Tuesday Tidbits

We had a lovely Easter weekend...

Colored eggs....

Sweet apple slices dipped in almond butter and Greek yogurt...



Sunday was a good rest day for me and The Captain.  After our 9-mile run on Saturday, I was glad to have an excuse to be lazy and relax.  I didn't get out of my jammies till almost dinner time!  And The Captain enjoyed the men's World Curling Finals on tv in the morning (yes Canada won!) and the final round of The Masters in the afternoon.

We did make a really nice dinner of barbecued pork tenderloin, brown rice, glazed apple slices, fresh green beans and carrots... and yes, there may have been some chocolate involved!

The Captain surprised me in the afternoon with a lovely bunch of daffodils... these King Alfreds are my favorite as they look so strong and beautiful.  There is a nice mix of plain yellow, and yellow and white.  He found them tucked away in a corner of the yard we never use so thought I would enjoy them inside.  And of course, he was right.

We had a 4  mile run scheduled for Monday, but it was supposed to rain, so we postponed it, and spend the day shopping.  And we got fooled... it was a beautiful, warm and sunny day.

So, this morning, it is grey and gloomy, but warmish, so I had better get some breakfast into us so we can run in a little while.

Hope your Tuesday is spectacular and you are getting your sweat on!

What ARE you doing today?

What are your favorite Spring flowers?



Another 9 Miler Done!

Today we did another 9 mile run.  It was the same route along the waterfront that we ran last Friday, but we did it in the opposite direction. 

The tide was very low as we started out and it was quite breezy... I could smell the salt in the air as I ran and thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine on my face. It was such a beautiful day and I love all the Spring flowers that are in bloom right now... my favorite garden season is Spring.

We drove over to the beach after my Weight Watcher's meeting this morning. I wanted to get my April weigh-in out of the way today, so I ate my breakfast during the meeting, after I weighed.  I also drank a cup of water with half a nuun tablet dissolved in it.  I could hardly choke it down... grape, I think, which has never been my favorite flavor of anything... gum, soda, juice, popsicles and so on.  But The Captain likes it and I had already given him half before we left the house.

So, after the meeting, we drove to the beach and parked in the same place as we did on Friday last week when we ran this same route.  We parked at about the 4.5 mile point so it was an out-and-back to and from the car... first North, and on the return getting a fresh water/nuun bottle at the car before carrying on and running the South out-and-back.  The South portion has more hills so I decided that we should do it first today, to get it over with. 

It was a sunny and blue-sky morning, but the breeze was cool coming off the water where we were exposed to it, so I wore a long-sleeved Running Divas shirt (ya know that aqua-blue one I really love!) with a light hoodie over it, and some capri-length tights.

We headed South and I was quite surprised at how many people were out and about along the beachfront this morning.  And dogs, which always makes me happy. We drank one bottle of water with nuun before we arrived back at the car... I ditched my jacket, switched water/nuun  bottles, checked my watch, and off we went again.  We shaved 2 minutes off last Friday's time on that South  portion and I was pretty pleased with that as I didn't feel like I was working very hard at all.

We both opened some gels and I immediately got Chocolate #9 slopped on the front of my beautiful blue shirt.  Yikes!  I choked a bit on the sweetness of that gel but I do love it so much and managed to finish it and keep running at the same time... The Captain dug a tissue out of my water belt pocket for me to wipe my chocolatey fingers and then he carried the garbage along till we ran past a refuse container so he could dispose of it.

What a guy!  We never stopped running, and he never got a bit on his hands.  How does he stay so clean when I can get messy from just looking at something gooey or sticky?

Anyway, I knew I was running a bit slower than last time, but I didn't want to focus on time or pace today - just enjoy myself and the day, and get the miles done.  I didn't even look at my watch at the turn around point, and didn't look at it again at all till we arrived back at the car.  This North section took 4 minutes longer than it had the last time we ran it.  So overall, the run took 2 minutes longer.

But in all honesty, it felt quite a bit harder today.  Is that because I had 2 speedy runs earlier this week?  Or because I upped the mileage on my Monday and Wednesday runs this week by a mile each?  Not sure but I was pretty relieved to have it done today!

We walked a bit, then stretched while we drank some water and then we drove up the street a very short way to a marina lot where we parked and gobbled down the bagels with peanut butter, and the bananas that I had packed along, while we watched some sailboats and talked about the run.

When we got back to the house, I immediately washed the Chocolate #9 off my beautiful blue shirt (and it came of easily...now I love it even more!  We both stretched a bit more and drank some more water and then I soaked in a tub full of hot water with epsom salts until my legs felt like jelly.  I love hot baths and my feet and toes were so happy to be soaking in hot water.

The Captain wanted to go out and mow the lawn before his shower, but I insisted he take the rest of the day off and do it tomorrow.  No point over-doing, right?

