Where's the Beach?

Running & Stepping Therapy  I almost have no words to describe how beat I am. I was at work by 6:45 am (yep you read that right) and going non-stop. I did step out for my break at 10:45 though. I just had to get away. I decided to get in a run. It was much needed and turned out to be a really great run actually. It was a bit warmer than I had hoped for (closer to 80 degrees), but the humidity was fairly low and there was a breeze when I started (it did start to become more of a head wind by the end though). My legs fully cooperated today. My hamstring and hip flexors never felt tight. If I had not had to get back to work, I would have kept going. But, I was only able to squeeze in a little over 30 minutes. It was just the release I needed to get me back on track for the rest of the insane day. There really isn't much that tops a great workout to release some energy or stress. I really had hoped to do another short 20-25 minute workout when I got home. I ended up working

Back & Chest (no cardio) Today has been beyond hectic for me at work. I have a mandated deadline for a site to be updated and live Friday morning. Tons of last minute changes and corrections. I didn't get a break until 1 pm (got to work at 7 am). I went home and hit the weights to sort of decompress. I did back and biceps today using the pyramid method for a super set of of back and super set of biceps then a super set of 3x8 for back and biceps. For the pyramids you start with your lightest weight at 12 reps, increase weight and decrease reps to 10, increase weight, decrease reps to 8, then move back up by decreasing weight and increasing reps to 10, decrease weight and increase reps to 12. Pyramid SS#1 Pullovers into Double-arm rows Pyramid SS#2 Biceps curls into Hammer curls SS#3 Underhand rows Alternating biceps curls SS#4 2x16 Lat band pull downs Lower back extensions on stability ball Happy For Fast Dinner I had thought we would be going to spin class

Festively Fall Win So, I had wanted to share this yesterday, but internet issues prevented that. Yesterday I came home to a super fantastic giveaway package waiting for me. I recently won a set of Festively Fall note cards from Lisa @ I'm an Okie . I tried to take a picture, but it doesn't do the cards justice, so I'm not even going to post it. But they're gorgeous fall-inspired pictures. Her mom sells these amazing note card sets, and I finally won! I already know who will get the first one. You really should check out the cards at Card Talk if you have a chance. This morning started off super chilly again at only 53 degrees. I know that's not cold for some, but for me...brrrrr. I pretty much don't like anything below 75 degrees. I am a total wimp. I am usually one of the first people to start wearing a coat, not even a light jacket mind you. I cannot stand to be cold except for when I sleep. How are you with the weather? Do you prefer warm or cold cl

Sorry for the delayed Monday post. Comcast went down right before I was ready to submit. Our internet has been really effing up a lot lately, but this was the really annoying and ill timed. It was still out before I went to sleep around 9:15. Gotta love technology right?   Soup on Sunday Well, yesterday the temps just steadily continued to inch down. We ended up having soup for dinner while watching The Book of Eli, which I thought was really pretty good. Though, I will admit to taking several breaks to get the soup started and check on it. I have such a hard time sitting all the way through a movie. We weren't just starved because of our late pizza lunch, so I thought I'd make a lighter type of soup (as in more broth). I opted for a Vegetable and Chikn' Seitan Soup . Vegetable and Chikn' Seitan Soup Ingredients: 1/2 white onion, diced 3-4 carrots, diced 1 tbsp minced garlic 1 small zucchini, diced 1 small to medium yellow squash, diced 1 can cannellini bean

First Chili of the Season Yesterday Jason had his heart set on chili for dinner. Even though it was still around 80 degrees by 6:30, I did indeed make chili. It was the first chili of the season, and it was sooooo good. I have really missed chili over the hot summer. Jason picked up some locally made dried chipotle peppers - um, hot hot hot, but oh so good. I decided to make a Chipotle Chili . Rather than using chipotle in adobe like I have previously, I used the dried chipotles.   This is definitely not for those who can't take the heat. We topped it with Daiya Vegan Cheddar. Another option would be sour cream or Greek yogurt. Leg Day This morning I took my time getting around to my workouts. It's so rare that I allow myself to just sit and relax. I typically hit the ground running (almost literally). After my typical oatmeal breakfast, I sat and watched a bit of Food Network. It's been ages since I have sat and watched it. I've gotten rather annoyed with all the

