Crossfit

See ya, June

June 29, 2011 by Marci 7 Comments

Well since it’s about to be a new month, how about a little look back at June. This month was pretty good, I discovered a few things I enjoy, traveled to a new place, and moved into my very first work office (with a door and walls!).

1. I re-discovered swimming! I can’t get enough. Well kind of, last week I swam three days! I am really enjoying it, find myself getting better, swimming longer, and not putzing with my goggles every lap. Little improvements…

2. I broke up with running. Why fight it, I’m just not that into it right now. When the weather gets cooler, I’m sure I’ll want to run again. But for now, it’s just not appealing. It’s hard to breathe and miserable outside with the humidity. And I found swimming!

3. I went on a bike ride. This is a big deal since I am previously scared of the bicycle. Now I want to move to a remote area, buy a bike, and train for a triathlon. Where did that come from? Since I will not be moving, I won’t be buying a bike, leaving me one leg short of a tri.

4. I went sledding in June. Aspen, CO was a beautiful city. I want to go back for long periods of time every summer.

For someone who isn’t training for a race like I was last year, I had a pretty active June. All of these activities were mixed with two days of CrossFit each week and a lot of walking around the Rice Loop or on the treadmill.
5. I cooked some great things for other people, like this Banana Bread. Also some summer salads too!

What did you love about June?

Filed Under: Exercise, Running, Swimming, Thoughts, Travel · Tagged With: Crossfit, Exercise, Running, swimming, Thoughts, Travel

Fridays are good for thoughts

June 3, 2011 by Marci 2 Comments

It’s been a while since I wrote about anything fitness. I tend to write more about food lately and less about training for something or analyzing a long run.

I have been exercising, but I am not training for anything. Last summer, I completed an aquathlon in August and took up swimming in June and July. This year, I haven’t been in the pool yet. Last year, I signed up for a half marathon in June to run in December. This year, I am not loving running outside or really on the treadmill.

Things change, it’s ok. This May, I bought a daily deal to try Define Body for five classes for $35. I completed all five classes and really enjoyed it. If you’re familiar with Barre Method, it’s like that. However, I already have a real gym membership and I do CrossFit classes twice/week, so I have decided not to buy a real membership to Define, although I really enjoyed it.

About my CrossFit classes, I always dread going, and then am happy I’m done. The last few weeks we have been working on setting new “one rep max” where you practice a movement at a new weight one time until failure. I have increased my back squat (110 lbs), front squat (100 lbs) and deadlift (155 lbs) weights and am very happy about that. I also did a box jump tabata workout where I did zero step ups and all box jumps. That means we did 20 seconds of box jumps (20 inch box) with 10 seconds of rest, 8 rounds. It was also mixed with tabata push ups. I was really happy about that workout because box jumps are one of my least favorite, most scary movements.

So that’s weight lifting and core work, what about cardio? Well, I walk, I elliptical, and I stair master and jump rope. I haven’t been running much, mostly because of the weather and I’ve enjoyed walking. It would be no fun to push a workout I don’t want to do, so I’ll just wait until I want to run again. I am also incorporating walking on incline on the treadmill because it’s harder. I’m deciding if I want to go back to swimming. I always liked it when I was done, but disliked wearing the bathing suit and messing with goggles.

What are you doing this weekend? What are you loving today?

Filed Under: Exercise, Thoughts · Tagged With: Crossfit, Thoughts

The case of the stubborn shIT Band

January 14, 2011 by Marci 6 Comments

I guest posted on Brittany’s blog called Eating Bird Food yesterday about how to get started with Crossfit. Go check it out here.

IT Band Stretches

I finally went to a sports medicine doctor to see what is wrong with my leg. If you’re just tuning in, ever since the half marathon on December 5, my right leg hasn’t fully recovered and I get major pain after just one mile on the outside of my knee. I kept hoping it would heal over time, but after a month, I decided it’s time to get it checked out, guessing that it was probably an aggravated IT Band, lovingly referred to as the shIT Band. I can also do everything else without pain, like walk, CrossFit, jump rope, ellipticals, stairmaster, etc. Just not run.

