Monthly Archives: May 2010

Hi friends! I sure am having a fantastic Memorial Day weekend with my brother-in-law and his family. Almost like a mini vacation. I would have blogged last night but we got in kind of late due to a little car trouble. Other than that it has been a great trip.

I got up early this morning and did my final long run of triathlon training. I did a little over six miles and it was AWESOME. The weather this morning was perfect for running and training in a new place is always fun. The time just flew by. I wanted to get my run done right away so I could watch my niece’s at Tae Kon Do which was very entertaining. When we got back from Tae Kon Do look what I made for our morning snack

A GIANT GREEN SMOOTHIE! The girls LOVED it! Then we headed out to lake Michigan to take these two beasts for a walk.

That is Winnie Izzy’s sister. The last time we brought Izzy to visit Winnie she did not behave very well. She cried all night long and wouldn’t stop barking even during the day which is odd since she never barks. This time she has been good as gold!

The lake was so beautiful!

The kids and dogs had a great time playing in the water. We were super hungry when we returned home. My sister-in-law cooked up a feast of ribs, brats, hot dogs, baked beans, salad, watermelon and more! We capped of the night in front of the fire with s’mores!

Just in case you don’t know what a s’more is you toast a marshmallow and sandwich it between to graham crackers and a piece of chocolate! So amazing!

Things are winding down here, everyone is pretty pooped! Tomorrow we’ll be up bright and early to help with the marathon I can’t wait!

Hi there! Happy Friday before Memorial Day weekend! Who else is excited about a 3 day weekend?! Actually I get a 4 day weekend! They are doing some serious renovations at the church I work at today they are taking the plastered ceiling out of the area outside my office. They told me I would not have access to my office. I could have moved back to the basement for one day but I didn’t see the point, I don’t really have a ton of work to do any way. So, I took the day off!

I’ve been busy cleaning the house (does anyone else do this before they leave town?). I usually tidy up a bit and make sure the dishes are done but I decided to do my “regular” cleaning today since we’ll be gone on Monday too (my normal cleaning day). Now when we return home it will feel like the cleaning fairy paid us a visit !

I’ve also been busy packing and charging all our electronic devices. I feel like we are bringing an arsenal of electronics on this little road trip.

I’ve got the video camera (my nieces are so cute), my regular (nice) camera, GPS, Garmin, mini camera, and my Zune (MP3 player) with car adapter. Not to mention our cell phones and the laptop. I guess if someone robs our house we’ve got all the good stuff with us!

Triathlon Training Thoughts

As I am nearing the end of the Peak Phase in my triathlon training I’ve been thinking a lot about how well I’ve trained and how ready I feel for my triathlon in 2 weeks. I looked back on my training log and here is my analysis:

Swimming: completed 16/20 workouts. Not bad! Swimming is my strongest event and in the past I’ve slacked off in my training knowing I could do the shorter distance of the sprint triathlon. I really love swimming though so I tried to get those workouts in. A few of those were missed due to my arm injury.

Biking: I did 20/20 workouts. 11 of those 20 were on a spinning bike. I know for a fact that sometimes the training plan called for a 60 minute ride and I just did a 45 minute cycling class. This was mainly because I HAD to teach the class. A few times I went to cycling due to bad weather. BUT I also completed a 32 mile bike tour which was above and beyond my training. In the past biking has been my weakest event. After completing this training I feel stronger and more confident than ever on my bike. When the race is over I still want to continue on my outdoor rides

Running: 18/20 workouts. I actually have felt the weakest in my running this time around. Before I started training I was having what I would call “good runs” where I felt like I could go forever. I’m not sure if the biking caused my legs to be less fresh when I ran or what but I rarely had a “good run” while training. They were all pretty painful and I was glad when they were over. I am sure I will be fine on race day though.

Strength training: 14/20 workouts BUT I taught 3 Group Strength classes during this time. I really did not like the strength training workouts BUT I do think they were necessary. In the past I totally ditched strength training and only focused on the cardio events. I LOVE to strength train because I feel stronger and leaner over all but I have discovered I prefer the Group Strength Class method (lighter weights more reps to build endurance) rather than the program I was doing. But I wouldn’t have had time to fit in  the 60 minute  group strength classes with my training. Since the workouts were only about 20 minutes it worked out well.

