Hot, Humid and toe cramps!!!

Yesterday's workout was one I would love to forget!!! I started out at the gym and rode 3 miles on the bike.  I noticed my foot starting to get tight and a charlie horse coming on.  I ignored it and kept going.  It eased up a little bit so I continued my workout.  I did about 25 minutes of weights and then hopped on the 'mill to run.  It was about 90 degrees at the time and really didn't want to run outside.  I started walking and immediately started getting cramps in my toes again. This time it was the other foot.  I got off the 'mill, took my shoe off and was having to pull my toes the opposite direction...it was so painful and it would not go away.  I ended up leaving the gym and heading home.  I realized after I got home that it was probably due to being dehydrated.  I thought back at the last 24 hours and realized I had only had a few slices of pizza and like 2 cups of water! NOT COOL! We had been at church all morning and I didn't have time to eat breakfast before we left and only had a small lunch with minimal liquid.  I downed 2 bottles of water and decided to try to run in my neighborhood.  I started with a warm up walk and 2 minutes into the walk they started cramping again.  I stopped and took my shoes off to try to stretch them out again. It sort of worked and just decided that maybe if I ran on them it would stretch the muscles and I would be OK.  Luckily that worked and about a mile into my run I felt all loose and didn't have anymore cramps.  However, I will say that it was the most unfun run EVER!  It was so stinking hot, humid and sunny.  I thought I was gonna die.  I'm sure being dehydrated didn't help!  I ended up dumping half of my water on my head and down my shirt!  I barely squeaked out 3 miles and every step was a challenge! I know my body will adjust to the heat over time but for now I'm just miserable in the heat.  I came home and laid in the middle of my den under the fan for at least 10 minutes to cool off. So I learned a huge lesson....STAY HYDRATED!!!!!

Keep Going!

Loving my new Under Armour Shorts!!! Who else LOVES getting new running clothes, or just clothes in general :)

Here's a quick recap of my last 2 workouts...

April 26th

Yesterday I was at the gym and I rode hills (intervals) level 8 for 20 minutes.  Covered 6 miles.  Felt good and really pushed through the hills!  I love cross-training days and I think they are very beneficial to my running!  After the bike, I did weights...legs, abs, and some arms.  I finished with 10 minutes on the stair climber on level 6.  That is sure to get the heart rate up and legs burning!


April 27th

Today I decided to run in my neighborhood.  Thought I could save on gas since the park is about 15 minutes away.   I stayed on a main street and realized about half way that I was going slightly downhill the whole way...SO, when I turned around to head home, it was all UPHILL with a few fairly steep sections! Whew, I was a hot mess when I got home, but I did it!  I ran 4.31 miles in 43 minutes :) 


Sorry if these post about my workouts are boring, but they help me during training because I can look back and see exactly what I have done and it helps me look forward to what I want to accomplish!

Now I'm off to register for some races! Yay!

I'm super sad that I won't be able to run in the goLucygo 5k....we are like triple booked for that morning already! Sad...maybe next year!!!

God Bless,
Allie

2 work outs and a recipe

Today, I have 2 workouts and a quick recipe to share. 

Work out 1

The first workout was Thursday morning. I went to the gym and decided to cross-train.  I rode 6.5 miles on the bike.  I set the bike on hills (level 8), the time for 20 minutes (23 if you include cool down), and went at it.  I really pushed through the hills hard and welcomed the rest when the resistance eased up.  As soon as I was done with the bike I worked my abs.  I did 100 sit ups on the ab ball with a 10 pound weight in my hands.  I finished up my workout with 30 calf presses and a few other leg machines.  I felt really good when I left.  It was a great way to begin my Thursday.

Work out 2

Today my friend Candace and I went to the park to run.  We decided to run 5 miles.  However, as we ran we both felt really good and strong and decided to run to our cars instead of stopping at 5.  We ended up running just under 6 miles!!! Yay, I am so excited and happy.  That's the farthest I've ever run :) Big accomplishment!!! The best part is I felt really good when we were done and I could've gone a little farther! We ran 5.86 in 1hr & 20 seconds. 
I love running with friends.  It makes it so much more enjoyable and the time and miles fly by.  Since we are both training for an upcoming 10k and half marathon we will be running together as many Saturdays as we can!



