More NEW… and Friday Faves and Raves

This month is all about exploring and discovering for me… new workouts, foods, running routes, and so on. 

Here are a few of the new things I tried this week:

On Sunday we went for a 3-1/4 hour walk/hike up Gonzales Hill to get a look at the old observatory and see the 360 degree views from the top.  Awesome. 

More new yoga workouts this week.  I really liked both of these a lot.

I am a long-time fan of Early Grey tea but had never seen tea offered this way before.  Each of these plastic ‘spoons’ has enough tea to steep one large mugful.  Instead of tea in a bag, it’s a tea in a spoon.  Just steep and stir and then dispose.  Very portable and would be nice for travelling.

This variety of apple is called OPAL. New to me, and I like the flavor all right, but the texture is a bit too firm for my taste. I will likely chop them up and eat with some yogurt.  I was quite pleased that I had only purchased 2 of them.

I picked these Skinny Cow Salted Caramel frozen treats up on a whim. I am not a huge ice cream fan but I do like the fat free frozen DQ bars we get here so thought these might be similar.  Well, they are similar in size and price, but honestly not as tasty.  I was a bit disappointed that the caramel flavor wasn’t stronger… however,  The Captain loves them and caramel is his favorite flavor, so I guess his opinion should hold more weight than mine here.

No running this week.  The Captain had some dental surgery on Tuesday morning and has been laying a bit low in recovery. He did a long walk with me this morning and is feeling pretty good.  I have been keeping him company and also worked some extra meetings this week… Maybe by Monday he will feel like running again.    I also think I have have had a long enough break from strength training that I am starting to miss it and am ready to get back into a regular routine again.

I read some great blog posts this week and thought you might like them too:

• 6 Sane (and Simple) Rules to Lift Like a Girl and Be More Awesome by Nia Shanks

• My Butt Is Doing What? Squats and Butt Wink by Girls Gone Sporty

• 6 Indisputable And Incredible Reasons Women 40+ Should Strength Train by Tom Venuto

• How to make a homemade sports drink  by Running to the Kitchen

• Let Go: How to Get Rid of Anxiety Caused by Health and Fitness  by Nia Shanks

What’s new at your house this week?

Any posts you would recommend I check out?  Hey, don’t be modest!  Leave me a link to one of your own if you like.