Wednesday workout....

Last night I made it to the gym by my house for a little sweat sesh. I have done this workout before, but I added a few things in between to use a little more of my balancing muscles.

Here's my Wednesday night workout:

I have to admit this thing kicked my butt. I was only able to do 2 rounds, but was close to completing the 3rd. Dave was pretty hungry and ready to go grab dinner at whole foods, so I caved and only did 2 rounds of this. Someday I will manage to complete 3 rounds - it takes a while though.

On a side note: how cool is my Trifecta Tank from RokFit? I love it so much I kinda want it in blue as well... I'm a sucker for cute gym clothes... and yes, this trio is completely accurate. Bacon, coffee and fitness are indeed my top priorities! (And Dave too! HAHA)

Curry Chicken Salad Wraps

One of the biggest MUSTS when living healthy for me is bringing my lunch to work. It is very important to me to know exactly what is going in my food, and how much I am eating. More often than not I have a simple salad for lunch with spring mix, dried cranberries, almonds and chicken with some lemon juice and balsamic vinegar. But that can get really old really fast, and sometimes I just have to change it up.

One of my favorite change-ups is my curry chicken salad, wrapped in lettuce instead of bread. You can also throw this on top of mixed greens, but eating them like tacos makes it feel even more different from a salad.... remember, this is my change-up meal from salads ;)

This lovely little lunch is packed with flavor, and almost feels like a cheat meal... but there really isn't anything bad in here.

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts (depending on size)
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 honeycrisp apple - chopped into little pieces
2 tbsp curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp veganaise (you can use regular mayonnaise, this is just what i prefer)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 head butter lettuce

optional: Bell pepper, red onion (if you're looking for a little more flavor / veggies)

Chop the chicken and apples into bite sized bits and put in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together with a spoon. I suggest you let sit in a container overnight in the fridge to let the flavors meld together.

When lunchtime arrives, the rest is easy-peasy. Rinse off the butter lettuce and scoop the chicken salad into your little lettuce leaves and chomp away!!

Happy lunching!

Spartan Super: Part 1

This weekend I was scheduled to run a Sunday Spartan Sprint, and Dave was scheduled to run the Super Spartan (8 miles!). We set off Friday evening, checked into our hotel, and woke up bright and early Saturday morning and headed to the event location.

8 + miles.... 20+ obstacles....  :)

On the way there, Dave and I half-jokingly talked about the possibility of me running with him in the 8 miler. After he expressed some serious excitement about having a running buddy, we both looked at each other and I said "If they let me sign up at the event, I'll do it with you!"

I wanted a challenge. Mind you, I'd never run more than 6 miles and all of my mud run experiences have been 5K distances, but I wanted to see what I was capable of. I knew I was capable of running another 3 mile obstacle race, but 8 miles? I had confidence, but this was definitely a significantly larger accomplishment. And of course, once I walked up to the registration tent, they let me sign up in the same wave as Dave's. And excited panic immediately set in.

3.5 hours and 8 miles of ridiculously steep hills and amazing obstacles later, Dave and I crossed the finish line. It was an amazing feeling having finished the longer distance.... and never having a moment of thinking I cannot do this. Sure there were moments of exhaustion, leg cramps and fatigue, but never any doubt that I would cross the finish line. I felt extremely proud of both of us.

^^ One of the obstacles from the race... The horizontal wall-climb. You must climb to the other side of the wall using only those little blocks you see there, and ring a bell at the other side to announce you've completed the task!! I made it across this one, and it was so much fun!

Photos of the actual race are obviously not posted yet, but we got to take plenty of photos at the event and in front of the Spartan Race signs. (We have two medals on because if you did 40 burpees after the finish line you got an extra medal) After completing this race (which is the mid-distance race), I think I want to try for the trifecta - which is completing all 3 races (4 mile, 8 mile, and 12 mile) in one calendar year. It's only January and I already have the 8 miler under my belt. I can do this!!!

I can't wait until the photos are posted! I'm sure there will be plenty of hilarious photos of us crawling thru the mud... I will definitely be sharing those the second they are up. :)

Recipe: Black Bean Brownies

A few days ago I was browsing Instagram, and I stumbled upon this recipe for healthy black bean brownies, and instantly had to give it a try.

By some sort of luck, I happened to have all of the ingredients handy, so I ran into my kitchen and whipped up a batch of these babies.... I can't even remember the last time I had a brownie, and to be able to find something healthy?? I'm in.

Ok, so here's the recipe:

Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients:

1 15oz can black beans (drained)
3 eggs
1/2 cup carob powder or cacao powder
1/3 cup coconut sugar
3 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate chips (optional)

(I didn't use chocolate chips because I didn't have any, but if I ever feel like making these just a little "bad" I'd definitely add them in for a little more sweetness.)

Preheat oven to 350˚ and spray an 8 inch baking pan. Place beans (drained) in a blender and pulse until smooth. Add remaining ingredients except the chocolate chips and blend / pulse until smooth. If you are using chocolate chips, add them in now before adding the batter to the baking pan. Spread any remaining chocolate chips on top of the batter in the pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Ummmmm I know these are a distant relative to the original decadent pastries we call brownies, but oh-my-goodness are these yummy. They are a perfect little treat that you don't have to feel guilty about. Especially if you put delicious toppings like strawberries and a little bit of cool whip on top.

What toppings would you put on these little babies?

