4oz single cream

*you can substitute the shellfish for diced veggies, I recommend eggplant, zucchini or mushrooms. You can also omit the cream.

Preparation:

1. Clean the mussels and clams in cold water.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large lidded saucepan, and add the garlic and chilli. After a minute or two, add the mussels and the wine. Cover with the lid and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes, or until the mussels and clams open.
3. Squeeze in the lemon juice and cream. Remove the pan from the heat and add the roughly chopped parsley. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
4. Meanwhile, cook the linguine in lightly salted boiling water for 7-8 minutes, or until al dente. Add the pasta to the pan with the shellfish sauce, mix together well and serve immediately.

Enjoy X.

M&M World

Boy, it’s been a busy couple of days. I’m off to Canada for the rest of Summer tomorrow and had a lot of goodbyes to do, things to pack and plenty of sorting out to do.

Here’s what I got up to yesterday.

After I had my hair done (btw I went with no bangs) I was hungry and in search of a good salad. I had to go to central London to meet a friend so I went to my favorite healthy fast food chain, pod. Pod offers fresh seasonal food to go, served up in compostable packaging. I had the Spicy Mango & Cashew Nut salad with  spring greens, rice noodles, edamame beans, peas, spring onion, red chilli, courgette, mint, coriander and a pot of oil free carrot & ginger dressing. Delicious!

See my shinny strawberry coloured thumbnails in the shoots? I got my nails done too. A groupon special. I’m becoming such an addict. 30 pounds for a cut, blowdry, style and nails. I had a manicure with gelish polish put on top. I think it’s a newer product, it’s kind of like the gel coating that you would have on top of fake nails but they apply it directly to the nail. It’s suppose to last 3 weeks and come off leaving the nail conditioned and strengthened, we’ll see I’m a little leery about that.

Later in the evening I met up with Dom and we went on a nice little dinner date in Soho. We shared this lovely salad and a pizza, which I forgot to take a picture of.

The salad was a mix of chick pea, pesto pasta and Greek. Dom really enjoyed it!

After we finished dinner we headed home but made quick stop at the newly opened M&M World in Leicester Square. I’ve been to the one in Vegas before and knew what a crazy experience it was. Dominic was a little overwhelmed but enjoyed the cheesy taste of Americana. A little teaser before he comes out for a visit in August!

Off to Windsor for the day.

Good Afternoon World!

I’ve been setting this up for almost a week now and it’s still not ready, but I can’t keep back my urge to get blogging any longer. Hello and welcome to Eggplant and Aubergine, I’m so excited that your here reading about my healthy lifestyle blog!This picture is totally dorky but I’m literally bursting with excitement. Oh, and you’ll have to excuse the nasty hair I’m off to the hairdressers. Bangs or no bangs has been on my mind for the past week now. By the way bangs are fringes in the UK and boy do they love them over here. Alright, I’m running super late as usual, you’ll get to see the new do later. Ta ta for now.