Comeback Trail...Summer Race Schedule

I've been a bad and delinquent blogger as of late.  Mostly because time is constantly getting away from me with training, work, and the wedding, but also because a few weeks after my last post, on the first nice day in NYC, I went out for a long run (8-10 miles) to see if I was ready to sign up for a half in May and tripped and fell within in the first quarter mile.  I am not sure if I was more upset from the pain or the knowledge that half was likely now out of the question.  It did hurt pretty badly.  Fortunately, it seemed to only be a minor sprain. I was back to spinning the next week, teaching from the saddle only!  However, the half was definitely out, it's next week and I've only just been cleared to run 2-3 miles now. But, I am now back to almost all activities except things like burpees in bootcamp, alas! ;)

Having already done the summer schedule it took a lot for me to regroup and decide not to do a half before the wedding but perhaps get one in before the honeymoon (the next month) and focus instead on getting back into running and triathlon season. I've been waiting to make any final decisions until I actually heard the PT folks say that I was good to run. So far I am hoping the season will shape up as such:

Flat as a Pancake, June 7th
Westport Tri, June 15th
Litchfield Hills, July 20th (this will be a tough one, I had to give up last year after an injury on the bike so this is my "reach" race)
Niantic Bay, August 3rd, (2 weeks before the wedding and the spot of our engagement)
Hammerfest, Sept. 14th

I am also hoping to get in a half, possibly the Newport Half in September in NJ and a few races here and there. I am hoping to do a 5k as early as next weekend and possibly do a few road races over June/July. I just started by 20 week out calendar for the summer now that the okay is in, I'd been thinking about, mentally doing it, but wanted to to wait until the okay came in before putting pen to paper.  Everything will depend on how well the running goes and now the running feels good but also a little like...

Super Strawberry Smoothie & Salad

It's a Strawberry Kind of Day

Smoothies - Wheat Germ, Flax Seed, and Strawberries
When we were in the local A&P last week, my partner decided to get some wheat germ.  I am not sure he knew what he was going to do with it but he figured it looked healthy so why not?

While researching what to do with wheat germ, I found a recipe for a blueberry peach and wheat germ smoothie.  Since then I have taken to adding wheat germ to my smoothies alternated with flax seeds.  I find the flax seeds are better when I prep a smoothie the night before and they can sit in the yogurt and almond milk until the morning, but the wheat germ is great on the go!  I have a the Oster shake blender so I can prep everything in the container slap on a lid, wrap in tinfoil and drink a smoothie at work.  The tinfoil is just in case it leaks, it doesn't destroy my shoes or workout gear. Wheat germ just needs to be shaked up once I get to work.

This allows me to have a filling breakfast after teaching in the morning without a lot of work and it is something I can drink in meetings and on the go.  People often think I have coffee, turns out it's goop.

This morning I used some 1 tbsp wheat germ with:

• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 big spoonful plain yogurt (exact measurements are not happening after the gym and before work)
• 5 or 6 big strawberries, mine were frozen.
• 1 banana
• 6 or 7 chunks of pineapple - it looked delicious in the store so I bought it

Salads - Strawberry Avocado
Salads are my go to for a busy day. I often will bring leftover chicken or tuna in a pouch and have that in addition to a salad bought at the Fresh & Co.  But today I made my own salad in a leftover sushi container with a recipe from Facebook! It included:

• Big Bunch of Spinach Leaves
• 6 strawberries cut up
• 1 avocado cubed
• handful of sliced almonds
• 1 tbsp feta
• 1 piece of cut up chicken
• balsamic dressing 

*photos from the internet

A Runner's Vacation In Paradise

I have not been as diligent as a good blogger should. Unfortunately, the work/life balance lately has landed often squarely on the work side, leaving me to not have as much time for fun blog posts.  However, I have been following a pretty good diet leading up to our big trip to Costa Rica, which is now officially over!  Back to freezing NYC COLD.  However, the days in Nosara were beautiful, pura vida!  I will happily return next year and look forward to perfecting my surfing skills.  It's a great vacation since you don't feel bad eating since much of the food is healthy fish and greens and they have a juice bar and you're always on the go!  It's just a few cocktails and desserts thrown in for good measure.  But returning was rough!

