Cherry Blossom 10 Miler – Training Week 1

Well hello there!  I haven’t posted my workouts yet, as they’ve been a few days on, a few days off, which isn’t terribly interesting to read.  But now, I have a written down plan (which you know I like) so hopefully I’ll stick to it!

As I mentioned, I’m training both for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler on April 7, and with the New Triathlete Program through DC Tri Club, goal race of June 2.  I’m trying to combine the two programs.

The DC Tri Club program is, well, not gonna fly.  It includes about 2 hours of exercise for the whole week, 4 days worth.  That’s just not going to cut it for me to actually get ready for a running race, or to survive a triathlon.  So Instead, I’ve turned to Conor, a Tri vet to help me formulate my plan.  It’s still in the works, and I’ll post it when I finish, but as of this week, here’s what we got.

Monday:  Off (I ran Saturday and swam Sunday)

Tuesday:  Run – Build pace for 5 miles

I did the Back on Pointe daily workout, which included jumping jacks, squats, tricep dips, crunches, lunges and leg lifts, plus some wall push ups.  I love using these work outs as short warm ups to get all the muscles in the body moving and ready to go.  This is integral before 6am

Then I just settled in for a long-ish run, with the goal of 4, maybe 5.   I gradually increased the speed by mile, going 6.0 for the first, 6.1 second, 6.2 third, and 6.3 for fourth plus a half mile (I forgot to switch), with the last half mile being at 6.4mph.

I had to take a bathroom break about 2.5 miles in, but felt mostly pretty good.  The 5th mile was tough though, my legs felt super heavy.  Overall not a bad workout.

Wednesday:  Run: 3×1 mile with strength intervals in between

Started with Back on Pointe again: jumping jacks, tricep dips, crunches and obliques.  I omitted some of the ab work, mainly because I felt fat (had approximately 6 pounds of pretzels yesterday, straight up wheat all in my belly!) so I wasn’t feeling focusing on that area!  But, I incorporated the warm up with my own strength intervals:

• 10 frog jumps
• 10 squats
• 10 fast squats (not locking knees in between for continuous muscle tension)
• 16 jumping lunges
• Alternate between: 15 leg lifts and 15 side leg lifts OR 20 calf raises in 3 positions (forward, toes in, toes out)

I did this interval before I started, and between each mile.  I used the stupid incline treadmill (you know one of those old ones that pretend to be flat and are really about 1.5%) so I have to admit the miles were pretty tough.

Disclaimer:  I use another treadmill, different brand, in my building and do not delude myself to think it’s inclined so I swear I’m not biased here!

Thursday: Spin class

Whoa crazy Hill Workout!!!  She was like and increase resistance. Increase.  Now sit.  But don’t let resistance off. FASTER! Ahh?!  Great workout though.  She super kicked my butt.  Literally.

The workout consisted of mostly climbs, getting out of the saddle, then maintaining resistance and sitting back down.  She also did a couple songs worth of sprint intervals.  By the end I was dying, but well worth it!

Friday: Run – Yasso 800′s – 5 miles

Return of the Yasso!  Check out my explanation about them here.  Essentially though, They’re just a series of 800 meter sets, as fast as you can go for that distance, followed by a brief walk to recoup.  So that breaks down to .50mi run, .15-.20 walk (depending on how long the treadmill takes to change speed), 10 times.  Buuut, I don’t usually have time for 10 so I usually do 8.

Since I haven’t done them in a while, I tried to ease myself in to find the right speed.

I started the first at 6.7, too slow for a speed workout but I didn’t want to go out to hard and not finish.  2nd set was 7.0, third 7.3, fourth and fifth 7.5.  Feeling confident, I did the sixth and seventh at 7.7, and last and final at 8.0.   Man was that killer!  The 7.5/7.7 range should be about where I’m doing these, or 8/7:50 minutes per mile.

But, I think it was a good way to ease in and see where I should be.  The great thing is you rack up mileage in short spurts, and by the end you have over 5 miles!  Technically I got to 5.3, but because of the walking and the treadmill lag, we’re gonna round down to 5 miles

Saturday:  Let myself sleep in – Rest day!  Except that I was at work all day…

Sunday: LSD run –  6 miles

I kept the pace near 10min/mile, though I sped it up a smidge at the end.  I had to step off a couple times, and my legs and lungs were not happy by the end.  Happy to start getting respectable distances in though!

