Where's the Beach?

You Want Pictures? You guys crack me up. I think every single comment had a demand for pictures of the Christmas sweater I wore to the ugly sweater party. How could I possibly deny such a request??? But first, I must say, I was the only one who actually owned my sweater! Yep, it was mine already. In fact, it was given to me by my mom last year. I love her dearly, but will never ever understand what compelled her to buy me that sweater. At least I had a reason to wear it though right? Here are two pictures. One of the girls actually had a sweater with light!   I'll admit, I most definitely felt frumpy in the sweater. Was not feeling uber attractive at all. But at least I wasn't alone, even and my friend made her sweet Beagle Bella wear one too! Chest & Kickboxing This morning was sunny but super cold and windy beyond explanation. It sounded like rain the wind was blowing so hard. Definitely not run-inspiring weather so there was no urge whatsoever! I did a few chores li...

2.5 Miles I am really tired of these sub-30 degree mornings already. It's only December....going to be a long winter I'm afraid. Last night I had mentioned trying for a run today at lunch as it was supposed to be in the upper 40's. Jason ended up bowing out of the run. But, I had it in my head that I was going to try again today cold temps and gusty winds be damned. I set out right at noon with winds between 10 and 18 mph and wind chill of 37. I warmed up inside with some high knee jogs and butt kicks. My goal is to always make sure my muscles are warm and loosened up before running. I hit the pavement and it felt so good. I didn't notice the cold one bit. Even the gusting wind felt like a treat. I tried to run on the sidewalks when I could (they are so terribly wonky in our neighborhood though) or run as close to the middle of the street as I safely could. From what I've read, short, fast runs are more ideal when trying to get back into it. So that's what ...

Magnesium? I did have a better night's rest last night finally. No restless legs, or running legs is what my mom always called them long before it had a name, Restless Leg Syndrome. Averie commented that I might try adding in a magnesium supplement. Interested in the idea, I looked it up and indeed, certain deficiencies such as magnesium. Running most definitely can deplete magnesium levels, and I've definitely been putting in the mileage so that makes sense. Thanks Averie ! Back and Boxing I thought I might do back and chest today during my break, but my shoulders are still sore from that workout so chest work wouldn't have gone so smoothly I'm afraid. So I just went with back and 2 combos from Cathe's MMA Boxing . I ran out of time to do the 3rd combo or to do abs. So I finished it up after work. For the back workout, I went with trisets: TS#1 - 3x8 Pullovers Underhand rows Single-arm rows TS#2 Lat pulldowns with band - 2x16 Low back extension on ba...

Weights & Group Run This morning it wasn't just gray and icky out, it was dark and raining. Lucky for me, I bought a pair of rainboots two years ago when I first started working at my current job. All it took was one rainy, 3-block walk, and I headed straight to Ebay for some boots. I don't care how silly they may look, I love them! So, I donned my rainboots this morning, but by 11 or so, the sun was out and it was slowly warming up. Jason and I are planning on running with a group that gathers at a new, local running store on Tuesday evenings for a 4-mile run. So, I was glad to see the sunshine, but it also meant no running at lunch. This of course means that I hit the weights instead. I did shoulders and abs actually. I'm trying to get all my weight workouts done by Thursday as I won't have access to a gym in Seattle. Overhead press - 3x6 Upright rows - 3x8 Lateral raises - 3x10 Rear delt press - 3x12 Front to side raises - 2x10 I did the abs workout ...

Chili for a Chilly Evening Last night we enjoyed a warm bowl of chili for dinner just as I had said we would. And, as promised, here is the recipe for my Butternut Squash & Black Bean Chili .  Butternut Squash & Black Bean Chili Ingredients: 1 tsp (or less) Olive oil  1 small yellow onion, diced 1/2 red bell pepper, diced 1/2 green bell pepper, diced 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and cubed  2 cups water 1 low-sodium vegetable bouillon cube  1 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained 1 15 oz cans diced tomatoes (no salt), undrained 2-3 Chipotle peppers in adobe, diced (more or less depending on heat preference) 3 oz tomato paste To taste: chili powder, salt, pepper, cumin, ground red pepper, nutmeg Directions: Saute onion, bell peppers in small amount of olive oil until soft, approximately 5 minutes. Add butternut squash and saute another 5 minutes (approximate). Add in remaining ingredients and simmer for approximately 45 minutes to...

