Thursday 21 January 2010

weekly roundup

Greetings and salutations!

I've not been a well Tara these last few days and have spent most of them asleep - while it does wonders to your complexion it really buggers up your training plan!!!

Also, annoyingly, being bedridden due to physical sickness and fatigue is not conducive to successful blogging, grumble grumble...

Anyway, enough moaning, I'm feeling a little better today and managed to not puke on my boss during a meeting this afternoon (no offence intended towards him, he's super, I just felt mighty queasy and claustrophobic at the time!)

What can I tell you?

Well, I managed to break the psychological deadlock and haul my arse back into the gym. Gawd knows why I had such a block but I really couldn't motivate myself and literally had to psych myself up for a while before going - even to my work's gym which has about 3 members, ha!

When I returned to my local gym I felt dreadful, really lumpy and out of shape, especially carrying round and extra half stone of lard!

However, I've reined my eating and exercise back in check and the good news is that I'm starting to see I'm starting to see the results of my hard work - my arms are looking better already! Obviously being the classic pear it's going to take a lot longer for my bottom half to follow suit ;-)

I managed to stay off the sauce for 2 weeks, broken only last Friday when was out with friends at birthday drinks and fancied some red wine, so had some!

Two weeks off the booze makes Tara a cheap date indeed though and after 2 glasses I felt rather woozy... a cheeky small bottle of lager later and I felt well and truly tipsy - lightweight!!

This pub was fab though, I must say, it's called 'Paradise by way of Kensal Green' which is a rather snazzy name.

I used to live down the road from there and I don't remember it being in existence when I was nearby - but then I didn't tend to seek out classy boozers like this so I'd have probably missed it anyway!

The menu on the website looks superb and Joe and I had already planned to share the Chateaubriand, but unfortunately given that the pub's reputation for food alone is a draw, there were no tables free til 9:30pm and we'd have been munching on the bar mats if we'd left it that late... so we had 'bar snacks'.

We over-ordered, food was fairly tasty but too greasy for my liking - I ordered 'fish cakes' which were small salmon balls coated in breadcrumbs and deepfried... even the 'healthy' chicken skewers had a sheen of oil on them and were too greasy to stomach - shame!! The lamb koftas were nice.

However, this being said, they do make the most AMAZING chips ever... big huge hunks of potato, massively deep fried I imagine but boy did they taste (sinfully) good!

Joe did decide to order the Mother of All Scotch Eggs

Look at the size of this bad boy - it's absurd!



And in case you were wondering, no, I did not partake in this abomination of sausage meat and dairy produce!

So, what else did I get up to last week?

Ahh yes, on Tuesday Joe and I went out with a couple of friends of ours. The male half of said couple is doing the Etape du Tour (again) with Joe (again!) so both myself and the female half have plenty to lament :-(

I actually wouldn't be too bothered about the Tour if it weren't for the fact that it's the VERY NEXT DAY after a couple of very good friends of mine's wedding!!!

Grr, talk about shit planning, at least we'll be in the same country, just over 100km away from the start of the race (in Pau)!!

I'm sure he'll sort it out but it means he'll be less-than-merry at the wedding, will miss the reception altogether and I'll be staying on my own with the boy!

Harrumph!

Pah, anyway, Joe finally got back on his road bike (first time since race day back in July last year!) on Saturday and after netball practice I joined him on a little jaunt to Richmond Park. I haven't actually ridden round it for years and I haven't taken Henry over any distances further than to work and back so he was in for a treat!

Although, it pissed down with rain, all the way there, and the traffic was terrible, and I'm scared of London traffic and...and... you get the picture?

We did a circuit (11km) and it was fab, the rain had stopped (although the recent snow meant the roads were covered with grit, not an ideal surface for cycling!) and I was okay with the hills - which is great considering how long it's been since I rode up any.

