tourist

Monday Gym Day
Today I decided to go with my typical (or what has become my typical) Monday routine of hitting up the gym for elliptical and weights. I started with about 15 minutes of the elliptical today, then hit the weights for back and biceps. I went with trisets of 3x8.

TS#1
Underhand barbell rows
Pullovers
Single-arm rows

TS#2
Dumbbell curls
Hammer curls
Cross-body curls

Assisted pullups - 8
Concentration curls - 5 (went pretty heavy with idea of just going to failure)

I finished out with another 15 minutes on the elliptical. Overall, a really strong workout. It was definitely what I needed today as a stress reliever.


Mustard Sauce for Monday
I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to do for dinner tonight. Last night I actually had cereal (gaps). We had some asparagus that needed to be used up quickly, so I went with that and built the meal around roasted asparagus.

I did roasted sweet potatoes (rosemary, salt, pepper, parsley), roasted asparagus (salt and lemon pepper spice blend) with homemade Chikn' Seitan Patties that I basted in a sauce of Dijon mustard, splash of vegetable broth, salt, pepper, parsley, nutritional yeast flakes and baked. I made a Dijon Mustard Sauce that turned out wonderful. I was rather proud of it as I just threw in ingredients.

Dijon Mustard Sauce
Ingredients:
1/8 cup minced red onion
Dijon mustard (maybe 1 1/2 tbsp)
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Small amount of no-salt vegetable broth (to consistency basically), white wine would be good too
Nutritional yeast flakes (approximately 1 1/2 tbsp)
To taste: salt, pepper, parsley

Directions:
Lightly saute onions then add in remaining ingredients and allow to simmer to desired consistency.

 

Boxing Over Running
I had thought that I might run today depending on the weather. I just wanted to head out for an easier 4-miler. My training plan had originally called for 5-6 yesterday and 9-10 today.

Unfortunately, it was really windy and looked like rain all day. I took that as a sign that I needed to do something other than get in a run. So, I went with Cathe's MMA Boxing then abs from Power Hour. It was a fun workout and time flew by this morning.

Errands, Chores, More Car Shopping
After the workout, I started working on some house chores before we decided to head out to run some errands. We recently rearranged the living room, and I wanted a new lamp for a side table. We hit up Kirkland's and scored a great deal on the perfect lamp - $16.97! Then we hit up Target and a few car lots before decided we really had to eat before we could even think about the grocery store.

While eating, however, we talked ourselves into going back to one of the lots to test drive a car there. Of course that meant we were there far longer than we had hoped or planned on. I've had several people ask me about what I've been looking at. I didn't really want to say, some of the cars sound pretentious to me, even if they are used. I don't ever want to come across that way. I mean, my car was 10 years old and Jason's is 11. We haven't bought a new car in a LONG time. We're definitely not luxury car people, but used? Hey those kind of are affordable.

So...I kind of like the Hyundai Genesis (though I can't drive the standard because the seat doesn't scoot up enough to touch the clutch), Infinity G37 Coupe, and I test drove a BMW 328i Convertible today ('07). While I loved the BMW because it hit all of my criteria (sporty, standard, convertible), I am still oddly leaning towards the G37. Major "zoom" factor with that one ;-)

I still had some chores I wanted to finish up and some doggy treats to bake up for an order. Jason was kind enough to drop me off at the house and take care of the groceries. I think I can handle doing some laundry, baking treats, and blogging rather than the grocery store ;-)

Anyway, since lunch was sort of late (and I ate too much), I'm not sure what we'll end up having for dinner tonight. It's oddly warm here because we have a front pushing though (which is going to bring some storms tonight), so soup really doesn't sound appealing at all. Maybe some sort of salad perhaps. If it ends up being anything exciting, I'll be sure to post tomorrow ;-)

Sort of Good Run
Today I had planned on doing at least 11 miles for my last long run before the half marathon next Sunday. We ended up having plans to go to the race track (about an hour away) with friends and also wanted to go back and look at a car. This meant we needed to get up and get the run done sooner than later.

I had hoped to be out the door by 8:30, it ended up being 9. It was sunny, about 40 degrees, and low winds. Not too shabby. I have a tendency to over dress for the cooler runs, but today I did good. Not too many layers at all. Jason, however, was overheated within 10 minutes. This is the same person who always reminds me that I get too hot. Anyway, so he's already hot and he decided to wear this particular jacket for the extra pockets. Rather than using the water bottle running belt he has, he had the brilliant idea of stashing two bottles in the back pockets.

Let's just say he quickly realized that was a huge mistake as they were bouncing around everywhere. Anyway, he was struggling big time also because of his allergies and having taken allergy meds. Totally not his ideal running day. After about two miles in, he was still not hitting a groove, but I was. I ended up going on ahead of him and met back up after a turn around then passed him again. But God love him, he kept on going.