In the meantime, under six months to go for the wedding, the 5 month countdown starts right before St. Patty's and we're hoping to sign up for some races this weekend, so back to the diet and hopefully back to the blog to share with you my Tuesday boot camps, Spinning Profiles, races and recipes.

I did get to use my favorite Oscar Spinning Profile this past Wednesday, from Fame to 8 Mile, all Oscar nominees,so that was a lot of fun, and made returning to the cold not as bad.  But, in commemoration of my trip a few pics from a perfect vacation.  We started each day at 6am with a sunrise run on the beach then had a healthy breakfast, did some surfing and yoga with a stop at the juice bar, hit the pool for siesta, had some drinks, sunset surfs, and more.  We stayed at the Harmony Hotel Nosara, which is just beautiful and a 5 minute walk to the beach.  I would recommend it in a minute.

Our back porch at the resort.  There was an outdoor shower too! And specially made products from Red Flower that smelled amazing!

We started every morning with a run along this beach. 

There's nothing like having your toes in the sand!

Another view of our back porch, you can see how much time we spent in the water by the suits and this my surfboard and our shower!  I did much better surfing this time.  I am still learning but it's going better. 

And it was a 5 minute walk to the beach and we ended with either a sunset surf or evening stroll.  This palm tree marks the path back to the resort and was the sign of our run ending, which when it was 90 degrees was well earned. 

And sometimes we ended the night with a few cocktails! This is a tropical sangria.

Nosara has the most beautiful sunsets!

You always have to buy something on vacation!

Snow time like now to Workout (February 2014)

Too Snowy to Workout?

This winter has been brutal.  Between the polar vortex, icy weather and snow, no one feels like coming out for an early morning workout.  Whereas 5 or 7 in bootcamp and 10 or 12 in spin were excellent early morning numbers now 3 and 5 are becoming the norm for my classes, and that's when the snow doesn't force us to miss them.  The good news is that we took advantage of the snowy weather to learn how to snow shoe.

Picture of me snow shoeing in Liberty State Park. 

Picture with Lady Liberty.

But, I think we still put in some pretty hard core workouts despite the weather.  In bootcamp, I decided to my upcoming vacation to Costa Rica as incentive to up my weight and designed a workout that incorporates heavy weights, high intensity cardio and more to give a killer workout. As the class is an hour, I broke the work out up into 3 roughly 10- 15 minute segments with a 5-7 minute warm up and cool down a few minutes rest in between. I also pointed out that they could do any of the 3 15 minute segments on their own and get in a great workout if they were at home, a hotel or pressed for time.  Better to do something than nothing!

Heavy Weights and High Intensity Tough Tuesday Boot Camp Training

 3 rounds as fast as you can
10 burpees
10 dead lift row heavy weight
10 low jack push-up
10 lunges with heavy weight
10 step ups heavy weight
10 plank taps with push-up, tap each shoulder, push up

50seconds on/10 seconds off, 3 rounds, heavy weight
Squat press
One legged squat with one heavy barbell, I used 12 or 15 lb
Switch and other side
Dead lift row bicep curl
Clean & press

5 min - repeat exercises until time is up
 Section 1

10 squat overhead press
20 lunge curl
10 jump squat
20 jump lunge

Section 2

10 burpees
20 dragon lunge
10 side to side jumps
20 mt climbers

Back to Running

In the past few weeks, we were also very fortunate that it finally stopped snowing enough on the weekends for us to get outside.  Last weekend, the weekend of the Superbowl it was nice enough for us to get in a run and a bike ride and while this weekend was back to winter, we were able to get in a run on Saturday and Sunday before the snow hit Sunday night.  Getting back to running was tougher than I imagined but it was nice to change up the workout.

This is me running along the Hudson on Sunday morning.  You can see the ice flows behind me.

After our run we came home and did a quick round of some abs and unfortunately my running partner saw fit to throw some pillows at me.

