Hunger Games = Addiction

Gooooooood Morning!

Here is my workout schedule for this week:

To start off my day, I headed to the gym for some cardio and a full-body workout. Usually I just do my upper body or lower body on strength training days, but since tomorrow I am working out with my trainer and I know she'll be getting everything, I didn't want one area to be particularly sore!

For my workout, I did my usual strength training routine:

10 min cardio
15-20 min strength
10 min cardio
15-20 min strength
10 min cardio
Stretch + Abs

On days when I have less time, I'll do shorter strength training circuits or cut out some of the last cardio interval, but on days when I have a lot of time I tend to be there forever! I really like strength training and can get a little distracted... Today I ended up spending extra time strength training, so I cut the last cardio to 5 min so I could get out of there on time.

After my workout, I headed home to shower and eat breakfast! Today I made a simple smoothie with 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup almond milk, 2 cups spinach, 1 packet Truvia, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder and 1 tbsp ground flax.

Today wasn't too chilly, so a smoothie was just perfect!

Now on to my new addiction: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I tend to have issues when it comes to series or similar books - if I like one, I have to read ALL of them. For example: Harry Potter series, Shopoholic series, all books written by Jodi Picoult, Redwall series, and even some from childhood: Boxcar Children, Babysitters Club... You get the idea. I love stories that never end! I guess I get too "involved."

Everyone seems to have heard of the Hunger Games at this point. My book club is discussing it in a couple weeks so I decided to finally buy it and dig in. Starting out, I actually had no idea what the book was about - I didn't even read the back cover! Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised!

I really love that the book is based in a world that is not what we live in - it's not mythical necessarily but seems to refer more to the future than anything, or at least an alternative to how we live, since it's clearly supposed to be in America (references to the Rockies, the coal mining area across the country). I don't want to reveal too much because I really enjoyed getting to read it from a fresh perspective, but the author really made me fall in love with the characters.

Also, I was hooked not just because I was dying to know what happens to everyone, but because the book is written in such an anticipatory manner! The rules of the "game" itself lead you to understand that anything could change at a moment, but the book itself felt that way as well. The author didn't lay out exactly how the games took place until the characters reached each point in the process and that made it much more interesting. This definitely wasn't the kind of book where you know how it's going to end before you even begin.

Ah! I can't even write this review because I'm so excited about it! It was a great look at the reality of human kind and what a person will do for survival, but also what a person will do for someone else. I highly recommend this book and I've already ordered the next two in the series! P.S. It's going to be a movie!!! Haha, okay, okay, I'm getting carried away. But I love reading books that get me so excited and remind me why I love reading in the first place!

What are your favorite books or book series? Do you think reading is a waste of time in another reality, or a great way to stretch your brain and your view of the world you live in? 

10K Run - Sponsored by: Me!

Seeing as it's a new week, it's time for a new workout schedule. Here's my schedule for the week:

As you can see, there's a little more running on here than usual. Although I have my 10K coming up in 2 weeks, today is my first day on Hal Higdon's 10 mile training program. I chose the intermediate one (he has novice, intermediate and advanced) because I felt like the novice was starting me off from not running at all (it began with a long run of 2 miles...). I might have to adjust it a bit though if I feel like intermediate is a bit much. 

Speaking of workouts, yesterday I got in a great run: 6.2 miles! I was going to just run 6, but then I decided it would be more fun to do the whole 10K, since that's what I'm currently training for. 

First of all, check out my AMAZING running outfit. My mom gave me this top that she got for free when she bought her new shoes. I don't stand out or anything... right?

Super jealous, right?

Hahahaha, I'm guessing not.

The run went alright, the first 3 miles were good but the second half was pretty rough. I kept slowing down and had to push myself to keep moving! But I finally finished, and in 54:52! That's an 8:50 min/mile pace! 

When I finished my run, I sat down for a quick stretch and realized I was right next to the Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool. I had only walked through once before, so I decided to take a look around and enjoy it before the weather gets cold.

But when I went around the corner to the entrance... it was closed. So rude.

Pretty sure this sign says it will be open on a Sunday at 9am!!! Oh well, another time.

After walking home, stretching and showering, it was time for a smoothie! I had planned on oats, but it was pretty warm out today so I decided to get in another smoothie before the cold comes! Today's included 1/2 frozen banana, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 2 cups spinach, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 tsp Chia seeds, and 1 scoop vanilla protein powder. Topped with some multi-grain Joe's O's and freeze-dried banana chips! 

After my smoothie, it was time to put my Kansas City Chiefs Jersey on and head over to my brother's to watch the game! Ok, well part of the game. However, my plans were foiled. Stay tuned to find out what happened! 

What's your favorite post-run meal? Most people seem to love pancakes, but I just can't get enough of these smoothies! 

Neville's New Friends

Neville now has some company, I have two new roomies!! Hermit Crabs! My cousin, Michele, had these crabs for her two boys, but offered them up for anyone who wanted them! I used to work at a touch tank in the SC Aquarium and I LOVED the hermit crabs, so of course I jumped on the opportunity! She drove them downtown to drop off yesterday morning (very spoiled hermit crabs - high class) and I'm so excited to have them! 

