To The Lake, the Beach!

Do you see the lake in the picture? All the way at the top left corner of the image?

Yeah, that was my destination for my run last night.

I actually split this run into 2 parts. I ran out the lake, stopped there where there are some picnic tables under a pavilion so I could do some core work, and then I ran back home. I guess you could say that's 3 parts, but the "core work" part was really minimal, so I basically considered this to be 2 small runs. 

And let me say right now, this was a workout that I was not looking forward to. I'd had a long day; really, a long week overall, and several recent events had left me in a bad mood. Now I know just as well as the net exercise monkey that "exercise helps a bad mood," "exercise gives you endorphins," blah, blah, blah. If someone had told me that at the time I probably would have slapped them. And then I would have curled up on the couch with a jar of Nutella and slothed the evening away. 

Good thing no one told me those things. I put on workout clothes and somehow willed myself to get outdoors. I just had to keep reminding myself that this was a good thing, and it wouldn't even take that long. And also, my husband and I will be squeezing the last little bit of summer out of this year on a nice little resort-style vacation on a sunny Florida beach next week. No time for Nutella and couches and slothing...gotta get into beach bod mode!

Let's get to the workout breakdown:

Run 1:

2.2 miles, 18 minutes and 10 seconds for an overall 8:15 pace.

Not bad, and I wasn't totally exhausted. Excellent time for some crunches!

Core work:

10 push-ups

12 oblique v-crunches

30 second speed skater drill

10 push-ups

12 center v-crunches

30 second speed skater drill

10 push-ups 

12 oblique v-crunches

All that "core work" probably took about 5 minutes. Yes, I did consider doing one more round of speed skater drills, but I wanted to try my hardest to get a negative split on the run back home, so I decided not to do another round of glute-shredding exercises.

Run 2:

2.2 miles, 18 minutes and 34 seconds for an overall 8:26 pace.

Darn it. Those splits were very positive. But this was one of those times when I decided it would be better to not beat myself up over it. I ran hard, it was hot, and I came back sweaty and dirty. I always love a workout where I feel like I have truly earned my shower, and this was one of them. When it was all said and done, I was really very glad that I did this whole workout. My mood was better, I was more relaxed, I felt more excited about the upcoming vacation, and I even slept better than I had all week. Now someone get this girl to a beach!!  

Chicken, Artichoke, Feta, and Tomato Pizza with a Beer Crust

Let me guess, the "beer crust" got your attention? No doubt you've seen recipes for a crust made of cauliflower, zucchini, cheese, ground meats, egg whites, twigs, dirt, and other low-carb edibles. But beer? How is that even possible?

Well friends, thanks to the interwebs, I have found one recipe for a beer-infused pizza crust. And thanks to the current beer graveyard that is our vegetable crisper, this pizza was made possible. First and foremost regarding the flavors of this za, I must say, you must try this crust. I'm not one to divert from my go-to pizza crust recipe all that often, but this was well worth it. And also, it was super easy to make. I didn't use any rosemary because I didn't have any on hand, but I did use garlic powder and Blue Moon Agave Nectar Ale. Off da chain delish. Like, whoa. Click up on that recipe link and see for yourself.

For the pizza you will need:

• 1-2 cups pizza sauce
• 6 oz. jar of artichoke hearts, chopped (I like Progresso because they're already marinated)
• 1/2 onion, chopped and sautéed
• 1 chicken breast, chopped, seasoned and cooked
• 1/2 cup chopped grape tomatoes
• 3 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• Ground black pepper, to taste (optional)

Directions:

• Prep all toppings. Heat a skillet on the stovetop with a little olive oil. Chop the onions and sauté them until they're soft and slightly golden. Place them on a plate when done and then you can add your chopped artichoke hearts to that same plate. Chop your chicken, season it and cook however you like. My chicken was actually leftover from a Mexican meal earlier in the week. I had baked it in the oven with some garlic powder and ancho chile powder. The bit of warm spiciness went perfectly with this pizza though. 
• Slice up the grape tomatoes and crumble the feta cheese if you have not bought the pre-crumbled cheese. (I never buy the crumbled kind unless there's some great sale on it...more bang for your buck to buy a larger block and cut it yourself!)
• Place a pizza stone in the oven and heat that baby to 500 degrees. When it's all hot, take it out, place it on your work surface, and carefully place your prepared dough for the crust on top of that. 
• Spread as much sauce as you'd like on top of the crust, working it all the way out to the edges. 
• Topping time. Onions, artichokes, and chicken go on next. I topped mine with mozzarella at this point, then saved the feta and tomatoes for last. And then a sprinkle of pepper after that.
• Place that all back into the oven and keep an eye on it for about 10 minutes, making sure the cheese on top turns a little bit golden but doesn't burn. For me this cooked up in about 12. 

