To run, or not to run?

That is the question of this week… I was sick!  And not just sniffly nose sick, but sore throat - lots of congestion - chest felt like it was caving in at times - wake up in the middle of the night coughing – feverish feeling kind of sick.  Let’s just sum it up and say it was awful.  But I kept feeling guilty among all this sickness that I wasn’t working out.  L  I had been doing so good at keeping with my workouts!

So here is the research:

Question: to workout or not to workout?

Answer:  Use the “neck” rule.  If you have symptoms above the neck, like runny nose, stuffiness, or sneezing, working out won’t really put you at risk of being sicker.  (In fact, I’ve found from my chronic sinus problems due to allergies, that sometimes a good workout actually clears out some stuffy nose issues!)  But if you are sick below the neck, like chest congestion, coughing, and body aches it is probably a good idea to skip the workout and let your body recover.  A fever is also a telling tale… if it is over 100, definitely skip the workout. 

If you are feeling iffy about whether you should workout or not, take it easy and do a light workout, nothing that would over-exert yourself.  And who can ever express the importance of drinking enough water and taking your vitamins!!

As for me, I was definitely glad that I skipped the workouts.  Between lots of rest, lots of water, and lots of Tylenol am/pm cold meds… I’m just about feeling whole again in less than a week!  Tomorrow will be the true test, I haven’t run since Tuesday, and I need to finish off the Week 3 workouts in Cto5K so I can keep progressing.  I plan to take it fairly easy, make sure I complete the runs time-wise, but I’m definitely not going to push the pace.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  If you want more info on whether or not you should workout, check out the web pages below!

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-286--9082-0,00.html

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/exercising-when-sick

Sam

Lazy Chicken!

FOOD!  I love food, all food, especially comfort food, and I also have a HUGE sweet tooth.  So eating healthy has always been a challenge, as soon as I do well eating for a couple days, I melt at the sight of some mac n cheese, and ice cream!  I think the key for me is everything in moderation… none of these crazy diets!  I know that I do not have the self control to stay away from some comfort food occasionally.  So I need to find recipes that give me some comfort and health at the same time!

Last night I made “Lazy Baked Greek Chicken” from Rachael Ray.  If you get here food emails, this one came yesterday morning.  I did a quick look through the ingredients, had Aaron stop for the feta cheese on the way home from work and we were good to go.  I cut the recipe in half since it was just for the two of us, and sometime leftovers do not get eaten.  It was super easy to make (hence the Lazy part) and was very tasty!  Served with some steamed broccoli, this was a pretty healthy and delicious meal!

Lazy Baked Greek Chicken

• 4 Servings

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• One 10-ounce box organic chopped spinach, thawed
• Salt and pepper
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (about 1/2 palmful)
• 4 pieces skinless, boneless chicken breast
• 1/2 cup crumbled greek feta cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. Heat 1 tablespoon EVOO, 1 turn of the pan, in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and two-thirds of the garlic and cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool, then add the spinach to the same bowl and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Melt the butter in the same pan used to cook the onion, turn off the heat and add the panko, oregano and remaining garlic; toss.
   
   Drizzle a baking dish with the remaining 1 tablespoon EVOO. Split each chicken breast across (but not all the way through) and open like a book. Stuff with the spinach mixture and feta, letting the stuffing overflow at the edges. Place the chicken pieces in the baking dish and top with the breadcrumbs. Bake until the juices run clear, about 20-25 minutes.

This will definitely be a make-again recipe! Hope it works for you!

Sam

No Excuses!

This has been a BUSY week!  A great example early on of something I have always struggled with… time management!  And making time for working out is the worst!  Who wants to go running after a long day of work, errands, and cleaning house?  This last week I worked a full 38 hours (side-thought: I thought I was supposed to be part-time?), plus I was preparing for a three day weekend in Pullman to celebrate my sister’s 21^st bday, and I have also been doing a TON of stuff to get ready for my sister-in-law’s baby shower this Sunday!  To fit in workouts this week I had quite a few adventures…

Couch to 5k, Week 2, Day 2… Aaron went running before I got home because he thought I was not going to have a chance to fit in a workout that night.  Little did he know, I was determined to go!  He didn’t feel comfortable letting me go by myself because there are no streetlights around our house… so, instead of running again he rode his bike beside me.  It was perfect!!  He wore his hunting headlamp on his head so we could both see where we were going and cars could see us.  And he also had the red flashing light on the back of his bike so cars could see us from behind too.  He was a great motivator because it was SO cold and dark outside!