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...

Sunday Leg Day This morning I got up sort of dreading my workout - leg day. I almost always dread leg workouts. But typically, once I get going, they fly by. Today I did supersets of 3x8 for most exercises: SS#1 Step ups Deadlifts SS#2 Narrow-stance squats Alternating plie squats SS#3 Static lunges - 3x10 Calf raises - 3x25 SS#4 Wide-stance squats with low-end pulse Plie squats with low-end pulse Rear leg slide back lunges Firewalkers - 8 Donkey kicks with weight - 2x18 Outer thigh raises with ankle weights - 24 single, 16 pulse, 24 single Inner thigh raises with ankle weights - 24 single, 16 pulse, 24 single Glute roll-ins on stability ball - 8 roll-ins, 8 hip lifts, 8 roll-ins, 8 lifts with one leg, 8 with other leg, 8 both legs (heel is pressing into the ball) I followed up with just one combo from Cathe Friedrich's Kick, Punch, and Crunch (just for fun) and then the ab work. I love the ab work from this DVD. It's stability ball abs and ends with ...

The Furbabies So, of course I must thank everyone for telling me how cute and adorable my furbabies are. Of course, I won't show them all the comments because they already have big enough egos ;-) I don't talk about them often, but they are most definitely our children. They have completely different personalities too. Both were rescue dogs, and we adopted them from different breed specific rescue groups. We got Maddie in February of 2006 just after my first Cocker Spaniel passed away from a group in Dallas, TX. Maddie was approximately 4 months old and a total bundle of spastic energy. When we met her, she was playing alone tossing a ping pong ball. We should have know then and there we were in for something big. After our second Cocker Spaniel (another rescue) passed away after many many months of suffering from kidney failure, we ended up adopting Heath from a group in Oklahoma. He was about 10 months old and the calmest, sweetest little boy you could ever ask for. All ...

Rewind to Tuesday - Taco Bowls I made a big oops in my dinner post last night. I apologize because I was rushing through and failed to explain the "bowl" part. I actually started making them after reading about how easy they were to make on many other blogs. They are super simple to make and a fun alternative to a burrito or quesadilla. How to make a Taco Salad Bowl : Preheat oven to 425 degrees F Prepare a pyrex bowl (or other oven-safe baking bowl) with a non-stick spray. Insert your favorite flour tortilla  (I use a whole-wheat variety) and shape - you will have some fluted edges. Bake for approximately 15 minutes until golden and crispy. No Whimpy Wednesday Well, I must admit to having very little sleep yet again. One of our sweet furbabies is about to start sleeping downstairs. I love her dearly, but the girl doesn't stop moving...ever. She wakes up frequently throughout the night to itch, lick, move about her kennel, causing general raucous. She seems to...

Thank You! I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words regarding my anxiety about flying. It's nice to feel like I have so much support! You guys are so wonderful. I plan on posting the schedule on Friday along with a link to a webcam. Not sure what the schedule will be for the webcam, but if you're bored, you might be able to get online and see what I'm up to - literally! Last Chance Workout I thought today might be my rest day after doing legs yesterday. But Jason got up to go to his master's swim class at 5 am and I was wide awake. So I decided to get it done - my last chance workout. Today was chest and back (supposed to do abs too). Because I didn't have a spotter, I had to go lighter with weights for chest. To make up for that, I increased the reps and supersetted with flyes. SS#1 3x10 Flat bench chest flyes Flat bench dumbbell press SS#2 3x10 Flat back, double-arm rows Single-arm horizontal rows SS#3 3x10 Incline chest flyes Incline dumbbe...