Brick Workouts: 8/10 When training for past triathlons about a month before the event I would try and do at least one brick workout a week and would usually ride the entire distance and then run the entire distance. This training plan had me doing bricks right away but I never ran the full distance. Towards the end of my training I noticed my legs didn’t really feel like bricks after riding for 20 some miles, they actually felt really good and my running pace was pretty normal. I’m only concerned about not having enough endurance for the full 10K, but I will trust the training plan.

Over all I feel ready and excited! Will I be nervous in the days leading up to the tri? You bet! But I really am excited and I know baring an injury or illness I will be able to do this without a doubt!

I have one long run planned for tomorrow and then begins week 1 of a 2 week taper. Week 1 still has some pretty decent workouts just lesser time and no strength training sessions. Week 2 cuts back A LOT.

So what are my plans for after the triathlon? You’ll just have to wait and see!

Maybe I’ll see you later after our little road trip!

Hello friends! Sorry I’ve been away from the blog for a few days. Just a couple of busy days at work. Not much new or exciting happened, I promise.

This week I got to move back into my office. Now isn’t this view a lot better than last week’s view?

Today I got to go to lunch with my good friend Carolyn. I believe I mentioned about a month ago another lunch outing we had at Grounded and I was lamenting the fact that my camera was on the fritz and I couldn’t take pictures of my unique dining experience. Today we (mostly me) decided to go to Hackberry’s Bistro This restaurant is located above the Co-Op where I buy all of my produce.

Sorry, not the best picture I know. At first I was a little hesitant to bring my camera along. I mean, it is kind of odd to take pictures of your food and I was pretty sure that Carolyn didn’t read food blogs. But I knew it would be a fun and unique dining experience so I explained to her what I was doing and she was cool with it and even helped me stage a few photos. I started with this lovely glass of fresh brewed ice tea with lemon and honey. Aren’t the polka-dots on the ceiling fun?!

Pretty flowers on our table.

I had the Mushroom and Gruyere Ciabatta with a side salad. From their menu:

“Marinated sliced wild mushrooms and roasted red bell
pepper strips grilled to perfection, topped with Gruyère
and organic baby spinach, served on a ciabatta roll with
a side of Dijon mustard”

It was so tasty! The Dijon mustard really complimented the mushrooms and peppers. Nice and light too! I only ate half because our server tempted us with dessert. Key Lime Pie and Carrot Cake were 2 for $5 (normally $8-$9) so we got one of each and split them!

In hindsight I should have taken the picture before we dismantled them! The cream cheese frosting on the carrot cake was fabulous. The  Key Lime pie was okay, not enough lime flavor for my taste. It was a very nice relaxing lunch.

After 4 days of usually hot weather we had a nice break and I woke up to a perfect running morning. I did 4.75 miles in about 45 minutes. I have one more strength training/swim workout and 1 long run before I start tapering for the triathlon. I will definitely need to cut back on the calorie intake as my calorie burn will be decreasing A LOT. More thoughts on my training to come as well as plans for my next event!

This weekend we are headed to my brother-in-law’s to hang with him, my sister-in-law and my nieces for the holiday weekend. I am super excited because my sister-in-law volunteer us to help at an aid station for a this half marathon! I’ve never volunteered at a running event and I can’t wait to cheer on the athletes! I’m even considering taking my laptop along just so I can blog about all the fun we’ll be having!

Hope you have a great holiday weekend!

Hey friends! What’s new in your neighborhood today? So, two weeks ago it was so cold at night we had to turn the heat back on. It even snowed in some places in Wisconsin. Today it is so hot that at 6am it was already 75 degrees. The heat index is suppose to be 95-100!!! Crazy! I guess that’s Wisconsin living for you!

The wedding on Saturday was really unique! Brian’s cousin married a girl who is Polish and everyone kept saying that this was a Polish wedding. I wasn’t really sure what that meant until we sat down to eat. First of all we ate in shifts. When we did sit down we were treated to the BEST HOMEMADE wedding dinner I have ever experienced! There was homemade chicken noodle soup, Polish sausage and sauerkraut, Polish meatballs, chicken, ham, potatoes, dressing, and DESSERTS! It was amazing! It was all served family style. The minute a bowl was empty it was replaced with a full one. It was crazy. I didn’t take any photos of the meal. I  don’t think the older, Polish farmers sitting next to me would have understood why I was photographing my food for a blog! We only stayed for dinner since we had a two hour drive back AND the band was a Polish Polka band.

Yesterday we turned the air conditioning on and I got my weekly cleaning done. I knew I wanted to get an early jump on my Monday workout and might be less than motivated to clean after my last looooooong brick workout.

