Next week begins training for the half marathon!!
We had set this day several months ago and at the time, it seemed so far away. And suddenly, it's game on.
With our (hopefully) impending move in a month, and the beginning of training season happening, it was time to get set up with an official gym membership. One reason being that soon I will not have free gym access. The other being that Christi and I need to be able to work out together more during the week, and having a gym we can access at lunchtime or classes directly after work will make that much easier. Despite it's price, I went back to Lifetime Fitness. It's an amazing gym, it's huge, right next to work, and has a huge dressing room/shower area for when we work out before work or at lunch.
A reminder of our weekly schedule:
- One long run, spanning between 4 miles and 10 miles, trying to get to the ultimate goal of 13.1
- One short, pace run, 25-75% of the long run distance for that week
- Speedwork day: 10-30 min of interval training (sprints, stairs, running backwards, hills)
- Cross-training (2-3 times/week): weight lifting, resistance training, fitness classes, elliptical, yoga, hiking, etc.
Oh yeah, and rest.
We've been pretty good until now with the exception of the weight training, and several cross training days together. I have gotten some hikes and yoga in, but nothing dedicated each week.
Which brings me to my latest dilemma, I'm a cripple. I'm not kidding, I haven't been able to walk since Saturday. We were going to do hill training on the treadmills at my gym, but there are only 2 available in the gym, and 1 was taken. We decided to run stairs on the fitness steps for 18 minutes, followed by 3 circuits of sqauts, leg press, and hamstring curls, followed by a half mile loop. We were tired, but had no clue how sore we would be. Cripple. It's awful. My poor calves didn't know what hit them. It literallly took me 5 minutes to get out of bed the next day.
Lesson learned: NEVER do this the week before or of the race!!
Miranda gave me her old juicer. I'm in love!! <3 It's taken my breakfast smoothies to a whole new level! Tomorrow's smoothie: almond milk, protein powder, banana, strawberries, peach, maca powder, flax seed, a bunch of kale, and carrots. Yes, kind of looks like ass... but it's going to be delicious. :)
Lastly, this year I have become obsessed with kale. Not only is it an antioxidant that is chock full of vitamins, but it is delicious! I buy it at the grocery store, and then it's been in season a lot, so it's arriving in my produce as well. As a result, I have a ton of it. And while Jay likes it, and has been a good sport about my new obsession, when I'm not home he's not likely to nom on a bunch of kale just for the fun of it. :) So, I've had to get a little creative with what to do with it. I'll throw it on pizzas, in quesadillas, in pasta, smoothies. This week, I tried it in hummus...
I found this recipe on TakePart's Meatless Mondays series* and followed it exactly just to try it out. I found the garlic powder an interesting choice when generally hummus calls for fresh garlic (but the flavor was great). I also did dried herbs (that's what I had, and the recipe didn't specify), but I think fresh would be awesome:
Green Monster Hummus
1 can chickpeas
1/4 cup tahini
2 cloves of garlic
2T lemon juice
1T soy sauce (I use gluten free)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
1t salt
1t dried oregano (or 1T fresh)
1t dried basil (or 1T fresh)
2 cups kale (or spinach)
Pour all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Refrigerate for best results. Serve with pita chips, pita bread, or veggies. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment