Morning you lot
Todays lyrics: Young teacher, the subject. Of schoolgirl fantasy
Yesterdays lyrics: Happy Birthday' by Altered Images. Just had to be as it was MrsBs birthday yesterday.
What:5M on the snow. Freezing again. Slippy on the pathways so ran most on the grass.
Why: Love running in snow, being careful though. Great to hear feet crunching through snow. Okay so I'm like abig kid at times re this !
Cakes: MissB made her mum a choccy birthday cake for yesterday and it was 100% Delicious and its all eaten.
Back later
Have a good one.
Comments
Morning.
That was a lovely thought from Miss B.
Blisters/Alehouse - I've been told to leave my cakes for a week between marzipan and icing, is that not necessary? Any tips for getting the icing flat? I'm using royal with a little glycerin.
Unexpected day off today. Could do with getting a long bike/turbo in but I did an hour on the turbo yesterday (before I knew) and am a little tired so the day will mostly be taken up with xmas prep I think.
What: swim set
Why: I'm only doing one a week as it is
Last hard: 2/12
Last rest: 1/12
Lyrics - yes.
Morning LMH: it sure was. She's into baking now which is nice. Her scones are cracking
morning all...
cakes cakes and cakes, if anyone needs a taster, I'm happy to help! I used to be a bit of a baker back in the day, don't really get as much time now unfortunately...
Didn't make the club session yesterday (youngest had schools sportsfixture, so no car), so opted for a 7m tempo instead. Reasonably zippy in 49:40.
today - something easy
why - recovery
last rest - friday
last hard - yesterday
lyric - think so...
Lyrics: yes
Cake: I leave marzipan for a week before icing.
What: walk to Christie Hospital
Why: see radiologist re possible treatment
I must have done quite a bit of cross training when decorating yesterday: legs, as and shoulders tell me I did.
morning all
happy birthday to mrs b yesterday
birkmyre I am with you about running on snow! It enables me to do an off road run on a winter night which I love!
alehouse hope it goes well
What: see above, will do one of them later
why: I love it
last hard: short fast run last night with the club
last easy: last thursday maybe?
have a good day all
Morning again!
Saw radiology team: need more tests before a decision whether I am suitable for a type of radiation called brachytherapy. The other option remains a prostatectomy. Positive meeting!
Would be able to run on snow: two problems though...there isn't any and I can't run yet!
More cross training coming up later (wallpapering etc).
oh lyrics yes!
nice one alehouse
Alehouse: good to hear your consultation was positive...when will you be having the additional tests.
Lyrics: Yes, but i think we've had them recently. I think someone should be policing the thread to stop this sort of thing happening.
Christmas cakes: we're advocates of warm apricot jam twixt cake and marzipan. If you want a really flat top to your cake - level the top as best you can with a bread knife, then turn it upside down on the cake board before applying marzipan. In recent years we've not bothered with icing chosing coloured marzipaned decorations.
Running: As far as I can manage at a comfortable pace before hamstring starts to tighten...this morning it was 5.8M. On that basis I've managed to run every day for the bast seven days - total mileage being 30M. Good signs but still aways away from any type of speedwork.
Good news Alehouse.
Speedwork is overrated Tom - being able to run is the main thing. It was more how to get a level surface on my icing that I was interested in - though I have a feeling I may end up going for the 'snow scene' look.
2.1k swum and even though I'm only doing one session a week at the moment I do feel as though it's starting to get a little better. Not back to where it was and not good but ok and, mostly, enjoyable.
Re prostate, have to wait for a phone call or letter for next tests, but it is supposed to be prior to 14th.
Ale - yes, lots of stretching and strength work also.
AH..good news methinks.
Tom...I aspire to where you are
Lyrics...yes and hope Tom's pun was unintentional
What: 5k last night with core session before work, tkd tonight
Why: Because I could and because I have to.
Last Hard?Rest as per Tuesday
Hoped to get away early then notified of conference call, followed by board, followed by work Secret Santa...It's tough
LMH humm I think you're right about jam between the cake and marzipan, but I think I also put it between the marzipan and icing. Maybe this is unconventional, but it seemed to work last time!
Ale good news. Hope you hear soon.
No news from my doctor, tried to ring him, but he closed at 12...I hope he rings tomorrow, I'm in quite a bit of pain!
What: something small outside
Why: it's sunny so I need to make the most of it, but I'm in pain, so we'll see how much running I can tolerate!
Last hard: trying to work out how to see a German doctor!
Highs of 0 for tomorrow and highs of -5 predicted for the weekend...I think I may hibernate soon!
Have a good one all.
5m on the moving belt.
Off to see Johnny Fingers later.
I'm temporarily Garmin-less since my tumble destroyed it. I should get a replacement hopefully this week though.
Ugh emzap that sounds nasty! I hope you can get it sorted sooner rather than later.
alehouse: some good news at last.
