Tis the season...for running!

I love this time of year particularly because I love the weather and training outside.  My mom is doing her second half marathon this weekend, the Disney Princess and she convinced my Aunt to do it with her, my Aunt Linda just took up running this past year or so.  I am so excited for them and hope they have a great race - GO MOM AND AUNT LINDA!!!

I am training for the Iron Girl Tri in May and looking to get back involved with the running club at Life Time.  I miss my runners and to be honest this is my favorite part of triathlon :-)  Running keeps me mentally tough and it is one of the only ways I can manage my weight and still enjoy food!  I'll keep you posted on the run club details soon, if you are local you should come out!

Today is my work from home day and I was watching Regis and Kelly this morning while cleaning up and I was amazed my the latest segment http://www.dadt.com/live/special/runacrossamerica/runners/index.html Dean Karnazes is doing a 75 day 3000 mile cross country run to inspire our country to fight against childhood obesity.  I have been following his story for only a few days and I am amazed by his motivation.  Check out his web-site and hopefully you will be as inspired as I am!  Lily and I are going to a noon meeting and then a 2pm pediatrician appointment and then we will head out for our run this afternoon, no excuses!  If Dean can run over 14 miles every day for the next 75 days I can get in 45 minutes this beautiful (and windy) Friday afternoon! 

Break out the running shoes and GO!

Better training week!

So far I have not had anything out of the ordinary happen, now I just ruined it I am sure!

Monday- Ran 40 minutes of intervals 1 min. @ 6mph, 6.5 mph and 7mph and then jog 2 min. at 5.5mph repeat till 40 minutes then 45 minutes of Kettlebells with the kettlebell king of Life Time Matt Litchman.  Burned 700 cals!!!! wahooooooooo

Tuesday - Off - had an awesome lunch at Flying Biscuit with Tosha Bailey, the Buckhead Bootcamp trainer!  It was nice for her to meet Lily and catch up on each other lives. 

Wednesday - Ran easy 35 minutes and lifted total body all cable machines, I have been doing so much barbell work my body is getting used to it so cables were a nice change of pace.  Burned 400 calories!

Thursday- I'm headed to the pool now - minimum 1500 yards but aiming for 2000 yards, lets hope there is a free lane, I hate waiting for a swim lane!  The workout - 300 warm up, 300 pull with paddles, 5 100's descend on 2 minutes, 200 kick, 200 drill, 8 50's on minute and 300 cool down = 2k!

for the rest of the week - I need to get a ride in, teach Saturday Pilates, and 1 more run (probably with Lily boo!)

Training obsticles this week have been out of control...is someone trying to tell me something?

Every Sunday I look over the week to come and try to plan out my workouts.  Looking back on this week I laughed because I have had some weired things happen.

RECAP.... 

2/14- Monday morning my heart rate monitor battery had died, I depend on this little guy a lot!  Working out without my polar RS400 felt like I was blind folded.  Matt also gave me a killer workout with the kettlebells * see earlier post.  I was sore until Thursday- this was a good thing, my body needed that shock treatment.

2/15 - Went running with Lily - the jogging stroller wheel starting flopping around, it must have got knocked around in my trunk.  Nothing is more scary then thinking my child is going to fall out of the stroller in the middle of the street, we made it home and turns out you should check the stroller before every run for loose parts.  My body was really sore from kettlebells :-)

2/16 - no workout too booked with appointments to work out- BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 

2/17 - decided to double up and make up for no workout yesterday.  Went to 9:30am spinning drank way too much coffee and had to run out of the class before I "tee teed" all over the bike.  I love but hate coffee for this reason only.  Then taught my barbell strength class at 12pm and felt lightheaded the entire time, thank God, I did not fall out on stage.

2/18 - no workout today again - boooooooooooooooo  I planned on it but just could not get it together.  Being a mom now this type of day I have learned to accept and not be angry with it. 

2/19 - worked all morning at the "get body beautiful" health expo and was determined to get a workout in after being on my feet all morning.  Lily and I went to the Greenway for a long run, we got stuck in 30 minutes of traffic due to a vehicle fire (mind you the freakin Greenway is only 5 minutes from my house at the most) and it was a Saturday afternoon.  So we parked where there were no bathrooms so I decided that I would run the 1st mile to the first bathroom on the trail, just as I take off my sports bra unzips, WTH?????  So here I am with Lily bug in the woods zipping up my under garments, it was a gorgeous day and the Greenway was packed if you saw me I hope I did not offend you!.  After I emptied out the bladder we had a good run, phew!!!!

2/20 - Woke up extra early to get a bike ride in extra early, Ben like for me to do that so he has fresh energy to take care of Lily in the morning.  I head out for my bike ride (it was cold!) and did not realize both of my brakes are let out, yes, I know I'm stupid.  I have not been on an outside ride since before Lily was born.  * note to self check the stroller AND the bike before EVERY ride.  So after a few scary hills I stopped and let my brakes in.  On the last 10 minutes of the ride a huge black dog was running lose and came at me on the bike, luckily I am speedy and out pedaled his 4 legs.  Being clipped in and knocked off my bike just did not seem like fun to me.   

So as I plan out my workouts for this week I can only imagine what the universe has in store for me! Here is to interesting training!

Who needs toys when you have kitchen tools?

Happy Valentine's Day from Lily Jean!

After a long day of work and night of school Ben came home with chocolates for me and this big pink bear for Lily -  he's a great hubby and daddy!