Friday Revisited  So I want to make sure you're seated before you continue reading. Yes, I know you're likely on your computer and are already sitting, but play along for dramatics please. Ok, here it goes, there was no Pizza Friday. Gasp. Don't worry, I'm not ill. I just wanted a change. Our pantry is still low (yes, very lazy and not going to the grocery store), so the pizza was going to be a bit skimpy. Also, I was recently inspired by Dawn @ Florida Coastal Cooking when she made Eggplant with Caramelized Balsamic Reduction and White Wine . So, last night we had Red Bean & Lentil Burgers with Balsamic Eggplant and Onions with baked sweet potato fries. Balsamic Eggplant & Onions Ingredients: 1/4-1/2 red onion, thinly sliced (white would have been preferable) 1/2 Japanese eggplant, thinly sliced (or 1 small) Balsamic vinegar To taste: salt, black pepper, parsley Directions: In skillet, lightly saute onions then add in eggplant and enough balsamic

Working out After Sleepless Night  Ugh, last night I slept terribly for multiple reasons. I woke up around 12-ish and didn't fall asleep again until close to 3, then up at 4:50. I seriously have to find a new pillow this weekend. I keep trying to find one around the house that will work, but I'm spending my nights fighting with the stupid pillows and being uncomfortable. Also, dear sweet Madeline decide to eat her bed in her kennel. That dog will eat anything - no lie. So for whatever reason last night, she decided to treat the bed as a giant stuffy chew toy. And of course I could hear this commotion. GRRRRR. Anyway, I did reset the alarm, but since I wasn't sleeping, I just when ahead and got up to get my workout done. I started off with Cathe Friedrich's Cardio Fusion . I only did about 30 minutes of it before moving on to weights and abs. I know I've said it a million times, so before I get called out - yes, I recommend doing weights before cardio. However,

Not Friday Huh? I know I sound like a broken record, but I've been super busy at work. It does make the time go by quickly that's for sure. I actually don't mind busy. I prefer that to having nothing to do at all. But right now I have everything to do all at once. I don't feel like I have enough time in the day to get everything done. I try really hard not to bring work home with me - not just physically but the emotional parts too. I have some extremely tight (mandated) deadlines, so it is hard not to bring a bit of that stress home with me though. While I'm not sitting at home thinking about the projects, I feel like the stress is still on me somehow - does that make sense? Are you good at completely leaving work at the office? How do you shake off the stress? Thursday Rest Day & Fun Gift Package Today I decided to take a rest day. My legs, surprisingly enough, feel fine today. I thought that I would be crippled after that spin class. It must have been

Hitting the Gym on Hump Day Wow, so today was another super busy and hectic day for me at work. I did at least leave for a lunch break. Jason and I had some errands to run. It was nice to get out of the building and see sunshine. We've been enjoying going to the Wednesday night Group Ride (spin) class together, so that was the plan for today. After work, I walked over to the gym and did about 10 minutes on the treadmill to warm up then I did biceps and back. I was excited to do back at the gym because I could do chin ups for a change. They lie when they say those pull up bars fit all doorways. Anyway, I supersetted the workout doing 3 sets of 8 reps. SS#1 Hammer curls Single-arm rows SS#2 Alternating curls Pullovers SS#3 Cross-body curls - 3x10 Wide-grip chin ups (assisted) - 5,4,5 1 set of 21's for biceps curls 1 set of 12 reps for double-arm rows My back and biceps workout felt really good. It was a nice change adding in the chin ups. After the weight work

Trying New Workout = Fail Today was super busy at work. I have some seriously tight deadlines - as in MUST go live effective 10/1/10. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. I ended up working through lunch and leaving around 3. I was really on the fence about working out. I had no idea what I wanted to do. My legs are still talking to me, so I knew it couldn't be anything over the top. I good friend had been doing P90X, and I have heard so much about the cardio, including the Kenpo workout. He let me borrow it to see if I would like it. I thought I might try that one today rather than a step or plyo type workout. Ok, seriously, the intensity level on that is just nil. I was really terribly unimpressed. Even with weighted gloves on, my heart rate hovered at 120-ish. I finally got pretty fed up and stopped after about 15 minutes. It felt like such a waste of time. So, moving on, I ended up doing 3 combos and blasts from Cathe's Low Impact Circuit then 1 combo from her Step Blast

Major DOMS Man Monday came around far too quickly in my opinion. I doubt many will disagree. Jason's alarm went off at 5 am for swim. I was snoozing so good too. Did I get up? Oh heck no, rolled over and crashed hard until my alarm went off at 6:23. I have some serious DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) going on from my leg workout yesterday . It was not fun getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Made me think long and hard about how badly I really needed to go ;-) I wasn't sure if today was going to end up being a rest day for me actually. Just couldn't think of anything I could do that wouldn't kill my legs any more. But, I do know that sometimes it's really helpful to get them moving and loosened up. I ended up doing shoulders and MMA Boxing at lunch. I seriously didn't think I could handle a step workout safely, and running was out of the question as the temps were due to hit close to 100 again today. Who said summer was over? I