So, I got up with Brian at 6am and began fueling. I tried Over Night Oats again. I’m still not sold on them but they are an easy way to get a good filling breakfast in. I knew it would be a day to wear the sleeveless bike jersey. Here I am all ready to go!

I applied some heavy duty sunscreen! Like the Izzy butt in the picture?

My main concern with exercising in this heat was dehydration. I took extra measures to make sure I stayed well hydrated. I weighed myself before I left and would weight myself when I returned to make sure I didn’t loose to much water. I brought a water bottle with water and one with Gatorade on my bike and had another water bottle in a cooler in my car for before and after my run.

Honestly biking in the heat is not that bad. You have the wind to keep you cool. I had to keep reminding myself to drink water so I tried to do it had the top of every climb and when ever I turned on to a new road. I felt really strong and since the wind wasn’t as bad as it has been had a pretty good pace going. When I stopped at the half way point was when I noticed how sweaty I was. I was literally dripping! It was crazy! The rest of the bike went really well. I did this same route two weeks ago and was only able to do 21.5 miles in 1 hour and 32 minutes. Today I did almost 24 miles in 1 hour and 30 minutes. What a difference no wind makes! The run was where I really felt the hear but again it wasn’t that bad. I’m glad it was only a 15 minute run but my pace was pretty normal for me and my legs felt really strong even after biking for so long. The reality is it could very well be this hot the day of the triathlon and I was training during the same time of day I’ll be racing. I really hope it’s not this hot and humid though. when I was done I was one hot mess!

I refueled with my latest favorite recovery drink.

I’ve read that low-fat chocolate milk helps runners recover from their long runs. I made a smoothie using it after my long run on Saturday and felt GREAT! This tastes so good in smoothies! I made an icy chocolate, pineapple, pear, green smoothie and it really it the spot!

There are so many things I SHOULD do with the rest of my afternoon. Like, work on some homework for summer grad school classes or prep some new Zumba moves but I’m feeling a little sleepy, perhaps a quick power nap is needed!

Hope you’re staying cool on this Monday!

Hey friends! How’s your Saturday going? Mine has been swell so far and there’s more  fun to come!

After I got home from work last night I was still feeling pretty “blah!” I almost skipped my swim but thought perhaps it would make me feel better and do you know what? It did! I was still pretty tired so after the swim I just chilled on the couch watching some chick movies I had DVRed. Brian was off fishing with his cousin from out of town so I had the remote all to myself!

Today I got up and ran the 6 miles I was suppose to run yesterday. The summer weather is definitely here! It’s suppose to be in the 80′s today and 90 by tomorrow. But the most tell tale sign of summer is that the humidity is back. I could feel it as I walked Izzy for my warm up and thought today would be a good day to try out the water bottle holder I bought at the La Crosse Fitness Festival Expo. This tricked out “fanny pack” worked really well! It held a fairly good sized water bottle. Once I got the belt adjusted it stayed right where I wanted it, on my lower back, above my butt. The water bottle holder is lined so my water stayed cool and it has a nice draw string which kept the water bottle secure. There are pockets that you could potentially put keys, energy gels, and a cell phone. I’m not use to running with “stuff” so this was a good experiment. I had Brian take a picture of me when I got back, please excuse the sweat!

I was really glad I brought this along I was really hot! I ran a little over 6 miles and my pace was quite a bit slower due to the heat. I drank almost the whole water bottle!

I was clearly happy to be done with my run!

On another note, guess where I got this lovely organic spinach for my green smoothies?

My very own garden!

My father-in-law LOVES to garden and keeps a garden at our house. He asks us what we want to grow, plants it, and tends to it. All we have to do is pick it! I’m so excited to have healthy beautiful food growing in my back yard!

Well, I’m all prettied up and ready to go!

We’re headed to a wedding reception later today. Please note I’m still wearing my bathrobe because I don’t want to get any Izzy fur on my nice clothes! The husband has to get ready (it takes him like 5 minutes), we’ll grab some lunch and then we’ll be on our way! Hope you have a lovely day!

Hey friends! Well, we made it to Friday. Unfortunately I’m having a case of the Friday blahs! Unusual for me, I know!

