Tabata fun.....

Happy Monday and happy Tabata day at Kettlebell.

Don't know what Tabata is?

The original Tabata Protocol requires the following:

• 5 minutes of warm-up
• 8 intervals of 20 seconds all-out intensity exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest
• 2 minutes cool-down

The are lots of sites and articles on internet about this type of workout. Of course some claim all kinds of crazy miracle weightloss, etc. I just like it as I can compete with myself and try to maintain the same number of reps for each interval.

Also at our gym we do mutiple exercises, each is done for 8 intervals with 20 seconds all out and then 10 seconds of rest. The exercises sometimes vary though.

Today's Tabata Recipe included.....

-situps (I did 9 each set)

-pullups (3-4 each set)

-air squats (12-14 each set)

-sledge hammer (was having too much fun to count)

-push ups (8-10, I tried to keep up the regular ones but my wrist was hurting... had to do girly ones the last couple of intervals)

So sledge hammer..... yup that involves an actual sledge hammer.

Too bad this wasn't on a Friday when I need to get some anger out. LOL

We smack a big ol' tire, kind of like chopping wood. Fun! Although I tad dangerous at 6am.

He he....

After a fun morning workout I prepped some breakfast to bring to work.

BREAKFAST

- .5c oats, .5c almond milk, .5c water

-1T almond butter

-4 crushed up Kashi Vanilla Island squares

-few walnuts

Around 8:30 I ran home to pick up my dad and deliver him to the hospital for day surgery. He had to have a little minor knee surgery.... torn cartilage and torn miniscus. The patient is recovering well.

After dropping my dad off I headed back to work.

Snacked on a Honey Crisp Apple. Yum!

Lunch time came and I realized I forgot to pack something, so to the cafe I went.

LUNCH

-1/2 ww wrap w/ chicken salad & loaded with veggies

-side of carrot sticks

-side of broccoli & brussel sprouts

I thought after work I had a school board meeting, however I was pleasantly suprised when I opened up my packet and found it CANCELLED!! Yay! Free night. :-)

Although this was after I had already grabbed some food.... had I found out sooner I would have snuck a run in. Gggrrrr.... by the time I would have digested it would have gotten darker out and I knew my motivation would have faded. Oh well.

DINNER

-beef stew (it tastes better than it photographs)

This is the stew that I made yesterday.

I should have made it totally from scratch but those seasoning packets help so much.

My stew includes.....

-store brand seasoning packet

-stew meat

-CSA potatoes

-CSA onions

-carrots

-baby bella mushrooms

-about a cup of red wine & couple cups of water

Might have a chocolate chip cookie in a bit. Mmm.... love cookies.

I'm definitely getting my winter eats on. This cool weather is getting to me.

In other big news today I found out my number for the NYC Marathon! I'm in the 14,000's. This places me in the "sub-elite" category. Um, if they say so. They assign your number based on a recent marathon, I used this past spring's Boston Marathon 3:28:15. I'm getting very excited now!

My brother, who lives in NYC, was home this past weekend to visit since my dad is in town. He is going to be our tour guide in the city and we will finally get to see his 'hood.

Do you ever build vacations around races? I do this on occassion, I of course prefer to get the race done and then enjoy where I am at. ;-)

Have a great night!!

Britt

Lovely lazy Sunday.....

What a lovely lazy Sunday.

The day started by sleeping in. Ah.... This long runs on Saturday thing is working out nicely for my Sunday mornings. Plus the weather was not so nice today. If you saw the Patriots football game today you will understand why I stayed inside most of today.

We decided on pancakes for breakfast.

I added some pumpkin pie mix and walnuts to mine. YUM!

On top I added a little almond butter & drizzle of syrup.

We carb loaded, as we have tons of potatoes from our crop share. Along with our pancakes we had some fried potatoes & onions. Of course with ketchup.

After making pancakes I seemed to gather motivation to do some cooking today. I hit the grocery store and got a few items for the day and for the week. I decided to make chocolate chip cookies and beef stew to be enjoyed later this week. My dad is visiting again, he's having some minor knee surgery and is staying with us. With the dreary weather I thought beef stew would be some nice comfort food to have in the house.

While the stew cooked I got to work on the cookies. Although once I started I realized we had no eggs. So I used 1T ground flax with 3T warm water. It seemed to do the trick as the cookies still looked and tasted great! See.....

The rest of the day was pretty much spent on the couch watching football or doing laundry. I snacked on some camera shy cheese & crackers and enjoyed a couple Shipyard Pumpkinhead beers. Mmm....

We headed to my in-laws for dinner.

I took the distance shot of my meal......

DINNER

-turkey w/ cranberries

-sweet potato w/ apple cinnamon butter.... OMG so good

-salad

-bread

-squash casserole

-couple of fried green tomatoes (not pictured)

It was almost like Thanksgiving. Yummy comfort food.

It was complete once I had a little Apple Crisp...... ahh.... food coma.

As you can tell, I took today as a rest day. ;-)

Need to head to bed so that I can be up bright and early for Kettlebell. Also have my follow up appointment with the podiatrist tomorrow, but considering my mileage my foot is feeling great!

