Tag Archives: health

Aaaand she’s back (with a recipe).

I’m back.

After being a dormant blogger for 3 months, honey I’m home. (Good old Shania, aye)

I’ve failed miserably at blogging so far. I’ve truly been meaning to get back into blogging for a good while, but have managed to find excuse after excuse not to. I was *this* close to starting a new blog entirely…. but I realised that by doing so, I would lose one of the most important things that this blog is to me – an evolution. Being able to look back in time, discovering how I have changed and grown as a person.

Anyway, enough of the deep and meaningful. I just have to share what I made for lunch today – it was delicious! And ever so simple…

fruity spinach salad

Fruity Spinach salad

  • 1 tbsp avocado oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
  • 1 tbsp Red wine vinegar (or you could use balsamic)
  • Quarter of a red onion, finely chopped
  • Cooked Greek-style sausage (but you could use any meat/sausage – bacon, salami, etc), chopped into small chunks
  • 1 cup pumpkin, chopped into small chunks
  • 1 orange, segmented
  • 6 or 7 sundried tomatoes in oil, chopped
  • Baby spinach, mesclun salad, or whatever tickles your fancy
  • Chunk of feta cheese, crumbled
  • Salt

Place pumpkin in a dish with a little water and salt, cover and microwave on high for 2-3 minutes or until soft.

Combine oil, vinegar and red onion with a healthy sprinkle of salt in a large bowl.

Throw in the sausage, pumpkin, orange segments, sundried tomatoes, cooked pumpkin and feta cheese, then toss all together. Finally, mix through a few handfuls of baby spinach and devour!

I was also planning on throwing some avocado into this too, but forgot. Some nuts or seeds would make a great addition for a satisfying crunch!

It took five minutes to make and was as tasty as a salad you’d expect from a cafe. Mmmm!

Xx Christie

My Running Story

As I alluded to in an earlier post, one of my current life goals is to run a marathon. I’m all signed up for the Auckland Marathon in October – there’s no backing out now!

I first got into running 2 years ago, almost to the day. I remember this bizarre feeling, one afternoon I just wanted to go for a run. So off I trotted, and I’ve never looked back!

I entered my first race in November 2009 – the 28th -  it was my 20th birthday. There’s something quite empowering about running a race on your birthday – an intense mixture of birthday excitement and race adrenalin seems to make for a great race!

It was a 10k. I trained hard, putting my little heart and soul into the race and finishing in a proud sub-50 min (49:48!).

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From there, I built up to a couple of half marathons in 2010 – my first: 1:49, and my second: 1:38.

2010 also included a ridiculous running challenge – 9km on an army style course in the middle of winter…the photos just don’t do it justice!

the start

rope

army net!

We felt amazing afterwards…

strong!

…for about a minute – until the adrenaline wore off and the pain set in. I could barely walk for two days!

After the bog challenge I took a bit of an unplanned race hiatus.

But kicked off the racing season this year with a beautiful quarter marathon a few weeks ago.

IMG_0052_2

And now I’m getting excited for all my upcoming races!

Runwalk Auckland events:

  • July 31st  – 21km
  • August 21st – 24km
  • September 11th – 28km
  • October 2nd – 32km (eeeek!)
  • December 4th – 21km

And of course, the big day: Auckland Marathon – 30th October!! Even though its still a long way away, I’m getting nervous!

Do you like to run? What’s your favourite race distance? I love half marathons!

Got any good advice for a marathon newbie?

Xx Christie

My Very First Post

Hi, I’m Christie, and welcome to Springjumps!

Springjumps is a healthy living blog with a broader focus. It’s about wholesome food, exercise, wellbeing, & discovering what is right for me, not for the rest of the world. Although I hope I can share some inspirational & exciting ideas with you along the way!

For a bit about me, head to my about page. Meanwhile, let me start at the beginning.

I’ve been a avid blog reader for about 2 years (time flies!!) & have always since dreamt about starting my own. Unfortunately, I’m also an avid procrastinator, a trait which has forever hindered this from happening! However, it’s time to bite the bullet, I decided, as I’ve been thinking a huge amount lately about what life means to me and how I can make more out of it. My blog is me getting this down on “paper” and doing something about getting there!

While I’m not terribly profound all of the time, I want to explore the way I live my life to make the best of it!

So here I am, love it or leave it.

But why Springjumps, you might ask?

If I’m going to be brutally honest, a springjump is actually a dance move I learnt in ballet class when I was about 7 years old (I didn’t last much longer than that, you wouldn’t either if you had my lack of dance ability)! The good ol’ springjump became one of those awesome inside jokes with my friends.

However, I like the way it sounds, & it strikes a cord with me & where I want to go with my blog, my goals & my life.

It’s the idea of taking bunny hops, or quantum leaps, in the direction of your dreams, “springing” into life. It’s that feeling of excitement, when Summer is just around the corner, the weather’s warming up & life just feels so good. Springjumps is about discovering (& maintaining) that feeling all year round!

I look forward to thriving off other inspirational bloggers (& there are so many of you - Kath, Kailey, Caitlin, Megan, Katy, to name just a few)! I’m very excited to be a part of the blogosphere!

Xx Christie