Spartan Ready.... and some workouts.

This week has been FULL of good workouts. I'm pretty beat, but I love when I can get a good sweat in...

Monday's workout: 
On a football field -
Jog 90 yards, full sprint 10
Jog 80 yards, full sprint 20

Jog 70 yards, full sprint 30

Jog 60 yards, full sprint 40

Jog 50 yards, full sprint 50

Jog 40 yards, full sprint 60

Jog 30 yards, full sprint 70

Jog 20 yards, full sprint 80

Jog 10 yards, full sprint 90

Full sprint 100 yards

100 yard slow jog for cool down.

Tuesday's workout: 

Squats

Lunges

Single leg deadlifts

some ab work

TONS of Stretching. (major soreness from the sprints)

Wednesday's workout: "Full Body Workout"

Warm Up:

1 – 2 mile run

Main Set:

10 body weight squats

10 squat w/ dumbbell press

20 walking lunges w/ weight (10 each side)

5 burpees

10 overhead tricep press

30 seconds squat jumps

10 dumbbell bench rows each arm

10 sumo deadlift high pull

5 burpees

10 dumbbell bench press

10 machine rows

10 machine pull-downs

Side plank dumbbell lift (10 each side)

5 burpees

REPEAT 2 times

Today's workout: LEG DAY

Warm Up:

1 – 2 mile run

1 gym lap high-kicks

30 seconds high knees

30 seconds butt kicks

Main Set:

20 body weight squats

25’ Spiderman crawl

20 step-ups w/ lunge down (10 each side)

5 burpees

Weighted squats
(Pyramid 10x: 10lb, 15lb, 20lb, 25lb etc.)

Walking lunges (body weight)

Weighted Deadlifts
(Pyramid 10x: 10lb, 15lb, 20lb, 25lb etc.)

5 burpees

10 good mornings

20 One-leg deadlifts (10 each leg)

20 weighted donkey kicks (10 each leg) 

REPEAT 2 times

ANNNNNNDDD I'm spent!!

I've been training like a mad woman to prepare for my first Spartan Sprint. Never heard of it? Well, it's this 5k obstacle course thats military inspired - and let me tell you, these obstacles do not look easy. I'm honestly a little nervous about a few of them... and the 30 burpee penalties for any obstacle you can't complete. I see a few sets of burpees in my future...

But, it's a challenge and thats exactly what I'm looking for. I've gotten all of my workouts done for the week, and now it's time for 2 days of complete rest and stretching to get ready for this race. 

I don't know how much more "ready" I could possibly be. 

I'm feeling pretty strong these days.

Dave is doing the 8 mile race on Saturday, the day before I race. I gotta admit I'm pretty proud of this kid. An 8 mile obstacle course is no joke. He's trying to complete all 3 races: The 4 miler, the 8 miler and the 12 miler -  If you complete all 3 in a calendar year you get a TRIFECTA medal for being a badass. I'm gonna see how this 4 miler goes on Sunday and see if I want to be that cool, or if I just want to let Dave have all the glory.

Have you ever done a Spartan Race? Does anyone else out there LOVE mud runs as much as I do?

Quote of the week....

“In life, you will become known for doing what you do. That sounds obvious, but it’s profound. If you want to be known as someone who does a particular thing, then you must start doing that thing immediately. Don’t wait. There is no other way. It probably won’t make you money at first, but do it anyway. Work nights. Work weekends. Sleep less. Whatever you have to do. If you’re lucky enough to know what brings you bliss, then do that thing at once. If you do it well, and for long enough, the world will find ways to repay you.”

- Jonathan Harris

December Recap: Washington Christmas and Workouts

Whoa, where in the world did December go? How is it already January 7th??

Wild.

December holidays went by in a blur this year due to the fact that Dave and I just spent almost 2 weeks in his hometown in Washington. It was my first time in his childhood home with his parents and sisters and best friends from high school - it was like a Bachelor hometown date!! It was a blast and it went by way too fast.

{Dave wanted to take the Oregon Coast the whole way up - it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!}

Working out was the hardest part. I have a Spartan Race coming up at the end of the month, and I didn't want to lose the momentum I had been gaining from my workouts... so we tried our very best, but the most we could fit in during the busy holidays and family time and sight seeing and driving... we were only able to fit in about 4 runs - which, granted, were about 3 to 5 miles each. It was a beautiful change of scenery running the Washington trails by Dave's parents' house. So lush and green, and muddy! Phoebe really enjoyed the trails too. Sweet dog. She was such a good girl, she was off leash almost the whole time!!

As good as that is, it just didn't seem like enough. And when we got back to our gym on Saturday in California, you better believe it was hard to get back into weight training! I could hardly believe how much strength I lost, especially in my arms, in those 12 days. I have to remember this for any future vacations, because not lifting during that trip is something I'm paying for dearly in the gym now - haha.

Christmas was nice and relaxing and casual. And Olive took refuge under the tree from all of the unwrapping aftermath. What a cutie.

Love her to pieces, this one. This photo makes me giggle because it looks like she ate the presents!

After the Christmas festivities were over and we had some time to ourselves, Dave took me to Seattle to show me the city. I got to ride on my very first ferry, which is an insane concept to me, but so cool!

Seriously I could do a whole post on our day in Seattle... in fact I just might do that.

It was an amazing trip that I'll never forget. The best part, is we get to go back every year!!!