Update to Come:

I finally buckled down and got biking gear.  My tush area really just wasn’t pleased with me.  I got biking shorts, shoes, cleats and pedals, I’ll post more specifics soon…ish.

Blog Updates and New Training plans

Well Hello there!  After a blog hiatus, I’m deciding to try and give it a go again.  A mixture of workout apathy and not much by way of time to post led to a long lull here at Running With Rewards.  I’ve considering throwing in the towel, but hopefully with new motivation will come new inspiration for posting!

First, let’s talk about workout motivation.

After my half marathon, I let my work schedule get the better of me (*cough cough excuse cough cough*) and worked out sporadically at best.  I’d go more time than I’d like to admit without any specific exercise, and sporadic weeks where I’d work out 3 days in a row…only to give up for another long stretch.

Running’s just not cutting it for me.  I’ve never liked it terribly much, and I just can’t seem to get out of bed for it anymore.  So, Enter my new motivators:

Motivator A:  Cherry Blossom 10 Miler – April 7, 2013.   As some of you know, it’s a lottery admission.  I registered last year and didn’t get in, so I thought I’d try again.  And I got in.

Then I thought, “Crap…I have to run 10 miles!”  Eesh.  Considering we’re back to the point where 3 is hard, it’s gonna be an uphill battle.  BUT…I’ve heard it’s an amazing race.  Absolutely beautiful and crowded enough that you get carried through.

Pictures courtesy of Google Images:

Ooooo, Aaaaah.

Plus, I signed up for the online training program, beginning January 28 which will provide a concrete, 10 week training schedule.  I’m hoping to build up a little base before then, and then jump full speed into the program!  Heaven’s knows I like rules and schedules, so I think it’ll be good for me.

Motivator B:  I joined DC Triathlon club, in order to participate in their New Triathlete Program (NTP).  DC Tri is suuuuper popular around here, boasting I think they said 1300 members.  Conor has been a member for a little while now, though not overly active in the club itself.  But, as a veteran triathlon watcher, I’ve seen them around as well.  They always seem to be supporting each other and just having fun.

So, when he suggested I try their program, my first reaction was “Um, no.”  Second reaction was, “that’s cute honey, but no. Triathlete I am not.”  About a month later though, once he had given up on asking, I had still been thinking about it.  I figured, maybe I’ll just go to the info session and see what it’s all about.  After all, I like training and I bought a bike last year sooo, what’s the harm in just going?

Side Note: Remember my bike?

It’s worked out really well…except I haven’t gotten to use it terribly much because it’s been cold.  I bought it really for the Spring anyway (it’s just cheaper in the fall), and I’m excited to really start using it.

I went to the meeting and you know what?  I’m gonna do it!  I signed up this morning and I’m pretty happy about it.  The club members introduced the program as a really supportive and collaborative experience.  Group rides, runs and swims, happy hours and clinics.  I think the group atmosphere will really help get me motivated, and actually make working out fun again.  Worst case?  I spend 6 months getting to know new people and getting healthy, and discover I am not in fact destined to be a triathlete.  Not exactly a loss

Plus, I’ll get some swag to wear to make me feel hardcore

Both training programs coincidentally begins January 28.  So, until then, stay tuned!

2012 in review :)

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,300 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Super Easy 5-ingredient Chili Recipe

On these cold holiday season days, sometimes all you want is something nice and warm in your belly to warm you from the inside out.  Last week I whipped up this super easy chili.  I don’t have a crock pot, but I would recommend one for this project if you have one!

Anyhoo, Here are the ingredients:

• 3/4 cup dried lentils
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can light kidney beans
• 1 can dark kidney beans
• 1 can tomatoes
• Optional: Chili seasoning packet (This is the “Super Easy” part!)

 

Instructions

• Simmer the lentils in 1 1/2 cup water and 1/3 seasoning packet until they go from bright orange to a light orangey-yellow and fluff up

• Add another cup of water, and bean assortment

• Add as much more of the packet as you like (I added a little over a 1/3 more)
• Bring to a boil, then simmer on low until it reaches the consistency you like
• Enjoy

 

Trip to NYC – Good Eats!

I went to New York a few weeks back to celebrate an anniversary.  We had a great trip, filled with Broadway and Bagels.

