Tag Archives: strength training

Something to show

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day folks!

Another morning of little to say, but I happen to think my dinner from last night was quite gorgeous so I’ve got something to show.

Look at the GREEN! Very appropriate for today’s holiday. Just a simple spinach salad with garbanzos and hot sauce.

I also had the rest of my sweet potato from Tuesday night.

I like to eat a lot of sweet potatoes when I’m running more, because they contain manganese and copper, which are important minerals for muscle function. It’s probably just a placebo, but I feel like I’m doing good for my body and I like it.

Speaking of running, I must admit that 10-miler might not have been the smartest idea less than a week from my race.

My legs and knees have not been happy with me this week. I think running the distance would have been fine, but I should have gone a bit slower. Oh well – coulda woulda shoulda.

So last night I just took it easy on the elliptical to work out the soreness. No Body Pump – my calves and shins weren’t having it.

Sad, because who knows if I’ll be able to afford a gym and body pump when I move. Hopefully I’ll be able to go more after the half is over. I’m going to miss it.

Body Pump is really the only way I can force myself to do strength training. I gravitate to cardio because I can zone out and get good thinking done while I’m doing it. I like to plan my outfit for the next day, think of things to add to my grocery list, decide what I’m going to have for dinner – that sort of thing.

With strength training, you actually have to focus on the moves to make sure you don’t drop weights on your foot or something, which eliminates the ability to multi-task.

Which do you like better – cardio or strength training?

What kinds of ST do you do?

Getting the hang of it

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Hey guys! Just checking in. It’s been a great Saturday. Nothing exciting at all, but there is something to be said for escaping the office and changing up the daily routine a bit.

I did have a 5 turned 6 hour shift at the running store, but that kind of work is a stress reliever. You already know that I love to talk about running, and getting paid for it is pretty great.

The only negative was that I didn’t have any groceries this morning, so I went the entire 6 hours without eating. When I got off I was starving, and had to hit up the grocery store.

cheap meal

This meal was a bargain on a plate, brought to you by:

I think I’m getting the hang of this budget thing. Sort of.

Another thing I’m sort of getting the hang of is strength training. I used to depend solely on Body Pump for all of my weight lifting needs, and when it didn’t fit into my schedule I just skipped it.

Then I ran across this workout from Cardio Pizza and thought, “I can do that!” So I did. It was a great workout, highly recommended.

I also would like to mention that I squeezed in a 4 mile run in under 40 minutes Friday evening, which was freaking fantastic!

Now I’m off to enjoy the rest of this break. I hope y’all are doing the same!

What have you gotten the hang of lately?

Any great strength training workouts to share?

Clearance beans

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I am one tired cookie this morning. Yesterday was a day of tests. I will be completely honest and say that for most of the day at work I felt very defeated and overwhelmed.

By the time I left to go to my facial I was nearly in tears, but thankfully spending an hour getting pampered alleviated my stress somewhat.

I felt renewed enough to head to the gym and kick ass at a workout. Sometimes when it feels like you can’t control anything, there is nothing more satisfying than a good, sweaty run.

I had actually planned to do 5 or 6 miles, but found out that my Dad is coming to see me tonight (yay!) so I wanted to get in tomorrow’s strength training as well.

I hopped on the treadmill and decided to run a “fast” 3-miler. For me, fast means a sub 10 min/mile pace. I’m hoping to get faster someday, but right now it is what it is. I busted out the 3 miles in 29 minutes and felt victorious.

Then I headed downstairs to Body Pump, which was a new release and very challenging.

As I left the gym, dripping in sweat and looking like a drowned rat, I felt much better.

Better, but starving. After showering I knew I needed to get food into my facehole (which is almost healed by the way!) as soon as possible.

reduced sodium garbanzo beans

These clearance garbanzo beans have been sitting in my pantry for many months. I’m a sucker for a clearance deal, but after purchasing them I feared they might be funky.

