Where's the Beach?

Hodge Podge Cardio Well, it was back to the grind today. Monday really came way too fast. Guess that's what happens when you're having just a fun weekend. Jason got up at 5 am to go swim, but there was no way I was getting out of that comfy bed to workout. So I waited and did my cardio later. I wish I could have run today, but it was far too hot to run during lunch. At 10 am the heat index was already at 90 with 67% humidity and a dew point of 72 (which means humid and muggy). I am not one to complain about warm weather mind you, but the humidity can really zap you. Anyway, I was less than enthusiastic about having to do my cardio indoors. I really didn't want to do a step workout. So I did a hodge podge workout that included the warm up and 3 cardio intervals from Cathe's Shock Cardio - Cardio Core Circuit then the 3 combos and drills from MMA Kickboxing . It was just shy of 50 minutes and a nice mix. I also did abs and stretched after work. Perfect Hot Summer Meal ...

Double Workout Jason got up for swim this morning at 5 am, so I decided to get my lazy rear out of bed and get my cardio done. I did Shock Cardio Athletic Step . It's a fun workout, but maybe a little over zealous for a 5 am workout when I'm not fully awake.It did give me a nice morning boost of energy at least. I did my weight workout at lunch today. It's actually the last workout for Week 6 of the 8-week rotation. It was 2 sets of 12 reps done as supersets increasing weights. SS#1 Shoulders - Upright rows (with dumbbells) Biceps - Alternating bicep curls SS#2 Quads - Squats Inner thigh - Alternating plie squats SS#3 Chest - Incline dumbbell chest press Back - Underhand row (dumbbells) SS#4 Legs - Static lunges Triceps - Overhead triceps extension I also added calf raises. It was a good workout that gave me a nice extra boost of energy. Too bad it ended around 2 pm ;-) Stir Fry Dinner tonight was an easy veggie stir fry. We had lots of fresh veggies...

Upper + Plyo  Today was another cold, dreary day here. Where has summer gone? I ended up not going into work actually. Since the race, I have been battling sinus issues and trying to keep it out of my chest. My lungs still feel really shredded up too. I've been taking sinus meds, but they don't seem to be doing their job. I did decide to go ahead with my planned workout. It's upper plus plyo. The upper part was 2 sets of 8 reps done as supersets: SS#1 Chest - Incline flyes Back - Pullovers (goofed though and it should have been double arm rows) SS#2  Shoulders - Military press Triceps - Lying dumbbell extensions Plyo: Crossovers with 10# and Wide jump ups on 12" step SS#3  Biceps - Incline curls Biceps - Hammer curls Plyo: Explosive running man on 12" step I also did Shock Cardio HIIT Pyramid to complete the plyo part of this workout. It was quite close to a puke factor workout mostly because my sinuses and asthma issues. Definitely made if ...

Race Recap I love that you guys take the time to share a fun fact or two as well. I love getting to know you better! Now, about that race...The weather couldn't have been much better. It was cloudy, which meant it was cooler. The wind did kick up unfortunately. That felt great at the end of the race, but made for a few long, hard stretches running into it. We got to the race site right at 6 pm to pick up our packets and goody bags. I forgot to take pics of the bags - but they were recyclable bags from Whole Foods. They will get tons of use in our household. Here are a pre-race picture of my sister and me. Isn't she too cute! We warmed up with an easy run then a few drills just to get the legs moving and nerves out. The race started at 7 pm on the dot. I knew what I needed to hit at each mile marker. Mile 1 I hit at 7:20, I was feeling great but that was just too fast for me; I knew it but kept going. I was feeling great, like flying. It's really the best I've felt run...

No Surprise - Pizza Friday Well, it should come as no surprise that Friday's dinner was indeed pizza. It's just so easy to get the dough started while we play a few rounds of pool and relax a bit. In other words, it really is an easy dinner. As per the norm, I stuck with the Greek-style toppings for my half. Jason's half was sauteed green and red bell peppers, yellow onion, and soyrizzo with a Mexican blend 2% cheese. Sorry, I totally failed at taking pictures. But, if you're really needing a pizza picture fix, you can go back to previous Saturday posts ;-) Supersets and Kickboxing This morning I let myself be lazy. I actually slept in until 9am! That may as well be noon in my book. Of course, it was dark and rainy, so that helped...helped with the laziness I should say. I made steel cut oats with ground flax seed, cinnamon apples and peanut butter for Jason and myself. It's such a filling breakfast that I, of course, had to let it settle before I could start my wo...