First and foremost – the eats!  I stumbled upon an article in my VegNews (awesome magazine btw, tons of great articles plus vegan recipes and insights) that totally peaked my interest.  I can’t find the article, but basically it told the back story of this wonderful vegan restaurant called Candle Cafe in New York City.

The restaurant opened in 1993, after it’s owners – who already owned a health foods store – won the lottery!  They took their winnings and opened one of the first vegan restaurants in NYC.  Thank goodness they won!  Read more about their journey on their website   They later opened Candle 79, a more upscale restaurant, and then Candle Cafe West with a similar menu to the Upper East side location.

We went to Candle Cafe East, and it was absolutely delightful.  The menu was fabulous, too much to choose from for sure.  Check it out here.  They had some really interesting salads, including the Aztec salad which had BBQ tempeh and spiced pumpkin seeds, and the Living Crunchy Sprout (cool name!).  The entre’s looked just as fabulous, but we had eaten a late lunch so didn’t indulge   Particularly enticing?  Thai Grilled Tofu and Porcini Crusted Seitan.  Also would have loved to try the Seitan dumplings…can’t tell you how cool it is to see tempeh and seitan on the menu, instead of normal restaurants where if there even is a veg option, its tofu.

Anyway, on to what we actually ate!  We started with a delightful lemonade which was a blended frothy light piece of a lemony sweet cloud.  It was SO good.  Can’t even describe how yummy this was, definitely set the stage for the meal.

My partner in crime went for a lentil soup, which had great flavor and was really filling.  On the side was house made bread.  Yum!

I had the BBQ tempeh sandwich with wilted kale and shallot-sage aioli.  The sandwich was awesome.  It was filling and tasty  great textures and really unique flavors.

The close second choice was the Cajun Seitan Sandwich – “Cajun crusted seitan . . . served on toasted foccocia with ancho chili aioli.”  Whoa.  And the tofu club.  These people have sandwiches on lock.

After a truly delectable dinner on the Upper East Side, we headed down to Broadway for a show!

We waited in the TKTS line the afternoon of the show, and while in line we had multiple recommendations for Bring It On: The Musical.  I had never even thought of suggesting this show, but, the reviews were too much to pass up and we scooped up our tickets.

SO glad we did!!  It was an unbelievable show filled with totally legit cheer moves and booming vocals, with some added comic relief.  Wonderfully acted and just a really fun and entertaining show.

Then, lo and behold, we *accidentally* wound up at Lindy’s Cheesecake?  Oopsie!  When we went to NYC last year for New Years Eve, we actually did accidentally stumble upon Lindy’s out in Brooklyn, but this time was slightly less of an accident…

What is Lindy’s you may ask?  Well first off, shame on you for not knowing!  As the child of a New Yorker, I was introduced to NY Cheesecake at a young age…as well as the age old rivalry between Lindy’s and Junior’s.  So I decided it was my personal mission on this trip to settle the debate, once and for all!

I can’t find Lindy’s cheesecake, but maybe that’s because heavenly bodies can’t have a URL.  It was TO DIE FOR.  The cheesecake was creamy and sweet and decadent and succulent and … wow.  SO amazing.  Best cheesecake I’ve ever had.  Seriously.  Man I want some right now…

Phew.  Hard for me to come off that…As to Junior’s?  Tried it the next day.  NOT good.  As in SERIOUSLY not good.  And it cost $10 a slice!  It was dry, crumbly, not at all creamy, and had hardly any flavor.  Boo.  TOTAL win for Lindy’s.  Debate ended.

To work off the cheesecake we took a walk around Rockefeller Center, and saw the famous ice skating rink.  So festive!

And then, at the Lego store nearby, a really cool lego rendition of the icon:

Hard to tell them apart

So what else was on the table? Pizza and Bagels.  Obvi.  Bagels at a Bagel and Bean near Central Park, and they were definitely superior to any DC bagel.  Now, you can get decent bagels in DC for sure, but these are on another level.  Poppy and Cream cheese, of course, because my momma didn’t raise no fool

After a long walk through and all the way around Central Park, we walked through the Columbia University Campus.  Then took the subway from the Upper West Side to the Lower East side, in hopes of finding a Kettle corn vendor which has the best kettle corn on the planet, which we tasted over New Years.  Unfortunately, because of Hurricane Sandy, much of the waterfront area was closed.  We did however find a really cute farmer’s market…with an unbelievable amount of pickle vendors and Kimchi vendors.  Odd, I know.  After walking through we found a hole in the wall Pizza joint, and settled in for our final iconic food group.