We stopped for a wee and tea and, please hold onto your coffee cups and try not to get excited but here you are about to see the most spectacularly HOT steamy picture of me you have ever had the pleasure to lay eyes on...

how about this then?!

dontcha wish your girlfriend was HOT like me...!

Yes, this is how I ROLL! Or RIDE, rather ;-) I really do look this nerdy when I cycle in the rain - I wear a big obnoxious helmet to protect my head (flashy light optional) bright clothing to avoid being hit by cars, clear glasses to protect my eyes from road dirt, ski-socks and shorts *over* my tights to keep my legs and bum warm.

Oh yes, and I go red when I exert myself.

I'm so sexy it hurts.

You too could look this hot, all you have to do is dress like a halfwit and have to ride out with a pannier top-bag because you were too excited at the thought of getting a new bike you forgot to ask the cycle-shop guys to fit a bottle cage!

Anyway, enough of my hotness, I was actually quite cold by this point (the park loos aren't heated, as a girl who needs to sit down (like most girls do I imagine?!), the peeing experience was quite unpleasant to say the least!)

So we made for the inviting warmth of the nearest café.

I have decided that the café just by Roehampton Gate (turn left as soon as you come into the park) makes the best lattes in the world*

*if you are cold, wet and in need of milky caffeinated yummyness

Joe ordered some insulin-spiking simple carb greasy goodness

(I'm sure this isn't in the diet plan?!)

And got 'papped'



...he returned the favour but, with my relatively saintly-by-comparison protein bar I had earned the right to look a little less guilty (though not any less red... that doesn't change for ages... I really am quite a catch huh?!!)



I wasn't too hungry as had drunk my yummy protein smoothie

Just before we were about to set off on another loop (I was looking forward to taking pics of the deer that were out and about) Joe discovered he had a puncture, dammit!

We ended up calling it a day, which was bloody sensible in the long run as, although he 'repaired' the puncture (AKA swapped the inner tubes!!), he failed to spot the piece of glass that was still lodged in his tyre and got another puncture on the way home!

Plus the weather was a bit mis...



Fortunately Evans Cycles in Wandsworth were open and we were able to get in and have them take a look at his wheel, locate the source of the puncture (d'uh) and get *another* inner tube! I also 'forced' him to buy some Continental tyres as I have a pair on my MTB and I have *never* had a puncture, they're ace!

We finally got home, after dark, a little fed up, a lot tired and very very hungry!!

After sneaking a slice from the 'gigantaloaf' I had made the night before



(my loaves seem to have a mind of their own, don't think I'll every properly figure them out!!), I set to work cooking and made a simple but tasty dish with salmon, prawns and mixed colourful veg in a white wine and garlic sauce - with some Quark for good measure :-)

The boys had spaghetti but I had some of this amazingly tasty *wholewheat* (I know the two don't usually go hand-in-hand!) pasta called 'Mafalda Corta', it's by Napolina and is definitely the most delicious wholewheat pasta around :-) I think you can only get it at Sainsburys at the mo, which is a bit of a bum.



Right, I'm going to take myself off to bed as it is waaaaay too late for me and I'm finally starting to feel tired (my body clock is so out of whack right now it's untrue!).

Catch you later

TJx

2 comments:

  1. Comment 1: WTF is that egg??? An Ostrich???

    Comment 2: Liking the cycling garb, missus....I've got a picture of Wole dressed similarly for a run.

    Comment 3: Yep, the cafe in Richmond Park does some nice food and drink. But you need a second mortgage to pay for it.

    xx

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  2. lol!

    1. I think it was a normal sized egg... it just had half a pig wrapped round it!

    2. yeah it's not really cycling stuff, I'd just come back from netball practice which I had run to and back so didn't bother changing to go out on the bike... wish I had though, as it's a boy's bike it's a boy's saddle and without padded tights it's a bit ouchie!!

    3. I didn't buy the grub but can imagine it was expensive... they're in such a prime position they can probably charge whatever they like!! xxx

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