Recipe Time

Now for the quick recipe.  When I cooked for the freezer a few weeks ago we cooked several chicken breast in the crock pot and shredded it.  For this recipe, I grabbed a bag out of the freezer and threw it straight into a hot skillet and got cooking. It was so so convenient and easy. 

I made this recipe up so it doesn't have a name, but I'll call it...

Shredded Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

About 3 cups of shredded, cooked chicken

1 can diced green chiles

1/2 pkg taco seasoning

1 can Mexican corn

1/4 cup water

several tortillas (soft or hard) we used soft flour

Directions

Heat skillet and add (fresh or frozen) chicken. Once chicken is cooked or heated through add chiles, taco seasoning, mexi corn, and water.  Let simmer for 10ish minutes or until heated through and all water is evaporated.  Warm tortillas in the microwave for 15 seconds, cover with paper towel. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture and add sour cream, cheese or whatever you would like. We also had a side salad. These are yummy and I had dinner on the table in 20 minutes!!!

Enjoy and God Bless,

Allie

3 M

Today I woke up still sore from Monday's workout.  It's the strangest thing, I only get sore when I run 5 miles.  Not sure why but I guess it's just cause my muscles are still building up to take on that kind of run.  Oh well, I decided to run anyway.  I ran 3 miles and kept a pace of 9min and some odd seconds for the first 2 and speed up the last mile and ran it in 8 min and some odd seconds. I wish my app broke down each mile so I could keep better track.  It tells me at each mile what my pace is but I only remember the min. and not the seconds. Anyway, I was happy with my time of 27:36. 

13 days till I can register for the St. Jude HALF!!! Whoo-hoo!!!

I plan on running as a Hero and am looking for a team to join. There is a little boy named Josiah who is battling brain cancer and I knew him as an infant through Church. I'm thinking this would be a great team for me!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Oh my goodness, these were just what I needed yesterday! It was such a gloomy day outside and these were just the thing to brighten my day :) They are easy to throw together and fast to bake. Here's how it's done.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups peanut butter (creamy, I used Jif)

1 cup white sugar

1/2 or 1 cup brown sugar (I just used half)

2 eggs

2 tsp. baking soda

 1 pinch salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 350 and grease cookie sheets.

*In a bowl, stir PB and sugar together until smooth.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the baking soda, salt, and vanilla.  Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.  Press a criss-cross into the top using the back of a fork.

*Bake for 8-10 minutes. Don't over bake!!!

Enjoy

God Bless,

Allie



Pesto Chicken Pasta

Pesto Chicken Pasta

Last night I prepared a super quick and easy Pesto Chicken Pasta.  I had 20 minutes to throw it together and get it in the fridge before heading to Brock's soccer practice.  It made dinner a breeze when we got back from soccer.  All I had to do was heat it up and serve.  Here's how it's done...

Ingredients

Fresh or Pre-made Pesto (mine was on sale for $1 at Kroger...the fresh kind)

4 small and thin chicken breast, thawed and sliced into bite-size pieces

milk or half and half, to thin it out a bit

12 oz. Pasta noodles

salt/pepper

garlic powder

Italian seasoning

EVOO

Directions

First, thaw and cut your chicken.  Add 1 TBS EVOO to a skillet and cook chicken until no longer pink inside.  I added a dash of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning just to add flavor to the chicken.  Meanwhile, boil water for your pasta.  When the water reaches it's boiling point, add several TBS of salt.  This is the only seasoning your pasta will get so unless you want flavorless pasta, add salt generously. Once pasta is cooked and drained, add pesto and stir well.  I didn't measure how much milk I added but it was just enough to moisten the dish.  Finally, add your cooked chicken to the pasta and stir.  We added Parmesan cheese at the table. That's it, super easy and delicious!!!

Enjoy

God Bless,

Allie

P.S. I am craving PB cookies...I'm about to head to the kitchen, give into my craving, and bake some!

I'll post the recipe asap!



