Rock and Roll DC Half Marathon training - week 3

I'm late with my recap of the week because of traveling and then trying to get caught up at work.  That's made me a bit exhausted in the evenings.  But here it is now!

Monday - rest day

Tuesday - Running at the track with an old running group

Wednesday - Body Pump Express class plus 15 minutes on the elliptical to round out the hour.

Thursday - Unplanned rest day - I was hoping to be able to go for a run this day but a 3 hour flight delay meant that didn't happen.

Friday - Runner's World Yoga in the hotel room

Saturday - rest day plus our three year old niece's birthday party!

Sunday - 6 miles on the treadmill

So that was it for last week.  This week should be similar, with a New Year's Day 5k with Montgomery County Road Runners on the first.  And my parents are coming to visit over the weekend so that should be fun as well.  I hope everyone has a great New Year's!

2015 Running Year in Review

It is already the end of 2015 and the year has flown by!  I did a year in review post last year and I thought I'd go ahead and do something similar for 2015.

259.93 miles logged with Garmin.  This is much less than last year where I had close to 500.  I think that's because I did a lot of time on the treadmill this year when I wimped out of running outside due to weather.  I've got to get back to running outside for most of my runs and I've also got to remember to log those treadmill miles.

I need to remind myself of views like this to get outside

16 races - This met my goal of at least 15 races in 2015.  7 5k's, 1 5k obstacle race, 3 8k's, 3 10k's, 1 half marathon, 1 supposed to be a half marathon but 6.7 miler.

Eastern County 8k

3 virtual races - 2 5k's and 1 10kwith the Nerd Herd trilogy

2 volunteer experiences at races - registration at the Piece of Cake race and handing out medals at the Parks Half Marathon

I enjoyed handing out these beauties at the Parks Half Marathon

PR's - Semper Fi 5k 35:16, Eastern County 8k 1:02:14, Marine Corps 10k 1:14:40, Rock and Roll DC Half Marathon 2:56:55.  This last one was a PR by only 30 seconds or so but I'm still counting it!

Post Marine Corps 10k

So that's my year in running.  I had a great year with lots of fun and hope to continue the same for next year :)

Rock and Roll DC Half Marathon training - week 2

Ugh.  This week of training did not go well.  And I have no excuses or reasons why, I was just exhausted all week.  But here is what did get done this week.

Monday - planned rest day

Tuesday - Body pump express and 15 minutes on the elliptical

Wednesday - Unplanned rest day.  I was supposed to go to the track but just felt exhausted.

Thursday - planned rest day to see the Star Wars premier!

Waiting in line for the movie

Friday - unplanned rest day

Saturday - unplanned rest day

Sunday - Finally made it out for a run!  I went for 5 miles with friends on the C&O Canal tow path.  It was a cold but beautiful morning.  Our weird sight for the morning... we saw three separate groups of dog sleds.  Yep, like they were training for the Iditarod or something.  The sleds were obviously modified to go on a non-snow surface and the dogs were so beautiful and well trained.  And fast!  They were way past us before I could even think of trying to get a photo.

And I did finally get my hair cut.

After photo on the left and before photo on the right

Oh, and I'm linking up with HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin for the first time for their Weekly Wrap.

So that was my week.  Here's hoping this week goes a bit better :)  It is Christmas so I'm excited about that but there will be some traveling so fingers crossed for everything to go smoothly! 

Friday Five - 2015 goals review

It's time for the Friday Five link up with Courtney, Cynthia and Mar!  This week's theme is Winter workouts but I have to be honest and say I'm still not feeling Winter, especially given the temperatures we've been having.  My run on Sunday should feel like a Winter run and I'm actually looking forward to that.  In the meantime, I thought I'd take today to share how I did on my 2015 goals.

1. 15 in 2015 - I got in 16 races so this one was accomplished :)

2. Two half marathons - Well, I'm going to count this one as accomplished since I trained for two half marathons.  I ran Rock and Roll DC and I was prepared to run the Wine and Dine half marathon but that one was cut down to around 6.7 miles due to weather issues.

3.  Unsupported hand stand - No where close on this one.  To be honest, I've barely gotten to an unsupported head stand.  Yoga ended up put on a bit of a back burner this year so this is one I'll have to keep working on.

4.  Volunteer in three races - Yikes, I failed at this one and feel bad about that :(  I think I just forgot about this goal.  I volunteered at 2 races, both MCRRC races.  One was registration at the Piece of Cake 5k/10k and one was handing out medals at the Parks Half Marathon.  I really enjoyed both experiences but just never got around to signing up for a third one.

5.  Try at least 3 different workouts - This one was more than accomplished!  I was able to try aerial yoga, pure barre, Bang, SUP, body pump and body flow.  I've really enjoyed the variety of workouts this year.

So, I got to 3 out of 5 of the goals and partially completed the other 2.  I'm looking forward to 2016 and thinking about my goals for next year already.

Cheesy sage polenta with roasted broccoli and mushrooms

Ok guys, it's been a while since I've been able to make a tasty Tuesday post.  And it's not that I haven't been cooking.  It's just that I've been making really easy, basic stuff or I forget to take photos and note amounts.  When I cook, especially when I'm rushed for time, I just kind of throw things in together and see what happens.  It's kind of hard to share a blog post about that :)

But this week, I actually have a recipe to share!  I started with this Sage Polenta Bowl recipe from Oh My Veggies.  I love that website, it seems like all the recipes I've tried out in the past several months have been from there and they've all been delicious.  I modified this one a bit since it has brussel sprouts and my husband refuses to eat them.  I also added some additional spices to jazz it up a bit.

