5 Things I have learnt this week.

1.Carob. A delicious healthier alternative to chocolate.

I discovered Carob when I brought a pack of 9 bars. http://www.9-bar.co.uk/about-9bar/our-bars/our-bars-flax.asp The flax seed bars that I brought were topped with Carob. I had never heard of this before and assumed It must be healthy to be be on these health bars. I checked this out on the internet and discovered I was right.

Carob is a legume that comes from the carob tree, an evergreen tree native to the Mediterranean. Today it is also grown in other warm climates including Florida and the southwestern United States. The tree bears fruit (carob pods) after six to eight years of growth. It can continue to bear fruit for 100 years.

Carob is very nutritious. Carob contains Vitamin B1,Niacin, Vitamin A, Vitamin B2, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and the trace minerals iron, manganese, chromium, copper, and nickel. It contains approximately 8 percent protein and is a good source of fibre. Compared to chocolate, carob is three times richer in calcium, has one third less calories and at least half less fat.

2. Loosen Shoulders. I suffer from an aching neck and shoulders sometimes during and after my runs. In this months Runners World magazine there was a great exercise to help loosen your shoulders. I need to relax the top half of my body when I run, especially on long runs. Hopefully the exercise on the right will resolve this...

3.Pace. Whether I go out and run 3 or 7 miles I tend to run at a fairly consistant pace. I ran twelve miles to work last Friday and dropped the pace by about a minute and a half per mile. This made so much difference to how I was feeling overall after the run. I was tired but not as whacked out as I feel sometimes on a quick 4 mile run.

I've always known that I should vary my workouts ie. add Tempo runs, Hill training etc. Having dropped my pace for an enjoyable and relaxed run, this has now shown me how important varying my training is.

4.Rest Days. I've started to now have a rest day after any run over 6 miles. I've suffered a few injuries recently probably from over training, since I've been resting every other day, I'm recovering so much better and seem to be injury free at the moment. (Touch Wood!).

I've been trying some cross training in between also. One swim a week and I'm following the 200 situps programme http://www.twohundredsitups.com/

5. Coke used to be green!!!