That cake talk makes my mouth water. I have no idea what you are on about though. I presume it's some traditional English Christmas cake? Germans tend to bake loads of different cookies for Christmas ("Plätzchen"). Some are gingerbread, others iced, many are chocolate-covered and contain plenty of nuts or almonds. Generally they have about a million calories per piece . And strangely they taste better the longer they rest. So baking them now for Christmas would be right. Of course they never last that long ...
what: 10 miles in the cold
why: I wanted to
last hard: trying to stay upright - there was plenty of ice
last rest: Monday
lyrics: yes
So I managed 2 miles outside before the pain made me retreat. Then did 15 mins of strength and core so about 30 mins in total, not a complete waste!
Chick I have discovered Leberkuchen. They are amazing, but you're right they have about a million calories each but they're so good you can eat the whole packet in one sitting...
emzap - not exactly warm here either. Hope you can sort the doctor. Are you at the stage where a visit to and A&E department would be indicated?
chickadeee - traditional English xmas cake, a very rich, moist fruit cake covered with marzipan and then icing. Made a few weeks or months in advance then fed until it's time to marzipan, left for a week before icing.
Thanks Tom - I'm going for home made icing.
what do you feed a cake, LMH ? I'm having horror visions of a mahoosive cake sitting in pantry going "feed me, feed me". A bit like Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors
Chicka he he he. Brandy or whiskey usually!
LMH nothing A&E could do. need to just wait and bear the pain It's not so bad unless I run, or sit/lie on it. Fingers crossed I'll hear tomorrow though
You don't need antibiotics? If you have an infection and it's left untreated you risk it getting significantly worse.
chickadee - emzap is spot on, in my case, brandy.
Lyrics? Are you kidding me? Without knowing it, I had got this album out of the cupboard and am playing track 1 as we speak. How about that for coincidence?
Cakes, well, I think that all the bases have been covered so far. However, I do like to try and impress MYSELF by aiming for a perfectly smooth icing whether it be Royal or fondant. The only way to achieve a perfect top coat is to have an almost perfect undercoat. So I don't let the wife do that bit now. Instead she moans at me until I get round to it. Which reminds me, I must plan for this year's design.
I'm glad to hear that there is positive news from many fronts today, and I'd like to be upbeat as well if I may. Undecided on whether to go for a run or a swim or maybe both, I togged up for a run. Just the usual 6.6 miles, and wearing 3 top layers, gloves (and Santa hat) to avoid the 5deg chill. Without actually trying, the miles tabbed themselves out, tick tock, after the first one they started to flow at a consistent rate. I checked the watch and was surprised to see a 7 in the pace window. Does not compute. Halfway lamp post arrives and the time is in the Respectable category. Flow the run home, and the device tells me that my average pace was 7:29m/m, and HR 138. The mile splits were rock solid consistent, with the only variable being HR, which didn't go wandering too much despite the second half being an up grade.
Talk about being in shock!
Blisters co-incidence indeed
LMH Yes I do, but the doc wants to get to the underlying cause before prescribing any as he thinks it's not just bacterial...joy!
Just remembered I hadn't opened my advent calander for 3 days
Lovely to have a run like that Blisters. When you talk about base and top coat are you referring to marzipan and icing or do you do two layers of icing?
Look after yourself then emzap, if you have any advancing signs of infection just take yourself to the hospital, a broad spectrum would do for a start just to try to contain something, obviously a specific antibiotic is better if you can wait without ill effect.
Greetings all,
wow it was cold out there tonight..... brrrrrrr struggling for traction in places
What - 9 very cold club miles
Why - Club Run
Last hard - nearly the fence I was slipping into at one point...
Last Rest - Mon
Lyrics I feel I should but No
Take care
Just work (and baking)
Light covering of snow on ground and freezing again tonight
Firstly cheers for the cake chat when I'm trying to be good.
4 miles tonight @ 7min/mile, Finished in exactly 28mins. Felt like I could have kept going aswell.
Blisters: nice when you get those days where the miles just fly in.
I was gonna go out this evening as have a hectic weekend and wanted to get some miles in, but after taking three and a half hours to get to work instead of less than an hour, I ended up working late to get everything done, and nearly slipping over in tesco's carpark on the way home, decided it wasn't worth the struggle.
Club run tomorrow night, hopefully better conditions and better day at work...
Hope you all had a good day.
Sorry LMH, for not being clear regards the cakes. If you get the marzipan smooth, flat and round, you'll stand a better chance of getting the next layer smooth, flat, round, and of even thickness. Think of it as if you were plastering a wall. You're not going to finish it in one hit, but it makes life hard if you made a mess of the first layer.
If I want a quick yet pretty cake, I'll go for fondant icing. Not ready rolled, but definitely not home made. There's still work to do to get it looking pretty, but once it's on it can be eaten the same day.
For Royal icing I do two layers. It's actually quicker (less slow), as a thin layer dries quickly (1 day). You've also less likelihood of those annoying little bubbles. A good palette knife is essential. As is patience. A turntable is helpful, but an inverted plate works fine.
Imagination is the best bit, and after all is done and dusted, what really matters is how much rum you managed to squeeze into the cake. We usually get half a litre in. Well, it goes somewhere.