It all started out last night. I noticed that my eyes were darker and puffier than normal. My allergies have been really bad this spring. I thought I good solution to my problem would be to take two Benadryl before bed. This was a huge mistake. Usually if I take Benadryl during the day I feel totally groggy and just want to sleep. I figured this would work fine as I was going to bed any way. I quickly fell into a deep sleep but woke up several times during the night disorientated and groggy as ever. When Brian got up to go to work I totally planned to get up with him and start fueling for a long run. When his alarm went off I felt like I had a hangover! It was awful. It was also pouring rain outside and I knew running for an hour would not be fun. I decided to go back to sleep. When I finally did wake up it was 7:30am and I still felt sleepy. I had zero energy! I thought a giant green smoothie would perk me up, it didn’t. I still haven’t been able to shake this groggy feeling. Couple that with the fact that this has been my office for the past four days

I just want to go home and climb under the covers. I hope that it’s just allergies and I’m not getting sick or something. I hate having no energy.

There was one perk to my day:

Cookie Friday!

I was saying to Brian yesterday, “Why don’t we have any cookies in this house?” His reply was, “Because we’ll eat them!” He’s right. When a rare box of cookies or a gift of home made ones makes its way into our house they don’t last for very long. Angela had a 3 minute vegan cookie posted on her site. She linked it back to a post Tina did awhile back. I did a combination of the two to make my own:

Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookie

• 1 flax egg (1 tsp. of ground flax seed combine with 1/8 C of water, zapped in the microwave for 20 seconds)
• 1/4 C Oats
• 1/4c tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp.  whole wheat flour
• 1 TBSP Raisins

Mix all the ingredients together in a microwave safe bowl. Pat down flat to make the shape of a cookie. Microwave for 45 seconds. Pop out of the bowl and eat!

This was the perfect solution to a cookie craving! It was really big, soft, and gooey. I got to eat it all by myself! And it was pretty healthy too!

147 calories, 2.5g fat, 4g of fiber, 5g of protein. Not bad at all, very satisfying!

Before I sign off for the day I just want to mention this new blog I found called Be In The Game. They review all different kinds of gear and equipment for many sports. Their writers are real people who are sharing their passion for sports and well as other things. Check them out!

I’m going to try and get a swim in after work, call it and early night, and hopefully get in my long run tomorrow morning before we head off to a wedding reception. Have a good weekend!

Howdy blog world! What’s shake’n? Not too much new over here! I’m on day 3 or working in my temporary office (a.k.a. the church basement). I miss the sun

So as promised here is my “Kristin Dinner.” Since I knew the husband wouldn’t be home I made something I knew he would not be keen to try. I sort of adapted this recipe from something Angela posted on her blog awhile back but with my own spin!

Lentil Spaghetti Sauce

1. Take 1C of rinsed lentils and add to 3C boiling water. Let simmer 30-40 minutes. I did this in the morning while I was getting ready for work.

The lentils will serve as my “meat” in this recipe.

2. I treated them just as I would ground venison (beef) and sautéed the cooked lentils with a little garlic.

3. Then I added one can of diced tomatoes and one can of tomato sauce. I added oregano, basil, a pinch of sugar, and a pinch of cinnamon (this is my secret ingredient).

I let that simmer for about 10 minutes while the past cooked. I served it over whole wheat spaghetti noodles with a Arnold’s sandwich thing topped with garlic salt and cheese (plus a glass of skim milk you can see in the background).

The verdict: I really liked this! It was very tasty and filling. BUT since I am not a vegetarian I think I prefer my spaghetti sauce with ground venison. I would like to try making another type of recipe using lentils. If anyone has  any good ones out there send them my way!

I sure am glad it’s almost Friday! I have a long run planned for tomorrow morning and then if the husband is busy I might try and squeeze in a swim after work. I skipped my swim this morning and taught a Group Strength class for another instructor  instead. I figured I was still getting in the strength training!

Hope your day is FABULOUS!

Hey friends! Half way through the week huh? Come on weekend get here already!

So, I’ve been meaning to try something new for breakfast. A few times a week I seem to get home from the gym later than usual and I feel rushed to make myself a wholesome breakfast like oatmeal or a green smoothie. I thought I had the solution all figured out. Around the blog world I’ve been seeing a lot of over night oats. The way it works is, the night before you combine oats with plain yogurt (most seem to use Greek style) and milk and then set in the fridge overnight so the oats soak up the liquid. You can add mix-ins the night before too like cinnamon, coconut, fruit. In the morning you take out the oats and add any toppings you like. I’ve also seen a lot of Vegan Overnight Oats lately. Now, mind you, I’m not vegan but for some reason we don’t keep very much yogurt in the house so I thought a variation of VOO might work for me. The change you need to make with VOO is not using yogurt as it is an animal product. If you are vegan you would use some type of milk alternative like almond milk or rice milk. Since I’m cheap not vegan I thought I would use some almond milk and mostly cows milk. The next trick is to add something that will thicken the mixture.  Angela uses chia seeds to thicken her mixture but I didn’t have any on hand (I actually don’t by these as they are kind of pricey). Ashley used flax meal (which I assumed was ground flax seed) which I did have! So last night I mixed

