Last-minute lazy Sunday workout

We threw a magnificent housewarming party on Saturday (Oktoberfest themed! Bratwursts! Sauerkraut! Polka music!), and had a blast celebrating our new house with lots of friends and family. It sure didn't feel like October (90* out!) but we made the most of it and had a wonderful time.

Post-party, I declared Sunday an official day of rest. Trust me, it was much-needed. We've been prepping for this for weeks now - there is nothing like a looming event at your house to get your butt into gear to get boxes unpacked, pictures hung, shelves lined, and everything finally put away! So, having run ourselves ragged, then playing "host / hostess with the most / mostest" all day Saturday, C & I really needed a break.

C settled himself in for a long day of football-watching, and I parked myself on the couch with a fantastic book (The Language of Flowers - highly recommend it). I got completely immersed in my reading, and didn't look up until after 4. When I finally emerged from the story, I realized that I probably ought to get myself to the gym, since it had been several days without a workout. I moseyed around for a while, then, on a whim, looked up the hours for the gym. To my surprise, it closes at 6 on Sundays! Yikes! I threw myself together and raced over, and I was walking through the doors at 5:15. Not only that, but I was decked out in this awesome new shirt that my sister brought me:

Her school sold them for a fundraiser, and she was sweet enough to swipe me one. Perfect for October (and year-round!)

I knew I needed something quick and easy to get myself good and sweaty in a limited amount of time, so I decided to go with an old favorite: intervals on the treadmill. I used to do HIIT and interval work all the time, but once I started working on distance running, the other stuff kind of fell by the wayside.

Last night, I came up with one that is about as simple as it gets to follow along with: 2 minutes "off" (slower speed), 3 minutes "on" (faster speed), and repeat. This style of workout is great for when you have limited time, because you can do as many "cycles" as you have time for, and then call it a day. It's also super easy to modify: pick a "slow" speed that keeps your heart rate up but gives you a chance to catch your breath, and a "fast" speed that is a little outside your normal comfort zone, so that you really get your heart rate up. I went with five rounds, plus a cool-down, and was sufficiently sweaty and out of breath by the time I was done. I left the gym right as they were starting the vacuums and wiping everything down. Perfect timing!

Here's a handy chart for with the interval workout I did:

I definitely need to start adding these workouts back into my routine. While longer runs are great, the shorter stuff that gets my blood pumping definitely has its benefits as well. I'm glad I got in there and got it done before the gym closed!

Do you do intervals? HIIT? Have any suggestions for great workouts like this?

So long, sweet summer

Happy day-after-Labor-Day!

Hope you had as fantastic of a weekend as I did, and sent summer 2013 off with a bang.

C was on a bachelor party trip to New Orleans this weekend, so I was on my own. On Friday afternoon, I headed down to the lake house to spend some QT with the fam, disconnected from the world.

It involved boat rides, beers, and smoked ribs courtesy of my sister and brother-in-law. And birthday cake. Completely winning combination, if you ask me.

Everything is still so green! Thanks to all the rain we've been getting this summer

Decked out our dock :)

Puppy-brother! My sister's puppy enjoying the boat ride with me

Smoking away!

 

Photo-bombed!

My daddy, the captain

   

I spy our dock!... down there on the right

I came home slightly sunburned and very exhausted, but also completely relaxed. Even though it stormed every afternoon, we still got to enjoy lots of time out on the boat, and lots of fun and laughs. Just wanted I needed! When I got home last night, C and I wrapped up the weekend with a quick trip to the grocery store & dinner from Chipotle, then several episodes of the Big Bang Theory. Couldn't have asked for a better evening!

Let's be real though - I, like every other girl / blogger / person on facebook, can't stop thinking about how much I'm ready for fall. I want it right now! I'm longing for pumpkins and football Sundays and tights. However, given that I was already sweating at 6:30 this morning, it seems like I won't be getting my wish for awhile. Summer is holding on for dear life, at least for a bit longer, whether we said goodbye this weekend or not...

Activ-ain't

Considering the fact that I consider myself a bit of a fitness fanatic (I know, I know, that's still weird to me, too), it's been decidedly quiet around these parts re: the topic of fitness lately. And personally, I hate it.

This back issue is the first "major" injury that I've ever had to deal with, outside of shin splints. This is the first time I've ever found myself truly sidelined from an injury. This is the first time I've been told, "do not do anything." I know that, in the grand scheme of things, this little back twinge is hardly a "major" injury, but for someone who's just never experienced anything like this, it is really changing my perspective. My perspective is currently coming from the couch. Humph.

And seriously, truly - this is killing me. I am not good at being injured. I am not good at being patient and resting and healing and sitting around doing nothing. Honestly, it's been fun to make some dinners that require more effort in the evenings, and spend more time with C watching TV (my couch-potato status gave us plenty of time to watch all of Season 1 of Homeland!) and snuggling my cat. But I am so over it. I want to be in the gym. I want to go to yoga and BodyPump and my abs class. I want to run. I want my normal routine back.