Yoga Sunday

I ended this weekend with a session at Garden State Yoga, the new yoga studio in Hoboken. I had done hot yoga a few years ago but not in awhile and I was pretty sore from picking up running again.  The class felt great but it was definitely one of the more intense workouts I had that weekend. I had definitely forgotten how hot it can get. I definitely felt reengerized by the class through and will certainly try it again. 

Eats

I made some awesome food this weekend that I will attempt to share.  I've been trying to cook at home as often as possible. We've been making our own homemade pizza as our Saturday or Sunday treat.  But this weekend, I made some scrumptious apple/cinnamon/oat pancakes and some great chicken with veggies. Yum!

Chia Seed Pudding (or the goop I've been eating for breakfast that doesn't taste terrible)

So, soon after getting engaged, booking our wedding and booking a trip to Costa Rica for the winter, I realized I was going to have to watch what I was eating, meaning I could no longer watch as the Ben & Jerry's Fro Yo went from full to empty, I had to have some control. I am of the opinion that crash diets don't work and only result in me suddenly giving in to temptation and going on week long pizza and ice cream benders, which is what happened in December so new year, new college try.  With Costa Rica that much closer, I am definitely motivated.  The last thing I'd like is to weigh down a surfboard so it sinks.

So, we set up the juicer that had been in the box for a month, bought veggies, pre-made brown rice and quinoa (a food I couldn't pronounce 5 years ago), and bought some proteins.  I went back to making healthy lunches.  Then when the Food Network magazine showed up with Giada's stay healthy tips, it seemed fate. I tried most of the recipes she had in the magazine including the crispy chick peas and a green juice and for breakfast, this chia seed pudding. I had bought chia seeds awhile back and had no idea what to do with them, but I was willing to give them a fair shot. 

I made a a few adjustments to her recipe, but it worked out. I had enough for 3 servings. Her recipe is here. I made mine like this:

1 cup of almond milk
1 cup of plain yogurt
1 tbsp of honey/maple syrup (I didn't have enough maple syrup so I used honey)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 tbsp of chia seeds

Mix and I poured into a big container and each day took about a 1/2 a cup with chopped berries (strawberries and blueberries) and granola to work.  The granola was recipe of Giada's as well with oats, sliced almonds, coconut and cranberries. Surprisingly it was delicious. I've eaten it now for 3 days.

The last of my chia seed pudding, which looks a little like goop.

Mouth Watering Mac & Cheese | Sinful Chocolate Chip Cookies

A few weeks ago, when we had thought winter was here to stay, I got in a comfort food mood and made two of my finest masterpieces (read: really good dishes).

Mouth Watering Mac & Cheese
My mom makes a delicious mac & cheese and I almost never make it, which means that often times i end up CRAVING mac and cheese like a crazy person. However, I've often deviated from my mom's recipe and experimented with adding bacon, veggies and other cheeses.  Here I used Ina Garten's grown up Mac & Cheese Recipe, which can be found on the Food Network, here.  However, I made a few substitutions, since I had a ton of really good VT cheddar from the Cheese and Wine Shop in Hoboken, I used that and a little mozzerella to equal 8-9 oz of cheese and I topped it with panko bread crumbs.  Also I used crispy bacon and roasted brussel sprouts in the recipe.  I love roasted brussel sprouts.  I started by roasting the sprouts with EVOO and S&P for 20-25 minutes until cripsy.  I like them almost burnt.  Then I fried 6-8 strips of bacon.  Then I made the cheese sauce (as per Ina's directions except with the Cheddar and Mozz instead of the other cheeses she uses) and cooked the pasta and mixed everything in one big bowl and then I put it in a big dish and cooked, according to directions about 40 minutes. 

Awesome mac & cheese with bacon, brussel sprouts and cheddar. Oh boy!