Stronger

Today was the 2012 Boston Marathon! I've had the best time watching the Live Feed off and on while doing housework!  Man, these runners are AMAZING!!!

I've been following a blog the last year or so and this woman is such an inspiration.  She has 12 children (9 are adopted) and she magically fits in her alone time each morning by running the cold streets of Wyoming. It's been super cool following her progress today as she ran in her first Boston Marathon.  Her official time was 3:37:48!!! Go Erin! Check out her blog here

One of the announcers said,
"Success is gained not by strength, but by perseverance"
It's so true. Never give up...keep going!!!

As for my workout this morning. I felt like it went really well and feel like I'm getting stronger! YAY!

I was at the gym today so I started with a 5 min brisk walk for a warm up.  I ran the first mile with an incline of 2.5.  Miles 2-4 I alternated an incline between 1.5 and 3 every .30 of a mile.  The final mile I ran with an incline of 1 and slowly increased the speed from 5.8 to 7.5 to finish.  I ran 5 miles in 50 minutes and some odd seconds. 

After some good stretching, I worked on my abs.  I grabbed the ab training ball and a 10lb weight and did 100 sit ups.  I start out lying flat on the ball and as I come up for the crunch I lift the weight out in front of my body.  So basically a bench press along with a crunch if that makes any sense. 

Finally, I got on the calf machine and did 50 reps with 95 pounds.  Overall a good workout!

God Bless,
Allie

4

Today I headed out to run and only planned on going 3 miles. I had my sweet Emma and hubs with me today! Emma rode her bike and Daniel ran next to me.  He, unfortunately, stepped off the path to go around some walkers and hurt his knee :( He had to cut his run short.  

At mile 2ish I had a bad cramp that felt like it was up under my right rib.  It was painful.  I really concentrated on exhaling all the way for several minutes and it finally went away.  When I hit mile 3 and finally overcame the cramp, I wasn't ready to stop & decided to run one more.  I ended feeling pretty good but tired.  I think I'm going to take tomorrow off to give my body rest since I've had 3 pretty hard workouts in a row. 

God Bless,
Allie

Crock-Pot Vegetarian Lasagna

 Crock-Pot Vegetarian Lasagna

I came across this recipe as I was searching for freezer meals last week and have been wanting to try it ever since.  It was pretty simple to put together and I'm loving that it is cooking while I do other things. The crock-pot is awesome!

Ingredients

1 large egg

 16 oz. part skim ricotta...I substituted cottage cheese

5 oz (or so) baby spinach, coarsely chopped

3 large or 4 small portobello mushroom caps, halved and thinly sliced

1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes (hunts)

28 oz. can diced tomatoes (hunts)

 3-5 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning

pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)

15 whole-wheat lasagna noodles, uncooked

3 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella, divided

Prep.

*Combine egg, ricotta OR cottage cheese, spinach, mushrooms, and zucchini in a large bowl.

* Combine crushed and diced tomatoes and their juice, garlic, italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper in a medium bowl.

* Generously coat your crock-pot with cooking spray.  Spread 1 1/2 cups of the tomato mixture in the crock-pot.  Arrange 5 noodles over the sauce, overlapping them slightly and breaking into pieces to cover as much of the sauce as possible.  Spread half of the cottage cheese/veggie mixture over the noodles and firmly pat down, then spoon on 1 1/2 cups sauce and sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat the layering one more time, starting with noodles.  top with a third layer of noodles. Evenly spread the remaining tomato sauce over the noodles. Set aside the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella in the fridge.

* Put the lid on the crock-pot and cook on high for 2 hours or on low for 4 hours.  Turn off cooker, sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on the lasagna, cover and let stand for 10 minutes to melt cheese.

Tips and Notes:

The dark gills found on the underside of a portobello mushroom cap are edible, but can turn an dish an unappealing gray color.  If you like, gently scrape the gills off with a spoon.

Enjoy

God bless, Allie

 2012 Race Goals

I'm super excited to be writing this post because it is all about my personal fitness goals for this year.  

5K

There are a few 5Ks I would love to run in this year. 