Now I am pretty excited for next weekend's long run...  It is going to be 10 miles and I think I will look for a new route.

How do you recover from an intense activity?

Any special snacks to recommend?

Another 4 Miles and My Coconut Water Solution

Yesterday we did another 4 mile run.  I think that 4 miles is a really good distance for me because it is long enough that I feel like I have had a good workout, but it it is short enough that I can kick up my speed a bit, and not feel tired afterward.  I can have a recovery snack, a good stretch, a shower or a bath, and be on my way doing something else for the rest of the day.

I did find us a new route as we have been running that same 2 mile loop, twice, for our 4 mile runs lately and I thought it would be good to have a change of scene.  I mapped a 2 mile out-and-back along a trail that we have previously walked and biked  - was nice as it was pretty quiet and we only passed a couple of other people.

I also had my fastest 5 km stretch during this run so I am thrilled about that too!

I recently won a case of coconut water in a giveaway and it arrived a couple of days ago.  The Captain opened a carton immediately and drank it... I tasted it and didn't care for it at all!  Salty and odd, I thought.

I know that coconut water has all kinds of  good things going for it, nutritionally, and I didn't want to waste it... but what to do? 

After our run  yesterday, I opened one of the containers and poured the contents into the plastic mixing jar that came with my immersion blender.  Then I added about 1/2 cup of frozen berries and whizzed it up!

I tasted it again and it was really really good....  The Captain liked it too...

and then I put 2 scoops of my GNC Banana Berry Burst protein powder into the jar and whizzed it again.  I divided it between 2 glasses and we drank it while we stretched.

This gets a big THUMBS UP from both of us.... great recovery drink and this is how I will be using the coconut water for sure.

Today is arms day again on the Arms n' Abs April challenge.  Let's see....

• 10 pushups
• 20 frontal raises
• 20 lateral raises
• 20 bent arm side raises

This I can do!  Actually, I will likely add my own routine to it again.  I have been making some progress with my arms and shoulders these past few weeks and want to make sure I keep it up.  Summer is coming and that means sleeveless tanks and dresses, but ONLY if the arms are looking good!

Do you step up your routine when you think about wearing more skin-baring clothing?  Am I alone in this?

Do you like coconut water?  How do you use it?





I am a Happy Runner

My 4 mile run yesterday morning was glorious!  I was so happy to get out and going at just after 9 a.m.  We ran a 2 mile loop that I had previously mapped out... the flattest 2 miles I could find in this neighborhood, but still fairly hilly!  We ran it twice and it took 43.5 minutes... that is my speediest 4 miles so far and I was pretty excited about it! 

It always feels so good to run without the darn water belt!  I am so looking forward to ditching the jacket too...

Today on the Abs n' Arms April challenge, we are to do some biceps and triceps work... and it looks a bit skimpy to me so I will be doing my own routine for upper body work. 

I usally warm up for about 5 minutes and then do:

• one set of 10 pushups

Then I get out the dumbbells and do one set of 10 each of the following exercises, first time through with 8 pound dumbbells and then, after 10 more pushups,  a second time with 5 pound dumbbells:

• bicecp curls
• tricep kickbacks
• lateral raises
• overhead raises
• back flyes
• pec deck
• delt raises
• frontal raises

Then I do a good 10 minutes of stretching.  I have decided not to do any more leg work until after my race is over mid May.  I think it was tiring my legs out too much and The Captain actually commented that he thought so too.  He rarely says too much about this kind of thing when I am coaching!

I think I finally have my hunger under control...  the added protein is helping and I have also been eating more fruit and Greek yogurt so I think that must have satisfied those sugar cravings, too, as they seem to be gone.  Thankfully.

Do you crave certain kinds of foods?

And So it Begins...

Today on the Abs n' Arms April calendar:

• 25 basic crunches
• 25 scissors
• 50 crossover crunches

Hmmm... basic crunches I know but scissors and crossover crunches?  Not sure... are scissors just scissoring your legs back and forth?  Are crossover crunches just side to side when you raise up from the mat... another way of saying twists, or oblique crunches?  I decided to do some investigating....

It seems that the term 'scissors' applies to a variety of moves... and crossover crunches can be done a few different ways as well.

Then I recalled that Ali was going to do some investigating as well and share her findings... so I went to her current post and there she is, cute as ever, in a vlog demonstrating the moves as she knows them. 

Thanks, Ali, I will use your interpretation of these moves too.   Very helpful.

And there is a 4 mile run on our half marathon training schedule today... the first 3.1 (5k) of which, will be our entries into Jess's Jelly Bean virtual race.  This was the first virtual race that I did last year when I first started blogging and found out about virtual races. 



If you are a virtual race fan, check it out. 

Are you signed up for the Jelly Bean?  Which events are you entering?

Any awesome April goals?