Last night, I took the risk. They tasted just like full-priced beans to me! I rinsed them thoroughly and stuck them on top of some spinach along with some corn and Kefir Caesar dressing.

spinach corn and chickpea salad

Random dining at its finest. This was actually really good. I may have added some cheese and hot sauce to the mix post-photo.

spinach corn and chickpea salad

Devoured.

It was much later than I was used to (I had to go to the late Body Pump) and I had a ton to do around the apartment, so a 6-minute Meal was the perfect solution.

I rushed around trying to get everything done and then hopped into bed by 9:45 so I could get up at 4:26 this morning to head back to the gym for cross training.

I’ve really noticed a huge difference in my endurance during this round of training and I think it’s due to the larger amounts of low impact cardio and strength training I’m incorporating in with my running.

I haven’t felt as fatigued from the training and I don’t feel burnt out, which is usually the case by this point.

I ellipticalled for 3 miles, which served nicely in loosening up my tight leg muscles.

Honestly, I don’t like morning workouts. I hate getting up that early and I always feel tired throughout the day. But… I’m glad it’s over and now I can focus on a night with my family. I need it.

Holy ramble today. I’ve had more caffeine than usual. I guess we’ll blame that.

Morning workouts: love ‘em or hate ‘em?

If you run, what are your tips for increasing speed?

5 Happy Things

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Guys, the support you are demonstrating for my depression series is perhaps one of the most amazing things ever.

Thanks for reading such melancholy posts. I promise the story will end happily.

I’ve learned so much in the past 6 (or really, 24) years, and I’m ecstatic that I’m finally in a strong enough place to be able to share my experiences.

To each of you who have commented, tweeted or emailed to say that you relate – thank you for your thoughts and please know that life is beautiful and things will get better.

I’m pretty dang happy about a lot of things lately and I wanted to break up the somberness that is my blog this week with a quick post about 5 things that are making me happy right now.

1. The smell of fall.

[source]

I am a self-proclaimed Fall hater. I love all things summer and sun. I don’t like pumpkin. I’m not a huge fan of the holidays. I’m a grump if the temps drop below 50 during the day. You get the picture.

But the smell of Fall is just… glorious. Every time I walk outside I can’t help but smile. The air is so crisp and fragrant. It just smells happy outside. I love it.

2. Realizing with shock and delight that I have an upcoming 3-day weekend!

[source]

Monday is Columbus Day, and although I still find it disturbing that we still celebrate such a villanous character in this country (seriously, what IS that about?!), I’ll take the day off work.

This will make it much easier for me to catch up on running, sleeping, yogaing and TV watching this weekend. But I do not celebrate you Christopher Columbus.

3. Spontaneity.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m far too uptight. My dad and stepmom are in town tonight and I almost turned down a chance to go for dinner and drinks with them because of my scheduled run + Body Pump workout tonight.

Then I thought, What the hell am I doing? Is a workout really that much more important than family? Absolutely not!

Side note: Yes, I’m referring to the same dad as you’ve been reading about in the depression posts. We’re all better now. :) With time and forgiveness, things can always change for the better.

4. Shedding unnecessary burdens.

In an effort to make #3 possible, I’ve decided that I have to bid a temporary adieu to Body Pump.

I love the class, but the times it’s available at my gym just don’t meld well with my training schedule. Running 8-10 miles and then doing Body Pump is just too much strain on the body anyways, in my opinion.

So… I’ve stopped worrying about it and will just begin doing strength training on my own time.

I’ll definitely be returning to the class after the marathon though, and if it randomly fits into my schedule. It’s just too much fun!

5. New possibilities.

I’ve mentioned a few times that I’ve been job searching lately. Nothing has come of it yet, but for the first time in a long time I really do feel positive that I’ll find my place sooner rather than later.

I’m finally in the right mindset. I know that I’m worthy and capable of better things, I just have to fight for them!