• 1/2 C Old Fashioned Oat
• 1/3 C Vanilla Almond Milk
• 2/3 Skim Milk
• 2 TBSP of Ground Flaxseed
• 1 TBSP Unsweetened Coconut

I was pretty excited to try these this morning and thought about them the whole 40 minutes I was out running (okay maybe not the whole 40 minutes!). Angel and Ashley both layered their VOO with banana soft serve. If you haven’t tried it you simple must! All you have to do is freeze a banana over night and throw it in the food processor, blend until smooth.

To this I added a TBSP of creamy peanut butter, a pinch of cocoa powder, and a splash of almond milk. Then I layered the banana soft serve with my almost vegan over night oats.

(Sorry for the crappy picture). I’m not sure what I think of these. I LOVED the addition of the banana soft serve but I probably wouldn’t make it if I was pinched for time. The oats themselves did not seem very thick. Ashley only used 1/3 C of oats so maybe I need to try that next time. I just thought 1/3 seemed like not enough to fill my hunger. The oats themselves did not seem sweet enough to me, maybe I should have added maple syrup of agave. The main trouble was I got hungry a lot earlier than I normally do. Somehow I need to add more protein to these. I’m not calling them a fail but I just need to tweek them to fit my satisfaction level and time constraints.

That’s all I’ve got for now. The husband won’t be home for dinner so I am planning on making a Kristin style dinner (aka something I know he’ll never eat). I’ll be sure to post about it tomorrow! Have a good Wednesday!

Hi friends! How’s Tuesday treating you? Good I hope! We are doing renovations to the building I work in so I had to move my office down to the basement! Makes me appreciate my beautiful windows, especially on a nice sunny 75 degree day!

It’s hard to believe that my triathlon is less than a month away! Only two more weeks before I start tapering. In the past I haven’t really followed a training plan and just kind of cut back during the last week. It feels good to have a “plan” especially for someone like me with a type “A” personality.

I feel that training is going very well. Yesterday I got off to a late start because I slept in until 8am! Crazy! I never sleep that late. I knew I wanted to get my brick workout in right away since I had a few afternoon appointments. I decided not ride the triathlon route as I normally have been. After our trip to Goose Island I was remembering how much I liked riding my bike through the whole park. I grew up very close to Goose Island so when I was training for triathlons that was pretty much my training route. I took some back roads to a nice bike path and then only had to ride on the highway for a few miles before entering the park. It was a lot flatter ride than I’m use to but I figured it would be okay. It was such a perfect day out! The sun was shining but it wasn’t too hot and the wind was minimal. Since riding there and back didn’t take as long as I expected I finished my ride with a looooong uphill climb on Ebner Coulee Road. I transitioned and then set out for a 15 minute run. I am really surprised at how “easy” my brick workouts feel. I can remember in the past my legs feeling literally like bricks of the first 10 minutes of a run. Now I just get right into the groove and go. I am a little concerned because in the past I would do the full bike distance and then the full run distance back to back. This training plan has built up to the full bike distance but only has me running a maximum of 15 minutes. I’m going to try and not worry about it and trust the training plan. When all was said and done I worked out for approx. 1 hour and 45 minutes burning 1415 calories! Crazy! Today I lifted and swam laps and will be teaching Zumba tonight!

I haven’t lost any weight while training. I honestly haven’t been counting my calories very carefully. I have tried to eaten wholesome foods to fill my hunger. Even though the scale hasn’t changed (which isn’t really the goal here any way) I feel like my body looks different. I’m not sure what it is and I kind of wish I would have taken “before” pictures. All I know if I feel stronger than ever and even a little leaner!

Well, that’s all I’ve got for now! Hope your week is going well!’

Hi friends! How did your Sunday go? Mine was GREAT! The husband and I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and took a little hike at Goose Island a county park located just south of town. They have tons of neat hiking trails along the back waters of the Mississippi. Of course we brought our yellow beast along. Here are some pictures from our adventure!

Izzy hiking the trails!

Beyer’s Lake

Turtles on a log

The husband

  A burl

A turtle on the path!

What a fun adventure! Now I have some cleaning to do, I need to start some home work and I have a staff meeting at the Y. See ya later!