Cat or Dog?

No, this post isn't about which one I should keep and which I should get rid of! I love them both too much to ever get rid of their adorable faces! I mean, seriously? Have you seen them? No!? Well, let me show you..

Roxie

Cosmo

I was catching up on some of the blogs I follow and came across this post by Carrots 'n' Cake where she referred to herself as a "cat runner." I have never heard of this term before, so I linked back to the blog where she first talked about it to see what she meant. I also found this post on RunnersWorld.com that references the same thing and also addresses some other issues.

Runners are like cats and dogs, says Adam Krajchir, founder and director of Race with Purpose and head coach for New York Road Runners' Team for Kids. Cat runners just want to be left alone to do their thing. Dog runners want to be social. You may be cat or dog on any given day, but it's never fun being a cat stuck in a dog world, especially if you're trapped on the treadmill.

I think I fall somewhere in between the two.

I am a cat runner: When I'm running, I don't necessarily want to talk to you. I want to listen to my music, breath, and get into a groove.

I am a dog runner: I don't like doing things by myself.

I have always been the type of person that would only do something if someone else was doing it too. If I were running, I would make plans to run with someone and then pace at their pace. If I were going to the gym, I would call someone and make plans to go to the gym. If they backed out, I did too. This was the case until I finally reached a point where I decided I couldn't and wasn't going to allow someone to dictate my health. Because lets be honest, that's what I was doing. I needed to lose weight and the truth was they weren't going to lose a pound for me. Only I could do that. 

So now that I'm wearing my "big girl pants," I go to the gym by myself and run by myself. I still make plans to  do these things with my friends but I no longer solely rely on them to get my butt to do it.

Now... lets move on to Thursdays run and grub!

Breakfast

If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a smoothie girl in the morning. It's easy to make and then head out the door. I like to sleep so I don't leave a lot of time to cook something and sit down to eat it.

Thursday's smoothie contained Naked coconut water, blueberries, orange, spinach, parsley, and PlantFusion protein powder.

Lunch

I had another bowl of soup.. I'm so boring when it comes to lunches but it's cheap! I think I'll make something different for next week, but don't hold me to it.

Snack

I had some Nut-Thins, hummus, and a couple slices of cheese for my snack.

Activity

Another day. Another run. After the storms that came through on Wednesday, I wasn't sure if the Rivergreenway would be open or not. It tends to flood when we have heavy rain. But I was in luck! It was open and it was a cool 78 degrees. 

I met up with Erika again but sadly had to leave her pretty early on. She warned me going out that she wasn't feeling the greatest so I told her that she could turn around early and I would catch back up. Well, being the mama bear that she is, she was worried when I had turn some corners and she couldn't see me anymore. So she kept runnin' until she saw me. 

At some point on the way back I had to stop. My hamstrings and calves were getting tight and I needed to loosen them up so I could pick the pace back up. So I stopped in a grassy, shaded area to stretch out.

I got to the end of the trail and waited for Erika to finish. Please note the sign on the left. I was not kidding about the flooding.

Even though we were at the same trail doing the same amount of time, I ended up doing about 3.2 miles on this run. The last run was 2.8. I think I ran a little faster on this run going out so I had a longer way to go back. But I'm ok with that!

Dinner

For dinner I combined some ground turkey, red pepper, corn, and black beans and added some medium salsa for some spice.

Dessert
For dessert I grabbed a "healthy" brownie. I think fresh is always best and I love warm brownies so I popped it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds.

Question: Are you a dog or a cat? Tell me why in the comments below. I'd love to hear from you! :)

Spinning Class and Spinning Clouds

Today is a great day, isn't it?! Here are two reasons why:

1.  I woke up in my bed, not in a field.

My area had some heavy storms last night full of funnel clouds, heavy winds, hail, rain, and all the potential for a tornado. Luckily, my area only experienced (to my knowledge) a thunderstorm.

2. A pair of "skinnier" pants fit! Yay!!

I put on a pair of pants this morning that I haven't been able to wear properly, let alone comfortably, for years. Even though they're the same size as the other pants that I've been able to wear, the cut is very different. So regardless of what the tag says, I know I'm smaller because they didn't fit 5 months ago! I'll take it!

Moving on...

Breakfast

Yesterday kicked off with a yummy cucumber green smoothie. I put in a scoop of Vanilla Bean PlantFusion protein powder, cucumber, celery, parsley, ginger, and banana with some Naked coconut water into my Ninja blender until it was well blended. It was very light and the cucumber was very prominent and delicious!

Lunch

Here's a shocker: chicken vegetable soup!

Snack

I got out of training (for a recent promotion) early and ate my snack when I got home. I had a medium sized apple with a packet of Justin's Honey Peanut Butter. Apparently I was so excited about eating my snack that I didn't bother to snap a picture.

