In 2009 around the summertime I was messing around on my Twitter account, and I did a search for running. One name stood out: @operationjack. I clicked onto Sam's profile, and noticed a few things. First, some of the people I follow on Twitter were following Sam. And second, he was tweeting a lot about ice cream. I was feeling kind of low about my running on that day, and decided that a runner who fueled on ice cream was exactly who I needed to follow to get me out of my funk. Little did I realise exactly WHO I had started following. Sam Felsenfeld is spending 2010 running 60 marathons to raise awareness and funds for Train 4 Autism, under the banner "Operation Jack". You see, Sam has a son, Jack, who has autism...<< MORE >>

Last week marked my return to cycle commuting. OK, I admit it. I am not a huge fan of: Cycling on ice; Cycling in rain; Cycling in the dark; Cycling in the winter... So I breathed a huge sigh of relief a few weeks ago when I realised that the sun was coming up around 6.30, setting at about 5.30, and that the ice had more or less cleared from the roads. My return to commuting was bred from necessity... << MORE >>

A few weeks ago I participated in the #i8this challenge on Twitter. It was started by Christine Lynch, the Holisticguru, as a way to spur on food awareness of what we are eating, and also to become inspired by what other people were eating. I realised I had some chicken in my fridge that needed cooking, but was lacking inspiration. I asked Christine if she would share with me some of her chicken ideas. The Oatmeal Chicken recipe is a perfect one if you are seeking a fun chicken "snack". We loved it, it was super easy to make, and delicious. << MORE >>

"Make No Mistake, That Body Bag's for You" (PunkRockRacing.com) Ok, that may be a bit of a severe start to my Monday blog. But if there is one thing that I discovered this weekend, my journey is going to be as much about the mental toughness as it is the physical strength. << MORE >>

A few months ago on Twitter, Astrid commented that someone had said that it was easier to use store bought green curry paste for a home cooked curry than to make your own. We both agreed that we completely disagreed with this comment. Making your own green curry paste is not hard. In fact, it is super easy if you have a food processor to hand. Without a food processor you can still do it, but it requires more chopping and a morter / pestle to grind up the ingredients into a good paste... << MORE >>

(I would like to thank Mish at Eating Journey for inspiring me to think about love - she is publishing the extracts of many bloggers Self Love posts during the month of February on her blog - check it out.) I love... << MORE >>

"The best thing that has happened to me is realizing that I can do more than I thought I could." A few weeks ago I quoted Anissa Mayhew in my blog. Anissa is a blogger, a mother, has a wicked sense of humor, and suffered a stroke at the end of 2009. She is slowly making a recovery. Her road is long and hard, but she is doing it. Through hard work, patience, and conviction, she is confounding expectations. On Saturday, albeit of a totally different order of magnitude, I had an Anissa moment. I did more than I thought I could. << MORE >>

Today's recipe is once again from Alicia Ambroso, aka Ali the Runner. I follow Alicia on Twitter, and she is a great source of food inspiration, workout motivation, and old school tunes. She also writes a great blog which is well worth a read. And she's doing a marathon this year for TNT (Leukaemia and Lymphoma) and as you know, anyone who does sport for charity is just top in my books! Alicia shared with us her chicken enchilada recipe in September, and it was a huge hit in my house (we ate it watching football aka soccer). And I can safely report that this recipe for jalapeno quinoa was another hit.<< MORE >>

Today on the way to work I clicked onto a story in the Guardian about Evan Muncie. Evan is a 28 year old rice seller. 27 days ago he was trapped in the market in Port au Prince following the mega-earthquake that struck Haiti. 27 days. Trapped. Alone. Surviving. A miracle. It got me thinking - Evan is probably the last survivor that will be found following the earthquake. A lot of the 24/7 media hoopla has subsided, the amazing stories like this are now most likely over. But for Haiti, the process of rebuidling - from the bottom up - all of its institutions, buildings, governance, law, order - everything - will really only start now. << MORE >>

The weather was so-so this past weekend. I should've gone for the Serpie newbie group cycle, but didn't. I'm starting to feel a bit of pressure. Pressure to spend more time on the bike, and to spend more time on my runs. I'm still a bit gun shy with the runs. I know the focus right now is leg strength, and am in the gym working on this diligently. I have also stepped up my coached sessions from once to twice a month. And I suspect when the weather improves and days are longer I may increase this yet again. But what about the bike? << MORE >>