Magazine Workout

Today was a busy day at work. I ended up working a bit late and had little motivation to workout when I got home. This is the downside to working out after work, but the upside of biking if I do skip the workout. I really didn't want to miss out on my first workout of the week so I decided to try a new routine to motivate me. I also wanted to watch the hockey game (go Bruins!) and I could do this while working out.

Workout: 40 min bike + Bootcamp routine from Women's Health Magazine

I'm generally not a fan of magazine workouts but when I saw the bootcamp workout in the June issue of Women's Health, I thought I'd give the magazine workout a try.

Overview:

The workout consisted of 2 circuits each with 4 exercises. You complete each circuit 4 times before moving on to the next. All you need is a medicine ball and resistance tubing.

Review:

This was definitely one of the tougher magazine workouts that I've tried and I'll probably keep it on hand. My arms and shoulders did get a good burn during the workout, but afterwards I didn't feel that continual burn which I really love and crave from doing weights. I ended up adding a few exercises with some heavier free weights to supplement the workout. It must have worked because now I can barely lift my arms to type.

Eats:

Post workout meal consisted of Chicken Asian Salad

(that bowl was refilled numerous times)

We have been making our own salad dressings lately, mostly because we are too lazy/keep forgetting to pick up some from the store. This one was a soy-ginger-garlic one that was fantastic!

Hooray for May

Goodbye May and hello June! The sun is starting to shine here (well sort of) and the grass is getting green (well ours needs a bit ofwork to get there), but it's starting to feel like summer! Since I nerd out on numbers, here is my recap of the month in numbers:

Running/fitness

- Races: 0
- Weeks off running: 2 (It was a looooong 2 weeks)
- Races signed up for: 3
- Pairs of running shoes bought: 1
- Weeks of cross-training: 4

Food

- Weird dishes made: 3 x 4 weeks= 12 (I made these items over and over and over...)
- Normal recipes made: 0 (it was a lazy month)
- BBQs bought: 1 (hence the lazy month. Pretty much everything was grilled)
- Cups of coffee per day: 2

Life

- Years married: 1 (yay for anniversary month)
- Vacation days taken to celebrate anniversary: 7
- Temperature of anniversary destination place: 90F (that's right, I finally found sun)
- Theme parks visited while on vacation: 5 (can you guess where we went?)
- Dollars spent on outlet mall shopping: $300
- Items bought at outlet mall: 15 (Shopping in the U.S. is seriously awesome)
- Number of times I have added color commentary in this post: 11 (Color commentary = anything in brackets)
- Disney pins collected: 4
- yes that's right we went to the happiest place on earth to celebrate 1 year

Hooray for May! It was a fun one.

Two Weeks With No Running = Sign Up for Races

So 2 weeks ago I decide to take a break from running to heal my legs. After my half marathon I was getting a pain in my calf every time I ran so I bit the bullet and took some time off. What did I do in the meantime? Well I biked more and did some aerobic-body-pump style workout dvds. I also watched other runners on the pathway with extreme jealousy, and oh right, I signed up for three more 10 km races! My justification was that signing up for them will give me the motivation to heal.....sure that makes sense [insert sarcasm]. Truthfully, my legs are feeling much better, so it's probably o.k. to do some races. It all started with me stumbling across information for a night time race:

The Energizer Night Race (link)

It's a night time race and you wear a headlamp. How could I not sign up for it?!

Then I decided I needed to train for this race (which is in August) by signing up for a race in June.

The Bowness Centennial Race (link)

I don't know anything about this race besides that it's 10 km and in June. The course looks neat and it's a part of the city I don't know much about.

And finally I signed up for a race at the end of August, which I was planning to do all along.

The Calgary Women's Run (link)

I'm still trying to convince my mum to run it with me since we can sign up as a team. For those of you who don't know, my mum is a super fast runner, so my plan is to get her on my team so I can actually win some hardware for once.

Here's to hoping I'm healed in time!

I bake weird $hit....but it's healthy!

I like to experiment in the kitchen. This is great except that I pretty much never make anything the "normal" way. As the husband like to say I make weird $hit. Let me explain:

Cookies are not made with butter and flour. These bad boys contain zucchini. Just making sure you get your 5-7.

Pudding from a powder where you just add milk...ummm no way. Try an avocado with a dash of honey and cocoa powder.

And the grand finale, granola bars held together by mounds of honey, yeah that just doesn't fly with me. These use dates, bananas, carrots, and spinach ground to a paste. Told you I make weird $hit. Even the man on the plate thinks so.

Bike Commuting

For 6 months of the year I bike to work. As soon as the snow melts, I give up on the bus and use my bike to get around. My favorite part is that I get in a workout while accomplishing something that I have to do everyday. If you ever want to get into bike commuting, here are a few tips I have picked up so far:

Bike: get a good quality but cheap bike. Your bike should be nice enough to ride but not nice enough to be stolen. I use a Kona city bike which is a light weight commuter. The components are what make it cheap, so it has plastic pedals and the cheapest brakes and de-railers you can get. My plan is to upgrade these parts as they break.

Backpack: join the cool kids and get a backpack. In it I have a spare tire, patch kit and basic bike tools. Plus I haul my clothes, makeup, shoes and lunch for the day in it.

Backpack Raincover: This will make your backpack even cooler but you'll love it on the rainy days.

Helmet: Wear it! You will likely bike on roads and cars are not careful around cyclists.

Pump, spare tire, patch kit: City streets are full of glass and junk that can destroy your tires so be prepared to get a flat. I also recommend taking a basic bike maintenance course.

Bike commuting is quite easy to get into so there really isn't any excuse not to (well unless you live in the boonies). If you do live close enough, I highly recommend you try it out!

Cross Training

My shins are sore. Ever since my half marathon where it snowed, I get a pain in my legs when I run. It's tough to accept but I have decided to tone down the running so I can prevent a long term injury. Since I can't sit still, I have started some cross training to keep me in shape. Here are a some exercises I've substituted for the running, on top of icing every day:

Biking

5 days a week. I started biking to work everyday, which is about 20min each way. I have to get to work somehow, so why not get a workout out of it.

Aerobic DVDs

2-3 times per week. I prefer DVDs that have a good blend of cardio and weight training. My favorite DVDs are from the Get Ripped series. They last around 1 hour and boy do you get a good burn from them.

What We Ate: week of May 2

The slow cooker was my best friend this week! Here is what we ate:

[Monday] Salmon with Rice and Asparagus

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread 1 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tsp of dill on to the salmon. Put in oven and cook through until salmon flakes (about 15-20 min).

Mix asparagus spears with 1 tsp olive oil and salt and pepper. Place in oven and cook for 10-15 min.

[Tuesday and Thursday] Turkey Rice Soup
Directions:

In the slow cooker add: leftover turkey, 1 cup chicken stock, 2 cups mixed vegetables (we buy the frozen peas, corn and carrots), 1/4 c rice, 1 tsp italian seasoning, 1 tsp thyme, 2 bay leaves. Heat on high for 5-6 hours.

[Wednesday] Chicken Quesadillas
Directions:

In the slow cooker add: 2 chicken breasts, 500g of mixed frozen pepper strips, 3/4 c salsa. Add around 1 c water until the chicken is covered. Cook on high for 6-7 hours.

Preheat oven to 400F. Using a slotted spoon, dish out chicken and pepper mix on to a tortilla shell. Cover with grated cheese. Top with another tortilla shell. Bake until cheese melts, around 5-10 min.

[Friday] Chorizo Stirfry
Same as last Thursday but I used sauteed mushrooms instead of onion and I served it with rice instead of a bun.