Activity

According to my training plan, today I was supposed to do a treadmill run. Although my shins weren't as sore as they have been in the past (I'm going to thank KT Tape and my medical compression socks for that), I decided to go to a 6pm spin class at the MaxFitness on the NE side of town. I normally go to the NW location but I didn't want to wait until 7:30. After all, the storm was coming and I wanted to be home.

Apparently, other people were really concerned about the storm because I turned out to be the only person to show up. So I received a one-on-one class. Which could have been awkward, but wasn't because the spin instructor was very interactive.

Dinner

For dinner I made a quick and easy omelet using egg whites, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions. I topped it off with a couple of tablespoons of salsa.

Shortly after dinner the storm started to roll in and then the tornado sirens started to go off. I kept a close eye on the storm for a while, looking for rotation, but I never saw anything. The watch expired around 9:15 and they stated that the rotation seemed to clear and reduced it to thunderstorm warning only -- accompanied by a flash flood warning of course!

On my way to work, I did see that one of the surrounding rivers had risen a considerable amount and heard on the radio that several streets were closed. I really hope that all the people affected by the floods a couple of weeks ago didn't get another dose of it last night.

Question: Do you keep or have you kept any of your "skinny" clothes to use as a goal?

Shin Splint Shopping Spree

Tuesday started off with a another green smoothie. I put some Naked coconut water, pineapple, strawberries, parsley, romaine lettuce, and a scoop of PlantFusion protein powder in my Ninja blender until it was smooth.

I had a bowl of chicken-vegetable soup for lunch while I caught up on some blogs, read some articles on various health magazine websites, did some pinning on Pinterest, and finally purchased a pair of compression socks from Zoot.com.

Aren't they cool?! I really had to restrain myself from buying another pair (in a different color, of course!) because these were $60! They are a little on the pricey side but if they're going to help, it's worth a shot right?

I had an afternoon snack of some Wholly Guacamole and almond nut-thins. They were out of the 100 calorie packs at my local Kroger, so we had to buy the regular package. The downside to this is that I have to measure it out and it starts turning brown by time I'm ready to eat it. Why do things have to turn brown? And I think whoever said lemon juice helps delay this process was off their rocker.

While looking over the Health & Fitness section of Pinterest, I came across some pins of KT Tape for shin splints. I have seen many runners using tape but I was never sure what the use was for it, so I decided to look into it. From their website:

Need support that will endure multiple lighter workouts? Then original KT TAPE is for you. It provides targeted pain relief and will stay in place through multiple workouts for up to 3 days, through daily showers, humidity, cold, even in the pool.

Each box comes with 20 precut strips of tape on a roll and a quick start guide with step-by-step instructions for the most common injuries.

It had a video on how to apply the tape for shin splints and posterior shin splints. I read some more information on their website and used their store locator and found out that a local Dick's Sporting Goods store sold it. I decided that since I will be waiting a few days for my compression socks that I would swing by Dick's and pick up some KT Tape.

I got home, taped up, and headed out to for my run/walk. Again, I made some slight changes to the plan for this week.

Week 3

Tuesday 6/11 - Thursday 6/13

• 2 minute warm up
• 2 minute run x 1 minute walk. Repeat 9 times.
• 1 minute cool down

Saturday 6/15 - 4 miles

My friend, Erika, joined me for my run. Here we are pre-run.

We did our run on the Rivergreenway. It was 83 degrees out but it didn't feel as humid as it normally does and I actually thought it felt more like the high 70's. Erika disagrees but she is always hot, so what does she know?... KIDDING!

I was really pleased with these splits. I sadly had to leave Erika a little bit behind as she is still nursing a bruised/swollen/popping foot and has asthma. I hate doing that but she encourages me to move on. (I think she secretly likes the view. ;) )

It seemed that we finished our run just in time as it seemed that a storm was rolling in. I heard some thunder and saw some lightening in the distance.

We did some stretches and I headed home shortly after. My legs were on fire. I'm not sure if it was because I was running faster than I have in the past or what. So when I got home I did some more stretches, and then rolled out my shins and calves. I wanted to leave the KT Tape on as long as I could (their website says you can leave it on for up to three days) to help with recovery.

I had also read that compression socks aid in recovery helping remove the lactic acid from your muscles. Some of the websites I had checked out actually sold a compression sock just for recovery. I was just going to put on some softball socks to cover the tape and keep my calves warm but then a light bulb went off! I remembered that I had medical compression socks from when I had surgery two years ago. I figured that these were just the same, if not better, than a sport recovery compression sock - plus, they are full leg compression socks and covered my quads too!

After I relaxed a for a few minutes, I cooked up some chicken fajitas made with chicken, peppers and onions. I served it with a scoop of rice, lettuce, salsa, and corn tortillas. It was delicious!

And then for dessert, I tried a "healthy" brownie recipe which turned out WAY better than I had expected! Look out for the recipe and directions in the future!