I had a really great run up until about mile 9. I had found an awesome groove and was just trucking right along. That's exactly how I need to feel next Sunday! Anyway, this route today was super hilly. So about 9 miles in I was starting to feel the fatigue. Jason apparently decided it was time to run and caught up with me and then kept speeding up. This totally undid my groove I had going. We ended up hitting 10.5 miles before I had to just stop period. My knee was starting to feel a bit achy and I wanted to be safe not sorry.

I did try a Clif gel packet today, and that seemed to work out really well for me. The bloks/chomps were causing me to have an upset tummy for about 10 minutes after I ate them. This gel brand didn't seem to bother me at all. Big plus.


Track & Pizza Day
So, after getting back to the house I stretched and rolled then quickly got cleaned up. I heated up some veggie burgers for us to eat in the car - we were really running behind.

It ended up being a gorgeous day for the races. We had a great time with our friends as well - sat in some awesome boxes right at the finish line.

 

Early Morning Weights
I guess I just have so much on my mind that sleep is just not happening this week. I tossed and turned most of the night, finally getting out of bed just after 5am.

I decided to go ahead and get in my chest and shoulder workout. I had thought I would do triceps as well, but my left elbow has been bothering me. When I do chest and triceps at the same time, it makes it worse, so I'm resting the tris.

I went with supersets of 3x8 (big surprise) unless noted:

Pushups - 24
Shoulder press (warmup) - 10 reps

SS#1
Flat bench chest flye
Chest press

SS#2
DB shoulder press
Lateral raises

SS#3
Incline bench chest flye
Incline bench chest press

SS#4
DB upright rows
Rear delt flye

Staggered press - 12 reps
Front raise - 12 reps

I did abs from Cathe's High Reps (I seriously love that ab workout) and called it a morning.

Fun Facts Friday - The Little Things
Since I've been struggling with not letting this whole car situation bring me down, I thought I'd share some of the little things that keep me afloat. Sometimes it really and truly is that little thing, the small gestures, the unexpected nuances that can make (or break) your day. When we learn to pay attention to those little things and add them up, I think they can help us keep our chins up.

• A great blog post at just the right time like today's post "The Wooden Bowl" by Kristina at Spabettie.
• An email from a friend with just the right words.
• A hug. Sometimes it seems like a hug can fix everything.
• A blog comment like the one I received from Quisha @ Socially Green. Sometimes you guys can seriously make my day.
• Sunshine.
• A key chain. You don't realize what they can mean until yours is gone.
• A hot shower.
• A really good cry.
• A really good haircut.
• Freshly painted fingernails (and toes of course).
• A smile from a stranger.
• A random compliment when at just the right time.
• Warm, fuzzy house shoes after a long run.
• Someone cooking for you.
• An inspirational quote (thanks Lindsay).

Dreary Day
Today was one of those really gloomy, gray days that make you want to stay in bed. The only thing I was looking forward to was finally having the insurance company start the process of considering my car a loss as tomorrow marks 3 weeks since it was stolen. I swear, Jason and I have done nothing but talk about cars, prices, numbers, etc. for the past few days. Somehow, I expected a bit of relief from that pressure.

Instead, when the lady calls Jason, she says that she got a report that the car was found on the 22nd. Um...news to us... So roller coaster of emotions going on. Turns out that only the license plate was found. For real??? Could they not have figured that out first? We don't know how long it will take for them to determine the value of my car and to get a check now. Could be tomorrow, could be Monday.

I just know I'll be so very glad for all of this to be over with.


Dreading Dreadmill 
Anyway, the gray day turned into severe storms and tornado warnings. Not exactly ideal conditions for an outdoor training run. I'm crazy, but not stupid. So I hit the dreadmill. And today it definitely had a dread factor. I think mostly because of all the car "stuff" weight on me, the gray day, and then the thought of more steady state than intervals.

I know, shut up and stop the bitching and get it done...and I did of course because I somehow have this crazy ability to suck it up when I just shut up about it. Doesn't mean I enjoyed it any more of course (humph).

Anyway, the plan called for 6 miles, 4 x 2:00 incline intervals, 6 pickups. I did 4 miles, the intervals, pickups, and another mile for a total of 7 miles. It was crazy running and watching the storm blowing in. Kind of scary actually. The gym is on the 29th floor and the window were actually shaking. Definitely made for an interesting run.


I got home and hit my yoga mat and TriggerPoint Therapy Kit before going to finally get cleaned up.

Tempeh Thursday 
While I was getting cleaned up, Jason made some Toasted Tempeh & Black Bean Burritos.