Let the Race Season Begin!

Hey all!

Thanks for all your responses about not feeling like myself in my last post. Sounds like most of us feel a little off when we have stress in our lives! Hopefully this little funk will pass soon. After all, our mood can most certainly be a self-fulfilling prophecy! 😀

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So I did it – I signed up for the first race of 2010. Let race season begin! Well, almost.

January is my last “off month” for training. I’m going to spend the rest of the month doing more yoga, more group classes, and more cross training.

Then when February hits (and actually probably late January,) I’m getting my training face on. Oh yeah, bring it!

The first race is in early March, but it’s just a 5k, which I run twice a week now anyway, so I figure I’ll be fine with only a little over a  month of actual training for it. Besides, it’s going to be a fun race anyway!

I’m running it with one of my besties, Kim (who I went on the cruise with.) It’s her first race ever, so I’m super pumped for her! She runs regularly though, so I’m sure we’ll be running for both time and enjoyment 😀

Either way, I’m sure you can tell, I’m pumped. The only thing that can make races even better is running them with a friend!

So after enjoying my last couple weeks of cross training (aka Paige is too much of a sissy to run in single digit temps) I’ll be going back to a schedule of four-five days of running.

 

Just thinking about race season got me so pumped that I tentatively decided to get started on accomplishing one of my 2010 goals…I picked a race for my first ever half marathon! There’s a half marathon about an hour away from my town on May 1^st, and I’m thinking I’m going to sign up for it. Who am I kidding, I’ve already created my 12 week training program (which I’ll post in my Workout Log tab soon.)

I’ve also been thinking about doing something to kick the race season up a notch for me. However, I’m not 100% about it yet. It’s something that will be just a bit time intensive. I still have to decide if I can commit (fully) to it along with possibly training part-time. I don’t want to overload myself, but it’s something I really want to do. We shall see. I have to decide by the end of January, so I’ll let you all know by then what I’m talking about.

Yaaaay for race season! 🙂

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Work today sped by, and I spent the entire work day trying to catch it. Busy bee I was, I left work somewhat on time, I ventured straight to the gym where I got in a good hour long sweat session.

After showering, I realized how hungry I was! I had eaten a Cherry Pie Lara Bar around 3:00, but was still famished from working out when I got home. I tore into some chips and homemade hummus before getting started on dinner:

 

 

I’ve had an acorn squash I’ve been wanting to play with for a few days, and decided tonight would be just as good a night as any to do it.

Tonight I made a combination that I’ve never done before – sausage (meatless) and apple stuffed acorn squash!

 

Such a delicious combination!

I usually just go with sweet for squashes, but this sweet + savory combination was definitely a winner. I loosely followed the recipe here (and obviously used meatless sausage – Tofurkey to be specific, rather than pork.)

With a wee side salad of romaine, spinach, tomatoes, and Goddess. Nom.

Pleasantly full with healthy and delicious food, I digested while catching up with laundry, your lovely bloggies, and a little reading.

Heyyy, how’d that chocolate get there 😉 Such great tasting dark chocolate.

You guys, I’m really liking this book. Although, it’s not going to transform me into being a vegan overnight, it definitely puts information that I knew and have heard before into a different perspective. I think having an open mind is very important, and Alicia’s way of telling her side has me really intrigued. I’m not ready to make the switch from vegetarian to vegan (that’s a huge commitment I’m just not ready to make) yet, but she makes very valid points without being pushy or judgmental. 

Plus I can’t wait to try out some of the recipes 😀

Does your work out routine change during certain times of the year? Or do you stick to the same schedule pretty consistently year round? As I explained above (and in my fitness story) my workout schedule changes when I start training for races. However, before I started racing, I would switch up my routine 2-3 times a year as well. I think it’s important to put some variance in my workout routine, as to not become bored or burnt out. You can switch it up with classes, cross training, workout DVD’s, new activities – such as cycling or yoga, upping your reps and lowering your weights and vice versa…the options are endless!

Eyelids A-Droopin

Hey bloggies! I don’t know about you, but I’m BEAT! It’s about 9:30 p.m. here and I could just crash and go to sleeeep.

Over lunch I had to go out and run some personal errands, but I also swung by Borders to use my surprise Borders gift card! I don’t have any good reads, and wanted to pick up one. I told myself I was going to go in, grab about 2 or 3 really good fiction/nonfiction books, and that was it.

Instead, I got this:

 

I couldn’t help it! I’ve been wanting to read it for a while since making the transition to going veg in October, so I bought it. Oh, and a cute 365 Days a Year Puppy Calendar. Couldn’t help myself on that one either 😉

But I’ve already started reading the introduction in the Kind Diet, and I like it already. Although I’m guessing it’s all stuff I’ve already heard before, I really like Alicia and her personality and the message she’s trying to convey, and think it’ll be a good read. Plus, I’ll most likely try out a recipe or two 😀

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to try out a recipe tonight, but Amy sure did!

 

Since I was going straight from work at 4, to the gym until 5:15, then to a trainer job shadow until 7, there was no time for dinner, and barely even a shower! (Don’t you worry, I penciled one in before eating dinner :)) At gym #1, I got in a quick 3.5 mile run in about 32:30, followed by 10 minutes on the stair stepper, and then about 10 minutes of plank work. This took up exactly an hour, and I did a quick change into dry, clean workout gear, and headed to gym #2.

I spent my time at gym #2 observing/shadowing a personal trainer and her client for a little over an hour. Twas a good time. It was all about supersets for the first half, and circuits for the second. I even got in a second workout by participating in the second half a bit 😀 Whoop whoop!

But again, afterward I was pooped!

Luckily Amy came to the rescue with this Indian dish of Palak Paneer:

 

Before consuming, I transferred it to a plate, to give it that, erm, home cooked Indian food feeling…

 

and of course with the obligatory glass of red. Yes, it was obligatory. Tonight.

The meal was pretty good, but the flavor could have been kicked up a notch.

After a little bit of working on the computer, I decided to read some of the Kind Diet while snacking on some graham sticks with sweet pumpkin dip.

 

    

Aaaand now it’s crash time.

Good night all! Sorry for the lame/short post, but my eyelids are a-droopin’!