What is your favorite fall dessert? Apple Crisp is up there, but I think my fav is Pumpkin Pie!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Britt

Falling for a great run.....

Hello! Hope your weekend is off to a great start!

Sorry didn't get to blog yesterday, was a busy bee.

Quick Recap though....

BREAKFAST

-pumpkin oats

LUNCH

-met my wonderful mom for lunch at our favorite spot

Turkey Rubini, basically a turkey ruben. Yum. With their crunch cole slaw kinda salad.

Also had some Pumpkin Cream tea.

After work I met up with the hubby and my sister-in-law for a drink.

Then the hubby and I headed home to make dinner. A friend of ours was on his way home for the weekend so we invited him over for dinner.

DINNER

We had some CSA brussel sprouts, roasted.....

And some CSA turnips & turnip greens...

TJ's Mahi Mahi

All in the oven....

Um and then I forgot to take a picture of my dinner... gah!

I was a little tired.

BUT I had leftovers after my run today.....

LONG RUN

this morning after a quick breakfast of oats, I was off for a 13 mile run.

It was a little chilly out, around 40 degrees with a breeze. But the sun was shining and the fall foliage was putting on a great show.

Of course I still needed to go buy some water..... :-)

Good run. Did 13.25 miles. Didn't wear a watch though, but I know my pace picked up a few times and I felt great. Actually had a driver give me the thumbs up and then when I caught him at a stop sign he asked if I was training for NYC. I told him it was a good guess and that I was. :-)

Alright I need to get some relaxing in.... we have a surprise party tonight. I've been doing laundry, switching clothes over from summer to winter and cleaning up the garden & deck planters. So if I don't relax soon, I'll be fading fast tonight!

Do you ever feel like you need to compensate for time "lost" while working out? While I was off running the hubby was mowing the lawn and cleaning up leaves..... so I felt like I had to do something product around the house too. But then that means I never really get around to the resting part. :(

Have a great night!!

Britt

Sore....

Yep, today I'm just plain sore.

Usually when I'm sore I figure its a good to work through it. But not today. I definitely felt like my body was rebelling and needs rest. So I'm listening and obeying. I stretched as often as I could at my desk. Although I could use a good massage....... I think.

I slept in to 6:30 this morning.... so nice.

Packed up my breakfast for work. Even though it was cold and I was craving oats, I went for cereal & yogurt, as I had some I needed to use.

BREAKFAST

-1/2 c Kashi Vanilla Island

-1/3 c Kashi Heart to Heart

-plain Oikos

-1T almond Butter

-1T ground flax

Lunch time I headed home to walk Reggie. I was in a cheese mood today.

While my sandwich cooked, I started on some apple with brie. mmmmm......

LUNCH

Grilled hummus & cheese

-sandwich thin, brie, mozzarella and hummus

YUM......

Afternoon snack, carrots & almond butter.

After work, I thought about doing speed work, but I wasn't sure how my foot would hold up and I was still pretty sore. I did want to get one thing off my "to do" list, so I headed to the hubby's workplace and finally finished up the thank you letters to sponsors of the road race.

Found out the hubby had not eaten ALL DAY. Seriously, how does someone do that? He had a board meeting this morning and he managed to just drink coffee through it.... then just never got around to lunch. I don't get it.

He requested dinner out. So out we went.

I had pizza. Don't worry, this was smaller than it appears (and much less blurry), plus I ate only half. It was delicious though.... white pizza with prosciutto & caramelized onion. Heaven.

Tomorrow I'll get a short run in. Also I think I'll move my long run up to Saturday as Sunday is suppose to be a wash out.

Do you ever forget to eat? Have you ever gone most of the day without eating?

I rarely ever have this issue. I think on the day of the race I coordinated I didn't eat much, but finally remembered after it was over.... which lucky for me was before noon time. ;-)

Have a great night!

Britt

Cold, suits and kashi

Yet another packed day.

I was up early for Kettlebell at 6am. It was hard to get out of bed as usual, but once there I was glad I made it.

My hamstrings were still sore though.... and it was a heavy leg day.

Today's workout.

10 reps to 1 (10 reps on each side of all exercises, then 9 reps on each side and so on)

Cleans

Thrusters

Windmills

Front Squats

It was self paced, but I wanted to get it done near the end. I didn't go crazy fast, but I was the first one done. :)

After class I headed home and got prepped for my day. While my breakfast cooked I got myself all gussied up for my big meeting.

It was a power suit kind of day. (Reggie wanted in on the photo op)

Breakfast was more pumpkins oats!

BREAKFAST

-.5 c oats, .5 c almond milk, .5 c water

- 2T pumpkin pie mix

- 1T ground flax

- 1T almond butter

mmmm.... good!

My meeting went well! It was done before noon time. :)

I headed home at lunch time to walk Reggie and have some lunch. I wasn't inspired by the fridge, so to the freezer I went.

LUNCH

-Kashi Tuscan Veggie Bake w/ a little added mozzarella cheese

it was delish!

Then it was back to work.

Later on I snacked on a Kashi granola bar. Guess it was a Kashi day.

