The Good Kind of Sore

Last week's workouts:
Sunday: Rest (I might sneak in some easy yoga, shhh!)
Monday: Power Yoga class
Tuesday: Run 2 miles
Wednesday: Rest or easy yoga
Thursday: Run 2 miles
Friday: Jay Johnson Boot Camp: Cardio and Legs Ran 3 miles
Saturday: Run 3 miles Power Yoga: Total Body (Rodney Yee DVD)

It was another week of falling back on Plan B's, but luckily I got all my runs in. I didn't have the energy I was hoping I would have at the beginning of the week but thankfully by the end of the week I felt so much better. My mouth is healing right on schedule and on Thursday at my follow-up appointment, they told me I didn't need to wear the plastic stent anymore and that I could graduate to real food! What a difference real food makes in your energy level!

Since I was all energized on Friday, I decided to go ahead and get my "long" run out of the way so that Saturday I could go to Cardio Muscle on Saturday if I felt up to it. Saturday morning I decided that what my legs really needed was some good stretching. I have had this Rodney Yee DVD (Power Yoga: Total Body) for EVER and it is still one of my favorite workouts. Today my legs are sore from it, but definitely in a good way!

Buster likes to do yoga with me.



Feel free to ignore the jumble of shoes and reusable bags by the door.

*Knock on wood* Work has calmed down a bit and I didn't end up staying late at all last week. I hope the trend continues this week!

This week's plan:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Power Yoga class
Tuesday: Run 2 miles
Wednesday: Cardio/strength DVD (probably either Total Body Sculpt or Boot Camp, I'll see what I feel like)
Thursday: Run 2 miles
Friday: Easy yoga
Saturday: 4 mile run

A week of Plan B's

Last week's actual workouts:

Sunday: Bike ride or 2 mile run (if I get up early enough and depending on how I feel) Had another bad headache.
Monday: Power Yoga class Ran 2 miles
Tuesday: Run 2 miles Took my rest day, went out to Irving to eat with my grandad.
Wednesday: rest or easy yoga Jay Johnson Boot Camp Cardio
Thursday: Run 2 miles

It was one of those weeks! It felt like everything was working against me to get my workouts in. I always try to have a Plan B in mind and this week I definitely fell back on those. Friday I had oral surgery (yuck) and they gave me strict orders not to work out for 3 days. Today is Sunday and I am really getting restless!

I hope this next week will be better! Surgery went as well as it could have. I still have stitches in my mouth and have to wear a palatal stent which makes it really hard to eat. This definitely affects my energy level! Here is the upcoming week's plans:

Sunday: Rest (I might sneak in some easy yoga, shhh!)
Monday: Power Yoga class
Tuesday: Run 2 miles
Wednesday: Rest or easy yoga
Thursday: Run 2 miles
Friday: Jay Johnson Boot Camp: Cardio and Legs
Saturday: Run 3 miles

Cheese coma

Michael specifically requested macaroni and cheese for dinner this week. He doesn't ask for much, so I obliged.

It's been a while since I've made macaroni and cheese so I had to search for a recipe. I came across this one and decided on it for two reasons: 1) it has a short ingredient list and 2) it includes Gruyere, one of Michael's favorite cheeses.

And a cheese coma ensued.

This was so good and really rich. But I think that you just need to go for it with macaroni and cheese, lowfat is just not the same.

The only thing I would do differently is that I would leave out the additional salt. Gruyere has a salty flavor (even after I cut off the rind) so I don't think it was necessary to add more salt. I also broiled it for a few minutes past the cooking time to make a nice cheesey crust on top.

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings


Ingredients
1 pound elbow macaroni
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the dish
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups whole or low-fat milk
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated Cheddar
2 cups (8 ounces) grated Gruyère
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
Preparation
Heat oven to 350° F.

Cook the macaroni according to the package directions.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over the top. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Still stirring, slowly add the milk. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened, about 7 minutes. Add the Cheddar, Gruyère, salt, and cayenne (if using) and heat until the cheeses melt.

Drain and rinse the macaroni. Add it to the sauce and toss. Transfer to a buttered casserole. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

In Advance: Assemble the macaroni and cheese but do not bake it. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Bake as directed, adding 15 to 20 minutes to the cooking time.

Nutritional Information
Calories:581 (42% from fat)
Fat:27g (sat 17g)
Protein:27g
Carbohydrate:57g
Fiber:2g
Cholesterol:86mg
Sodium:651mg

This week's actual workouts:

Sunday: Jay Johnson Boot Camp: Cardio, Legs
Monday: Power yoga class
Tuesday: Run 2 miles
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: Run 2 miles
Friday: easy yoga Nothing
Saturday: Run 2 miles Jay Johnson Boot Camp: Cardio, Legs

Friday night we ended up going to the in-laws for after-work drinks. I have been fighting some sinus congestion all week and Friday afternoon it really hit hard. So Saturday I decided to let myself sleep in a little and once I was up and had some coffee in me I felt well enough to do Jay Johnson OnDemand.

I have always wanted to do some of his real-life boot camps but they are really expensive! I like the workouts I have found OnDemand, though. He has some funny catch phrases. Some of my favorites:
"Hold on to your hat!"
"If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room."
"Treat your body as something other than a clothes hanger."

