It's Not Supposed To Be Easy!

I did my tempo run today, good news, no soreness from the deadlift... guess that means I should add more weight next time ;-)

Tempo run 4.1 miles in 36.38, average pace 8.58, average heart rate179.

Mile 1 (warm up) 9.41 HR 167
The warm up mile was no fun! It started raining seconds after I left my house and a minute in to the run it started hailing!! Erm where did spring go? A few minutes in and I contemplated going back home to pick up my gloves and hat cause it was cold and those nasty hail stones were stinging my face. Decided this would mess up my planned route so it was easier to stick at it and brave the cold! I ended up running the warm up a bit faster than I intended cause at this point I wanted to get home ASAP!

Mile 2 (tempo @ 8.28) 8.24 HR 183
The first tempo mile I started far too fast, I looked down at the garmin a few minutes in and realised I was running a 7.30 pace. I slowed right down cause I knew I was not keeping that up for two miles. It got tough quickly even with my slowed pace and I just kept repeating to myself, it's not supposed to be easy, it will be worth it in the long run, push through it!

Mile 3 (tempo @ 8.28) 8.28 HR 186
After the first mile it got really tough! I hit a bit of a wall and could not make my legs go faster than an 8.40 pace. This went on for the first few minutes so I tried slowing a little to hopefully get a new burst of energy from somewhere... It worked.. I slowly sped up back to an 8.30 then and 8.24 then finished exactly on my prescribed pace of 8.28. This mile was horrible! I kept thinking you're no runner, it's never going to work, but then I kept saying quit whining it's not supposed to be easy - hence the title! And I just kept repeating that. Once I was back at the right pace I thought come on, only .25 of a mile left you can keep this up for that long, pull yourself together! I was so glad when the mile ended!

Mile 4 (cool down) 9.25 HR 182 (+.1 to get home)
It was soo tempting to stop the watch and let my HR slow a little before I started the cool down but I decided that felt like cheating so I just started off reeeeally slowly, caught my breath a bit and then picked it up to a comfortable pace. Boy was I glad to see my front door! This tempo was tough!

I made Apple and Raspberry Crumble tonight, the recipe isn't as indulgent as conventional versions as I lowered the fat content by quite a lot, I'm going to experiment with it a bit maybe adding part margerine part applesauce to get a better topping but it's pretty good for a healthy version so I thought I'd share the recipe. It tastes better with custard!

Crumble Base
5 Apples chopped into 2cm dice
1 Tbs xylitol or sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 Tbs cornflour mixed with 1 Tbs cold water
Sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg
1 cup of frozen raspberries

Crumble Topping
2/3 cup oats
1 and 1/3 cup wholemeal flour
3/4 cup xylitol or sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup margerine

Directions
Preheat oven to 180c
Cut apples and cook with xylitol, water and spices.

Once the apple has softened add the cornflour and water mixture gradually until the appley liquid is thickened, add raspberries and stir in.

Mix all the dry crumble ingredients then add in the melted margerine, mix with fingers, top apple and raspberry mixture

My kitchen after baking!! eeek! Look at Tia trying to climb up the drawers, I think she likes crumble!

Bake the crumble in the oven for 30 minutes, enjoy with custard.... maybe let your cat try a little custard too... this kitty is spoilt!

Bondi band giveaway here.