Other than that, there are some other new things in my life that I’m enjoying. I’ll just leave it at that ;)

What are your 5 Happy Things?

Goals in action

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Hello! It’s the weekend again! I’m so glad I only had three days to get through this week, because I have been so worn out from my vacation.

I haven’t been documenting my food too much lately, but I did have a wonderful sandwich for lunch today.

It was just half an avocado, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, and freshly ground pepper on two slices of nutty bread. Simple and a good source of protein, whole grains and healthy fats and delicious.

So, I’ve been so busy rambling about the past (New Year’s Eve and my vacation) that I haven’t really been talking about what’s going on in the present. Not that there’s anything too exciting to report, haha.

But the one thing I’ve been really focusing on is making sure I follow my New Year’s Resolution by continually challenging myself.

I’ve already started challenging myself as far as my workouts go by doing several things:

  • Working out longer each night when I work out at home. I’ve only been back for two nights, but I’ve put in a solid hour of exercise both nights. I used to only average about 45 minutes. Wednesday night I did a full body strength training session and yesterday I did a 45 minute cardio DVD and 20 minutes of yoga.
  • Adding variety to my workouts. I started doing this with the ST on Wednesday, which I usually really skimp on. I am loosely following Jessica’s No More Resolutions plan to make sure there is a lot of variety in what I’m doing. I inted to do: 1 full body ST, 1 upper body ST, 1 lower body ST, 2 yoga sessions and at least 4 days of cardio. The ST sessions will hopefully be different every time and the cardio will take on many forms. This will be a huge challenge for me because I have pretty much married the elliptical and consider any other form of cardio to be adultery. This must stop!
  • Getting back on the running horse. Okay, I haven’t done this one yet. But I did spend an hour yesterday adding all my planned runs into my Google calendar. That counts right? I am buying new running shoes tonight because my old ones kill my ankles, and I’m going to start running again next week. I’m really nervous about it because I am a terrible runner, but I love the feeling I get after finishing a good run.
  • Joining a gym. I know I said I wasn’t going to, but I think I found one that’s a really great fit for me, so I’m going to probably sign up there on Saturday. They have a lot of great classes that I’m really going to challenge myself to try out. I’m also going to start writing down the strength workouts I plan to do and taking them with me and forcing myself to get over my insecurities and pump that iron!

I’m not really doing any of these things specifically to lose weight, although that would be a nice bonus. I simply want to change up my workout routine because I love the feeling of accomplishing something new and different that I didn’t know I was capable of.

2010 is all about going above and beyond where I was in 2009 for me. Last year I made the big step to start working out again after several months of being inactive (I’ve always been a bit of a gym rat so that was a long time for me), but I never really did anything besides the elliptical, light running and yoga. I want to really take it to the next level from what I’m comfortable doing! I’ll be sure to keep you all updated with the progress :)

I’ve been working on challenging myself in other ways too, but I think I’ve rambled on long enough.

Oh wait, no I haven’t! I was recently given a blog award from two wonderful bloggers, Lisa from I’m an Okie and Angie from Caffeinated Cardio. Thanks girls!

So now I get to tell you 7 things you don’t know about me! I’ve done this once before, so I hope I don’t repeat anything.

1. I am really self conscious about my large rib cage. I try to act like I’m not, but I am. I guess it could be worse though, at least there are lungs in there ;)

2. I get a little anxious around balls. Get your minds out of the gutter! I mean basketballs, baseballs, soccer balls, etc. I can throw a football okay and I can play golf but I’m hopeless at any other sport involving balls.

3. I still have a Little Mermaid themed comfortor from when I was little and I use it as sort of an adult security blanket. Any time I can’t sleep or I’m feeling down I get it out and curl up in it. It has healing powers! My old roommate even recognized it’s wonder.

4. It gives me serious heeby jeebies to be in the same room with a flushing toilet unless the seat is down. I can’t stand it.