Couch to 5k, Week 2, Day 3… Pullman Weekend Away!  Normal on a mini-vacation I would totally skip workouts completely, who wants to workout on vacation?  That is a foreign concept to me.  But no more excuses!  Saturday needed to be my run day!  Thankfully my Mother-in-Law is also doing this workout plan and she went with me to Pullman, so we got up and went Saturday morning.  She is a few weeks ahead of me, so we went to the track to run.  She lapped me twice because she was running 20 straight minutes and I was still doing intervals.  We both rocked it though.  J  Took a quick pic post-workout as proof and headed to Starbucks!

Couch to 5K, Week 3, Day 1… This was yesterday’s workout.  Description: Brisk five-minute warm-up walk, then do two repetitions of the following: jog for 90 seconds, walk for 90 seconds, jog for 3 minutes, walk for 3 minutes.  End with a five minute cool down walk.  My plan for yesterday was to work 9-1, drive down to Olympia to my Mom’s (an hour away), and finish my sister-in-law’s baby shower present on my Mom’s sewing machine.  Then I was going to go running there and drive back home.  Sewing of course, took longer than expected, and at ten o’clock I was tired and ready to go home with no running.  But no excuses!  Guilted my little brother into going with me and was so glad!  Turned out the run woke me up and stretched out my stiff muscles that had been sitting in front of a sewing machine for hours.  It was also nice to catch up with my baby brother!

Lessons this week:  Do it anyway!  If you plan to workout that day, DO IT.  No excuses.  I think that will be the only way this will work for me.  Next week I want to focus a little more on the eating better part… stay tuned for some recipes!

Sam

Kinect!

What to do with a non-running day?  I still work a full 8 hour day today and I had to take Maverick to the vet, so whatever workout I chose needed to be fairly quick.  Today’s option (and something I hope to continue taking advantage of) our XBOX Kinect!!  We just got the “Your Shape” game and it is actually very cool so far.  I really ENJOYED my half hour workout this morning, right in my own living room.

After taking all of my stats (height, weight, arm span, and a whole bunch of other things) it had me do a fitness test and then the game came up with a training program somewhat tailored to my fitness level.  I have my own personal trainer in the game who does the exercises with me, and if you aren’t hitting the moves quite right it tells you!  I definitely had some issues getting my squats low enough this morning!

After doing a short cardio session with my trainer, I did two 5-minute Zen workout sessions.  These were based on Tai-Chi and the movements were much more focused and slower.  I think it was a good balance after the high energy cardio session.  What I love about this game so far?  It does a great job of tracking my movements correctly, and it will continue to keep track of my stats as I progress!  Also, nothing beats the convenience of not leaving the house… I did these workouts in my pajamas this morning!  J

Off to work…

Sam

Couch to 5K

I have about seven months until the actual race, so it is time to get in motion.  I have plenty of time, but if I start early, hopefully it won’t be as hard to overcome the speed bumps that always seem to pop up.  I’m starting with the running training first.  Eventually I hope to be doing swim, bike, and running training all within the weeks… but for now I just want to get my cardio up and start working toward what for me, is the hardest event. 

I really wanted to start to work up the running distance slowly, because I have really terrible knees!!  After some research on training plans I decided to go with the “Couch to 5K” version.  It seems like a fairly popular plan for people like me, who currently can’t run for more than a few minutes at a time.  In the beginning it alternates running and walking, gradually increasing the running stages over a 9 week period until you are basically running a 5K.  (which is about the 3.1 miles I will have to run for the triathlon). 

There are three workouts per week, and you are supposed to give yourself at least one day in between them.  Week 1 workout was: Brisk five minute warm-up walk.  Then alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Five minute cool down walk.

Today I completed week 2’s first workout:  Brisk five minute warm-up walk.  Then alternate 90 seconds of jogging and two minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.  Five minute cool down walk.

Today’s workout was definitely harder than last week, especially because my last run of today was all uphill!!  Talk about being winded!  I’m not worrying about speed at all, just the fact that I am actually jogging for the full length when I am supposed to be.  My new favorite tool for accomplishing this:  my cell phone!  J  I downloaded an app for the Couch to 5k plan, and it tells me when to run and when to walk.  It is perfect!  Makes it easier for me so I don’t have to constantly be looking at my watch and timing myself, the app does it for me! 

Another positive this week… my husband Aaron has been running with me!  And even when we can’t go together (due to my crazy work schedules), Aaron plans on doing the plan on his own.  It is definitely nice to have a running partner!

It was a good start this week, and I’m looking forward to finding some new ways of becoming more active on a daily basis!  ‘Til next time…

Sam