I had an x-ray of both knees done and the doctor concluded that it is probably just strained and tight and needs some physical therapy. There wasn’t anything abnormal on the x-ray, except some extra fluid but I don’t really know what that means. Right now I don’t want to spend the time (3x/week) or money going to a physical therapist, so I am going to try to do the stretches and rehab myself. The doctor gave me packets about ITBS (illiotibial band syndrome) that have 10 stretches to do. He says that I should be better in a few weeks if I do the stretches like I’m supposed to. I also have a prescription for anti-inflammatories that I haven’t filled but I will!

I did the stretches yesterday for the first time at the gym, and they were, well, boring. The weird thing about ITBS is that it doesn’t have a trigger of “oww that hurts” when you press it, so trying to strengthen the whole muscle is all you can do. The muscle goes from your hip pretty much all the way down your leg. Pain at the knee is common. The stretches are very small movements (like leg straight out, flex foot and lift 6 inches, hold 5 seconds. Repeat 20 times). He also cleared me to try and run whenever I want, but in short amounts, like .5 mile- 1 mile and increase if it doesn’t hurt.

If this doesn’t work, the next steps would be actual physical therapy, or a cortisone shot in the area. Ouch!

50 Sit Ups and Push Ups in 50 Days

Another fitness thing I briefly mentioned once here is that since December 1, I have been doing a 50 day challenge of 50 pushups and 50 situps in 50 days, starting at one per day of each. Today is Day 45 so I do 45 of each and tomorrow 46 of each. I think I even surprised myself at sticking to this challenge, set up through my CrossFit gym.

I really like this little addition to my workouts because it takes just a few minutes and it’s something I can count on doing daily. If you miss a day, which I have missed a few, you make them up. So one day last week I had do do about 100 because I missed Days 33 and 34 and then I had to do Day 35 too.

I have noticed that the pushups (which I do from my knees, chest to the ground each time), have gotten remarkably faster and I think my form has improved. My upper body and back seem stronger too. I think a 30 day challenge of one or two movements, like lungest, squats, etc. would be great to keep this going.

Have you done a short term challenge like this?

PS Check back on Tuesday for an ingredient challenge featuring quinoa. The other bloggers are:

Sunny from www.andloveittoo.com
Shea from www.dixiechikcooks.com
Elle from www.nutritionella.com
Lauren/Chrissy from www.fromthelittleyellowkitchen.wordpress.com

Filed Under: Injuries, Running · Tagged With: Crossfit, Injuries, Running

Winner winter dinner and a fitness update

January 4, 2011 by Marci 5 Comments

Welcome to Tuesday, friends. I hope Monday wasn’t too terrible. I don’t mind this week because my birthday is on Thursday! That means Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be fun and busy. Lily (dog) and I are having a joint birthday party. She is turning one on January 17 and I will be much older than that (27 if you’re wondering).

I have another article that went up yesterday for CultureMap about fast food-to-go places in Houston with healthy options. I reviewed what they offer, how they differ from each other, and gave some opinions. Story is here.

Have you tried these places?

A fitness update:

I haven’t talked much about fitness lately, and you may notice that I’m not doing a post about New Year’s resolutions, so here’s a little update on things not related to the kitchen.

Ever since the Dallas Half Marathon last month, my legs haven’t bounced back. I still have terrible pains on the sides of my knees that flare when I run about .5-1.25 miles. I purposely chose a race in early December because I thought having the Christmas holiday to rest and be kind to my body would be helpful and necessary. That was a good idea, and the rest has been great. I haven’t run more than 1.5 miles or picked up a barbell since before Christmas week. It has been very nice to not be sore, not exercise for over an hour, and not be so darn hungry. However, I have been doing yoga, the elliptical, walking, stretching, and the Stairmaster and still exercising 5-6 days per week over the break.

