Plyometrics and Motivation

Hope you’re having a wonderful Thursday! Today has started off wonderfully and I have high hopes for the rest of the day. Last night, The Huz and I celebrated our date-a-versary with a Cinco de Mayo- themed meal:

corn chips, salsa, homemade guacamole, homemade “refried” black beans, taco meat, labne and Tacate beer

We made the beans by just heating a can of black beans in a sauce pot and stirring occasionally. We added a few sprinkles of garlic powder and splashes of hot sauce too, but kept it simple. The meat was a pound of organic ground beef sauteed and seasoned with chili powder, garlic, Tobasco and cumin. We devoured everything while watching two awesome episodes of Dexter (season 1). I’m addicted to that show!

This morning, I took Bodhi for a mile-long walk and enjoyed another tasty breakfast. Very similar to yesterday’s breakfast, but I added a spoonful of mixed berry jam. Yum!

After letting everything digest a bit (and shopping for school clothes online), I did my day 2 Insanity workout. Ugh, this was so hard! So much jumping and so many explosive movements. I was seeing stars 2/3 of the way through this video. It was really tough to keep myself from getting discouraged. Since the videos are only 35-45 minutes long, when I have to stop to recover I feel like I’m cheating myself out of the workout. I swear to you, though, I needed those breaks! I’m just going to keep repeating “it wouldn’t be fun if it was easy from the start!” I’m actually thinking of doing another DVD this afternoon since I’ll have friends in town this weekend and a race on Sunday. I must truly be insane!

Do you prefer traditional strength training or plyometrics?

Are You Staying On Track?

We made it! It’s Friday! And now the fun really begins, right?

What are you up to this weekend? Baking something fabulous? Running a marathon and hugging Mickey? Whittling your middle?

Tonight, I’m having drinks with some of my colleagues and then I’m headed back uptown to celebrate The Huz’s grandmother’s birthday. The restaurant we’re going to is lovely, but I have a feeling it’s going to be a challenge to find a vegetarian dish. Well, that’s not completely true. I can get ravioli, which I love (in case you forgot), but I don’t know that I really need to start my weekend with a carb coma! The rest of the menu is basically steak, chicken and fish dishes. As I’ve said before, I’m not a vegetarian, but I really don’t enjoy eating meat unless I know where it cames from. Take me to a farmer’s market where I can actually talk to the farmer who raised the animal and can assure me it was a “happy cow” and then we’re in business. Or provide me with beautiful, organic salmon and watch me jump up and down with excitement.

Otherwise, I think I’ll pass. In fact, I’ve passed on meat several times this week and have no complaints!

Which brings me to my 2010 goal update:

1. New 1/2 marathon PR – while I haven’t banked any long runs since January 1 (come on, it’s only been a week!), I have to go on the shorter runs I had this week, which were done at a pretty good pace, but I’ve got some serious work to do. Good thing I’ve got all year! 🙂

2. Run 9 NYRR races and volunteer for 1 – I’m having a hard time remembering that I’ve got a half marathon in just a few weeks. Good thing I’m already working on my pace so I won’t be completely out of shape!

3. 200 blog posts – I’m trying to balance my inspiration to write with this goal. I don’t want to post for the sake of posting. I get frustrated with “token posts” because it’s so clear when a writer isn’t feeling inspired. And since I’m terrible at hiding my true feelings (just ask The Huz), I am only writing when I really want to. I’d like to think I’ll be inspired to write 200 times this year, and so far I’ve posted 9 times in the past 8 days, so let’s see if I can keep up the momentum!

4. Read 8 books – I’ve already finished my first book this year! Over the holidays I started My Life In France and I luxuriated in all my free time over the long weekend by sipping tea and reading. I’ll post my review of the book this weekend.

5. Lose 10 pounds – Going by my bathroom scale, though I fear it may be damaged from so many months of neglect and standing on its side, I’ve already lost 2.2 pounds. I’m still sticking with my .8lbs per week so technically I have no weight to lose between today and next Friday. Originally, I was inclined to commit to an additional .8lb by next Friday, but my goal is to lose weight slowly and without allowing any unhealthy thoughts to linger in my mind. If I’m up a little or down a little, it’s okay! Well, as long as my total weight loss is more than 1.6lbs. Otherwise I’ll be trudging around in the cold, dark morning for a week 😉

6. Eat vegetarian at least 4 days/week – This is been a breeze! Including January 1, I’ve eaten vegetarian 6 days and today is stacking up to be vegetarian, too, if I can finagle something at dinner tonight. On my two “omni” days, I had mini ham sandwiches made from leftovers of my grandmother-in-law’s Christmas evening party and the organic salmon from Monday’s dinner.

If you made a list of goals or resolutions, how are you doing with them? Still going strong? Need some motivation?

Have you ever asked for a heavily-modified entree at a restaurant? I’m thinking of asking for some kind of vegetable dish, but I’m not sure how to go about it!

TGIF!!

So Much To Celebrate

Wow, looks like there are a few other coffee drinkers out there in the world just like me! I’m definitely continuing to incorporate more tea into my life (hello 3pm cravings!), but I’ll probably ride out this coffee kick as long as it lasts, especially now that I’m using the french press again!

So we’ve made it to Thursday of the first full week since Christmas. How are you feeling? I have to say, I’m more ready for the weekend than I’ve felt in a long time! I’ve been making good progress with my goals, work is super busy but going well, and I’ve started a new evening adventure, which you’ll learn more about soon. My workouts are also getting back on track, if not quite as frequent as I’d like. On Monday, I alternated mile sprints with strength training. On Wednesday, I opted to run the 3 miles in one segment and threw in a few squats and crunches afterward. Maybe it’s the interval training or maybe it’s just the morning coffee, but I was pretty pleased to round out the 3 miles in under 26 minutes. I’m convinced I’ll get my speed back one of these days and I feel well on my way!