5. I’m incredibly awkward at talking on the phone. When I start dating someone they always think I don’t like them because of the way I act on the phone. I envy people who can talk for hours without ever running out of things to say.

6. I’ve never broken a bone and the most gruesome injury I’ve ever had to endure was my left ear piercing splitting all the way through when I was in 3rd grade.

7. I only have two cousins. I’ve always wished I had a bigger family and hope I marry someone with a lot of siblings and cousins.

Okay, now that you’re aware of how strange/nerdy/unathletic I am I challenge you to:

Tell me one random thing about you.

Tell me one blog you’re really into right now.

Have a good weekend everybody! I get internets at my apartment tomorrow so I’ll be around this weekend, woo hoo!

Five Days of Oats: Day 1

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First off, I have to say that I HEART award shows and all the awkwardness that comes with them, and rigged or not, last night’s VMA’s were thoroughly entertaining. And the best part? I never saw Miley Cyrus once! I needed a break from that bidness after her pole dancing faux paus at the Teen Choice Awards.

Moving on… It’s Monday morning and once again I’m not in total loathing of my life. I love going away for the weekend, but when I stay home it makes the transition back to work so much easier.

I got up this a.m. and did the Jackie Warner upper body workout again. I’m going to try to do one segment every morning this week before I have to return it to the library.

I think I’m going to try to focus on keeping my workouts fresh from now on. A little less focus on running and a little more focus on strength training. I love running, but I hate being in so much pain so I’m going to go really slow until time to start training for the big races I want to do next April.

I broke my fast the usual way this morning, nothing new to report. Work was quiet today, lots of people out of the office. So I was productive and the morning passed by without incident.

It was another rainy day here in Okie-land and it was actually quite chilly out of doors, so for lunch I turned to a bowl of comforting oats.

DSC_0199

This is my go-to oat recipe – super simple. I just stir in pb and add a banana plus some kind of berry. It’s basic but the flavors are spot on and I love them.

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And of course, it’s always better all mixed up and de-beautified.

In fact, I enjoyed these oats so much that I decided I’m going to have oats every day for lunch this week – but a different way each time. I need to try some of those delicious recipes I always see floating around the blog world.

And since I’m trying to save money, it will allow me to have variety in my meals without using up all my food! I’m really excited about this – I love trying new things.

Now it’s back to work with a full and happy belly!

What is your favorite way to enjoy oatmeal?

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work we go

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Sorry for not posting last night. My camera went nuts again and my pictures were nonexistent. It sucks because I have no idea when it’s going to happen. I might need to take it to the doctor.

Yesterday was a pretty laid back day. I went on two walks, one was a little over and hour and the other was around 30 minutes. Other than that I was pretty darn lazy.

This morning I woke up and did my strength training with some extra cardio intervals thrown in. It was a nice, quick workout and it got my energy levels up, which is always good.

Breakfast this morning was the usual, but since I can’t post at lunch today I snapped a picture of it. It’s thrilling, I know.

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Green monster, Organic Fair Trade coffee

Lunch for today will be this very unphotogenic black bean and couscous salad. Other than the obvious, it also contains some feta cheese, heirloom tomatoes, and red wine vinegar. I had some for dinner last night and it was yummy.

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Ugly salad that tastes yummy.

I also brought an apple for dessert. I think it’s a Braeburn? Not really sure though. It’s been hiding out in my crisper for a few weeks now.

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Pretty apple that makes my hand look freakishly large in comparison.

I was kind of glad to be back to work today. I am supposed to have a performance review today, which I am excited about. I like hearing feedback from my employers.

Have you heard about Utah’s 4 day workweek experiment? I can’t decide if a 4-day week would be something I would enjoy or not. I mean, of course I would love the extra day off, but working 10 hours would mean not being able to get home before the sun was setting. I like to workout in the afternoons, so that might be a problem for me.

What do you think? Is working 10 hour days worth the extra day off? Does your work currently do something like this?