Makes 4 servings

1 package of sliced shitake mushrooms
1 bag of broccoli florets
1 tablespoon of oil (I would increase this the next time)
Salt and pepper to taste
Smoked paprika
Garlic powder
4 cups water
1 cup instant polenta
3/4 cup parmesan
1/4 cup chopped sage

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.  Combine the oil, broccoli, mushrooms, salt, pepper and spices in a mixing boil and then spread out on a baking pan so they are all in one layer.  Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.  (Next time, I would do the vegetables separately as the broccoli should have cooked longer.  I would do the broccoli for 30 minutes, put the mushrooms in at the halfway point so they cook for 15 minutes.)

While the vegetables are cooking, put the water on to boil.  Once boiling, add in a teaspoon of salt, reduce heat to a simmer, and then add in the polenta.  Whisk the polenta while adding so it doesn't have lumps.  Keep whisking while the polenta cooks for 3-5 minutes.  Once it's at the desired thickness, take off the heat, stir in the parmesan and the sage.

Divide the polenta into 4 bowls, top each with a quarter of the veggies, and sprinkle with additional parmesan on top if you want.

And that's it!  This was delicious and we both loved it.  And though it didn't look like a ton of food, we both felt it was pretty filling.  This is one we're planning to add to the list of regulars :)

I'm  linking up with Lean Lena for Tasty Tuesday and will be linking up with Deborah and Tina for Meatless Mondays.

Rock and Roll DC Half Marathon training - week 1

Back in training!  This was week 1 of training and it went pretty well.

Monday - rest day

Tuesday - rest day - this was an unplanned rest day since my stomach wasn't feeling well.

Wednesday - Body Pump express plus 45 minutes on the elliptical to round out the hour

Thursday - Running 3 miles on the treadmill

Friday - rest day, but it was a beautiful day so I also took a couple walks outside since I was working from home.

Saturday - 30 minutes on the elliptical plus yoga with Adrienne on You Tube (I did the stretch and soothe version today)

Sunday - The Jingle Bell Jog 8k (Full review later this week)

It was also a really fun mail week!  I had signed up for the Holiday card exchange organized by Fairytales and Fitness and received my card this week.  It was from Holly and it was such a fun card!  Plus she threw in a fun headband and a Starbucks gift card.  She really went over and above and I am so grateful :)

My husband had also signed up for a tea/coffee exchange from Reddit and we got this really cook tea set with a couple packets of blooming tea.

So that was last week.  The thing I'm most excited about this week is that we have tickets to see the new Star Wars movie opening night!  And as far as training, the plan is to run on Tuesday, Body pump on Wednesday, run on Friday, body pump on Saturday, and run 5 miles on Sunday.

Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead of you!

Friday Five - things I'm loving about my fitbit

This week has flown by and it's already Friday!  I'm looking forward to the weekend but first, it's time for the Friday Five link up with Mar, Cynthia and Courtney.  This week's theme is "Holiday Wish List" but I'm going to talk about something I received last Christmas that could be a great option for someone on your gift giving list :)

And that's my Fitbit! I have the Fitbit Charge HR and I absolutely love it.  And this is entirely my own opinion.  I wasn't compensated in any way and I got my fitbit as a gift from a family member.  I just really love it that much.  Here are 5 of the things I love most about it.

1.  Increased activity during my work day - This is the main reason I got the fitbit and it's wonderful for this purpose.  I have a desk job and there were times when I'd pretty much just sit at my desk for hours a day.  There were days at the beginning when I'd just get less than 4000 steps during the work day and days working at home, I was lucky if I got 2000.  But with the fitbit, I try to get up once an hour to go walk a circuit around the lobby.  And when working at home, I just get up and walk several circuits around my living room. 

The fitbit also has a silent alarm functionality where you can set alarms throughout the day so it will vibrate and remind you to get up if you need a more tangible alert.  I also like the silent alarm for mornings when I have to wake up early for a run but don't want to wake Mike up.

2.  Sleep tracking - This was a nice extra benefit.  I love that the Charge HR has automatic sleep tracking so you don't have to do anything to put it into sleep mode.  It automatically knows when you sleep and when you wake.  It's a nice way for me to check on how I'm sleeping and whether I might need to go to bed earlier.

3.  Automatic activity tracking - This is new (I noticed it around Thanksgiving) and I love it!  If I go for a walk, a run, or on the elliptical, somehow the fitbit automatically knows and adds it in to my activities. 

And for less defined activity like weights or yoga, I can still add it in manually and the fitbit lets me know my heart rate during that time period as well.

4.  Great customer service - I've had to call fitbit customer service a couple times for various problems and they were always a pleasure to talk to.  More importantly, they always helped me resolve my problem quickly so I can get right back on track with my steps.

5.  Social elements - This is one of the things I love best about my fitbit.  I love how social it is and the little challenges I can do with friends.  I'm in multiple challenges this week because some of them have a harder group than others.  It definitely provides that little extra push to keep moving.

I also really like the badges you earn based on daily and life time achievements. 

Here are my top badges

So those are the things I love about the fitbit.  There are plenty of other things that it syncs easily with other sites.  For example, I just sync'ed mine to weight watchers, which is nice.  And there are plenty of things it does that I don't even use it for, like tracking water and food intake.  Lastly, there are a range of fitbit products at different prices.  They all have different functionality but it's nice that if you don't plan to use the heart rate function, there is a fitbit out there that doesn't have it and you can save some money.  It's definitely worth researching the different options to see which one would work best for you or your intended gift recipient.