In the midst of all my goal tracking, mile running, and daytime keyboard pounding, the activity I’m most excited about is the Spark! Wellness January Cleanse, which kicked off last night with a very informative informational phone session. In case you missed the call (which I did due to my new evening adventure), the wonderful women at Spark! are going to post a link to the recording soon so you can stay in the loop! I’m so excited to take one more step toward my own health and happiness with this 10-day cleanse and I’ll be sure to write about my experience throughout!

Well, my coffee mug is almost empty and my puppy is standing near the door so I think it’s time for me to jet. Have a wonderful Thursday!!

My Drug of Choice

I was recently reading a certain lovely lady’s blog and she was discussing her coffee drinking habit. While I don’t consider myself a coffee addict (what addict does?), I definitely go through phases with it. I’ll have coffee every day for a few months, and then none for weeks on end. Generally, I walk to work and look pityingly at the poor souls who line up outside Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts like addicts outside a methadone clinic. During the holidays, I must admit I became one of those drones. Unable to get my act together enough to make my own cup of gold, I shelled out $4 almost every day for just one more hit, just one more, and then I promised I’d go clean.

Well, I’m proud to say the new year has brought about a slightly more frugal RunnerWife and I’m now making a more concerted effort to brew my own magic right here in my kitchen each morning before work. And thanks to my beautiful sister and her brother-in-law, and a very generous Huz, I’ve taken their gift

and found a less expensive method of furthering my addiction. In parts, here is my morning coffee routine. All the parts lined up (french press, go mug, grinder):

Beans go in

Powder comes out

Added to hot water and left to steep for 10 minutes

Yesterday morning, I started my day with a bowl of Wheat Chex and a cup of magic elixir and it was tasty, inexpensive, and made within the comfort of my own home. You know what else was made at home? An awesome dinner courtesy of Huz featuring this little guy

Sprinkled on about 1/2 pound of organic king salmon and served with a roasted orange bell pepper a sauteed onion and half a pocketless pita

While I did love all the wonderful meals we ate in restaurants, at dinner parties and on the go, I am so glad to be back in my own kitchen!

Dinner was enjoyed while stretching and watching The Dark Knight. Why did I engage in evening stretching, you ask? Because I finally made it back to the gym yesterday! You might have noticed there’s been a distinct absence of weekday exercise in these parts lately and I’m totally taking the easy way out and blaming the holidays. Yesterday I finally made myself get back to the gym, and I’m so glad I did! I ran three miles, broken up after each mile with strength and core work.

Mile 1: 7:50
Mile 2: 8:15
Mile 3 (cooldown): 8:45

Not too shabby for a quick midday workout!

Well, my coffee mug is empty, my cereal is gone and I think it’s finally time to head to work. Have a great Tuesday!

2010 Goals!

Don’t forget to turn on NBC sometime around 8am this morning – you might see me!

So I know I’m a little bit behind, but I’ve really wanted to get some goals finalized for 2010. Now, when I say ‘finalized’ I dont mean that I won’t strive for other goals or ADD to this list, but I’m committing to accomplishing at least these things.

1. New 1/2 marathon PR – my 1/2 mary PR is from 2007 (1:52:53) and I think it’s about time for a new one! I’ve got one half toward the end of this month, but I think that might be a bit early for my new PR. Maybe I could find a race later in the spring or this fall to tackle this one.

2. Run 9 NYRR races and volunteer for 1 – I really want to qualify for entry into the 2011 NYC Marathon and I know it’s not going to be based on time…

3. 200 blog posts – this (hopefully) won’t be a tough one to accomplish, but I still want to put it out here to be held accountable.

4. Read 8 books – last year, my goal was to read 12, but I had to admit that a book a month just isn’t totally practical for me. I’m going to shoot for 8 and maybe I’ll surprise myself!

5. Lose 10 pounds – I know I don’t usually talk a lot about weight on this blog and I’m very thankful that I’ve come so far in the past year regarding my relationship with food. Now that I’m more comfortable, I’m going to focus my energy on the strength training and cardio I’ve been neglecting so I can trim down the 10 pounds that seem to have snuck up in the past eight months or so. Ever since I mangled my ankle in March and couldn’t exercise for a few months, I’ve been carrying around some extra weight. When I was training for the marathon, I didn’t want to risk losing weight and wearing my body down. The holidays are over, the new year has begun, and I don’t have any pressing training needs over the winter months (aside from the half later this month as mentioned above). Now, I’m not about to go doing anything crazy to lose the weight. I’m not going to calorie count (I already know it drives me nuts) and I’m not going to force myself to exercise if I don’t want to.

This time around, I’m committing to losing .8lb per week by tracking my meals and trying to stay active. I’m going to weigh myself every Friday morning and The Huz will confirm my weight. If I don’t make my goal, I have to do the morning dog walks for the following week. As I’m sure you can imagine, waking up an extra 30 minutes early in the dead of February is NOT very appealing to me when I could spend that time sleeping happily curled up in bed under warm covers. I’m not going to post my weight here, but I will post my progress from week to week and will let you know how it goes! (Of course, the challenge ends after I lose the 10 pounds. Then I’ll be safe from having to do the morning walks for good, but don’t tell The Huz. That’s what he gets for not reading my blog! hehe)

6. Eat vegetarian at least 4 days/week – I’ve been keeping this goal pretty well ever since seeing Food Inc. and I want to commit to maintaining my cleaner diet through the next year. Not only am I committing to a vegetarian diet most days, but I’m also committing to minimizing processed and nutritionally void foods, which I imagine will probably help me accomplish goals 1 and 5, too!

I’ve also got a few more projects in the works, but they’ll all be revealed in good time. Trust me!