Failure? Nope. This morning I got up at 5:22 to get my workout done. It was at least a bearable 74 degrees upstairs that early as opposed to 85 in the afternoon. I did drop sets again for back and chest doing 4 sets of 8 reps. I did increase the weights from last week as well. Back Pullovers Single-arm rows (all right side then all left side) Single-arm horizontal rows (all right side then all left side) Chest Incline chest flyes Incline dumbbell chest press Flat bench dumbbell chest press (failed at 7 on the 2nd set, failed at 6 on the 3rd set) Sometimes I experience major weakness in my left elbow. It doesn't hurt, it just wants to buckle and give out. Thankfully, Jason got out of bed to spot me this morning (bleary-eyed of course). I wanted to talk briefly about hitting failure. It's probably not the best term to use. I used to get so angry at myself when I couldn't complete the number of reps intended. I thought of myself literally as a failure, I sucked,...

Hill Repeats and More Kickboxing This morning I got up to run again. I really didn't have the heart to run my usual route twice through (3 miles). Sometimes it just gets soooo boring. And, there is one stretch that is a steady incline (not steep mind you) that seems harmless on the first lap, but by the second lap it starts looking really steep. So, I decided to just do 1.5 miles as a warm up then do hill repeats. I did try to push myself and took the first lap at a faster pace. Oh, I have my crack...I mean heart rate monitor back. I did 20 second sprints up a hill then recovered and repeated 8 times and finished with another .5 miles It took right at 31 minutes to complete. Hill repeats have a way of sneaking up on you, or they do me. The first few sprints feel great, then I start feeling it the legs. I would say that I'll be sore tomorrow, but that's a given as I'm already sore. Today was rather stressful and busy at work. It was a long 9-hour day because we had ...

Shopping in Spain Well, last night I waited to check the voice message on our phone until after I had finished my workout. It was a message from the bank. Well, I thought it was because I had been lazy and not activated my new card (it arrived Saturday). So I went to activate and wasn't allowed to do so. I was annoyed because that meant I had to call back the person who had left the message and actually talk to someone rather than punch in numbers. She started asking me about recent purchases...in Spain. Yep, card had been hacked somehow, and someone was having a great time buying 393 dollar perfumes and such. It's such a helpless feeling. They froze the account, but the bank was already closed for the day. That meant I had to wait...I'm not good at waiting. Luckily, the bank opens at 7:30 am, so we were there promptly at 7:30 am. Running in the Rain That story brings me to this morning's workouts. I was hell bent on running. I was determined to run with or withou...

Morning Kickboxing Jason got up at 5 am to go swim this morning, so I peeled myself out of bed to get in my workout. I did Cathe's Kick, Punch and Crunch with the stability ball abs. It was a great workout and gave me the energy boost I needed to get the day started. In all honesty, even if Jason hadn't gotten up, I was planning on getting up early to get in another morning workout. I have plans this evening so I knew I did need to get it done. Kickboxing, in my opinion, is a great morning workout. Not too complicated, no chance of falling over or off the step... I'm still in the market for more kickboxing workouts as I'm really enjoying them. Oddly, I used to not. I may end up having to track down a gym that offers classes. No Amy Bento - but has anyone tried Kelly Coffey-Meyer's latest kickboxing workout? Any other instructors?? Out on a Week Night After work I am going over to a friend's house for a girly party: jeans and purses. I've never been to...