Look at my tooth!

I love pink and I love Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines Day! How about some red wine and dark chocolate?

I buy the hype!  Drink some red wine and eat some dark chocolate!  Dr. Oz talks about the benefits, it must be good, right???  PLEASE remember, moderation is the key to consuming these yummy treats.  6 oz of red wine is a serving and 1.5 oz of dark chocolate is a serving.  They both are not considered "low cal" so keep your portions small. 

Dark chocolate 70% cocoa or more: studies suggest that it may reduce the risk of diseases from heart disease to cancer.  Dark chocolate with cocoa is particularly high in flavonoids which are antioxidants that help protect your heart by not allowing harmful free radicals to oxidize and turn into a harmful illness.  Clinical trials reveal that dark chocolate has been shown to reduce harmful plaque in the arteries. 

Red Wine benefits:

• Red wine helps regulate the cholesterol levels in the blood, by reducing the LDL levels (bad cholesterol) and increasing the HDL levels (good cholesterol).
• Drinking wine has been shown to help prevent the formation of plague, or blockage, along the arteries and thus protects against cardiovascular diseases.
• The presence of antioxidant compounds in red wine helps prevent cancer formation, by neutralizing dangerous free radicals in the body.

Kettlebells = awesomeness!

Thanks Matt for the workout this afternoon!  I really enjoyed training with the kettlebells and I can see how it will help me this tri season.  If you have never used them do it- functional movement patterns, power, and core stabilization.  I am horrible at some of the moves but I am going to be persistent in keeping it up.  I burned 300 calories in about 30 minutes, talk about cardio and strength all in one!

Now, EVERYONE should have a certified trainer take you through several workouts before you attempt to try them by yourself.  If you muscle through the movements (which most newbies do) then you WILL get hurt.  I don't care how good of shape you are in kettlebells are a different beast, have a certified instructor teach you proper technique.   

I think I may try and get certified to train with kettlebells some time in the future, I have a strong desire to spread the pain!  Happy training! Tomorrow if the weather permits Lily and I are going to run Stone Mountain ;-)

The teether feeder... ( I think my mom and I made the name up, but who cares?)

When Lily started teething I was desperate to help relieve her pain ( I know this is only the beginning, she only has 1 tooth that has come through!) The teether feeder was a blessing- I love this thing, you can put ice or frozen fruit inside the mesh pocket and it keeps baby busy for a good while.  I learned messy fruit like strawberries are not always the best for Lily's clothes or the kitchen walls, but she was having a blast.  I usually opt for frozen grapes or bananas!

She got the wall REALLY good! 

Quacamole - need I say more!

Some study shows that something like 80 million avocados are eaten on super bowel night.  If you missed out, no worries here is my tried and true recipe for some good old guacamole, try it this week!

3 ripe avocados
1/4 c red onion
2 cloves garlic
juice of 1 lime
handful of cilantro
1 jalapeno
sea salt (to taste) remember lets keep this heart healthy too much salt is never good!

Blend all of the ingredients in the food processor and there you go, a healthy dip to eat with blue corn chips or better yet raw veggies!

Studies show that avocados are a super food because they:
help control diabetes
lower cholesterol
excellent source of potassium
high in heart healthy monounsaturated fats
linked to cancer prevention
major source of antioxidants
aid in weight control
a vitamin E powerhouse
Increases nutrient absorption when eaten with other foods

If your goal is to lose weight, keep your portions under control because avocados are a fat, which increases calorie content. 

Lily has the flu again! Immune booster ideas!

Just as I blogged yesterday about having structure and great workouts... karma hit!  Lily woke up with the flu.  She slept from 8pm-12am and then she was up every 30 minutes after that.  Ben thought it was just teething but my mommy intuition told me there was a bigger problem.  Her temp spiked at 103 this morning, so off to the doctor we went.  She has the same flu bug as she did over the New Year's holiday.  Hopefully we all will not pass it around again like we did last month.  As soon as I got back from the pediatrician office I started immune building strategies for myself:

Big mug of green tea with fresh lemon juice
Extra vitamin C supplement
Drinking lots of water
I took some homeopathic meds that are supposed to work if you take them early enough

Other regular immune boosting things I do daily is take my multi-vitamin, drink a power packed smoothie (fruit, juice, wheat germ, chia seeds, and plain Greek yogurt) take my fish oil, and get my 8-10 servings of fruits and veggies in daily and workout most days of the week.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can dodge this one!  A sick mommy is NOT a happy mommy!

Training update!

The triathlon training has been going great!  I have a purpose behind my weekly workout schedule and I have discovered this exactly what was missing from my life- STRUCTURE.  I have been finding ways to train with Lily or while she is napping.  We had a beautiful weather weekend last weekend and I took Lily for a long run on the Greenway (she slept 90% of the time).  The run felt so good and I know I was in higher heart rate zone pushing that darn jogging stroller. I wish the weather was nice all of the time, but it probably will be a couple more months before I can regularly train outside.  So, I set up my bike trainer and I have been cycling in the living room during Lily's naps.  I squeeze in the swims, weight training and additional workouts before or after work appointments when Lily is with her baby sitter a couple days per week or on the weekends when Ben can watch her.  So no more excuses, I have used my creativity to overcome my obstacles. 

Bike ride in the living room, you can see that Otis was very supportive sleeping in the background ;-)