Sinfully Delicious Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

The HGTV/Food Network stars seemed to be my inspiration for cooking these days.  I follow David Bromstad of HGTV on Twitter and when he posted this cookie recipe to twitter it was too much not to make them.  And then when my better half and his brother were off to the Giants game in the cold, it seemed like an even better idea. Once again, I made some changes to this recipe but otherwise followed exactly.  My edits:  instead of 3 tbsp of salt I used 2 tbsp of regular salt and 1 tbsp fleur de sel, or a hand harvested sea salt I got in the Cheese and Wine Shop (that place is great!) and instead of 2.5 cups of choc chips, I used 1.5 cups of chocolate chips and 1 cup of butterscotch chips so you can got a sweetness, chocolately, saltiness that was delicious. I am a huge fan of salted caramel so this was right up my ally.  The only thing to note with these cookies is they get huge so put lots of space between them.  Enjoy! Here's David's Recipe.

Here’s my famous Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe! (from David Bromstad) They disappeared too fast for a picture, but make them!
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1tsp baking soda
3tsp salt - I used 2 reg and 1 Fleur de Sel
1 cup unsalted butter-2 sticks at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 packed brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips - I used a combo of butterscotch and chocolate
I like my cookies crispy so I cook them at a lower temp. For regular cookies cook at 375 degrees until golden brown.
I like to cook at 325 degrees and let those babies marinate in perfection! They will be crispy. I don’t have a specific time but when I see the tops getting golden brown I pull them. Let them set for a few min, put on a cooling rack and eat the crap out of them!

Enjoy the holidays - Pasta & Powersquats and see you in the gym on Dec. 31st!!!  

A little view of our Xmas Card!

 

6am Winter Wake-ups (aka No Holiday Weight!)

Since our trip to Nashville and my running partner's knee injury, I haven't been working out as much as I should. I lost interest. I did the HoBOOken 5k with my running buddy and my good friend Jen who came down for the 5k.

I had the best costume I've ever put together - not super original, but I loved the outfit, especially the spiffy socks with little capes on the back - thank you Amazon!!

Then I was always running (hehe) out of time to run, but in the past few weeks I've been trying. With my trip to Costa Rica and wedding approaching, I know it won't be long before I have to squeeze into a bathing suit and also a wedding dress, which I picked out this weekend!

The gorgeous hotel we're staying at in Costa Rica's pool which is directly in front of the beach!

I've been slowly getting back on track the last 3 weeks.  I've been running about 30 minutes outside 3-4 days a week, teaching spin 2 days a week as well as bootcamp once a week and adding in sessions at Local Barre once a week.  I've also been trying to cook healthy, making a ton of soups to take to work, as well as serving lots of veggies for dinner and trying to cut back on the PSL's from Starbucks. *sigh*

Purple sweet potatoes, carrots and organic chicken from the Farmer's Market in Hoboken.

New Workout
I also tried a new workout last night at Sky Club in Hoboken, the Monday kickboxing, it was great.  My hands still shaking from hitting the bags and the cardio and bootcamp style exercises definitely upped the workout. 

Tough Tuesday Workout
I've been very bad about posting the Tuesday workouts and I'll admit, last week no one wanted to come to the gym, it's been getting cold in Hoboken and getting up at 6am doesn't sound all that great. 
 

However, this morning as luck would have it, I rolled out of bed, put on my winter gear and expected maybe 2 for my 6am class but we had twice that with 5 showing up.   We did a pretty good workout this morning.

HIIT Style Workout

What you need: mat, bench, risers, one set handweights, one bar with weights.

Warmup: Run, Jacks, Jump Rope, squats and lunges and stretches.

Workout
 8 rounds 20 sec on 10 off (in between the sets of 8, one minute jump rope (JR))

Pushups (I did them on my knees after doing all the pushups for KB last night)
JR
plank or plank walk (forearm to pushup position) for 4 rounds and rollups for 4 rounds (hold boat pose for 10 seconds in between)
JR
Squats
JR
Alternate Bicep Curl and Tricep dip (option: add a weight in your lap for more of a challenge)
JR
crunches/hold up during rest
JR
dead lift (last 4 alternate one-legged dead lift)
JR
Foot ball run drop down for the ten seconds (4 rounds), pushups (4 rounds)
JR (switch to 20 seconds)
MT climbers (4 rounds), crunches (4 rounds)
JR (20)
squat jumps/alternate with squats for 2 and lunges for 2

Cool down.