Chilly outside and chilli inside

Hi Everyone,

Today has been a good day. Although I got no decorating done I have had a productive day. This is my day:

I wasn't at work today which instantly makes it a better day so i had arranged for 'things' to be done. At 10.30 the boiler man came and gave the boiler its annual service. He also fixed the radiator in the back bedroom which had stopped working!! Turns out one side of it had been turned off; what a divvy I am.

For lunch i had a big bowl of pasta to ensure I had enough carbs for my run later in the afternoon. It also started snowing which was really exciting and soon the garden and roads were all white. I do love winter. 

At 1pm the Sky man came and installed our Sky HD+ box. Although we don't have an HD TV yet we do have Sky+ now, hours of fun! As soon as he left around 2pm I got ready to go for the run i'd been looking forward to all day.

The plan today was to go for a 15 mile run which would be the longest run since the Himalayas and a good test of my knee. I got wrapped up with hat, gloves, running tights, 3 top layers, waist pack with energy drink, snickers, mobile and money and off I went. My garmin GPS started recording and in about 2 hours or so i'd be back home. 

My route took me along some snowy country lanes with a few hills chucked in for fun. I then headed to High Wycombe and peeled off to run up past Wycombe Heights Golf Centre. It was lovely up there, really peaceful and covered in snow. Although it was cold if I kept moving i was ok. 

I had downloaded the Above & Beyond TATW298 podcast and had this playing on the ipod. Great tunes + great scenery = great run and it was turning out to be the run i'd hope it would be. 

The run took me to Penn, then back down to Beaconsfield and through some of the streets of this lovely town. In the way back i popped into the offy and got a bottle of red wine, partly for the chilli I am currently cooking but also the anti-oxidants help after a run!! That's what I tell myself. I got home in 2hrs 10 mins and did 15.1 miles. That will do me nicely. 

The next phase of my day is to make the hottest chilli i've ever made. I like hot food and can cope with a vindaloo so when I make a chilli i like to be able to feel it. Apparently hot food increases your metabolism so i can actually burn calories with a hot chilli. I call that a win win. 

Anyway enough wibbling, this is the recipe of my chilli. The idea is get a variety of heats in the chilli from fresh chilli to sauce to powder and too cook it long enough for all those flavours to merge and give you a seriously kick ass chilli. Tonight i'm going for something that could melt all the snow of Buckinghamshire and after an initial test i think I have managed it. IF you try it I hope you enjoy it. One thing for sure is that my mum will not be making it!!

Tin of tomatoes
1lb of quality mince
1 onion
half a red, green and yellow pepper
3-4 large mushrooms (large pieces)
2 x birdseye chilli
1 x medium red chilli
dash of Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons of hot chilli sauce
ground pepper
1/2 tin of red kidney beans
teaspoon of english mustard
glove of garlic
chilli flakes
squirt of tomato puree
gravy granules
glass of red wine
water
teaspoon of chilli powder

Fry the onions and garlic until soft then remove them from the pan.
Fry the mince until brown and then drain any excess fat out of the pan.
Add the chilli's, chilli flakes, mustard, chilli sauce, Worcestershire sauce and mix together.
Add back in the onions and the tin of tomatoes and mix together
Add in the chopped peppers and mushrooms.
Chuck in the wine, tomato puree and gravy granules.
Mix it all together and if necessary add some water.
Bring to the boil then simmer on a low heat for an hour so all the flavours mix in together.
Check the chilli and stir every now and again. Add more water if necessary
Add in the kidney beans and cook for another 30 minutes.
20 minutes before its ready cook the rice and prepare yourself for a taste explosion!!!

Have a great rest of week and weekend and i'll see you all here again soon.

Cheers, Johnny

Pretty Good Week

I've been a bit concerned since coming back from the Himalayas run as I have been getting a bit of a pain in my knee after 6 miles or so.

All seems to be getting better now as I have been stretching my self silly. A couple of serious pilates sessions has concentrated on strengthening my leg and stretching out my tight calves which got mashed up with the endless hills in India.

So yesterday i stuck on my shoes and went for a run. It was a lovely day for running, nice and cool, still and still light as I had the day off work so I could run before the sun set. I headed out thinking i'd do between 8-10 miles depending on what happened with my knee.

I stuck on some tunes and some bouncing happy hardcore made me smile as ran through the streets, woods and muddy fields around Beaconsfield. It was a great run.

I ended up doing 10 miles in 85 minutes which I was happy with and importantly my knee was ok.

So far this week I've run:

Tuesday 8th - 7.25 miles (58 mins)

Wednesday 9th - 10 miles (85 mins)

So its time to step things up again. I reckon a half marathon this Saturday and maybe a little run tomorrow night.

I love it when my running goes well. It makes everything else better.

Have a good weekend.

Johnny

p.s i'm on twitter now and tweeting away. follow me at: http://twitter.com/johnnyultra