This Weeks Eats 1/27/13

OK, you guys?  You HAVE to make the seven flavor beef from Wild Ginger.  We could not get enough of it and were contemplating eating it again this week, and that's something we never do - outside of pizza, of course.  I couldn't find fresh bean sprouts, so I used a ton of baby bok choy, one of my favorite vegetables: so, so, so good.  We'll refrain this week and probably make it next week...  As for the other recipes from last week, I must say that I did enjoy the crockpot cream cheese chicken chili (quite the alliteration).  We added red and green peppers, onion and garlic, because I can't imagine chili without those ingredients.  I think I'll add only 1/2 the cream cheese called for to make it a little less thick next time.  Also, I love, love, loved the Pioneer Woman's spinach and artichoke pasta.  I used Beecher's flagship cheese (a must try if you are ever in Seattle) instead of jack/mozzarella and a can of diced tomatoes (drained) and it was almost too pretty to eat; I even took a picture!

The only caveat, my husband didn't like it!  "I'm just not a huge fan of cheese sauces."  To me, this is like saying, "I don't like chocolate."  Whaaa??  Ah well, I'll make it on the sly as often as I can.  We each have our dishes that the other one doesn't like.  He's loves chicken paprikash and jumbalaya which makes me go, "meh."  In my opinion, if you're going to pair chicken with tomatoes, there has to be cheese involved, like chicken parmesan, artichoke chicken or enchiladas.  Can you tell I love cheese?

• Monday - Pizza
• Tuesday - chicken with artichokes and mozzarella (now that I've mentioned it...)
• Wednesday - dinner out with the Hot Chocolate race organizers and folks from Seattle's special events crew!
• Thursday - Greek turkey meatball salad
• Friday - Enchiladas (another chicken and cheese!)
• Saturday - vodka pasta
• Sunday - Superbowl!  Chili and fixins, of course.  We found this recipe for beer braised chili on msnbc.com awhile back and it's reaaaaaally good.

Friday Things

Ahhh, I think I'm in a much better place than I was last Friday.  Kids have been on a more even keel and no one (including myself) is sick.  Hooray!  But, to touch on last week's Facebook commentary.  This post from Mashable about Facebook fossils is a fun look down memory lane and reminded me of how long I've been on there - since 2008.  Does anyone else remember putting 'pins' on your 'bulletin board'??

Today was a pretty busy day, checking out preschools for baby girl.  Eegads.  So I'm just gonna share my song selection for the week and wish y'all a happy Friday!

Ahhh, goin' all cheesy pop boy band today with 'Give Me Your Hand' by The Ready Set.  But I've gotta admit, I do love this song...

2013 Playlist
Language by Porter Robinson
Cry for You by September
You Are My Diamond by Tiesto - featuring Kianna
Arguru - Deadmau5
We Are by Jus Jack & Oza, featuring Aeone

Bootcamp, Lately

It's been awhile since I dished on the latest in bootcamp class.  I thought today was a good example of a butt kicking workout and why I think it's a fine substitution for a 3 mile run in my marathon plan and some cross training.

We stared class with a mile run (well, I did - got there about five minutes early and did about 10 easy minutes total).

First cardio: run 4 lengths of the gym doing the following 5 exercises (so 20 lengths of the gym total):

• skipping
• skip backwards (this is really rather tricky)
• side shuffle
• high knee power skip
• 'Frankenstein' skip: with arms out in front of you like Frankenstein and alternate trying to touch your left and right foot to your hands - while skipping (this was really funny for all the runners in the group, as our hamstrings hardly allowed our feet to reach our outstretched hands)

Yeeah, my feet weren't nearly that high! (source)

Second cardio: do them all again but *only* two lengths of the gym for a total of 10 laps.

Third cardio: to achieve 100 squats and 50 push ups we did the following sequence 5 times through:

• 20 squats
• 10 seconds of 'fast-feet' running in place
• 10 mountain climbers
• 10 push ups
• sprint the length of the gym and back (with a few extra laps at jogging speed at the end to cool down)

I was sweating buckets and I'm pretty sure I got my heart and legs pumping just as much or more than I would have doing 3 miles.  Just to be a nerd, I calculated how far we went doing the length of the gym: a basketball court is 40m and we ran it 40 times (20 first cardio, 10 second cardio, and 10 times in the third cardio) 40x40=1600!  Love that it's EXACTLY a mile.  And that's not even the end of class - just the first 30 minutes!  The second half of class usually includes 8 stations of two minutes each, which I count towards my cross training for the week.  I can barely remember the stations while I'm in class (wait, what are we doing with these resistance bands??) but here's a few examples of the 8 stations:

• squatting on a Bosu, with your partner standing in front of you, hold them back with resistance bands while they jog in place - switch after 1 minute
• run up and down one flight of stairs for 2 minutes
• with hands on a raised step platform, jump from side to side for 12 reps and then do 12 triceps dips on the bench, repeat for 2 minutes

Like this (source)

 

• Do 12 walking lunges carrying two weighted bars (about 8 lbs each) and jog with high knees back to your starting point, holding the bars over your head, repeat for 2 minutes
• V sits on a Bosu while doing a leg press with your partner (can I just tell you how many great people I've met because of all the partner work in bootcamp?  I digress...)

(source)

• with hands on weighted balls, resting on towels, run forwards and back to starting point (much harder than it looks!)

(sorry for the blurry pic - I'm just so fast!)

 

Oh, and between each 2 minute circuit, we did 12 reps of different plank exercises: twists, shoulder touches, tapping feet side to side, etc.

There you have it - this is what's up in bootcamp lately.  I think the best thing about the class is that I do so many things I wouldn't normally do on my own and I'm always learning a new strength move here and there to add to my normal post run abs or arm routine.    But the first part of the class could be done pretty easily while out on a run, if you don't mind looking a little hard core while outside running to drop and do mountain climbers, pushups, etc...

Marathon Training and a Yoga Outing

Yes, I'm writing my first training recap/preview post starting with week two (er, four?) since I was a wee bit ill last weekend and didn't feel like writing, or eating for that matter!  So, to explain the confusion over what week of training I'm on...

I think it was pretty clear from my research that the Run Less, Run Faster plans really spoke to me, being centered around the idea of the three quality runs a week.  I decided on doing a Run Less, Run Faster (henceforth to be named RLRF) plan that I found on the internet.  Since it's a 16 week program, I thought I'd prepare myself by following the first two weeks of the 18 week Higdon Novice 1 program with the first two long runs being 6 and then 7 miles, respectively.  This dovetailed nicely with my slow and steady December and the runs felt great.  So when it was time to start the RLRF plan, I realized the first week started with a 10 mile long run.  Hmmmm...  That's kind of a jump up from 7 miles, and the midweek runs are a bit longer, too.  In chatting with a fellow Eugene trainee on Twitter about our weekend long runs, she mentioned she was only doing five.  I had to ask, wait, what plan is this??  Wouldn't ya know, it was the Higdon program that I had been following, and the next week was a step back week; I just hadn't really looked past those first two weeks.  I would veer uncomfortably out of the 10% weekly increase territory if I switched over to RLRF.  And, as I looked further on the RLRF long run schedule, it seems to accelerate pretty quickly and included two 20 milers.  I'm thinking that's not necessary for a first marathon; one 20 miler is just fine by me.  Technically, I'm not trying to 'run faster' - just FINISH.  It's pretty obvious where this is going, right?  Hal Higdon it is!  Exactly, but with a catch: I decided to get the RLRF book from the library and the novice program in there is nothing like the one I found from the Runner's World article linked above.  In fact, the long runs pretty much mirror the Higdon program, including just one 20 miler.   

So, my hybrid approach:

• follow the Higdon mileage three days a week while trying to incorporate some of the speedwork and paces suggested in RLRF novice program
• instead of a fourth run, substitute the shortest run day (usually a 3 miler) with 1 hour of bootcamp as cross training to avoid burnout and combine the 30 or so minutes of cardio I would have done running, along with 30 minutes of strength
• do some yoga on Sundays

This last bit should be a bit easier now that I've been introduced to Jasyoga.  I had a wonderful opportunity to get in a session with the owner Erin Taylor at Oiselle HQ over the weekend and it was awesome.  When I think of yoga, I shudder at the idea of trying to hold my shaking, protesting body in some crazy position while attempting to zen out.  Ha!  I'm looking at YOU warrior three...  Not fun.  But Jasyoga specializes in yoga for athletes, and any muscles shaking I experienced felt good.  I learned all kinds of cool stretches and poses that made my legs and hips feel so refreshed, not taxed.  I've already started incorporating some moves into my nightly stretching routine: legs up the wall (which you can check out here) is the popular favorite.

I mean, just LOOK at how happy my legs were afterwards!  Well, that can also be attributed to the coziest pants in the whole world.