Question: What kind of "healthy" treats/desserts do you make and enjoy? Leave your comments below! :)

Quick 'n' Easy Monday

I started yesterday off with a green smoothie. I put some Naked pure coconut water, blueberries, parsley, and romaine lettuce in my Ninja blender until it was well blended. When it was done, I poured it into travel cup and headed to work.

I added two tablespoons of some PlantFusion plant protein so I wouldn't be starving in a couple of hours. I was running a little behind schedule and forgot to snap a picture of the finished product. Just so you know, it looked delicious and it was delicious.

For lunch I had a bowl of homemade vegetable soup. I generally make a large batch of one thing to pack for lunches. It makes the prep pretty easy and then when it's all done, I divide it into tupperware containers so it is ready to grab on my way out the door. This keeps me in control of what I consume and keeps the cost low.

Later I snacked on a rice cake covered in Justin's Honey Peanut Butter and a banana. I was really excited when I found Justin's because they're pre-portioned squeeze packs. They also sell jars but the packs are perfect because there is no prep, it's just grab and go. I believe they also have a regular Almond Butter, Maple Almond Butter, and a Chocolate Hazelnut Butter. They're all good but my favorites are the Maple Almond Butter and the Honey Peanut Butter.

After work, I headed to The Fitness Studio for some Zumba action. My shins are still a hot mess and we had a sub that tends to have a lot of jumping/bouncing, so I focused on making it low-impact.

I headed home and made some Turkey Tostadas made with ground turkey, black beans, tomatoes, lettuce, and then topped with salsa. I served it with two toasted corn tortillas. You could serve it without the tortillas if you wanted and just have it as a salad. Either way, they're easy to make and delicious!

As you can tell, I like things that are quick and easy. Working a full time job and working out after doesn't leave too many night-time hours to spend creating masterpieces in the kitchen. Plus, by time I'm done working out I want to eat. Not in an hour but immediately. By having healthy and easy meals planned it lessens the chances of me snacking on things I shouldn't snack on.

Question: What are some of your go-to meals/snacks?

Fitness Myths and Fastest Mile

I finally broke down and purchased the Ninja blender on Saturday. (So shiny!) I was excited to wake up yesterday to use my new toy.

I whipped up some coconut water, banana, kale, parsley, and ginger. It is NOT a juice. It was a little different as it was very pulpy. But it was still good.

I had the drink along with an egg white scramble that had mushroom, green pepper, and onion topped with some zesty cilantro salsa. Yum!

While I was cooking, I heard Cosmo messing around with a paper bag. When I checked to see what he was doing, I found him inside. This is not unusual for him but it is always hilarious. 

Then Roxie decided to lay down next to him.

After breakfast, I flipped through the paper and found this article about 10 fitness myths. Here are few that stood out to me:

• A higher number on the scale means you're getting fatter. I have known that if you have the same volume of muscle and fat that the muscle will weigh more. I decided when I started my weight loss journey that I wasn't defined by a number on a scale. It is just a number. When I get to a point where I am much leaner, I am going to rely on how my clothes feel and not that number. 
• Lifting weights make women bulky. I don't know about you but I listen to Jillian Michaels. She has said it time and time again, women are not going to bulk up because they lack the testosterone to build large muscle mass. It will, however, help you look lean and toned which is what every women wants!
• Running on a treadmill is better for joins than running outside. I always assumed this was right, thus the reason I planned a treadmill day at the gym to help out my shinsplints. However, according to this article unless it is a high-quality treadmill, it really wont make much of a difference. And I think it's safe to say that the gym probably doesn't have the high-quality treadmills they're talking about. I might just scratch out that treadmill day because I prefer to run outside.
• Machines are safer than free weights. I never thought this and have actually always preferred free weights. I feel like using the machines will always keep the stronger side stronger because it will always be compensating for the weaker side. Using free weights allows that weaker side to work just as hard.
• Stretching before exercise improves performance. I have had this discussion several times as I do not stretch before I work out. I have read that it can actually cause injury because your muscles are not warmed up and ready to be stretched; however, I do believe stretching after you workout and are warmed up is great. It helps lengthen your muscles and can reduce soreness. 

When I was done reading, I looked over and saw my fur babies kind-of-sorta cuddling. Aren't they adorable?!

Since I opted to do spin on Saturday instead of my long run, I had to get out and get in my 3 miles. So I grabbed Roxie, turned on FitRadio and headed out the door. When I hit mile one and my stats told me that I just did a 10:14 mile, I was shocked. That is my fastest recorded mile. I wasn't even feeling that great. I was actually tired. But non-the-less, I was super excited! I felt like I struggled the remaining two miles as the 84 degree and humid weather caught up to me. There was also a handful of people that were starting fires and grilling that was making it a little hard to breath. But I pushed through it and completed the three miles.

Question: What are some fitness myths you've heard?