Dashing Through December

Well, I am not exactly dashing… but getting in some short runs, certainly… and it feels great after not having run at all since near the beginning of October.

My focus for the month of December is on Moving More. I spent the last 2 weeks in November doing nothing more active than walking, trying to get rid of a terrible cold… sniffles, sneezes and a runny nose.  It hasn’t worked so I have decided to get more active in December and just invest in Kleenex!

I signed up for Tamara Grand’s 21 Day Re-boot Bootcamp.  You may know Tamara better as Fitknitchick. I  thoroughly enjoyed my first week of the program… partly because it just felt so good to be moving and working out again, and partly because The Captain has joined me and we have been working out together.  That is always fun for me.  The daily emails from Tamara have been motivating, too.

So the week went like this:

• Monday – rest
  • We went for a nice brisk half hour walk.
• Tuesday – strength training
  • It was only 15 minutes but later my quads were stiff and sore even though we had stretched.  I was surprised by how quickly I had lost so much flexibility.
• Wednesday – cardio
  • We went for a short run – my first for about 8 weeks. I was sluggish and still very sore from the previous day’s squats and lunges,so made sure to drink some DRIP DROP before we went out. And we did a nice long stretch after, too.
• Thursday – stretch
  • Tamara led us through a nice 8 minute stretch that she provided on video, and we went through it twice. I love exercising along with Tamara on her videos. Her timing is great and she is real.
• Friday – strength training
  • We got through the circuits a bit quicker and had a nice stretch after finishing up.  And no soreness. YAY!
• Saturday – rest
  • And I did.  I worked a morning meeting and spent the afternoon in the kitchen.
• Sunday – cardio
• We ran the same route again… in almost a minute and half less time, and it felt much better to be running without any stiffness in my legs.  We did a nice long stretch after.

You can see that it is an undewhelming amount of exercise, which is exactly what Tamara promised. And it feels just right... getting back into it after a 2 week layoff along with this busy time of year.. if it was much more I would probably not enjoy it at all... and who needs that? 

I am looking forward to seeing what Tamara has in store for us this week.

Some pictures from the week:

The Captain is loving these Saucony Triumph ISO running shoes that he got through FitFluential a few weeks ago.  You can read the review here if you like. And did you notice that he is wearing tights?  I finally convinced him to give them a try after polling fellow runners about tights for men.  He is wearing shorts over them but at least he is keeping warmer.

On mornings that I work, The Captain makes breakfast… usually scrambled eggs with onion, tomatoes, and bacon.  I love these ruby red grapefruit that we are getting from Texas at this time of year.

I was craving homemade soup so while I was at work on Saturday morning The Captain went shopping and picked up some carrots and butternut squash for me. I made a big pot of soup and put lots and lots of garlic and curry in it.  Lovely!

I made him some coconut flour Thumbprint Cookies from a recipe that was shared a while ago by Laura of Mommy Run Fast.  He really liked them, but I am wondering now if I should have baked the cookies and then put the jam in them after they had cooled…instead of baking them with the jam already in them. The jam seems to have run away.  It has been so long since I made Thumbprint Cookies, I cannot recall the proper method.  He liked them anyway!

We had a very small 18-inch Christmas tree on the boat and have used it in the apartment for a couple of years.  But, because we get a new ornament every year, we finally outgrew it. So, this year, we graduated to a 3 foot tree!  And now the tiny tree has just our ‘doggy’ ornaments on it… and a few lights.  Simple but cheery.  Mostly I love the lights that brighten up the darker Winter evenings.

All in all a busy and fun week.

 

What do you think about my cookie dilemma?  Jam in before or after baking?

Have you signed up for one of the Holiday online fitness challenges this year?