- Studio Update
- Testimonial of the Month
- Easy Seasonal Recipe: Scottish-style Laksa
- Article of the Month: Why Run?
- And Finally… Coco the Fitness Pug
Hello healthy people,
What an amazing summer it’s been. And although the days are getting shorter, the weather is still remarkably mild. Perfect outdoor exercise weather. If you’re looking to get in shape, I currently have offpeak Personal Training availability (weekday, daytime), all prices can be found on my website.
Also shout out to Kenny at 305 Kitchen, the newest local Leith cafe. Not only does he do a delicious avocado and felafel salad, but also stocks my Healthy Living Yearbook. Pick yours up from 305 Leith Walk.
Testimonial of the Month
I really enjoy putting together programmes for superbusy successful individuals. It’s all about how you fit your fitness into your routine:
“Tracy has been a great trainer for me. She’s listened to my needs and enabled me to feel capable of taking charge of my own fitness. She’s pushed me out of my comfort zone and shown me what I’m capable of. Throughout our training, I’ve learned a real range of possibilities – indoor, outdoor, shorter options etc. There’s no excuse now! :-)” – Jess A, August 2018.
Easy Seasonal Recipe: Scottish-Style Laksa
Every August we have a glut of courgette from the allotment. Every year much of it goes through a spiralizer to make ‘courgetti’ (courgette spaghetti). I’ve often served it pan-fried with red pesto, however this month discovered the joys of serving it raw with a jugful of hot spicy Asian broth to pour over it. I call this Scottish Laksa as it has easy-to-find ingredients, rather than the authentic components. It’s also vegan and gluten-free.
Serves 2
Courgettes, 400g
Lemongrass, 1 stick
Red onion, 1, quartered
Red pepper, 1, roughly chopped
Ginger, 1 Tbsp grated
Garlic, 1 clove chopped
Red chilli, 1, deseeded and chopped
Tamari / Soy sauce, 2 Tbsp (you can use 1 if you’re watching salt levels)
Sesame oil, 1 Tbsp
Limes, 2 juiced, plus lime wedges to serve
Coconut milk, 200mL
Coriander, small handful, chopped
– Spiralize the courgettes on spaghetti setting to make ‘courgetti’. If you don’t have a spiralizer, instead of rushing out and buying one, feel free to borrow the Griffen Fitness spiralizer from the studio. Drop me a line if you’d like to try it out.
– Bash lemongrass with a rolling pin, then roughly chop.
– Pop it in a food processor with onion, red pepper, ginger, garlic and chilli and zizz.
– Transfer to a pan with 300mL water, tamari, sesame oil and lime juice.
– Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes.
– Stir in coconut milk and simmer for another 15 minutes.
– Pour the soup into jug.
– Serve as per photo, with courgetti in a bowl, garnished with coriander leaves and a wedge lime.
– Pour the laksa soup over the courgetti and enjoy!
Article of the Month… Why Run?
There is a general assumption that all runners want to run faster. That the sole purpose of running is to run faster and get more PB’s (personal bests). But why? Sure, speed is one measurable, but what about: quality of experience, consistency of output, and staying injury-free?
There are many reasons to run – to get outdoors, for weight loss, positive mental space, enjoying the afterglow, or even to aid the creative process (check out Haruki Murikami’s memoir ‘What I Talk About When I Talk About Running’). It really doesn’t matter why you do it. As long as you just do it.
Another fascinating read is Lisa Jackson’s ‘Your Pace or Mine: What Running Taught Me About Life, Laughter and Coming Last’. The author is a steady plodder of marathons, near the back of the field, usually in fancy dress. The uniqueness of her story is that she chooses to stay near the back – the quality of the conversation is better. So I decided to do the recent 15 mile (24km) Urban Rush event as a volunteer coach with a big bag of gummy sweets onboard. I lead the aerobic warm-up for the assembled group at the start, then enjoyed an hour of leisurely jogging and chatting to a couple of ladies, before I came across a younger runner walking. She’d never run more than 6 miles (10km) and couldn’t keep up with her friend who was running faster. So I offered to join her and we spent the next hour and a half chatting and eating gummy sweets. It helped that I knew the route and could guide her with where the hills were. We had a really lovely conversation, she couldn’t do as much training as she hoped as her Mum was seriously unwell. It’s amazing what you can end up blethering about when you’re jogging. We discussed the scenery, the environment, vegetarianism and then in the final couple of miles, what we were going to eat for lunch. I was proud to get her home running, and yes, there was a sprint finish.
To be honest, it was one of my favourite races of the last decade. Instead of focusing on speed, I had other priorities. It just proves I’m born to help other people run, and that it’s not all about speed. Run and enjoy it!
And Finally… Coco the Fitness Pug
The therapeutic value of dogs is becoming more widely understood, and Coco is certainly an excellent little Therapy dog. She’s a qualified Therapet and we visit Findlay House, a NHS home in Seafield. She also sits in most PT sessions and many people have commented on how her snoozing in the corner of the fitness studio puts them at ease. You can find lots of photos of her online on Instagram, Twitter, and now Facebook. Woof!
Have a happy and healthy September,
Tracy 🙂