Greasy.  Crunchy.  And delicious

Our New York venture came to a close, but not before we got a good glimpse of the New Years Ball, which actually stays up all year but is risen I think on New Years Eve to be dropped for the count down.  You can see it right above the 2012.

Then we had this to come home to:

Such a good welcome home

Carmelized Tofu

Due to a routine doctor visit, I let myself take a full afternoon off.  And it was lovely!  Time to leisurely go to the grocery store, pick out good ingredients for dinner, marinate and cook tofu, read for pleasure….man was it nice!  Plus, I got to feel slightly scandalous that I wasn’t at work :0

Anyhoo, so what did I cook?  A really fun Carmelized Tofu recipe.  The Boy really likes all things sweet, and has been known to add cinnamon to tofu, so I thought I’d try this one out.  I made substitutions based on what was on hand, but the basic recipe and method was great.  The tofu wound up being super delicious and a totally different spin.

*excuse the cell phone pictures!

Ingredients

• 1/4 c rice wine or dry sherry – I used apple cider
• 2 ts rice vinegar – I used regular vinegar
• 1/4 c soy sauce
• 1 t toasted sesame oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 t minced fresh ginger

• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 lb extra-firm tofu, patted thoroughly dry and cut into 2 x 2x 1/3-inch pieces
• 2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1/2 c thinly sliced white onion
• 4 or more dried small red chilies (optional) – I used a chopped cerrano pepper
• 5 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced – regular onion

Instructions

• Marinate and dry tofu (I always use my go to rub for tofu, adds a good base flavor – garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper; I usually don’t use salt because it just absorbs it, and I’ll usually add soy sauce or salt later); I let it sit for about a half hour before starting to cook.
• Whisk the first 5 ingredients with sugar until sugar dissolves

• Heat oil over high heat. Lay the tofu squares in the skillet in a single layer
• Fry until golden brown on one side, about 4 minutes
• Flip the tofu and immediately pour in the sauce; add the onions and pepper. The sauce will sputter and begin to caramelize.
• Keep a close eye on it, and move the tofu around a little bit to let the sauce get under it. Continue cooking until the sauce has thickened and become a fairly thick glaze coating the tofu, about 4 minutes more

Yum!  I was really intrigued by how the soy sauce (super thin) thickened when added to the heat and other ingredients.

On the side I just roasted some veggies that were on sale – asparagus and carrot.

Aren’t they lovely?

I chopped the veggies into similar sized chunks, then tossed them lightly with olive oil and Italian seasonings.  Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes and they get all roasty toasty delicious!

Final Product:

Note on ingredient substitutions – Google is a beautiful thing.  Don’t have rice wine or sherry?  Google substitutions.  Google tells me that the point of the rice wine is to add some acid to the mix with some sweetness, and that apple juice can work as a substitute.  I had apple cider on hand and it worked fabulously

Moroccan Butternut Squash Tagine

Well Hello There! I’ve missed you all!  I’m so sorry I’ve been terribly derelict in my blogging duties.  With work and the holidays, I just haven’t found the time.  But, I’ve still been cooking!  I’ll be sharing my most recent recipes with you all in the next few days

First up:  Moroccan Tagine. 

What on earth is that you may ask?  While I feel cool saying it, truth is I didn’t actually know what it was until I first found one of these recipes a few years ago.  And it was DELICIOUS.  The general definition is a North African stew consisting of spices and veggies.  The name comes from what it is supposed to be cooked in (a tagine) buuuut, a deep soup pot worked just fine.

But, problem is, I lost that recipe in one of my million moves.  #fail.  Anyhoo, I scoured the internet in search of recipes, and thought this one would be a good jump start.  Here are the ingredients recommended and what I used, and I left off what I didn’t want to add.

Stars of the show:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 small onions, roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper my new smoked paprika!
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste pumpkin puree
• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 sweet potato, cut into chunks Didn’t have any, so I just used extra squash
• 2 carrots, cut into chunks
• Added: 3-4 cups chopped kale
• 2.5 cups vegetable stock or broth, divided
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Salt and pepper
• 1 20-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Instructions:  Really easy.