I'm going to declare this week five of marathon training, as the first four of Higdon have gone well, with the exception of last week because I was sick; I did manage one 3 mile run and 7 out of the 9 miles called for on the long run.  Here's how I'm breaking down this week:

• Monday - 3 miles (tempo-ish)
• Tuesday - Rest (starting baby girl back in Toddler Group, so Tuesday is the new rest day)
• Wednesday - 3 miles (4x800)
• Thursday - bootcamp (in lieu of another 3 mile run)
• Friday - rest/maybe some elliptical
• Saturday - 10 miles
• Sunday - yoga and extra stretching

Hopefully I'll have a good report next Monday...

This Week's Eats 1/20/13

I think I have pulled muscle in my hand from all the cleaning we've done this weekend.  We seem to do our 'spring cleaning' in the week or two after Christmas.  Something about taking the tree and decorations down, I suppose.  Oh, and also, when the kids do something like this to your file cabinet when you leave them alone for five minutes...

Movin' on, here are our recipes this week with at least one pushed back from last week due to my illness.  I also had to miss a girls night out, but luckily have another one on tap for this week - yay!

• Monday - pizza, the last of the Malnati's (sad trombone...)
• Tuesday - crock pot cream cheese chicken chili (I've had this recipe sitting in my Pinterest forever and Hungry Runner Girl made me want to finally try it)
• Wednesday - oven fried halibut and baked french fries
• Thursday - chicken and veggie stir fry with Trader Joe's Red Curry sauce
• Friday - spinach and artichoke pasta (pushed back this Pioneer Woman recipe from last week)
• Saturday - seven flavor beef with roasted broccoli and brown rice (we so wanted to re-create this dish from our date night out to Wild Ginger, and wouldn't ya know - Rachael Ray procured the recipe right from the restaurant!  If our attempt is even half as good as Wild Ginger's, we'll be happy.)
• Sunday - girls night out!

Check out the menu love over at Mommy Run Fast and Jill Conyers; as always, click on the links for more weekly eats!

Friday Things, and How to Hide Friends From Your Facebook Feed

Man, this week... this day...  I think I'm in a bit of a funk at the moment, because looking back on last Friday, I wasn't in the best mood either.  This week, the main culprit was sickness.  I woke feeling horrible Sunday morning and didn't eat anything all day.  I was running a fever of about 101 through Tuesday and maybe had some waffles and saltines the first two days of the week.  Since I was feeling better by Wednesday, I tried a short run yesterday and even an 11 minute mile felt like an uphill climb.  Blaming it on the soul-sucking treadmill, I decided to get as many miles of the 9 my plan called for done today.  I managed just over 7 in almost an hour and twenty minutes (suuuuuck) and I felt like my muscles were falling apart.  I know that my body is probably still healing from whatever bug I had, so I suppose this is a lesson to be learned: even if you're feeling better, don't have high expectations.

Also this week, holy crap, can we all get a break from polarizing news subjects??  It was bad enough when I hid a chunk of friends and family members from my Facebook feed during the election, then Newtown happened and there went another, albeit small, handful of people that just made me want to punch walls on a daily basis.  Now, Lance?!?  There are seriously people who think he's still some sort of role model??  I suppose if you're a sociopath, he's definitely someone to look up to.  (side note, this is a great read, from a great perspective)  The last couple of months have really been testing my resolve to let sh*t go.  Sometimes I'd like to give up Facebook altogether; but, it's the only place where I can see pictures of my nieces/nephews, my best friends back home and their babies, stay in touch with so many nice and normal people...  So here's a tip on hiding, but not un-friending people on Facebook.  Hopefully it's not something you'll find yourself needing to do frequently:

1) hover over the picture of that person in your newsfeed, it should magnify the pic and show two options - friends/message
2) hover over the box with the checkmark next to the word friends - but don't click on it
3) a dropdown menu should appear where you can click on 'show in news feed' to un-check them, and Bob's your uncle

OK, on to my song o'the week.  While I'm ranting today (sorry! I'll be back to normal soon!) I must admit I'm a bit disappointed with Mr. Timberlake's new song.  I was excitedly anticipating it's release, as I think he's awesome - and still do.  But, to me, this 'Suit and Tie' bizness sounds like the Bee Gees, and not in a good way.  Bummer.  Well, here's a song I'm loving lately:

Language by Porter Robinson

Happy Friday!

2013 Playlist
Cry for You by September
You Are My Diamond by Tiesto - featuring Kianna
Arguru - Deadmau5
We Are by Jus Jack & Oza, featuring Aeone

One Word Wednesday - Siiiiiiick



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