This morning I worked my inner thighs with the 44. This was a nice move for a rest day!!!
(BTW – Chris took the pictures for me on Friday night since I would be in a hotel this morning.)
I laid on my back with my legs up in the air, toes pointed out –
ready
From this position, I just brought my legs together with my feet crossed –
right foot in front
Returned to the start position –
here again
Then crossed my legs with my left foot in front –
left leg in front
See why I said it was nice for a rest day? Even though I counted a rep as a right cross and a left cross, this move was relaxing!! The key is to squeeze your legs together on the cross part and have control on the open part!!!
Because it is and I spent more of the night awake than sleeping, my brain is in a fog this morning!
I’m leaving at 5:30 to take Stacy and her running partner to the start of the marathon (that way their families with small kids don’t have to leave quite as early). Can’t wait to cheer for them as they run!!
Thankfully that picture was from a previous year and I don’t think it will be as cold!! It is already over 50 here on the way to a high of 72.
Yesterday when I got to the hotel it was 77 degrees!! I knew there was a reason that I am still a Texas girl at heart!! Walking around with no coat in February is a large chunk of why Texas is my favorite!!!
OK – enough babbling – I have a marathon to get to!
Today’s 44 was a fairly simple move. Plie calf raises while holding your arms straight out (I held 5 pound dumbbells for this).
plie positionlift onto toes
I tried to hold each calf raise for about 2 seconds – lots of wobbling!! And my arms were burning my the end!!!
I did a quick 4 mile run (1.5% incline – 26:36) and my 100 jumping lunges. The workout had to be short because I have to hit the road!!!
Surprises – I think that everyone has different thoughts on whether or not they like them or hate them. And, I guess it depends on whether it’s a good surprise or a bad surprise!
Today I’m planning to surprise one of my very favorite people and I can’t wait!!! I’m making a super quick trip to Texas (driving down today and home tomorrow) – about 15 hours of driving for this surprise.
My sister-in-law, Stacy
Stacy
is running her first marathon on Sunday in Ft. Worth. Last fall I thought about running this weekend, too. I was going to run the 50K (31 miles) instead of the actual marathon.
However, the more I thought about it, the more I decided that this weekend was Stacy’s!!! I talked to her earlier in the week and told her I wasn’t going to run after all (and she thinks that I’m not coming because of that!!!).
Going down just to watch and support Stacy will be much better!!! This way instead of thinking about my race and not even getting to see her, I will be there to support her 100%!!
Now, I just need to find a cowbell! Shouldn’t be too hard on the drive today!!!
Do you like surprises or would you rather know in advance what’s coming up?
Sadly, even at my age (44) there are many foods that for one reason or another, I have never tried. This is the year that I’m working on changing that!!
Hopefully when my boys are adults, they will have many less ingredients on their list of things they have never tried!!!
Barley is one of those things that I had never tried.
However, this week I changed that not only for myself but also for my husband and boys!!!
Greek Barley Salad
1 t olive oil
3 c chicken broth
1 c uncooked pearl barley
1 cucumber, diced
1 c grape tomatoes, halved
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 small can sliced olives
1 container (4 oz) Feta cheese
3 T olive oil
1 t grated lemon rind
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 T minced fresh basil
1 t minced fresh thyme
1 t red wine vinegar
salt to taste
minced garlic (3 cloves or 1.5 t)
Bring broth to a boil in a large saucepan; add barley. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 35 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
Combine barley, cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper, olives and feta in a large bowl.
Combine oil, lemon rind and juice, basil, thyme, vinegar, salt and garlic; stir well. Add to barley mixture and mix well. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
this was so tasty!!
And, if you wanted to turn this into a meal (especially in the summer), you could easily add some chicken!!
Caprese might be one of my favorite combinations of flavors ever – mozzarella, tomatoes and basil!!
The other night for dinner I took those flavors and turned them into a delicious meal!!!