Now that it’s back to working hard, I have told my body I’m ready to run, but my legs are still not. I am definitely not considering the Houston Half Marathon in 4 weeks anymore, and that’s alright. My legs are taking a long time to recover, and it’s given me an opportunity to focus on some other fitness things I like to do, like pushing it hard at Crossfit (before the race, I was wary about being too sore, lifting too heavy, and pushing too hard). I also found a different elliptical machine I like at the gym (I am usually not a fan and find I don’t feel like they’re a great workout), and I added the Stairmaster and jumping rope back at the gym (killers after 5 minutes!). I have also been doing a Crossfit related body weight challenge of doing pushups and situps every single day starting at 1 on December 1 and adding one each day until 50. Today is Day 35 so I do 35 of each.

Fortunately, my leg pains are only related to running and is not bothered on anything else mentioned above, even when I do 70 pound power cleans or box jumps!

I love to run, will hopefully pick it up when my legs feel better, and would like to focus on faster short distances. Until then, no race recaps or long run summaries on here! Hope you’ll stick around for the pretty food pictures.

Turkey Chili and homemade Cornbread Muffins

A New Year’s Day tradition is to make turkey chili. Here’s my favorite recipe, with the help from a pack of spices. I use ground turkey, but you can do beef or sirloin meat.

I think that chili is a very lean and filling dish. It’s just browned meat with tomato sauce and spices. Not much fat, no butter, little oil. Pretty simple and healthy.

Ingredients:

2 packs (2.5 lbs) Jennie O Lean Ground Turkey Meat
1 box Wick Fowler’s 2 Alarm chili kit (this just has the spices, you could obviously use your own)
8 oz can tomato sauce
16 oz water
1 white onion
for toppings: lettuce, tomato, yellow cheese, guacamole
The spices in the pack are red pepper, flour, cumin, oregano, chili pepper, dried onions and garlic, paprika, salt.

Instructions:

In a large pot, coat with olive oil and sautee an onion.
Brown the turkey meat in olive oil and onion until completely cooked.
Add 1 can tomato sauce and 2 cans water. Stir well.
For the spices, I added all except for half of the red pepper and half of the salt. The box says to adjust the heat by how much red pepper you add.
Let simmer on low for 30 minutes.
Add the flour with 1/4 C warm water and stir. This is optional, but makes the chili thicker and the perfect consistency in my opinion.
Let sit at least 15 more minutes. We cook it earlier in the afternoon and let it sit on low or no heat until it’s time to eat.
Top with anything you want!

Cornbread Muffins:

This recipe was adapted from an Ina Garten one I found online. I cut her recipe in half because it said it was for 12 muffins and there were only two of us. My halved recipe ended up making 12 muffins! So you could cut it in half again (?!) or just make 12 muffins. We froze the rest.

This recipe is not a healthified version. But it was really good!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C cornmeal
1 T baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 C milk
1 stick butter
2 eggs
3/4 can corn

Instructions:

Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately with hand mixer. Pour wet into dry and mix well.
In a muffin tin lined with paper cups, pour in batter and bake on 350* for 30 minutes.
Let cool and enjoy!

These were really, really good. Adding the corn made it have a little pop to the bite. The butter made it so fluffy and not dry. And they were perfectly browned on top. A keeper recipe!

Filed Under: Dinner, Injuries, Running, Thoughts · Tagged With: Crossfit, Injuries, Running, Thoughts

Two-a-days

December 10, 2010 by Marci 2 Comments

First up, Emily had an awesome post about the marathon that the contestants on The Biggest Loser run at the end of the season. Emily has run five marathons and has a major complaint that the show portrays marathons as the ultimate example of fitness, when you can be fit and healthy without running a marathon. And they train for it all wrong. Read her post here. I love it.

Two a day yoga:

You would think that in the week post half marathon, a two-a-day would not be smart. But two yoga classes in one day sounded like a good idea.

I did one class in the early morning, and I knew it would be a gentle stretchy class and not a sweaty flowy one. And the second one was a Candlelight Yoga class at the Lululemon store at night. That one had over 100 people and we were squished in like sardines, feet in face style. I also knew that one wouldn’t be too hard to cater to every style in an open class. Both were great to stretch my muscles and gently let me move around.

