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DC Workouts

So…I know I have a bit to catch up on but if I can write this post quick enough I can catch another Scandal before bed. SO GOOD and totally relevant to this city!

Yesterday I woke up at 5am (that’s 2am CA time for those keeping track) to run over to the Lincoln Memorial for November Project.

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I was shocked by how light-and hot and humid-it was at 5:30am. Since where I’m from it’s always freezing at night, I couldn’t quite believe it!

We all gathered on the steps. Today was “PR day,” which meant running the stairs for time.

Well, for some reason I thought we were doing that once, so I sprinted up the stairs. And then no one was stopping. Turns out we had to do it 17 (or 13) times…I scaled and did 13, partly because I had to leave a bit early. Guys. The Lincoln Memorial has SO MANY STAIRS. Like, you have no idea. THE BURN! Somehow magically I’m not insanely sore today-maybe because I spent the rest of the morning hydrating like a mad woman, but it was definitely a good one, and so peaceful to be running the city so early!

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I went to Crossfit that evening because apparently I’m crazy, and everyone seems to think it’s PR week. Well, I did get a PR! I PRed my deadlifts by 10lbs for a total of 245! And my form was way better than my previous PR so that’s good!

And since we’re on the topic of workouts, I went to a run club today that’s through my gym (which I get a membership to as part of Crossfit). I should also mention that it was 90 and humid today. And that I never have to run in heat because I’m from San Francisco and such a thing does not exist…

There were only 3 of us plus an instructor, and the other women looked pretty fast. On the schedule was about a 35 minute tempo run-10 easy, 10 min tempo, 5 min easy, rest of the run tempo. In theory tempo was a faster pace, or 10k pace. In reality, it was me trying not to die. I was doing ok keeping up with the easy pace-it didn’t feel too bad but it was about a 9:00 which is on the fast side for a longish run for me (My latest 10k pace was 8:45). But I was doing fine. I fell behind pretty quickly when the tempo part started but I did what I could. Coming back though, my legs were absolute bricks. During the “tempo” part, I was just trying to keep them moving. So fast runs in hot and humid weather build character, right? I’ll probably go back even though I probably slowed the others down, because it’s good for me and I’m sort of learning the area through a guided run. That was a little extra incentive-better keep up if I don’t want to get hopelessly lost! And hey-official half training starts next week! Although I’m going to keep up my weekend 6 milers until I get to that point.

Foodwise?

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I wasn’t sure if I’d have time for breakfast post-November project, but it was a non-issue and I had woken up HUNGRY. So this protein was much needed after 10245412342 stairs.

And I finally worked out my coffee situation. After waking up at 5am, this was a lifesaver.

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As a side note, this is a 12oz coffee, which is the smallest size they serve. I had one again this morning and it was WAY too much caffeine, even though I was drowsy all morning. WHEW. Guess who usually drinks baby espresso drinks? THIS GIRL.

Lunch today was kind of awful. I made some cauliflower in the microwave and topped it with hummus leftover from the previous night’s dinner (picture will follow) and it was just a mushy mess. Ick. I also had scrambled eggs with manchego and spinach, which were ok but it was kind of a mess.

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Here’s the aforementioned dinner. The craziest thing happened. I heated soup up on the stove. Not the microwave, the STOVE. Am I officially a real person? I took tomato soup and mixed in some fresh spinach, then topped it with cheddar. On the side was some hummus and pretzels, plus my new favorite thing-FROZEN GRAPES! I had some on the softer side which I hate, so I just stuck them in the freezer. SO good!

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The tomato soup was Trader Joe’s, and I was really disappointed. I forgot to check added sugar, and this had a fair amount-it tasted sweet. Ugh.

Speaking of which, on my way out of work today, I was hungry and wanted some quickly digesting carbs to fuel my run, so I picked this guy up from the restaurant.

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It was pretty tasty, but SO sweet and oily. But my run went well (as well as it could have) so who am I to complain. I just don’t want to make it a habit!

After the afternoon’s run, I stopped at Whole Foods to be lazy as well as to make use of my gift card. I picked up some fruit, carrots, super dark chocolate, and sun butter, plus dinner and lunch for tomorrow. Not having to pack lunch tonight is sort of fantastic.

My dinner was Mexican tilapia over beans, roasted potatoes, and garlicy cabbage and green beans. Plus lots of grapes with sun butter when I got back, and a bit of dark chocolate.

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And now I’m at that point where I could go to bed nice and early, or watch another Scandal…decisions….