Upper Body & Kickboxing Well, my time off has ended. It was back to work today. I was actually up early, wide awake. But I just couldn't fathom getting up and exerting any energy at 5:15 am. So, I didn't. I did get my weights done at lunch. Today was pull muscles: biceps and back. I did 3 sets of 8 reps using the slow 6:2 rep count. Back Pullovers Single-arm row Underhand dumbbell row Biceps Dumbbell curls Hammer curls Cross-body curls My arms were jello after I was done. After work, I really didn't want a super intense cardio. I did Cathe's Kick, Punch and Crunch with the stability ball abs. I also stretched for a bit. The workouts definitely helped my mood today. Trying Tuesday Today was a difficult one for me in all honesty. I was in a major funk - the cry-at-the-drop-of-a-hat kind of funk. The weights at lunch helped a little (gotta love those workout endorphins). I know part of it was getting back into the swing of reality after a terrific vacation. Howeve...

Wednesday Workout I want to first thank you all for your kind, generous comments about the pictures I posted yesterday. You know how to make a girl blush! This morning started out much the same, with the exception of Jason heading out at 7:30 to watch the Blue Angels practice. I got up and ate on the balcony before heading down to the gym for a 30-minute run. I added in 6 HIIT intervals to help pass the time. I also did a couple of the combos from Kick, Punch and Crunch . Then I headed down to the beach. Jason was so sweet and took down the chairs and umbrellas on his way out so I could head down there before he got back. Here are some pictures Jason took at the Blue Angels' practice. Beach Time & Shopping Time The oil was less prevalent today. But the beaches are very empty. It has a very ominous quality. There are reporters scattered about and men in orange "Oil Patrol" shirts riding around on 4-wheelers or walking in groups with large trash sacks. We sat...

Kick(boxing) Start to the Day This morning I set my alarm for 5:21 am. When it went off, however, I rolled over to reset it. of course, I was awake already; I very rarely am able to go back to sleep after the alarm wakes me up. I went ahead and got out of bed and did part of Cathe's Kick, Punch and Crunch (warm up, drills, and 3 combos) and the stability ball abs on the same DVD. Once I got moving, I was really happy that I decided to get up and get the workout done for the day. I will say that I wish I had remembered that it was National Running Day though and run this morning instead. Did you run today? Pre-Vacation Stress? Jason and I ran a few errands at lunch, which meant I had the afternoon free. Well, not really free of course. I have a ton on my pre-vacation to-do list. I often feel like I need a few vacation days before the vacation just to get ready. Anyone else feel this way? I've become a very proficient packer when it comes to heading out for a beach vacation. I...

Early Morning Kickboxing  This morning Jason got up to go swim at 5 am. I was too much awake to fall back asleep for an hour, so I went ahead and got up to exercise. I did Cathe's Kick, Punch and Crunch plus the stability ball abs (awesome ab work). It was a nice workout that gave me the needed boost of energy to start my day. What a Wednesday Oh and I definitely needed the energy. It was a very hectic and stressful kind of morning. I have some work projects that are a bit problematic; I've also been having major email issues at work too so that complicates it all even more. Oh gotta love technology right? To top it off, we paid the remaining balance on our condo rental yesterday. I got confirmation this morning, but the contract was for the wrong dates! We had both asked off from work   already, made doggy sitting arrangements, etc. to be gone June 5-12. The contract said June 12-19. So, I had a mild (ok more than mild) panic attack and near meltdown. Thankfully, the ...

Two on Tuesday This morning Jason and I managed to get up around 5:45 am to get our run in. It was a very pleasant run actually. It was about 61 degrees, low humidity, light breeze, and clear skies as the sun started to come up. We did about 3.5 miles at a fairly good clip, but not pushing it too hard - it was early and all. It was definitely a nicer way to start the day rather than slamming head long into it grumbling all the while. It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous today. I wish I could have gone for a second run just to be outside. Instead, I did 30 minutes of Kick, Punch and Crunch at lunch (to wake myself up more than anything). I won't lie, it was VERY difficult forcing myself to go back to the office. My lounge chair was just taunting me. Thai Tuesday We bought some sugar snap peas the other day that needed to be used. I had thought about a stir-fry using the rest of the Basic Seitan that I made. But Jason had stir fry for lunch. Oh, and we had some open coconut...