This week's plan:

Sunday: Bike ride or 2 mile run (if I get up early enough and depending on how I feel)
Monday: Power Yoga class
Tuesday: Run 2 miles
Wednesday: rest or easy yoga
Thursday: Run 2 miles
Friday: Nothing, I'm having oral surgery, yuck.
Saturday: Depends on how I feel after Friday! I really want to go to my favorite Cardio Muscle class but I will have to play it by ear.

Back on the wagon

You know how sometimes things sneak up on you?

After I ran a half marathon in May and it didn't kill me, I decided that I would run another one in December. It felt like I had plenty of time so I have barely run at all this summer. I've been staying active with yoga and Cardio Muscle classes at the Y. But I've also been doing bicep curls with this:



Mmmm...nothing better than a cold beer on a hot summer day!

So last night (while drinking a beer, heh) I started thinking about the December race and thought I'd check to see when I needed to start training. If I want to do the usual 16-week training, I'd need to start....next week?!

It's been up to 105 here in Dallas, so running has been the last thing on my mind. I think I will be sticking to the treadmill for the early part of training, until the weather cools off.

I want to stick to training better this time than I did the last time. While I was proud of my time for my first half, I want to feel stronger for this one. So I'm going to do a check-in weekly to keep myself accountable. I also want to keep up some strength training so I don't lose the benefits I've gained from that.

Here is this week's workout plan:

Sunday: Jay Johnson Boot Camp: Cardio, Legs
Monday: Power yoga class
Tuesday: Run 2 miles
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: Run 2 miles
Friday: easy yoga
Saturday: Run 2 miles

Here we go!

Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic

My favorite food group is garlic.

There are several versions of this recipe out there. This is the version I used, using skinless boneless chicken breasts. When I seasoned the chicken, I added some red pepper as well as dried Italian herbs. I served it with rice and steamed broccoli, the rice really soaked up the sauce, but I would definitely love to try it with baguette for the garlic cloves. Mmmm...

From Cooking Light:


Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 4 ounces chicken, 2 tablespoons sauce, 5 garlic cloves, and 3 bread slices)


Ingredients
2 (3-pound) whole chickens
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon extravirgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
40 garlic cloves, peeled
1 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
24 (1/4-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut French bread baguette
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Preparation
Remove and discard giblets and neck from chickens. Rinse chickens with cold water; pat dry. Trim excess fat; remove skin. Cut each chicken into 8 pieces. Combine butter and oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over chicken. Add half of chicken pieces to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken.

Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic; cook 1 minute or until garlic begins to brown, stirring frequently. Arrange chicken on top of garlic. Add broth and wine; cover and cook 25 minutes or until chicken is done.

Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Increase heat to medium-high; cook 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced to about 1 cup. Serve sauce and garlic with chicken and bread. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Nutritional Information
Calories:343 (36% from fat)
Fat:13.7g (sat 3.6g,mono 4.9g,poly 3.4g)
Protein:29.6g
Carbohydrate:24.2g
Fiber:2g
Cholesterol:111mg
Iron:2.3mg
Sodium:468mg
Calcium:58mg

When the ugly comes out...

I pride myself on working well under pressure. My bosses used to comment on my zen-like calm in even the most stressful situations. Years ago, a yoga instructor told me that "impatience is the surface of anger" and I repeat those words to myself every day.

So why do I sometimes just lose it at the most inane inconvenience?

After work yesterday, I decided to do some laundry. My laundry basket was overflowing and I decided that Friday would probably be the best night to do laundry, I would have the laundry room all to myself. (Ahhh, the joys of apartment living and shared laundry rooms. Also, these are not the kind of machines that take quarters, but the kind where you put money on a card.) There are three laundry rooms in our complex, two of which are within a few yards of our apartment.

When I went to the first room, three out of seven washers were being used and the remaining four had powdered soap in them. Seriously? Why was there powdered soap in there? Were they trying to "claim" the machines? Were they broken and somebody didn't realize it until they had put their soap in? Even if they were working, I couldn't use them now because my skin is super-sensitive and I can only use detergent with no dyes or perfumes. You know, the detergent that dermatologists recommend for newborns? My skin is that special.

So I go to the next laundry room. There is one machine that is filled with water but the other ones look fine. In fact, they all have brand new card readers, so they must be working! I put in my laundry, add my special detergent, insert my card into the card reader which takes the appropriate amount off my card and push the start buttons.

Nothing.

The sight of my clothes covered in detergent was just too much. I slammed the lids, cursed loudly, and marched over to the complex office to berate the poor employee about how shitty this dump is. (It's 5:30 on a Friday, I'm well aware of the fact that these machines will not be fixed immediately and this throws me further into a rage.) While I'm walking to the office, my husband calls to tell me about the brisket he wants to make for our mothers' day lunch and I snapped at him.

Whoa, hold up. What am I so pissed about? Yes, it's annoying. But all I have to do is go to the other laundry room. Granted, it's the farthest away, but I can still literally see it from where I'm standing. Also, it's 5:30 on a Friday and I'm already home from work and have the whole weekend ahead of me! I don't even need any of these clothes to be clean right away.

Impatience is the surface of anger and I have nothing to be angry about. I still need a reminder now and then.