I also did a Crossfit class but used lighter weights than usual. My right outer knee is a little twingy, not because of the class. Hopefully it will go away soon. I did two quarter mile laps in the class, and definitely still sore and not ready to run, not that I was expecting much more.

Upcoming goals:

I decided on the Dallas race at the beginning of December because I thought it would be a great time to do the race before the holidays, since December is a good time to take a break and rest your body. I am definitely glad the race is over and I can give my body a rest.

However, there are two half marathons on January 30, and I have my eye on signing up but I haven’t done it yet. I also haven’t tried a short run, but it’s a little too early for that.

I really want to do the Chevron Aramco Houston Half Marathon on that day, but registration is full. I also heard that it’s not a great spectator half marathon, and that was one part I really liked about Dallas.

If you hear of anyone selling their entry, I’m looking to buy!

The other one that day is in Austin, but I’d rather stay in Houston if I can get in.

I am also going to keep doing more yoga because I really think it helps with leg pains, and CrossFit to build strong muscles is important too! During the race when my feet got tired, I was thankful that other parts were still working hard, including my arms to keep swinging and my core to hold me up.

So that is my plan for the next two months, assuming a half marathon is added to the calendar.

What are your goals for the holidays?

Filed Under: Exercise, Half Marathon, Houston, Yoga · Tagged With: Crossfit, Half Marathon, Houston, Running, Thoughts, yoga

A CrossFit-iversary

November 11, 2010 by Marci 6 Comments

Before I tell you about this droolworthy picture, read about a Crossfit story. Miss my other post about How to Crossfit? It’s here.

A CrossFit-iversary

Last year on Veteran’s Day, I went to my first CrossFit class. The workout was called “Murph” which meant we were to run one mile, do 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats, and then run one mile. The idea is that everyone knows this workout sucks, most CrossFit workouts don’t take 60 minutes. But you’re supposed to suffer through this and remember the people fighting for you who work this hard every day.

A lot has changed in a year of fitness. Last year, my workout was modified since I was new, so I ran both miles and did half of the inside part (50, 100, 150). It took me 42 minutes. This year for Murph, I did the whole thing in about 62 minutes. (I realize that 20 extra minutes to add 10 rounds (5, 10, 15–have I lost you with numbers?–is not that impressive, but I know my form on everything is better too.) By the end, my arms were hanging (I had no grip to run with my water bottle so I left it on the sidewalk), my hands were blistered, my knees were black, my hair was wet.

It’s not that this workout is fun, but the accomplishment at the end is so great that it makes you want to come back and do it again. Usually with CF classes, the workout is a surprise until you arrive. But we all knew that Murph was coming, and we all chose to come to class on Thursday to do it. For one, we all want to compete against ourselves, our old times, and everyone else. For me, I wanted to show myself that I could do this monster workout. It is really intimidating! But we also come to celebrate Veteran’s Day and be thankful that we can do these movements freely. Murph is a creative and active way to honor Veteran’s Day. I’m glad I pushed myself that hard before 7 a.m.

Grilled Banana Autumn Sandwich

After class, my Garmin heart rate monitor said I burned 900 calories. That is a lot for 60 minutes! On the drive home, I was thinking about what to make for breakfast that was a little more fun to celebrate this great workout and be an extra good breakfast. I remembered this sandwich from Caitlin’s blog that I thought was too heavy for a normal breakfast but would be great when you need something bigger.

I don’t like the word “epic” and I have never made French toast since I’ve lived in this house, but this sandwich was epic. And pretty healthy! 2 eggs, two pieces toast, banana, pumpkin. All stacked together, it looks sinful and delicious.

Click here for full recipe.

All you do to the bananas is put it on a pan to sear, no added butter or sugar, and it gets so gooey and brown. And the bread is cooked like French toast, you could sub egg whites. Then the topper is pumpkin with honey, cinnamon, chia seeds, and pecans. This could be subbed for Greek yogurt too.

Then not pictured is a drizzle of maple syrup. After the photo session, I thought it needed syrup. Mmmm. Go make this for a weekend breakfast. Leave the dishes to clean another time.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Exercise, Thoughts · Tagged With: Crossfit