Highlights

Another fabulous day.

It was a busy day with 4 hours of sleep and a long day at work. Luckily I understand busy days happen and have no trouble adjusting the rest of my schedule.

I wasn't able to attend yoga as planned, but I did do a great swim. In the pool I swam 1600 meters... the farthest I've done in a pool! There was actually a lot of speedwork that helped keep it fresh. I've been out of a fish out of water this week. I've been in the pool every day!

In the spirit of a busy day I will show you the highlights:

Lunch with has-the-best-blog-but-not-blogging Ryan.

Cookies at 7:00 a.m.... eaten off a naked man's chest.

Whole Foods cookies eaten at 4:00 p.m. :)

And a refreshing post-swim dinner of basically guacamole and chips with a side of veggies from Chipotle.

Do you incorporate strategic speed training in your workouts?

Bikram Day 1

I tried my first Bikram yoga class this morning. Bikram yoga is a series of 26 poses and 2 breathing exercises performed in a room heated to 105* with 40% humidity, lasting approximately 90 minutes.

  Here are my thoughts, 100% candid.

- First thought, WIERD! The breathing exercise at the beginning lasted for a few minutes and made me feel super silly.

- Cleansing. The heat cleaned me out so much. I felt clean from the inside out and refreshed.

- Suffocating. At times I really had trouble breathing with all that heat.

- Contradicting. During power yoga sessions at my studio we’re always told to never compromise or hurt our back. This teacher literally told us we want our backs to hurt.

- Distracting. This studio was plain and the bright fluorescent lights shining down on me didn’t help me relax and get into the practice.

- Stretchy. The heat loosened my muscles so I was super flexible. It felt great to bend farther than I had ever before.

- Boring. I’m not sure if I could do the same practice each session.

- Intense. The heat combined with the poses definitely challenged me.

- Amazing. For the rest of the day I felt renewed and fresh. I noticed my skin was glowing too!

I think my thoughts are biased since I wasn’t a fan of this particular studio and teacher. I didn’t get a good feel from them, you know? Bikram might not be an addiction for me, but I’d definitely like to try more classes at other studios.

After yoga I joined the YMCA! I’ve realized I have to join a gym for access to a heated indoor pool. I’m excited to be able to swim more often! Today I swam 1,000 meters and biked 10 miles. I love exercise :)

My photos of today’s food are so repetitive- and for the good stuff I forgot my camera! David and I went to the Cheesecake Factory for pizza and Jeremiah’ s Italian Ice for dessert. Divine! Anyway, I did take a photo of my lunch: kale chips, sweet potato fries and one cup of garbanzo beans tossed with teryaki sauce and baked. Yummy!

Have you practiced Bikram? What are your thoughts on it?

A Tri Kind of Day

Friday was crazy! Dixie was at the SPCA all day getting spayed and I was a nervous wreck. I dropped her off before my long run. To keep my stomach light I had a green smoothie and an apple on my drive.

When I finally got back home I drank some OJ and slammed some down some raw cashews. Then I headed out for 12 miles!

….12 miles that just didn’t want to happen! My legs were tired from my workout the day before. So I could meet Ryan and Caitlin for a swim I cut my run short at 8 miles and promised myself to finish later in the day.

Before I met the girls to learn how to swim I ate the best salad ever- spinach with a whole avocado, bell peppers, mango peach salsa and some ground pepper. MMMMM!!!

The farthest I’ve ever gotten with swimming is keeping myself from drowning. Luckily Ryan is an awesome teacher and had me doing laps and loving it! I think I have a slight addiction already.

After swimming I ran 2 miles on the treadmill and then picked up my baby from her surgery. The poor thing was so sad looking! The surgery went well but she was still getting over the anesthesia. I came home and had blueberries with an apple and PB.

Later I munched on more OJ and cashews.

Then… David and I biked a fairly fast 8 miles (at 17.5 mph) and then I ran another two miles to bring my daily total to 12!

We tried to go out for dinner but ended up eating simple at home. I chose…surprise!… naner oatmeal with tons of PB! It was perfectly warm and carby.

     

What a day! I had my own little tri with a 12 mi. run, 8 mi. bike ride (at 17.5mph) and 1,200 meter swim. It was awesome… and I was so exhausted by the end of the day!

Today I ate the same things… no need to duplicate photos :) I also took the day 100% off from exercise. Aaaaaaand I went to orientation for my new job!!!! Here’s a hint as to what it is:

Do you combine workouts?