Getting Back in to the Groove

After 2 weeks of traveling, 1 of which was at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico, I'm ready to get back into a healthy eating and fitness routine. Even though I was able to use a few of my tricks for working out while on vacation, such as taking advantage of the hotel gym and running along the beach, I still ate like food was going out of style. Dessert with every meal, why not? A few extra Pina Coladas, I'll take them? My philosophy in Mexico was that I may as well enjoy the trip and not worry about anything. One week of indulgence never hurt anyone, but now it's time to get back on track. Since I'm a planner, here is my game plan for the next week:

Workouts

- Bike commuting every day

- Run 2 times this week

- Weights 3 times this week

Eating

I don't like having rules when I eat but this week I'm going to use a few stand-bys:

- Eat 6 meals per day (3 main + 3 mini)

- Up my protein intake with each meal

- Lots and lots of fruits and veggies (I'm aiming for 5-6 per day)

- Drink lots of water (around 6 glasses per day - I need to make up for all of those Pina Coladas somehow)

The first few day back from vacation have been feeling sluggish, so hopefully this plan can get me back into the swing of things.

Keeping Active While Traveling

It seems like I've been traveling a lot lately. A month ago we were in Florida for vacation, then last week I was in Chicago for work, and soon we are off to Mexico. This is odd for me since I barely ever travel and am a bit of a home body. The toughest part for me is that it makes it hard to stick to my workout plan, and as a planner, I get super anxious when I can't stick to a plan.

I'm no expert on staying fit while on the move, but here are a few things I figured out so far:

- See if you hotel has a fitness center - these can sometimes be tiny and consist of only 1 treadmill and a few free weights, but it's better than nothing

- Go for a run to explore the city - I only do this if I feel safe in the city

- Find some no-weights-required workouts - my favorite source is Women's Health Magazine because they have a lot of great workouts that you can put right onto your iPod and do in your hotel room

- Pushups and sit-ups - sometimes you just don't want to workout while traveling. When I'm feeling less motivated, I try to do a few pushups and sit-ups before bed. I usually do 30 reps of each, then 20, then 10

- Walk as much as possible - This is a great way to discover a city. Rather than taking taxi's and transit everywhere, try walking around to different attractions

I hope these tips help.

Staying Motivated

This is a common look for me. Cooking dinner in my workout gear.

It's tough to fit in a workout when you work 8-5 (and lately for me this has been 8- 6 or later). My workouts typically take place in the evenings after I get home and after I make dinner. It's very tough to stay motivated once dinner is done, so my go to trick is to put my workout gear on the second I get home and cook in my gear. It's a weird way to stay motivated but trust me, it works! It does feel weird to sit on the couch in workout gear.

Some other ways to stay motivated are to:

• Plan and schedule your workouts ahead of time
• Switch up your workout plan (weights, workout DVDs, yoga, etc.)
• Take it outside. This is especially good if you work inside all day.
• Use working out to accomplish daily tasks. For example, I bike to work because I have to get there anyway. You could also try walking to the grocery store or go for a run with a friend instead of going out for drinks (or go out for drinks afterwards anyway)

Any other ideas out there? Feel free to let me know.

Race Recap: Bowness Centennial 10KM

Last Sunday I ran the Bowness Centennial 10km! (and yes, it took me a week to write a recap). Here's a pre-race pic of me. Man I look nervous! I was kind of worried that my leg pain would flair up and I really wanted to beat 50 min.

Every time I race, I try to take a lesson out of it and this time the message was pace yourself! It took forever for the race to start once they got us organized at the start line. First they had a few speeches, then a blessing from an aboriginal, and just when you thought that was it, they sang the anthem! It was too much, especially when you have pre-race jitters. So once the race finally started, I was anxious and went out too fast. I was feeling great at that pace, so I decided to keep it up. If I wanted to beat 50 min, I figured I would have to push my comfort zone anyway. The problem was that at about 7km I realized my pace was maybe a bit ambitious and I totally ran out of gas. I thought I was either going to pass out or puke, and the last 3 km was killer. When I rounded the corner saw that I had about 500 meters to go, I have never been happier to see a finish line in my life. Usually I pick up the pace and finish strong but as soon as I saw the time was at 47 minutes, I slowed down, fixed my hair (I had to look good incase there was a photographer at the finish line), and finished in 48 minutes on the dot. (There was no photographer. Major boo) I was so happy that I beat my time but immediately felt like I was going to pass out. I made Bill raid the post-race snack goodies while I walked it out. Once the dizziness passed, I realized I had run my first sub-50 min 10km and was soooo happy. We peaced out on the post-race events and went out for Vietnamese Pho afterwards to celebrate. I'm guessing Pho is probably not the best post-race recovery food but I felt like I had earned it.

In other news, Bill ran his 10 km in 41-something minutes. He also had the same epic fail as me and went out too strong. So lesson learned, next time I'm pacing my self properly right out of the gates and then if I can pick it up around 5km I will do so.

Pre-Race Fuel

Today is race day and it's not snowing! I was a little worried yesterday when it was raining, but today we woke up to a tiny bit of blue sky and no moisture in the air. Fingers crossed it stays this way. You may think it's odd that I'm worried about snow, but since the two races I've completed this spring have been in snow, I think I'm justified.

We are running the 10km in this race, and my goal is to break 50 minutes. In order to fuel up for the race, I made my pre-race go-to meal: oatmeal. Every runner is different in how they fuel up, but we are all the same in that when we find something that works, we stick to it.

In the bowl:

1/2 cup Instant Oats

1 tbsp PB

1 scoop Vanilla Whey Protein Powder

1 tsp Maple Syrup

1/4 cup milk

1 apple on the side

On that note, I better go get ready so I'm not late for the race!

Grill It Up

Today's workout burned and I liked it! I was faced with a head wind on the bike ride home, which always makes for a fun ride. My legs were a burning by the time I got home! Once home, I popped in a workout DVD, Get Ripped and Chiseled, which has a ton of upper-body exercises. This helps to balance out those thunder-thighs that biking and hockey so conveniently give me.

Fitness: 60 min. workout DVD + 40 min. bike

It's no secret that I'm a little obsessed with workout DVDs. I particularly like Ripped & Chiseled because it focuses on one muscle at a time and I can overload on weights. I always feel like it's a solid workout when my muscles are shaking towards the last few reps.

Eats: Grilled Teriyaki Pork with Grilled Pineapple

After my workout I was f-hungry (as per usual). I needed something quick so the BBQ did the trick. We marinated some pork tenderloin all day in a teriyaki sauce, so we threw this onto the grill with some pineapple. Easy peasy.

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!