Fraser Cartmell Ironman triathlete » Food

Arran adventures

Fraser — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:21:51 +0000

Honestly – I promise, I am still here. Still alive, and still kicking. Excuses to hand, let me get them out of the way …. we moved house, the internet was up, then down, an now up again – for now at least. But at the weekend Ali and I headed overseas – aboard the ferry to the Isle of Arran! I loved it, and so did the Trek

we even made it to the beach...

So Friday we ’sailed’ across, drove scenically through the middle of the Island and finished off the evening with Shepherds Pie – one of my all time favourites that reminds me of home cooking from mum as a kid. Delighted.
Saturday was spent circum-navigating the whole of Arran – keep the sea to your right and keep going! Now, in a highly useful fashion, the loop of the Isle happens to be exactly 90k … but a helluva hilly loop may I add! The sun was out and the wind not quite at Gale Force 9 – with a midway stop for the obligatory Coke&Mars (is it just me or do they not seem so much smaller than they did ‘back in the day’?). All good.

Sunday provided more of a ‘Scottish’ feel as we pedalled away from the house – mist/drizzle/chilly, but it quickly subsided, and my new phrase for the w/e seemed to ring true – ‘wet before seven, dry by eleven’. A run off the bike along the beach rounded off a nice wee break. (Note lack of swim – but there were purple jellyfish, and as a rule I don’t do stingy/squidgy/wriggly things!)

who needs 'abroad' when Scotland looks like this??

So training for me is being wound down. The w/e was the end of another nice little block of work that kicked off again after I raced in Kent – now it’s a few days till UK Ironman 70.3 and I’m getting excited about all systems being go for that.

I’ll report back before we fly down on Friday morning … but for now it’s bedtime – I turn 28 in half an hour

A week in the Aguilas sunshine

Fraser — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:34:28 +0000

I’m back! – Home AND writing something on my wesbite …. apologies for such a time lag in the updates. No excuses, but I just got home this morning to the, ahem shall we say, not so sunny Shire. However, it is not bothering me, as we just had 8 cracking days of sunshine back in my old haunt of Aguilas. – Ali and I both wanted to grab some good training whilst the forcast was for ‘les miserables’ en Ecosse, plus it was Easter and the clocks were springing forward; lets go we said! There is also nothing better than getting away for sunshine and learning that the weather at home was terrible

Evening meal Argentinian-style in Spain …. deffinately one of my favourites

We sampled some great food and wine most evenings, and on this occasion it was at ’The Argentinian’ (could you tell from the menu’s? – possibly the best memorbilia-clad restuarant i have ever been to … can you spot the armidillo guitar?!) along with some chick called Chrissie who does Ironman (we picked her brains about Kona she gave us a signed picture) and Tom who were also training in town, and Pedro who is the resident - and only - Ironman athlete in Auguilas with Mabel his partner. We had a lovely evening with some great steaks to round it off!!

All in it was a great week away. The weather was more than kind, the training was just what I needed to get me back into the routine that I had slipped out of after recovering from Abu Dhabi. – The pool was as quiet as it has always been for the last 8 years (same German couple breastroking up and down too I swear!), the roads were as smooth as I remember and the promenade still full of bustling little cafes for post training coffee drinking. We enjoyed ourselves!

I have a lot of things to catch up with on the site – I will update through the week with more posts on up coming races and an exciting new partnership with a sports management company – www.wattieink.com

Meanwhile I had better get outside and go for a run before the rain comes in with avengence – it’s good to be home.

The last week here

Fraser — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 07:15:48 +0000

Well I didn’t do as I said I would – and get a post up on Sunday about the week that was … and here we are on Wednesday already. Time seems to fly by, but that is no excuse. Here are some of the things I have been up to;

A run with the boys – Tim, myself, Gavin and Toby – on Sunday morning

I am down to the last 2 sleeps in Stellenbosch before flying home, which makes for mixed feelings – obviously I am really looking forward to getting home and seeing everyone, I can’t wait, BUT watching the tv describe the cold weather that is returning to Scotland doesn’t excite me!

To counter the cold weather I have been focussing on my bike riding, since I doubt I will be riding the bike outside when I am home next week. So last week I basically rode everyday other than Sunday, where I ran longer with the boys (see above pic)

Monday – 100ks, Tuesday – 135ks, Wednesday – 150ks, Thursday – 45ks easy, Friday – 100ks, Saturday – 135ks

This week has been the same format – 100ks and 135ks already, but today might only be 100 (slacking!). On Monday we had a ‘team’ dinner – myself, Gavin, Dan, Conrad and Nikola, who builds and maintains our sites. Thankyou! Toby also came along too – he has been my superb training buddy these past few weeks out here, which has really helped the training along.