The larger one is definitely more reserved, he doesn't like to come out of his shell very often. Haha, sounds like me - shy!

The little one is much more adventurous though! He was very curious as to what was going on!

Michele also dropped off an extensive bag of supplies with a small book on taking care of them - I'm looking forward to reading up on Hermit Crabs and getting to know my new buddies.

However, I haven't decided what to name them! I might take a little time (it took a week to name Neville), but I'll definitely take some suggestions - so leave a comment with some crab names!

For breakfast this morning I decided to have some fresh fruit with frozen yogurt and an egg-white scramble breakfast sandwich!

The egg sandwich had some cream cheese, blackberry preserves and was on a cinnamon raisin bagel thin! I'm loving these bagel thins!

This morning I'm doing some more reading, and then off to the gym! Here are my workouts for the week:

Do you like to schedule your workouts for the week, or do you just "wing it"? Don't forget to send crab names!

Weekly Workouts and Resting

This morning I had a workout with my trainer, who's leaving my gym on Wednesday! So I scheduled one more workout with him for Wednesday. I'll be sad to see him go, and I'll be honest, nervous about working with someone else for the rest of the sessions that I have! But change is good... I guess. Haha.

When I got back I made myself a Peach Banana smoothie and packed up for school.

In the mix: 1 frozen peach (from the farmers market!), 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup almond milk, somewhere between 1.5 and 2 cups spinach (got a little crazy..), 1 scoop vanilla protein powder, and a heaping tsp of flax! I also added a packet of Truvia and a splash of vanilla to add to the flavor, although I'm not sure I could taste the vanilla... too much else happening.

Speaking of scheduling workouts, on Carrots N Cake this morning, Tina talked about how she schedules her workouts every Sunday for the week, and this is something that I do as well! I love reading Tina's blog because she has such great advice about running and strength training workouts to go along with it, as well as great recipes! Her book actually helped me out a lot this summer and got me off of calorie counting! You should definitely check her out!

(source)

This week, here's a look at my workouts: 

Day	Workout
Sunday	5 mile run + 75 min hot yoga class
Monday	Workout with trainer
Tuesday	3 mile run + hot yoga class
Wednesday	Last workout with trainer L
Thursday	2 or 3 mile run + hot yoga class
Friday	Power sculpt yoga class
Saturday	Strength training workout at gym

You'll notice I don't have a rest day planned in, that's because I took a rest day on Saturday instead of Monday this week because I had to work in some time with my trainer. I might end up just taking off Thursday, but sometimes I don't schedule the rest day because my body just says NO! one day! (I'm already thinking Thursday is going to be rest day... maybe just 2 miles and no yoga). 

I typically decide my workouts on the weekend, and then put them into my Google Calendar. I have everything in there! All my classes, social events, meetings, and workouts! I even have different colors for different things, and since it syncs with my phone, it makes it so much easier to keep up with everything!

The Importance of Rest Days

My first 10K 1 year ago!

Talking about how I need to schedule a rest day into my workout-week got me thinking about why it’s so important to have rest days. I found an article on sportsmedicine.about.com that discusses just this issue. Back when I was trying to lose weight last year, I’ll admit I would go 2-3 weeks without taking a rest day. I had the mentality that taking a day off was weakness and it made me feel guilty. Now I’ve learned that rest days are essential to help our bodies recover and perform well.

The article discusses how recovery allows the body to replenish energy stores and repair damaged tissues and without this time to repair, the body will continue to break down, which results in over-training.

The article also mentions that there are two types of recover: short term recovery and long term recovery. Short term recovery, or active recovery, is the time immediately after intense exercise. An important part of short-term recovery is eating the right meals after exercise to replenish energy stores and fluids lost, as well as optimizing protein synthesis (proteins are used in our body to build muscle, among many other things). Long-term recovery are those built into what the article calls a “seasonal training program”, which includes recovery days and recovery weeks that are built into a training schedule.

5K with my dad! 

One of the most important parts of rest days are that they help you avoid over-training, which is definitely an issue I dealt with. I was doing so much interval running on the treadmill last spring that I pulled my IT band. Even after my injury I kept trying to make up for not being able to run by over-using the elliptical machines. I thought I wasn’t burning as many calories as I was running, so I had to work longer and harder! This just made my injury worse!

And personally, I think rest days are good for your mental health too! Sometimes we can get so set on achieving our goals that we forget to find balance in our lives, and eventually the exercise we are doing is no longer fun! When I couldn’t run anymore, I realized that I missed it not because of the calorie-burning, but because it was a great stress-reliever! I enjoy running and am so glad to be able to throw on some tennis shoes and go run when I feel the need to! I really learned a lesson from my injury and I’m being cautious to not over-do running! Slow and steady and I’ll be running a half-marathon before I know it!

How do you feel about rest days? How many do you typically take during one week?