Re-purposing my leftovers

Now that is fresh. Phresh.

Not only was this pizza the highlight to our weekend eating events, but also, our friend Matt joined us for it with some professional-grade pizza supplies in hand.

Casting my once-adored Kitchen Aid pizza cutter aside, Matt swooped in with his recent haul from a Kitchen Collection outlet shopping spree: a wooden pizza paddle and a fancy pizza cutter similar to this one from Williams-Sonoma. Like a boss. That pizza was sliced and plated effortlessly in mere seconds. I'm thinking these fancy pizza supplies are worth the investment.

I hesitate to say that this has been my favorite homemade pizza so far. But then again, that's probably how parents feel when telling you which child is their favorite. So I'll go ahead and say it - this za was top-notch. Definitely in the top 3 of my pizza children, and of course it made the honor roll. The crust - usually not so noticeable compared to the toppings - was outstanding. The feta always adds just the right amount of saltiness and the marinated artichokes were the perfect compliment. I don't like the idea of being a pizza-repeater, but for a za like this I just have a feeling it's going to happen.

Running Errands, Literally

After I wrote this workout down on my "Errands" notepad I thought it was kind of funny that I had picked that paper for it. These were actually the things I had to "run" around and do! Gosh, I do love a good pun. 

First of all, I wanted this to be a workout that I could do with my husband. Gotta keep up that "fitness couple" image, ya know? So that's why I threw the body builders in there. Sounds so manly. (But really it's just kind of a variation of a burpee.)

1. The warm-up.
I ran a 0.9-mile loop around my neighborhood because, well that's just how my neighborhood is. If you're using a track just go ahead and run a full mile, please. 

2. Getting crazy with some circuits!
Body builders. If you've never done a body builder, sometimes called an 8-count body builder, there's a great little photo sequence of a man doing one over at military.com. For all of you people too lazy to click your viewing convenience, here is that exact picture:

So very manly, huh?
Basically you crouch down and hop your feet back like you're about to do a burpee. But then, all the sudden, you do a push up instead. Then, hop your feet out to the sides like you're doing a jumping jack on the ground, hop them back in, and then come back up to standing. I did 10 reps per set, but my super jacked and manly husband did 15. 

Switch jumps. They're kind of like lunge jumps, but you go faster and and only bend your knees a slight bit on the landing to absorb the impact - don't drop your back knee down as far as you would for a true lunge. I'd never advise to do real lunge jumps for a full minute. Switch jumps are a little bit easier (but still challenging enough for me to consider for one of my workouts), and you'll definitely be feeling the burn before the minute is up.

V-crunches. I demonstrated those in this former post. The embarrassing picture that accompanied it is this one:

15 reps - very do-able. I used a 5-pound weight plate held against my chest for all reps in all sets. Go me. 

The running! Oh boy this part got me today. And that's because I was trying to keep up with my super speedy spouse for the whole distance (just under 3/4 of a mile, 0.7 to be exact). I'll give him all the credit for that...he is one fast runner. 

3. Round 2 of the circuit craze.
Body builders...deep burn. Got 'em done though.

Back extensions. Laying on the ground/mat/floor of the garage face down with hands gently behind your ears and elbows out to the sides, lift your upper body (chest) and lower body (feet, knees, and thighs if you can) off the ground. Hold for a "one-one thousand" (or "one hippopotamus" in my case) count, slowly lower. 15 may be too many reps for beginners. If that's your case, reduce to 8 or 10 reps. 

Oblique v-crunches. Same as the post from above, I did those before because they are so darn hard!

16 reps, so that's going to be 8 per side, rotating between each. 

Run, run, run, again. Yes, my second run was slower than my first. 

4. Repeat all of part 2 again. Just to finish all this madness we started (Body builders, switch jumps, and v-crunches.)

Then do a regular plank. Note on your plank that your body is as flat and straight as possible (like a plank! Crazy they named it that.) Now I know that some people have more of an arch in their back than others and that's okay. Just focus on holding your core in, staying stable, and focusing all of your thought and energy into your core. Common places where that energy is mis-directed: your face (don't clench your teeth or hold your breath), and your hands (don't clench your hands into fists - try to keep them open and relaxed). 