After work Reggie and I headed out for another walk. I also picked up our last bag of CSA veggies. :(

Dang I forgot to take a photo. I'll snap one and add it later, it included some beautiful brussel sprouts.

I headed out and met up with a good friend for a drink or two.... had some Sam Adams Octoberfest. Yum. Finally it was time to head home though. Needed food!

Heated up some leftover TJ's butternut squash soup and what was left of the hubby's box mac n' cheese. Quick and filling. :)

It has gotten chilly here rather early this year. I mean its downright cold. We might even see.... SNOW tonight..... what!? Gah! What happened to my summer. This is my issue with fall. It just leads to winter. In my world summer doesn't last long enough.

So what is your favorite season? What is your least favorite season?

Have a great night!!

Britt

Pumpkin Trifecta....

It was a chilly fall day and that required some fall goodness...... thus lots of pumpkin.

As seen this morning, I started the day with some pumpkin pie oats.

Prior to lunch I hit the gym for my run. It was cold, rainy and just gross outside.... not inspiring for my run. Not that the treadmill was any better.

4 miles, 1% incline

32:30

Back to work where I heated up my leftover Vegetarian Pumpkin Chili from Chili Fest.

It was a perfect post workout meal, yum!

Later on I needed a snack though.... sticking to the day's fall theme.....

A little apple pie.

sort of.....

After work I tried to stay motivated. Finally.

-started laundry

-organized the pile of clothes on our guest bed (I'm changing clothes over from summer to winter)

-cleaned up the kitchen

Then the hubby came home and he wanted to go for a run. He wanted me to run with him. So we did an easy run of about 2.5 miles and picked up Reggie at the end from my in-law's house. It felt like December out there!!!! Ack! Not ready for it to be this cold yet!!

It was getting late so dinner was a frozen pizza. But I needed something to warm me up, I found some TJ's Butternut Squash soup and heated up a bowl for myself. Added a little freshly grated parmesan.

And enjoyed it.....

with a Pumpkinhead Beer.

Mmmmm.... more pumpkin.

And then a couple small slices of pizza. :-)

My hamstrings are SO TIGHT and SORE today. I think all those walking suitcase lunges did me in yesterday. They felt great after my runs, but as soon as I sit down for a bit it is so hard to stand up and walk. Ugh.

We will see how they feel tomorrow at Kettlebell, eeks!

I need to get to bed early tonight. I have big meeting at work tomorrow. One of my largest accounts is in town for a visit and wants to meet with me to go over numbers.

So it will be a power suit kinda day.

Do clothes ever make you feel more confident? Whether it be a suit, a favorite workout outfit, a snazzy going out outfit......

A suit always makes me feel more put together and more authoritative.....it helps build my confidence especially when I'm meeting with folks older than me or a room full of attorneys (yes they intimidate me at times).

Have a great night!

Britt

Sluggo....

Good Morning!

I've been a bad blogger. Ugh.... Procrastination has set in, I am overwhelmed with things to do and let myself get stuck. Must. get. moving!!!!

So today is a dreary rainy day. I'm going to move my run inside, as the chilly rain is just not appealing. So a lunch time run is on tap. Most likely it will only be 3-4 miles. I’m scheduled for 5 miles, but I think 4 will suffice considering the weather, my foot, etc. Speaking of my foot its still feeling great, I just want to take it easy for a bit, especially considering I did 20 miles on Saturday.

While prepping breakfast I enjoyed some of this…..

Bolthouse Farms Berry Boost Smoothie

Its really thick, almost too thick.

A little goes a long way with me, as I like to water it down. Its yummy though!

Breakfast this morning, OATS! But I had to finally do it and add some pumpkin, all I could find was this though…..

But it smells delish.

This is the final product.

BREAKFAST
- ½ c oats
- ½ c almond milk, ½ c water
- 2T pumpkin pie mix
- 1T almond butter
- 1T ground flax
- sprinkle of chopped walnuts

A quick revisit of yesterday……..

Up in the early AM for Kettlebell!

Did the following 5 times
- 7 double clean & presses
- Figure 8’s for 1 minute
- Russian Twist 1 minute
- Plank 1 minute
- Suitcase Lunges for 50 ft

BREAKFAST
- plain Oikos
- Kashi Heart to Heart
- Kashi Vanilla Island
- 1T almond butter

LUNCH
Leftovers
- sautéed greens
- turnips
- multi-grain tempeh

SNACK
- Cinnamon Roll Larabar

Dinner was camera shy; it was just leftover whole wheat pasta w/ marinara & TJ’s pesto chicken sausage.

I turned into a bump on a log last night. I had a million things I should have been doing, instead I watched a few shows on Tivo. The hubby had a meeting after work and I kind of felt stalled till he got home….. wasn’t sure how long his meeting would be, what time to start making dinner, etc. Instead of being productive I just stayed in once place, literally. Blah. Tonight will be different! Too much to do, I hate unproductive evenings!

How do you keep yourself moving? Do lists help? I usually keep a list but didn’t have one last night, maybe if I had all my “to do’s” staring back at me I would have kept moving.

Hope you have a great day!!

Britt