Where's the Beach?

Shoulders & Elliptical Today started off with wind chills of 23 degrees and gusts of 23 mph! Wow. Thank goodness my car was going in the shop this morning to get the heat fixed. At least it was sunny out all day. Not sure I could have handled any ice or sleet today. It's way too early for that here. At lunch I headed home and did shoulders from Meso 2, Disc 19 . This week is going up to 75% of my 1RM except for the first exercise as it's what Cathe refers to as a "double wave load." Basically you repeat a drop set twice through. Ouch. Seated front press: 12,10,8,12,10,8 Standing lateral raise - 12,10,8 Prone incline rear delt raise - 12,10,8 It was a good workout and I'm pretty sure I'll be feeling it by tomorrow. After work I hit the gym for the elliptical. I bought a stack of new magazines yesterday to help ease the pain of the monotony. I was also armed with an interval workout my friend Lindsey @ Cotter Crunch posted yesterday. I had to make ...

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 ...

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...

This morning I woke up to a gray drizzle. That sort of describes my mood for the day. My sinuses are draining, and I wasn't feeling super today. I ended up leaving work around 11:30. I never was able to get any sleep, but I did manage to get some things done in the kitchen. I made some more Red Bean & Lentil Burgers . This time I used walnuts instead of sunflower seeds, and I also added in a few splashes of liquid smoke. I also made some bread. This French Bread recipe originally came from allrecipes.com . I have been slowly converting it into a whole-wheat recipe. Sometimes messing with the flours can completely ruin breads/baking. So far so good. Here is my updated version for Wheat Bread Machine French Bread . Wheat Bread Machine French Bread Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups water (70 to 80 degrees F) 2 tsp agave nectar 1 tsp sea salt 1 cup bread flour 1 cup whole-wheat flour 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour 2 tsp ground flax seeds Sunflower seeds (just eyeball - may...

More Furbaby Talk I guess I should talk about my furbabies more often and let you all in on my wild and crazy kids. I love that so many of you are major animal lovers and are also into the adoption/rescue route. It's something that I feel very strongly about actually. There are so many precious animals dumped off because they aren't 100% perfect and the breeder can't get full price or they come from puppy mills or are simply dumped when they become too much "trouble." It's true, you don't always know what health problems might be lurking with rescues. Our girl Erin had kidney failure. Heath has an over bite, 3-toes on one foot, and urinary issues that require a special diet. Maddie, well, we think that she knocked her noggin' when she was dumped off at 4 months old in a drop bin. Yep, drop bin folks. But then there was my first girl, not a rescue, who ended up with juvenile cataracts. So you never know. You can pay top-dollar and still have no guara...

Must Run Kind of Morning Last night we had a front move through that finally cooled us down below 100 degrees. They forecast it to be 73 degrees this morning, which is downright cold at this point. I knew that I was going to run no matter what. The only problem is that it's staying dark much later. I used to be able to head out at 5:45 am with some light, now it's almost 6 until there is any sort of light. So, I decided to do biceps and triceps first while waiting for it to get light enough to safely run. I did drop sets again 4 x 10 except for preacher curls, and they were killer for me this morning. Felt super weak. But, I got it done. Hammer curls Overhead triceps extension Zottman curls Kickbacks Preacher curls 4x8 (seriously loathe these) Lying dumbbell triceps extensions 1 set of 21's for biceps curls (7 half up, 7 half down, 7 full) Weighted triceps dips - 16 reps Jason ran with me. We did a fairly easy 4-mile run. It felt so nice to be able to run with...