This was actually the first time that I’ve ever used flatbreads but it won’t be the last time!!!
Caprese Chicken Wraps
2 T olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
1 head chopped Romaine lettuce
fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped (I used less than a cup)
1/2 c fresh basil, chopped
1 container grape tomatoes, quartered
minced garlic (about a just over a teaspoon)
4 flatbreads
1 bag diced cooked chicken breast
this stuff is a lifesaver!
Combine oil, vinegar, salt and pepper with a fork or whisk. Add lettuce, chicken, cheese, tomatoes and basil – toss to coat.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray. Place 1 flatbread at a time in skillet and cook about 1 minute per side to soften.
Put chicken mixture on flatbread –
loaded up
Fold and eat!!!
ready to eat
This was delicious! I think that in the summer it will be a regular!!!
Today’s 44 was one of those that worked multiple muscle groups – my favorite kind of moves!!!
I used 1 dumbbell (10 pounds) and started with it in my right hand –
ready
Step back to right lunge with your leg extended and touch the dumbbell to the ground –
back to lunge
Stand with a knee lift and bicep curl –
up and curl
And, after you finish 44 on the right side you have to switch sides and do 44 more!!
readybackup and curl
I enjoyed this move because it was pretty much a full body move and since I was working upper and lower at the same time, I really got my heart rate up.
Today was a fun workout day – Turbo Fire!!! I did Fire 55EZ which is not easy but a 55 minute workout that flies by!!!
I feel like sometimes I talk about stuff on here and then never really get back to it so today I thought I would share a few
1. I don’t set New Year’s resolutions but in January I did share a post with some things I wanted to do and try this year. So far I haven’t made a lot of progress but we did try something new to us the other night!! I made a Greek Barley Salad –
this was so tasty!!
We had never tried barley – not sure why??? The entire family enjoyed this side dish!!!
2. I’ve been wearing a FitBit Force since the start of the year and I reviewed it after just a few days. I still pretty much just use it as a pedometer but that is working out well!! The first few weeks I didn’t really do anything different – just wore it to track and I realized that the only days I reached 10,000 steps were running days. Now, I try to get 10,000 steps in addition to whatever number I reach during my workout.
One way that I increase my steps is through the use of my Christmas gift – my standing desk!!
old picture but…
I love using this desk and when I read blogs I either pace around in between each one or I jog in place while I read!! Yesterday I hit 20,000 steps by the end of the day!!!
3. I mentioned that Hunter wants to run a half marathon this spring to celebrate turning 13 and we all know that I think running your age for your birthday is the best way to celebrate so we are going to do one together. We were going to run a large one in Kansas City in April but when it came time to start training and the weather looked like this –
lots of snow
Hunter wasn’t a fan of the training (and I’ve made it clear how much I hate running in the snow and cold!). For some reason Hunter didn’t want to log his miles here –
Weird but true!
So we picked a different race that I think will work better. We are going to do a race that is smaller the first weekend in June. He will start his official training in March and hopefully by then all of his runs can be outside.
4. Last week I shared a dilemma concerning our event venue and a couple who had sort of strung me along about turning in a contract and paying. Well, they did turn in the contract and full payment by the weekend so they are officially booked.
However, they are still causing me stress!!! They called early this week to set up another meeting at the venue. I let them set the day and time. Yesterday at 11:00 we were supposed to meet. I drove over in the sleet – waited for 20 minutes (past the time) – drove home in blowing snow – in other words I wasted an hour of my day and never saw them!
You know how sometimes you just don’t have a good feeling about a situation? That’s pretty much me with this whole deal!!!
5. I have mentioned that this year I’m trying to increase my mileage and still be smart about it and this morning I looked to see how many miles I have for the year compared to this time last year. I have more than 2x the miles already compared to last year at this point!!! Actually, it is about 2.36 times more!!! (yes – I did the real math!!!)
and I spent more of the night awake than sleeping, my brain is in a fog this morning!