Sunday Dinner = Leftover Remix Last night's dinner ended up being a leftover remix - Thai Peanut Quinoa . I had extra Thai Peanut Sauce leftover from the Grilled Thai Tofu Pizza . I made some quinoa, heated up a mix of frozen veggies in a large skillet adding in Quorn nuggets then the sauce. I did have to thin the sauce with water just a bit. Once everything was heated through, I stirred in the quinoa. It turned out great. This is one I'll be making again for certain. Monday Upper + Plyo Today when Jason got up to go swim at 5 am, I went right back to sleep. There was no way I was getting out of that bed for today's scheduled workout: Upper + Plyo. So I did my weights during lunch and plyo after work. Weights today were 4 sets of 8 reps. I must say, I much prefer doing lower reps and higher weights and am not exactly looking forward to the next workout which will be 3 sets of 12 reps. But I digress. Here were today's exercises done as straight sets: Shoulder - Arnold...

Friday Follow Up I'm very happy to report that the Travs won the game last night. It was a good game, and we had a great time. I did spend most of the time catching up with my friend Kelli. I got to meet up with another friend prior to the game at an Irish pub called Cregeen's. Gwynne wasn't able to make it to the game, but still wanted to try to get together for a bit at least. I'm really glad we met up. We've never had a chance to just visit one-on-one so it was really nice getting to know her better. I had a chance to go home before the evening got started. I needed to change into something more relaxed for the game as well as grab a bite to eat. I wish I would have made more of a real dinner for myself as I ended up going on a major snack attack throughout my kitchen. So I may not have indulged at the game (except for a couple of Jason's nachos) but I most certainly indulged at home. I don't know what that was all about either. I guess at least it was h...

Monday Meant Makeup Funny thing I realized this morning as I was putting on my makeup (other than the fact that I really need to clean the toothpaste splatters off the mirror), I had not put on makeup or done my hair all weekend. Love it when that gets to happen. The only time I left the house was to go on the run and picnic on Sunday. No makeup required on that one. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy dressing up.  Gotta show off my clothing collection somehow right? But every once in a while, it's nice to just stay home donning comfy clothes, and the natural look.  Do you enjoy weekends when you don't have to get dressed up, fixed up, decked out? Monday Workouts Today was Week 2 Day 2 of my 8-week rotation. On tap was upper body only followed by plyo legs. It was the same set up as last week doing 3 sets of 8 reps only supersetting the exercises and increasing the weights from the previous week. SS#1 Shoulders - Upright rows Biceps - Alternating curls SS#2 Chest -...

Boxing and Running  I had not really planned on a morning workout. Jason and I were planning on running at lunch. I figured that I'll be doing longer workouts over the weekend since I have more time, so I was fine with just 30 minutes of cardio. It is Friday after all. However, I was wide awake at 5:45 so I decided to do something fairly easy, low in intensity plus abs. I chose Cathe's Shock Cardio MMA Boxing . All I did was the warm up and the first two combos with drills then the abs section. It was 30 minutes tops. I didn't break a sweat, but it was a great "get you moving" type of workout. I was really looking forward to the run. After taking yesterday as a rest day, I expected to be rejuvenated so to speak. Um, not so much. I just never seemed to hit my stride. It felt like a struggle the whole time. Granted, we weren't just bee-bopping along either. It wasn't race pace by any means, but we did 3 miles in just over 25 minutes. Still need to shave of...

Running Into the Wind and HIIT I was totally pooped last night. My assumption would be it was due to weight, run, and yard work. Just a guess... I was sound asleep by 8:30 last night. I did wake up twice during the night then again at 5 am. However, the thought of getting up out of that comfy bed was just downright depressing...so I didn't. Jason and I ran at lunch today. It was definitely a harder run than yesterday. I know in part it was because I did run yesterday, but it was incredibly windy too. You know how it feels to run into the wind - like running up hill both ways. My legs were moving but I was going no where fast! I checked the weather after the run and it was 15 mph winds with 23 mph gusts. After work I also did Shock Cardio HiiT 40/20 to make up for not doing plyo legs yesterday per my new rotation. I also added in abs from Cathe's Low Impact Circuit . Too Nice to Cook Inside When the weather is nice at the onset of spring, it's so hard to not want to spend...