WIAW-Post Race Recovery

Happy What I Ate Wednesday! Thank you to Jenn for hosting!Image

After my half marathon on Sunday, I’ve been trying to refuel well for as fast as possible of a recovery. This means lots of carbs and lots of protein. The good news? I’m no longer hobbling around like an old lady! Score! Here are some of my eats from this past week. 

ImageTaco salad from the Abs Diet cookbook. Plus some fresh guac-it’s been too long!

What I love about this salad is the dressing-it’s simply salt, pepper, olive oil, and lime juice with chopped tomatoes. This salad recipe has inspired my family to make our own dressings for salads-even a simple dressing like this makes the salad taste so much fresher! Most dressings can be whipped up in just a few minutes. If you haven’t made your own dressing before, I highly recommend trying it. 

This morning, I awoke with a stiff/sore calf. At this point, it seems that the best remedy is Spin class-how convenient. I left Spin feeling much better. Once again, I am so grateful my calf held up for my race. The race igniting a running fire under me, but I’m forcing myself to take AT LEAST a week, probably two, off of running before I start training for the Nike Women’s half. My calf needs to be 100% better before I start again!

After spin, I had been planning on trying a new protein smoothie recipe. Instead, I decided to put my pineapple Chobani to work.

ImageInstant pineapple frozen yogurt! I didn’t actually need to coconut water-I only added a splash and I had no trouble blending. I simply blended a pineapple CHO with frozen pineapple chunks!

ImageThis probably could have used a bit more time in the blender-it was super chunky and not as thick as a result. 

Cinnamon raisin toast has been happening a lot lately. I blame the race 🙂

ImageCinnamon raisin toast topped with a little butter and cinnamon sugar is a great treat that’s on the lighter side. It’s healthier than a cinnamon roll while still hitting all those key flavor notes, but it won’t leave you in a sugar coma!

Midmorning, I was craving banana bread. I made a microwave version!

ImageI mixed up a banana, egg beaters, coconut flour, a pinch of baking soda, and a splash of almond milk. Plus bittersweet chocolate chips, which obviously MADE the dish!

ImageIn the future, I think I would omit the coconut flour. It masks the banana flavor a little too much!

More carbs were the name of the game later in the afternoon. I made a spin-off of PB&J. Did you know that in middle school/beginning of high school I ate a PB&J sandwich every day at lunch? I was quite the connoisseur. I had the brand of PB all figured out. I also used to put two different types of jam on the sandwich. 

My aunt makes the best jam in the world and sends us tons of it. My favorite is the raspberry-she grows her own raspberries for the jam! I’ve always loved PB&J, but somehow my face seems to object to peanut butter now. Sunflower seed butter and jam isn’t quite the same, but it’s a close second!

ImageI also had some leftover turkey taco mix from the previous night’s dinner. 

I made the mistake of eating a fairly large snack, and then another granola bar, right before Crossfit. Ugh, not the best idea! 

At Crossfit, we worked on snatches. I kept being too far out in front on mine, probably because my hips are so tight from my race!

The WOD was harder than I was expected. The Rx for the deadlifts was 155, but I stuck to 135 since there were so many reps. Here’s the workout:

25 deadlifts

25 toes to bar

25 box jumps

25 toes to bar

25 deadlifts

I really liked this workout! I really need to strengthen my abs though-my core was really quaking on the deadlifts! Also-I start cleaning my box tomorrow! I mean, a membership in exchange for cleaning is awesome, but to be honest, I just want to spend more time around the box. And hey, if I’m in there anyway, it’s an excuse to work on my pull-ups!

I was not hungry AT ALL after Crossfit, but I decided I needed to refuel. I made a chocolate coconut protein smoothie.

ImageThe coconut flavor came from shredded coconut and coconut extract. I’ll post the recipe once I perfect it-it could have used more coconut extract! This time I think I added a little much xantham gum and not enough ice. I’m kind of at a loss with the amount of xantham gum to use-I either add to much or too little! Help?

Today while pumping gas, I thought about two things. 1. This freaking car is such a gas guzzler-I just got gas last week! 2. My irrational fear related to pumping gas. I’m scared that somehow I’ll manage to blow up the gas station by spilling gas. It kind of freaks me out when the nozzle drips because I’m imagining that scenario. 

Aaaand once last thought for the day. I FINALLY got my first post up for my town’s fitness blog! It’s just an introductory post, but here it is! Don’t worry-this new blog won’t change anything about Fitness is Sweet. I’ll link to the other blog from here, but I’ll mostly discuss different things. I’ll definitely discuss anything relevant (such as workouts, interesting studies) on here as well!

Have a great week!

Do you have any irrational fears? Do your cats like to “help” you blog? Mine does…He’s here right now!

How do you recovery from a race or competition?