1. Heat the oil and cook onions until soft
2. Add spices and pumpkin puree, cook until fragrant
3. Add veggies and toss to coat, then add in the broth and lemon juice.  Bring to simmer.
   
4. Cook partially covered over low heat for 25 minutes until everything is tender, then add chickpeas and simmer another 5-10 min.  Add Kale in just a few minutes before finished.  Don’t overcook your veggies (like I did) – remember you’ll be reheating this so cook them until just barely tender.

Yum!  Such a warm, fall stew that makes your belly feel full and happy

Notes:  Why pumpkin puree?  Because I didn’t have tomato paste and I figured they have similar consistencies, plus, why buy a thing of tomato paste for 1 tbs, knowing you won’t use the rest!  I had pumpkin puree leftover so I just popped that in.

Also, *someone* (me, cough cough) forgot to get chickpeas and carrots…so I cooked them separately and added them in.  I definitely think the recipe needs them to add more flavors and textures.  Adding them later worked just fine, I boiled each separately and spiced with a similar blend as the tagine, and plopped them in.  They soaked in and melded quite well.

Smoked Paprika?  Usually $6-10.  Trader Joes? $1.50.  Boom.  Bought it without thinking twice!  So excited.  it’s smoky and warm but still has good spice.

It was good…but not quite as good as last time.  I’ll keep working on it because it’s such a great fall/winter lunch.

Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts!

I’ve been eyeing this recipe for a long time, but never have time to sit down and make a legit pastry!  Well, thank you Hurricane…before the power threatens to go out, I decided to get down to business.

Note:  I intended to do actual business…even going into work to get stuff to do on my couch.  Guesses on how that turned out?

You can find the recipe here.  It’s on a blog called “Healthy, Happy Life,” on the kblog.lunchboxbunch.com.  Truth be told, it seems like every time I click on a vegan delight on pinterest.com, it’s a link to this blog!  Seriously, go check it out, everything looks so yummy

Ingredients:

For starters, just combine the dry ingredients for the dough with the butters.

Then, slowly add cold water.  I added about 3 tbs.gently mix together until it forms a ball, and cool in freezer.  I also added about 1/8 cup sugar to the pastry dough, and in retrospect wish I would have added a little vanilla to sweeten it up, maybe 1/2 ts.

While the dough was chilling, I made the pumpkin butter…which was yummy.  I added 1/8 cup sugar, 3/4 ts of vanilla and 1/4ts of almond to the pumpkin butter.  What can I say, I like me some sweetness!

Pre melting:

Post melting:

Mmmm.  Only problem:  Recipe called for pumpkin pie spice.  I’ve never bought or had a premade pumpkin pie spice, maybe because I always had my mom who adds her very own, very delicious, spices to pumpkin pie. Betty Crocker to the rescue again!  She has an emergency substitution section, and pumpkin pie spice is one of them.

Blog, once again, won’t let me turn the picture!

Roll out dough.  Don’t overmix…I’m telling this to myself mostly, because I did :/  I decided, after cutting out the pastries, that it was too thick.  I then balled the dough up again, and rolled it out.  At this point, the dough got pretty rubbery…and not “light” like it’s supposed to be.  Silly Ashley.  Ugh.  Anyway, I always LOVE using my rolling pin.  Something about it just makes me feel happy

What’s that I used for my pastry cutter?  The top to Hershey’s cocoa powder!  I don’t have a broad array of cutters…or really any for that matter…and looking around the kitchen for something to cut with, it seemed like the perfect size

I decided to make mini-pastries, mainly so there would be more of them to take to work

I added a healthy tablespoon of pumpkin butter on each piece, and closed them up.  Next up, crimping the sides and pressing together with a fork.  This makes them look all cute and professional.  Oh, and keeps the gooey stuff inside!

Pre bake:

Finished Product:

Inside look…ooh yummy pumpkin butter and glaze!

I was right about the dough, it wasn’t as light and flaky as I imagine it was meant to be…totally my fault for over mixing/rolling.  Otherwise, I would like to figure out how to put more pumpkin butter in (which was delightful) without the whole thing busting.

All in all, fabulous way to spend a rainy day and unexpected day off work

Fall treat: Pumpkin Carving!!