Sunday Repeat So today started much similar to last Sunday. It was a bit chilly so I wanted a warm breakfast. So I opted for PB&J&B Oatmeal . Just like last Sunday, I have some serious DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) happening from yesterday's workout. Today was leg day. I really dread leg workouts to be honest. Once I get going, it's not so bad, it's just getting started. I did 4 sets of each exercise (except calves) starting with 12 reps and dropping 2 reps each set. Alternating front lunges Squats Alternating rear lunges Alternating plie squats Deadlifts Step ups Calf raises - 3 sets of 25 turned out, parallel, turned out After my workout, I did just half of Shock Cardio HIIT Pyramid and stretched. Slow Sunday I spent most of the day trying to get laundry done. I'm always amazed at how much laundry just two people can produce. Of course, half of it is workout clothes. Jason bathed the dogs, long overdue chore there. Basically, we just got ...

Friday Recap Surprise surprise, Friday ended up being Pizza night at the Iacobacci-Miller household. No complaints from this gal though. It was yummy. We played a few rounds of pool while the pizza cooked, then ate and watched Julie and Julia , well, most of it. We sort of pooped out and have 30 minutes left to finish. Superwoman Workout Today I did chest, back, shoulders this morning using a drop set method. I did each exercise using the same weight, but dropping the number of reps with each set: 12, 10, 8, 6. This is the same set up as last week, but I did increase my weights for all exercises. Chest Flat bench flyes Flat bench DB presss Incline flyes Incline DB press Back Double-arm row (flat back) Pullovers Underhand DB rows Shoulders Standing DB press Side lateral raises  Rear delt press After weights, I did Shock Cardio HIIT 40/20 then the weights only portion of Weights & Plates abs from Abs Circuit. I felt really good today, most likely because I behaved a...

Thankful for Friends First off, I really want to thank everyone for being so kind yesterday when I posted about my blue day. I debated about the post because I certainly don't want anyone to think that I am fishing for sympathy. I did, however, think that it was important to be honest with what sort of day I was having and to share some great, inspirational posts by fellow bloggers. I hope those words can help you out at some point. That brings me to another point. Friendships. I have blogged about this before, but yesterday it was even more so apparent that friends come from so many, often unexpected places. I received an email from a fellow blogger asking me how I was doing and letting me know that they were there for me. For me?? It was truly heartwarming to get that sort of support from someone I have never met and from someone who is going through so much more in their life right now. And they were seriously concerned about me. Wow. Not one of my long-time friends or even fam...

Leg Day Sunday So today started with another bowl of PB&J&B Oatmeal . I have some serious DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) happening from yesterday's workout. Wow. Good thing today was legs. I used the drop set method again for everything except calves: 12, 10, 8, 6. Alternating front lunges Squats Alternating rear lunges Plie squats Deadlifts Step ups Calf raises - 3 sets of 25 turned out, parallel, turned outs After my workout, I did just half of Shock Cardio HIIT Pyramid and Yoga-style abs from Abs Circuit then stretched. Veggie Cakes on Sunday It's rainy, cold, and dreary here today. I had wanted to bake some bread and do some other cooking today. However, the oven is broken so that didn't happen. I did manage to get lots of laundry done, Jason vacuumed the area rugs, and I swiffered up the doggy dust bunnies. I also tried straightening up and organizing the room that I am now using as my weight room. This house had once been a duplex and that particular...

Full-Body Workout  I'll readily admit that getting up this morning was quite painful and almost didn't happen. I forced myself out of bed though not exactly excited about tackling a full-body Pyramid workout. Sort of daunting at 5 am really. I did the warm up from Shock Cardio Cardio Core Circuit (cardio only premix) then hit the weights. It was a pyramid up only so I increased my starting weight. I topped it all off with the first 2 1/2 drills from the cardio workout. I ran short on time and was basically spent. Squats into Plie Squats Step Ups (seriously hate these especially at 5:30 am) Incline Chest Flyes into Chest Press Pullovers into DB Underhand Rows Step Ups (freaking again) Static Lunges Overhead DB Press into Lateral Raises Deadlifts Kickbacks into Overhead Extensions Hammer Curls into Alternating Curls Calf Raises I am so excited to report that my new cross-trainers and running shoes arrived today. Can't wait to test both of them out. I waited way way way too...