Mexican Birthday Dinner Well, last night Jason was wanting some sort of Mexican meal for his birthday dinner. Originally, I was going to make quesadillas. But then I decided I did not want to stand over the stove browning them up and all that. We had some leftover Spicy Black Bean Hummus , so I thought about burritos perhaps. My friend Alicia's hubby had requested enchiladas (you must check out her recipe ), so I piggy-backed off of her dinner plans. I thought about calling the dish "The Whole Enchilada" but then figured I'd never remember what was in it. So we'll go with Chipotle Black Bean, Chikn' & Veggies Enchiladas . Chipotle Black Bean, Chikn' & Veggies Enchiladas Ingredients: Filling 1/2 recipe for Spicy Black Bean Hummus (or 1 can black beans spiced as you like) 1/4 red onion 1/2 green bell pepper, small dice 1/4 red bell pepper, small dice 1/2 squash, small dice 1/2 zucchini, small dice 1-2 tbsp minced garlic Chikn' seita

Pizza Surprise Ok, so you already know that last night was Pizza & Pool Friday. But I did something different with the crust that I am really happy about. I randomly decided to add in 2 tsp of nutritional yeast flakes. I was thinking of adding only for taste. What I failed to think about was that it's yeast (duh) so it made the dough rise even more - but this was perfect. The crust turned out super soft. While we liked the recipe as it was just fine, I think adding the nutritional yeast flakes gives me a second option for the crust. Now I have one slightly thinner, firmer and one thicker, fluffier. YUM. Running in My New Kicks Yesterday Jason and I went to one of the running stores so I could get some new shoes. Mine previous shoes were 5 months old, but already causing serious feet and knee pain. I was starting to have IT band problems even, and that's an injury I've never dealt with. I had them check my running gait again in case I was starting to pronate (another

Friday Kickboxing This morning I managed to get up and get in a workout. It was too dark to head out for a run (and I'm too lazy to drive to the gym at 5:30 am), so I opted for Cathe's MMA Kickboxing DVD. I followed it up with a few glute exercises like weighted donkey kicks, roll-ins and froggy lifts (technical term) on the ball. I had wanted to do chest today, but just didn't have it in me that early. I can just put that off until tomorrow. Friday Ramblings Speaking of tomorrow, it's Jason's birthday. There's also an Arkansas game on tv, so you know that's what tomorrow will revolve around: The Game. It's an earlier game, so we're going to DVR it and watch it a little bit later, hopefully with friends over. Of course, that does mean I need to finish cleaning the house - which I have been trying to do since I got home. I feel like I'm the Laundry Queen. Where does it all come from? Oh...workout clothes for one. We go through a massive am

Made it Home Well, we made it back safe and sound last night. It was a pretty good trip home actually. We talked pretty much the entire time, so that made time go by fairly quickly (or for me anyway). It was definitely nice to sleep in my own bed and shower in my own shower. It's amazing how much little things like that matter and you can miss them when away. Home Workout This morning my boss let us go in a little later, so I got up and got in my workouts around 7 am. In other words, I actually got to sleep in an extra 45 minutes AND get in my workouts before work. It was so nice to work out at home. I did back today as a tri set of 3x10 then a superset of 2x16: TS Pullovers Underhand rows Single-arm rows SS Lat band pulldowns Lower back extension on stability ball I followed up the workout with Cathe's Low Impact Circuit and abs. It was a nice change of pace doing the step workout as opposed to running or one of the kickboxing/boxing DVDs. It was only about 72

First off - I want to acknowledge and apologize for the way the site is looking. I have no idea what happened to the image at the top. It just totally went wonky and I made no changes. This weekend I may be changing templates.... This morning I got up and made it to the hotel gym. I did 20 minutes on the treadmill then did biceps (with some abs thrown in between weights). When I had to go lighter than I normally would, I upped the reps. I was feeling pretty weak today though for some reason (maybe it was the early hour). Alternating curls - 3x8 Hammer curls - 3x10 Dumbbell bicep curls - 3x10 Zottman curls - 3x8 I finished with 10 minutes on the elliptical. I am so glad I was on the elliptical rather than the treadmill as the power went out. Yikes right?! That could have been a major disaster. I got back to my room, cleaned up, made my oatmeal, and finished packing. I will be sooo happy to be back home to my own shower, toilet, and bed. The rest of the day was spent in class.