Then do your final 5-minute fast-paced run. Any and all energy left should go into that run. It's okay if the speed doesn't match or beat previous times, just think about lengthening your stride, keeping your head up, and pumping your arms to help propel your legs forward. That sounds kind of odd I know, but the faster your arms are moving, the faster your legs will go too. If you need an example of that (and want to see something hilarious) just look at a power-waker. I'm lol-ing already. 

5. Cool-down.
You are D-O-N-E. Yay. Jog slow until you catch your breath, then walk to loosen up. You don't necessarily have to do the same distance as you did for your warm-up, but the longer you go the more of a chance you give your body to really loosen up and help reduce the chance of too much soreness.

Oh, and that's what the stretching and water are there for too! 

You will hate me for this workout, but you will love me in the end. Happy muscles! 

Roasted Garlic, Sun-dried Tomato Pesto, & Chicken Pizza

The inspiration for this pizza came from Pinterest (surprise, surprise) but then I one-upped it by using sun-dried tomato pesto instead of the regular green stuff. I also learned that roasted garlic is extremely easy to make and even more delicious to eat. 

Another reason I was excited to make a za this particular weekend? I got a new rolling pin! I know that does not sound like such a thrilling thing for most people, but for all this time I have been making pizzas I have not owned a proper rolling pin. Even I find that a little bit odd. To roll out the dough I've been using a drinking glass turned on its side. That's actually worked quite well for me, but whenever my husband sees me using a glass to roll the dough, he worries that I will end up crushing it with my Hulk strength.  So I guess we can say it's pretty lucky I found this one before that happened!

The brand is "Bisetti" although I've never heard of that before. Williams-Sonoma sells one rolling pin of that brand, but the one I got is all one solid piece, more like this. It was one of those random finds I spotted at TJ Maxx one day while I was looking for anything but a rolling pin. And instead of being in the $15-$50 range, it was $5.99! 

Okay, enough of my hollering and raving about a rolling pin. On to the roasted garlic and the rest of the pizza.

Ingredients you'll need:

• 1 bulb of garlic
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 4-6 oz. sun-dried tomato pesto sauce
• 1-2 cups pizza sauce
• 1-2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I seasoned mine a wee bit with some olive oil, salt, and pepper)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

To make the roasted garlic:

Let me just say again...this is so very easy. I will definitely be making it again to put into things other than pizza. 

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. 
• Peel off most of the outer paper-y skin on the garlic (doesn't have to be all of it or too perfect looking).
• Using a sharp knife, slice off the top of the garlic, about 1/2 inch down.
• Drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake until soft, about 35-40 minutes.
• Let it cool completely when it's done, then use a fork to smash it up into a paste.

Yes, this is one of those "looks nasty, tastes yummy" kind of deals. Moving on...

To make the pizza:

• Place a pizza stone in the oven and heat it to 500 degrees.
• Get your dough and other ingredients prepped in the meantime. 
• Spread the roasted garlic onto the prepared pizza dough. You can do this during the next step, but the roasted garlic became a pretty thick paste after I smashed it up, so I knew that it would take a little bit of work to spread it around evenly. It was just much easier to do this without worrying about getting burned on the hot pizza stone for such intricate work here.
• When the stone is hot, place it on your work surface and place the dough on top of that. Top with the roasted garlic paste (if you haven't already), then the pesto, pizza sauce, chicken, and mozzarella - in that order. 
• Place that whole gorgeous pile of pizza tastiness back into the oven and bake away for about 10 minutes. This one cooked quick for me and I took it out after about 9 minutes. 

I think it's safe to say that the sun-dried tomato pesto was the noticeably tasty thing in this recipe, along with the roasted garlic. I actually only used about a half a bulb of garlic, and the pizza could have easily used more. I'll go for the whole bulb next time, no question about that. Also, the sun-dried tomato pesto that I used comes in an 8.5-oz jar, and I used about half of what was in that jar. Use more or less depending on how much you love pesto. So basically, use more. (Who doesn't love pesto?)