Go Lucy Go - May 5th

Design a Wish - July 21

Race For The Cure - October 27

The Color Run - Sometime in October

There are 3 races in October...Race for the cure, The color run, and the Rock N Roll Half.  I highly doubt I can do them all...but, for now, I'm dreaming BIG!



10K

My first big goal is to run my 1st 10K race.  I have plans to check that off my list on June 23rd :)  74 days or roughly 10 weeks.  In 2 weeks I'll start Hal Higdon's 10k training program.  It's already on my fridge waiting for me. 

Ultimate 10K and 5K 



Half-Marathon

I'm beyond exited about achieving this goal.  I cannot wait until I can cross this off my list and put a 13.1 sticker on my SUV!!! I'm tentatively planning on running my first half on October 21.  It's in St. Louis so some details have to be worked out before I can completely commit!  It's the Rock N Roll Marathon series which means MUSIC all along the way! Totally my style!

Rock N Roll Half-Marathon

Of all the races, I'm most excited about this one...The ST. JUDE HALF!!! I absolutely cannot wait to line up at that start line, race downtown and through St. Jude, and finally cross the finish line! Gives me chills just thinking about it :)

I plan on signing up as a St. Jude Hero and raising money!!! I just love St. Jude and am so happy to be a part of this great cause! So, be on the lookout for an opportunity to give to this amazing cause!

St. Jude Half

That about sums up my race goals for this year. Cannot wait to begin!

God bless,

Allie



bike, weights, and grilled chicken

In the gym

This morning I went to the gym for cross-training and weights.  I set the bike on hills - level 8 for 30 minutes.  I figured out that each hill last one minute and then it breaks...so your legs don't fall off, I think!!! Whew, I was a hot and sweaty mess when I got off the bike and headed to the weights.  I rode 8.5 miles total.  As for the weights I kinda hit all the major muscle groups.  I spent 30ish minutes and worked my legs, abs, and arms.

Lunch Time

As soon as I got home I began prepping lunch. 

Menu:

Grilled Honey BBQ chicken legs
quartered and seasoned baked potatoes
salad

Grilled Honey BBQ chicken legs

6-8 chicken legs, cleaned with skin off

1 cup BBQ sauce

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp garlic

1 /2 tsp coriander

dash salt/pepper

Once chicken is cleaned, place in gallon Ziploc bag and set aside.

Next, add BBQ, honey, garlic, coriander, salt/pepper to the bag and mix well.  Place in the fridge until ready to grill.

Quartered and Seasoned baked potatoes

6-10 potatoes, cleaned and dry

1/2 stick butter

2 Tbs. EVOO

1 Tbs. garlic powder

2 Tbs. Italian seasoning

salt/pepper

Begin by quartering the potatoes and placing in a bowl.  Mix butter, EVOO, garlic, Italian seasoning in a separate bowl.  Once mixed well, combine potatoes and sauce. Stir until all are coated.  Preheat oven to 350 and add potatoes to a large glass casserole dish.  Bake 30ish minutes or until potatoes are tender. Once plated, salt/pepper to taste.

Family Fun

While Daniel and I were grilling the kids were learning the special skill of drinking the yummy nectar from honeysuckle!!! That stuff is good!





Have a blessed day,
Allie

Worshipful Run

Today when I woke up, I honestly didn't feel up to doing much of anything, much less running.  However, I knew if I didn't lace up I would regret it later in the day. Why is it the days you feel the most sluggish you do the best? I seriously have no idea, but that's how it usually works for me. 

My run today was so great.  I tuned Pandora to Natalie Grant, set my running app (imapmyrun) and away I went.  I ran 5 miles in 48.56.  I used my time to pray and worship.  I left the park rejuvenated both spiritually and physically. 

freezer meal prep day

My good friend, Jenny, approached me about getting together and preparing several freezer meals for our families.  I, of course, said yes and the planning began.  She came up with two meals and I came up with two.  We wanted to start small and see how it went before we went big.  I'm super pleased to say it went very well.  We had a great time prepping the food and getting it ready for the freezer.  Our friend, Emily, also joined us to stock up her freezer.  She has an infant and was excited to have these meals for her freezer. 