The leaves are changing and the air is crisp!  Everywhere you look there are shades of red, orange and yellow.  This time of year is absolutely beautiful in the DC area  Although I get sad that the weather is getting colder (ie I will spend the next 6 months varying between uncomfortably cold and freezing), I have to admit there’s something quite special about this season. 

The real kick off to the holiday season is probably Halloween, though these days they seem to start selling Christmas stuff about 5 minutes after the 4th of July!  I really like decorating my house this time of year, with pumpkins and fall colors.  Fun fall activity: carving a pumpkin! It was the first time in years I’d actually gone through the whole endeavor, and it was really fun.   After googling some inspiration for a design (I am completely not creative with such matters!), we were off to scoop and carve.

Blank Canvas!

Getting all the goo out.  I wanted to be super cool and roast the pumpkin seeds but um.  That looked like alot of work…another time perhaps!

All hollowed out

Drawing on the design

Grrrr. Scary!

Halfway there…gotta be careful, almost lost a tooth for this guy!

Action shot:

All carved!

Woooo, scary! Looks pretty darn good if I do say so myself!

Picture of my deck from outside, unfortunately, my camera isn’t so great at zooming up that many floors!

Happy <Early> Halloween!  Anyone else getting ready for the holidays?

Aaaaaand we’re back…on the working out track that is!

As you may have noticed, there’s been far more “rewards” than “running” related posts as of late.  So, after a little over a month of work out apathy and few workouts, I’ve resolved to get back on track this week.  When I don’t work out, I eat way worse (I know, that doesn’t make sense), sleep worse, and feel overall lethargy.  Work has finally calmed down a bit, so no more excuses!

Monday:  Easing in.  15 min on the Elliptical; 3 miles on the treadmill, alternating between a jog and a run every 45-60 seconds, with a few rests in between; 1 mile on the Rowing machine.

Tuesday: 15 min Elliptical; 3 x 1 mile on treadmill with plyometric and strength training in between.  Before running and then in between each mile, I did:

10xfrog jumps (start from lowest squat and jump to fully extend), 10 slow squats, 10 fast squats, 16 alternating jumping lunges,  20×3 sets of calf raises (toes facing forward, outward and inward to get all the calf muscles), and finish with 20 on each leg of leg lifts to the back.

Not a terribly strenuous workout compared to my old self, but still trying to get back my work out mo jo!

Wednesday: Off (recover from staying up late to watch the debate!)

Thursday: Spin class

Far better experience than the last time I attempted a class.  Although I’m not particularly sold by Spin, I did enjoy this class.  The instructor is SO important.  This morning, the teacher was upbeat and energetic, and picked really fun music.  She would say to try to stay on beat with each revolution, and it really helped!

She spiced it up with speed workouts, hill workouts, and down time.  She was really clear on when to increase resistance, lean forward, get into aero, or get out of the saddle, and explained the purpose of each.   Each song had a different type of work out, which is really important for me because I tend to get pretty bored.  Definitely glad I went!  Even if it did start at 5:45am, which is early even for me.  Why are Spinners such early birds!?

Friday: Swim

It felt nice to be back in the pool.  Other than one swim earlier in the month, it had been probably at least 6 months since I swam.  Part of the reason is I tend to only swim when I need to wash my hair…Yeah, that’s silly.  Mainly because I don’t wash my hair everyday (it dries out), so it makes planning a touch more complicated.  And when I’m training for a running race, swimming just kinda gets knocked out.

Anyhoo, Friday morning I set out to make it to the gym by 5:45, because past experience has been people tend to swim between the :45s, meaning if you get there at 6 (like I normally do) you’re screwed.  I did 10x100m.  I did 5 intervals, then 100m with the kickboard (alternating at the 25m mark between freestyle nd breast stroke kick) then another 5 intervals.  For each, I actually did the 5th interval at 200m.  After all 10 I did another round with the kickboard, took a break, then did 300m straight to finish.  All told about a mile swimming (1700m if you count the kick board).  Nice way to end the work week!

Saturday:  35 min jog.  Busy day, but I wanted to just get something in before I went about my business.  It was actually a solid run, felt the strongest I have in a while!

Sunday:  Off – went to an amusement park and walked around for 5 hours, that should count!  Though it was counteracted by the funnel cake… mmmm.