I like this photo – we had a nice night.

I decided to be good to myself – mojito AND marshmallows (there was even a fire to melt them on!) A strange mix, but one I enjoyed

See you all soon, Frase

Saturday in the ‘Bosch

Fraser — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 08:28:56 +0000

It’s been a week already since the 70.3 last weekend; how the time has flown by. I’ve been keeping myself to myself here in Stellenbosch since my wingman – Toby - has been missing in action whilst spending some time with his lovely fiancee. I’ll let him off!

So I have been having some nice food, getting the training routine kicked back into gear and marvelling at the sights of Freshers week here in Stellenbosch – it’s mad let me tell you. Simply mad!

Breakfast after a 6am 70k ride yesterday. – French toast: A-mazing!

After the aforementioned tasty breaky, I watched the ‘floats’ pass through town centre. Every year the first years have to ‘build’ a float according to their ‘res’ or as we know them – halls of residence. These are no ordinary floats let me tell you!! – There is a serious quantity of chicken wire, welding equipment, crinkly coloured paper and polystyrene goes into making these outfits wrap around a truck! Seriously impressive – and it is all in the name of charity. The whole town comes out to watch and there is totaly choas and traffic meltdown. Nobody seems to care though, which is all really different to what we get used to at home. Some pics for you -

Next week will be a big build week on the bike for me. I am going to start getting ready for my next race, which will certainly be a challenge; but one I am really getting quite excited about. More on that later though!

Have a good w/e!

Frase

Happy New Year 2010!

Fraser — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 12:09:02 +0000

Last night I had a very African experience – both culinary and cultural – whilst taking in the New Year. We had a large group meal at Moya, organised by Tim as an extension of their wedding celebrations. It was a lot of fun, and a very memorable and relaxed way to wind up 2009. I am usually a subscriber to the ‘it’s just another night’ train of thought, however I can happily say I would do that all over again anytime. I hope you all enjoyed your Hogmany too, and the best of wishes for the year ahead. Cheers!

Myself and Christoph Sauser (swiss mountain biking guru) borrowed some funky head gear for meal time!

Face painting was a given …. I look a little apprehensive for some reason?

Myself and the new happy couple – it’s been such a good week hanging out with all their celebrations and I can’t thank them enough for all the fun times.

As the eyes became droopy and midnight approached Tim’s mum, myself, Izzy (Kelly’s adorable 5yr old niece) and Nick retired to the super comfy outdoor sofa’s avec super soft blanky’s!

The day after

Fraser — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:32:18 +0000

I’ll take some inspiration from Conrad here after his own World Championship experiences last month – sometimes you give you’re all and it’s just not enough. I’ll write more about my thoughts on the race soon, probably once I am home in Stirling.

However, for this evening at least, where there might not be a top ten performance, there IS an ‘elephant ear’ to gobble down: the race is over, therefore any deep fried and sugary treat is fair game!

And yes, I’m not ashamed to admit it. I ate it all. After a half rack of ribs. – We visited ‘RIBFEST’ downtown tonight.

getting to the line ……

….and crossing it.

Lunch with ‘The Ox’ (aka Nick)

Fraser — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:25:05 +0000

Nick Saunders has been in town a couple weeks … me just about one. He is staying down on the coast in Cardiff (slightly prettier than the Welsh version in my opinion) so we are a little too far apart to manage any coordinated training together. However, that didn’t stop us managing to sit down for some good ‘ol US grub; pancakes (me) and burger (him) this avo after I had been for a swim at the Masters session in Encinitas (that was the 2nd swim in 3 days where I had a Kona Champion swimming alongside …. it’s mad around here).

They call the pancake a ‘manhole cover’ (can’t think why?), and yes, I ate it all. Probably should swim another 5k now!

Nick is training for IM Florida in 3 weeks time, and we haven’t seen each other since we were both in Stellenbosch in the winter. Since then he has been in a car crash, a bike crash (where a broken collarbone ensued!) and become a married man. Needless to say there was plenty to talk about!

Lunch today was….

Fraser — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:10:54 +0000

….Pancakes.

It would be safe to say that they rank up there in my top five favourite foods, I just try not to eat them too often, for I know I will end up wanting them everyday – especially here in the States. I’d just tucked away a solid 5k swim with the masters swim squad in Enchinitas (1K band only!! into a 3K main set with lots of hard 300s and 200s), and I had an hour to while away waiting for a man about a bike. So the perhaps-not-so-aptly-named Potato Shack around the corner had my name all over it!

and they gave me a small blueberry one??

I don’t plan on eating anytime soon thats for sure.

defeated!