Here's what we made:

Honey-Sesame chicken Skewers
Taco soup
Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry
Teriyaki Chicken

We first emailed each other the recipes so we could make our shopping list. 

Our Shopping List...Remember this is for each person

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 cups diced onions
• 2 (15 1/2-ounce) cans pinto beans
• 1 (15 1/2-ounce) can pink kidney beans
• 1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can tomatoes with chiles
• 2 (4 1/2-ounce) cans diced green chiles
• 1 (4.6-ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced, optional
• 1/2 cup green olives, sliced, optional
• 1 (1 1/4-ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 (1-ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix
• Corn chips, for serving, optional
• Sour cream, for garnish, optional
• Grated cheese, for garnish, optional
• Chopped green onions, for garnish, optional
• Pickled jalapenos, for garnish, optional
• 1 cup honey
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 3 tbsp, fresh lime juice
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric
• salt and pepper
• 12 boneless, skinless chicken things
• 6-8 Chicken Breasts
• 1 Bag of Frozen stir fry vegetables
• 1/2 bottle of Kikkomon stir fry sauce
• 1 tsp Garlic Garlic
• 20 oz can pineapples
• 1 bottle of teriyaki sauce
• ***Buy however much chicken you would like to put in the crock pot to make shredded chicken

After we shopped, we gathered all our goodies and met at Jenny's house to cook/prep. 

Here are the recipes:



Honey-Sesame Chicken Skewers

1 Cup Honey

 1/4 Cup sesame seeds

 3 tbsp. fresh lime juice

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

 1 tsp. ground cumin

 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (if you like heat)

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. turmeric

salt/pepper to taste

12 boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed of excess fat

Combine honey, sesame seeds, lime juice, olive oil, ginger, cinnamon, cumin, Cayenne, paprika and turmeric in a bowl. season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Cut chicken into approx. 1 inch chunks. Place chicken in Ziploc bag and pour honey-sesame mixture over.  Place in freezer for up to 2 months.

Taco Soup

2 pounds ground beef

2 cups diced onions

2 (15 oz.) cans pinto beans

1 (15 oz.) cans kidney beans

1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 14 oz.) can Mexican-style stewed tomatoes

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 (14 oz.) can tomatoes with chiles (rotel)

2 (4 oz.) cans diced green chiles

1 (4.6 oz.) can black olives, drained (optional)

1/2 cup green olives, sliced (optional)

1 pkg. taco seasoning mix

1 (1 oz.) pkg. ranch salad dressing mix

 corn chips, for serving

sour cream, for garnish

grated cheese, for garnish

chopped green onions, for garnish

Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain excess fat, then transfer to a stockpot. Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, olives, taco seasoning, and ranch mix. Mix well. We measured out 6 cups to fill a gallon zip lock bag. We each left with 2 filled gallon bags...that's 12 cups of soup each!!!

Allow to cool and freeze until ready to thaw, heat, and serve. 

 

Chicken and Veggie Stir-Fry

3 Chicken breast, diced

1 bag frozen stir-fry veggies

1/2 bottle kikkomom stir-fry sauce

1 tsp. garlic garlic (not a typo...find it in your spice aisle)

Combine 1/2 bottle kikkomom sauce and garlic garlic in a quart sized bag.

Add chicken to a gallon freezer bag and staple the quart sauce bag to the chicken. You are ready to freeze.

To cook:

Thaw chicken and sauce. Saute chicken in EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) until no longer pink. Add sauce and frozen veggies. Cook until veggies are crisp tender.  Serve over rice.

 

Teriyaki Chicken

20 oz. can Pineapple chunks, slightly drained

1 bottle teriyaki sauce

1 tsp. garlic garlic

1 cup water

Mix in gallon ziplock and freeze. 

To cook...

allow to thaw and grill

serve with veggies or salad.

We spent 4 hours getting our meals freezer ready.  We also had 12 chicken breast in the crock pot cooking while we worked.  When they were done cooking, we put them in the blender with a paddle attachment...instant shredded chicken!!! We split the chicken in quart freezer bags for easy dishes that call for shredded chicken.

It was a huge success and I'm already looking forward to our next cooking day!!!