This morning I just couldn't force myself into the hotel gym. I plan on getting there tomorrow morning though. I'll just do 15 minutes on the dreadmill and 15 on the elliptical to split up the torture. I plan on doing biceps and abs as well. There's really not much exciting to talk about in terms of the class. It was what it was. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely useful information. But, I doubt it'll be that exciting to most readers. The course we're taking is user-centered analysis. So, unless you're in the web or software world, it probably sounds even worse LOL. I will say that it is fun to get to know your coworkers in a different setting though, if you don't already hang out with them I should say. I am very lucky to work with some fun people now. Do you hang out with your coworkers outside of work ever? After class, we did make it to Sam Moon (where I found a bad ass bracelet). One coworker's wife sent him on a mission to find her

Safe & Sound in Dallas Well, we had a fairly easy, uneventful trip to Dallas. Typically uneventful when driving is good. Oh, well I guess there was a vehicle just in front of us that had a blow out. So, maybe marginally eventful. We made pretty good time with only a minor detour. It was getting close to 8pm by the time we checked in and got to our rooms. I decided to just heat up one of the Amy's frozen dinners I brought with me. The restaurant in the hotel didn't really have too much to offer. I almost never have frozen dinners. I'll say I was pleasantly surprised with the lasagna entree - Roasted Vegetable Lasagna . This one wasn't vegan, but they say that it's made from hormone-free milk and does not contain animal enzymes or rennet. There is another one I brought that is vegan. I am kind of looking forward to trying it now. I was honestly skeptical about how well these would taste and how filling they'd be. They're not something I'd buy regul

This morning I woke to much cooler temps with very low humidity. I had planned on legs only today, but couldn't pass up a run. So I headed out for a 4-mile run enjoying temps below 70 degrees, of course, they had inched up by the time I was done. I will admit that the last half mile was rough. My legs just felt heavier and heavier until I just stopped period. Legs were done running. I did go ahead with a modified leg workout going lighter with the weights since I had just run. I did tri sets today of 3x10. TS#1 Squats with low-end pulse Plie squats with low-end pulse Stiff-legged dead lifts TS#2 Static lunge with low-end pulse Rear leg slide back lunge Donkey kicks with weight It was definitely more than I had anticipated doing, but sometimes those things happen.  After weights and breakfast, Jason and I sat out on the patio for a few hours. It's such a gorgeous day that I really wanted to enjoy it. Also, it was nice to spend some time with him before having to

Friday Follow Up In case anyone was curious, yes, we did indeed enjoy another Pizza and Pool Friday. We're so predictable. It's fun though, so why change that? We also watched The Lost Boys. Believe it or not, I had never seen the movie. That came up in conversation last weekend, so Jason quickly added it to Netflix. I really wish I had seen it back in the day, because now it's a bit cheesy. But back then? I'm sure it rocked. Chest and Wet Run This morning it was dark and rainy again. What is up with this rain all of the sudden? Jason and I were planning to run today on the river trails. I decided to go ahead and get my chest work done and hope that the rain cleared out in the meantime. I did a set of pushups followed by a superset of 3x8. Pushups with toes on stability ball - 24 SS#1 Chest flye Chest press Wide-arm pushups - 24 SS#2 Incline chest flye Incline chest press Pushups: 4 2:2, 4 1:3, 4 3:1, 4 2:2 I also did some standing ab work. The rai

Friday Rambling Oh we finally have some sunshine today. Sun + Friday + Rest Day = Great Day. Now if only I had been off work, oh the possibilities. Oh well, can't have it all right? It always feels a bit odd to post on Fridays when I don't have a workout or recipe to share. I know that's not the only reason you all read of course, but you do get used to a format. I really don't feel like I have any spectacular insights today either. I'm sort of trying to talk myself off the proverbial ledge. I have to go to Dallas Sunday-Wednesday for work. Thankfully no flying is involved, but I just get stressed about my meals and not knowing if there will be any decent vegetarian options for me. Plus, plain and simple, I don't like to be away from home without the hubs.  I don't know if the facility where we are attending the training has a break room or cafeteria (the contact has yet to reply back dang it). Anyway, the guys I'm going with are full-on meat eaters

Ta-ta Early Morning Workouts So apparently my streak of getting up early and getting my workouts done for the day has passed. I think maybe it's because it's staying dark so much longer. It's still dark out around 6:30 am now. That certainly makes 5:15 seem like midnight. While I hate the time change for the fact of it being dark early in the evenings, it'll be nice to have it light early in the mornings again. I wasn't sure if today would be a rest day or not. I was feeling a bit low on the energy reserves, but decided to do a back and abs workout at lunch. It was totally what I needed to give me a jolt of energy. I did supersets of 3x10 (unless noted) and then followed up with a variety of ab exercises using the stability ball and an 8# weight. SS#1 Alternating flat-back rows Pullovers SS#2 Horizontal rows Underhand rows SS#3 Lat band pull downs - 2x16 Lower back extensions on ball - 2x10 After work I opted for Cathe Friedrich's MMA Boxing . I