The first thing I could say when this pizza came out of the oven was, "This pizza looks so legit." Because it did. I mean, come on...you have to admit it looks a bit like a DiGiorno at first glance. But these flavor-flaves put DiGiorno to shame. Shame, I say! Slice it, let it cool, and chow down to believe. 

Ways to Speed Recovery

This blog post from MapMyRun outlines 18 ways to recover after exercise and it came right in time after some of my tough summer workouts.

Some of my favorites...
1. Get more sleep
7. Roll it out (with a foam roller)
9. Hydrate
10. Cut back on the booze
13. Take a daytime nap (um, yes!)

Take a glance over these...at least a few are sure to get you motivated for your upcoming fitness sesh.

Workout Wednesday

I know that today is Friday, but I did this workout on Wednesday and my calves and quads are still reminding me of that. 

Last weekend was one of much celebration when my husband and I traveled to Atlanta to witness the marriage of my good friend Jenelle and her tall, handsome man friend, Sahile.  

Aren't they just lovely in love?

We're pretty good looking too, actually.

So for me, that meant 3 days off from exercise, fresh bagels with cream cheese each morning, a few too many cocktails from the open bar, and delightful meals from other nooks and crannies of the city of Atlanta including a fried egg BLT (with a side of extra bacon...what!?) from Kaleidoscope, a burger and fries from The Brick Store Pub, and of course, tacos and guac from Tin Lizzy's. I don't regret eating any of that stuff because it was delicious, but oh boy, I think it wreaked havoc on my system! As one of my former nutrition professors once said, "A bad meal can do more bad than a good meal can do good." Read that again until it makes sense. This was so true for me over the weekend. 

So while perusing through the highly entertaining world of Pinterest and trying to recover from feeling so bloated and useless from the weekend, I stumbled across this "Killer Kardio" workout and decided it would be the perfect thing to jump start myself back into some high-intensity exercise. 

And how did it go? Oh wow. Yeah. I did do some damage over the weekend. It's a hard workout anyway and I was doing it in 85+ degree weather with high humidity (I'm a southern gal, I can handle some humidity). But oh, wow. By the last set I thought my arms were going to fall off. Read over it for a minute, commit yourself to it, then I'll give my own re-cap. 

(source)

So here are a few things I did differently. 

Frist, instead of doing each of the "1 minute" exercises for a full minute, I did them for about 50 seconds, rested for 10 seconds, then started the next one at the top of the new minute. Does that make me a slacker? I didn't think so. 

Second, burpees. I did sets of 15 instead of 20. Why this adjustment? Well, even though I'm strong and fit, I've never done that many all in one set. Usually I max out at about 12 or 15 on burpees anyway, so with all of the other exercises in there  and considering that many of the ones listed that utilize upper body are very shoulder-heavy, I had to cut back on these just a bit. 

Third, push-ups. I did 20. Ya know, I'm just hardcore like that. (It's only one set, you can do it too!)

Fourth, I altered the running part. Before I even started with set 1, I did a 7-minute jog to warm up. Then after sets 1 and 2 I ran a little bit faster than usual but decreased the time to 5 minutes. Then at the end of set 3 for the run, I did a 10-minute cool-down jog instead of the 5 minutes fast like before. Even then, I felt like I was going to collapse. But I slept so well that night and felt quite accomplished from completing the workout that I did. 

The thing that makes this interval-style workout different from many of the other ones I do is that this one is all cardio. Well, I guess push-ups and tricep dips are not, but for the rest of the workout your heart rate is going to be soaring and there is very little opportunity for "active rest." When I design workouts for myself I tend to put active rest intervals in there a lot. That is, after I've worked one muscle group really hard, the next exercise will not involve that muscle group. I won't necessarily get a break in the workout, but it does give me a chance to recover just a teeny bit. 

This workout, however, I did not design for myself. The hardest part? I would say the high knees. Oh yes, getting those knees up repeatedly is no easy task. If you're going to do this, really try and push yourself through the parts that are toughest for you. During high knees, really try to pull your knees up to hip level (like in the illustration) - or even higher. At least if you tell yourself that's what you're going to be doing it will keep you maintaining that high intensity level rather than gradually slowing down. If you need to modify some parts of it like I did, you know your body best so do what it tells you to do.

Set some reasonable goals and try to stick them out for the entirety of the workout. You can do this; even at the end of the workout image you see that you are not going to die. How exciting is that? But also like the image states, when you're done you need to drink some water...lots and lots of it!!