Conspiracy Theory

This week's workouts:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Jay Johnson Boot Camp Cardio (only 15 minutes but after a bunch of errands this was all I could squeeze in!)
Tuesday: Lululemon yoga class
Wednesday: Run 3 miles
Thursday: Cardio + strength Rest day
Friday: Easy yoga or rest Jay Johnson Boot Camp Cardio + strength
Saturday: Run 6 miles 3 miles

Seriously?! The weather is conspiring against me, I have not been able to have a long run since I started training for this half. This morning I woke up to rain. No big deal, a little rain never hurt anybody. I still planned on hitting the trail, just with a hat and a towel waiting in the car. Running in the rain is clinically proven to make you feel like a badass. On the way, the rain started coming down even harder and then...lightning! So I changed routes and headed to the gym. I am really getting tired of the treadmill, I feel like my gait is off and my knee can't stand it for very long. I managed to feel strong for 3 miles until my knee just couldn't take it anymore.

This week's plan:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Run 2 miles
Tuesday: Lululemon yoga
Wednesday: Run 3 miles
Thursday: Cardio + strength
Friday: Rest or easy yoga
Saturday: Scheduled to do 7 miles, which at this point is laughable.

Weekend recovery

Last week's workouts:
Sunday: Rest
Monday: Run 2 miles
Tuesday: Yoga class
Wednesday: Run 3 miles
Thursday: Cardio + strength Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Oktoberfest 5K!

I didn't do as well as I wanted to do in the Oktoberfest 5K, my official time was 32:22. But the free beer afterwards helped me feel better! :)

This weekend was great, we partied at Oktoberfest on Saturday night and Sunday we went to our friends' son's birthday party. Whew, I need a weekend to recover from the weekend!

This week's workout plans:
Sunday: Rest
Monday: Jay Johnson Boot Camp Cardio (only 15 minutes but after a bunch of errands this was all I could squeeze in!)
Tuesday: Lululemon yoga class
Wednesday: Run 3 miles
Thursday: Cardio + strength
Friday: Easy yoga or rest
Saturday: Run 6 miles

Saturday's run is according to my training schedule, but I don't have very high hopes that I'll be able to make it the whole distance seeing as how my last "long" runs have been big fat fails. But we shall see!

Chicken stuffed with spinach, feta and pine nuts

I came across this recipe on CookingLight.com. It turned out really delicious and was very quick and easy to put together!

I only made minor changes to the recipe. Instead of thyme, I used fresh parsley because that's what I had on hand. We don't have an oven-proof skillet, so I just transferred the chicken to a baking dish, poured the broth over it and put it in the oven. I didn't secure the chicken with toothpicks like the instructions suggested and I will definitely do that next time in order to keep less of the delicious filling from escaping!

The only thing I didn't like about this recipe was that the leftovers were not as good as the original. The chicken was still nice and tender but the filling didn't reheat well. But it would be very easy to halve the recipe and just not have leftovers.

Ingredients
5 ounces fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Heat a large nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach to pan; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts, tossing constantly. Place spinach in a colander; press until barely moist. Wipe pan clean.

3. Combine spinach, cheese, nuts, thyme, juice, and garlic. Cut a horizontal slit through the thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff 3 tablespoons filling into each pocket. Seal with wooden picks. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

4. Heat oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 3 minutes on each side or until brown. Add broth, and cover pan. Place pan in oven. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until done.

Nutritional Information
Calories:297
Fat:11.6g (sat 3.4g,mono 4.4g,poly 2.4g)
Protein:43.3g
Carbohydrate:3.4g
Fiber:1.2g
Cholesterol:111mg
Iron:2.7mg
Sodium:493mg
Calcium:131mg

Hot mess

Last week's workouts:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Run 2 miles
Tuesday: Yoga
Wednesday: Run 2 miles Jay Johnson Boot Camp: Cardio and strength training
Thursday: Cardio + strength Ran 3 miles
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Run 5 miles Ran 3.5 miles

What an interesting week! Monday was Labor Day, so I was able to do my run outside instead of the gym. It is still really hot out, but if I get out early enough, I can handle a short run. Then that afternoon our A/C went out, it was so miserable! It didn't get fixed until Tuesday evening and our upstairs unit wasn't working until Thursday.

Tuesday I tried out a free yoga class at Lululemon and it was fantastic! I will definitely be going back.

Wednesday I was scheduled to run but the weather was horrible thanks to Hermine. It stormed all day and on my way home from work there were traffic lights out so I decided to switch to my Thursday workout and stay home to work out. I'm so glad I did because tornadoes hit Dallas! The funnel started forming right above our neighborhood but luckily (for us anyway), they moved south.

Thursday I double-checked my training schedule and found out I was supposed to be doing 3 miles, not 2! Glad I checked!

Saturday I got up early and went to the Katy Trail to do my "long" run for the week. Holy humidity! I knew I wasn't going to make it the whole way almost as soon as I started out. I checked the weather stats online when I got home and humidity was 79%!

I am hoping that this week will be calmer!

This week's plan:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Run 2 miles
Tuesday: Yoga class
Wednesday: Run 3 miles
Thursday: Cardio + strength
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Oktoberfest 5K!

Happy September!

The summer has flown by!

Last week's workouts:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Power Yoga class
Tuesday: Run 2 miles
Wednesday: Cardio/strength DVD (Total Body Sculpt)
Thursday: Run 2 miles
Friday: Easy yoga Rest
Saturday: 4 mile run only made it 3.2 miles, I waited too late and it got really hot out!

This week's plans:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Run 2 miles
Tuesday: Yoga
Wednesday: Run 2 miles
Thursday: Cardio + strength
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Run 5 miles

Hope everyone is having a great Labor Day weekend!