I know that if I push too soon or jump in too fast, I'm going to hurt myself again, and probably worse. I know that I need to be gentle and take my time and blah blah blah. But when I'm sitting on the couch feeling squishy because I had a week of FIVE REST DAYS (blerg), I tend to forget those things and just feel like I want to jump up and put on my tennis shoes and run. I haven't been this inactive in years. Seriously - years. Ever since that first day in January 2010 that my mom and I signed up for Gold's, I've been religiously, fanatically going to the gym and getting in workouts every single time I possibly can. This couch-potato person is who I used to be, not who I am now. I'm getting antsy. I'm looking in the mirror and can practically see my muscle definition evaporating (dramatic, perhaps, but it's cool). I was feeling good a few months ago. Now I feel squishy.

I'm going to have to start back at square one, and I'm not looking forward to it. That means light weights and short runs. That means gentle classes and easing back into what I used to be doing. It means listening and taking those rest days that I need and continuing to be BFFs with my ice pack (we've gotten to know each other reallll good). It means I have to be patient (not something I'm good at). 

Feeling a bit like Debbie Downer today, but I needed to get this off my chest. And I figure that, if I write it all down, I have to stick to this plan of healing and working my way back into my old routine. Once the words are out there on the page, it has to happen, right? Whether I like it or not.

I do not like it, Sam-I-am.

Here's baby otters, to make up for the Moaning Myrtle post today:

[google images]

Rest Day + Must-Make Recipes

Yesterday was an impromptu rest day. Ultimately, those are probably the best/most necessary. Agree?

The original plan was to go to the abs + back class at the gym, then get in a few treadmill miles. But it was rainy, and my left knee was aching all day, in a way that it hasn't in a long time (because I am an old woman, and my joint pain coincides with the weather... today all appears to be fine), and some not-very-good things happened at work, and the train was late for the second day in a row so we were 45 minutes late getting home, and Wawa was closed for a "technology upgrade" for the day, so I couldn't even get a Diet Coke to make up for everything else. Blah. (Pardon me while I whine a bit.)

It was was a case of the Mondays Tuesdays - so I took that as my cue. I put on my pajama pants and went to my parents' house, where we made one hell of a delicious dinner and watched Cold Case. Upon returning to our house, I snuggled with my cat and with my husband, and it seemed like all was right with the world. So do what ya gotta do. That's the theme around here these days. I don't hate it. Rest is rejuvenating, and today I will be back into the regular routine with renewed passion.

There are a lot of Rs in this post. Weird.
~~~~~
Cooking lately has been very successful. Here are four must-make recipes (none of which are my own, but all of which are delicious):

• Sneaky Meatball Subs (Iowa Girl Eats)

I saw this recipe and knew that I had to make it. Then a friend of mine made it first, and tweeted to me how amazing these meatballs were, and I was done for. I whipped up a batch on Sunday night to save for Monday's dinner, and it almost killed me to not eat them immediately. When I did get around to making the sandwiches on Monday night, they were almost too good to be true. We're talking eating-over-the-cutting board, who-needs-a-plate, this-is-burning-my-fingers-but-I-can't-stop good. Do yourself a favor, and make these. Soon.

• Copycat DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies (Iowa Girl Eats)

While I was making the meatballs on Sunday, I went ahead and threw together a batch of these cookies, too, since I'd been promising C that I'd make chocolate chip cookies ever since I made the oatmeal ones a few weeks ago. I'm not sure what I did different, as I followed the recipe to a T, but my cookies didn't end up looking anything like the picture - hers were wide and flat, whereas mine were short, stout, little lumps. Either way, they were amazing. There are two special ingredients in these cookies that make them so good: cinnamon and finely-ground oatmeal. Trust me - those two additions make all the difference. These cookies are killer.

• The Best Summer Salad Ever (Adapted from Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life)

I saw this post the other day, and seeing the words "strawberry" and "avocado" together was like a light bulb over my head. I took my cues from the original salad, but made a few changes, and loved it so much that I ate it Sunday night for dinner and again on Monday for lunch. It's the perfect combination!

Here's what goes in mine:

• Lettuce
• Avocado Chunks
• Strawberries 
• Plain tuna
• Shredded Parmesan
• Low-fat raspberry walnut vinaigrette

Whatever combination and amounts of each ingredient that you like - it's a sensational combination of sweet, salty, and tangy, with healthy fats from the avocado and good protein from the tuna. So good!

• Grilled Blueberry BBQ Salmon (How Sweet It Is)

I discovered this recipe last summer, and we made it a number of times. It's so good! I saw the fresh tuna at the grocery store on Saturday, and this immediately came to mind. The sauce comes together so quickly, and the fish cooks up in no time, so it's great for a week-night dinner. As an added bonus, this is what my mom and I like to call "serve-to-company good" - that's our scale of measurement for recipes, whether or not we would serve them to company. This recipe makes the cut!

Blueberry BBQ Sauce

Good fresh salmon

Doesn't hurt to have a cute husband to man the grill!

Served alongside two of my favorite summer side dishes, which also went on the grill: corn on the cob and zucchini.

C deemed this "possibly the best salmon ever," and I know for a fact that this is one of the best summer dinners ever. Make this. And invite me over for dinner when you do!

Anyone else find any good recipes lately? Please share! I'm always looking for new yummy foods.