My Daily Kick in the Butt!

From Runnersworld.com – Daily Kick in the Butt!

I have learned that there is no failure in running, or in life, as long as you keep moving.

– Amby Burfoot

 

My date with Jillian – on Pimping the Beast

I have said in a few posts before that I need to work on my core.

I finally started!

In my collection of work out DVDs I have the Jillian Micheal’s series with the 6 weeks abs included.  I don’t care much for following the actual program at this time, so instead I am just going to use it as the Abs workout in my weekly regime.

I have done it a few times before, it is definitely a workout on its own, and I did get that awesome soreness you get from any strength training you do, I guess the pain means that it is working right?

One day I will have this smile on my face, instead of wincing in pain!

You know it must be tough when you see Jillian make this face!

I am now working on putting my entire training plan together for over the summer.  I need a wall plan because it is no good to me if I can’t see it daily!  I will post pics once I am done 🙂 exciting!

For now I have just added some stuff to my Work Out Calender that I bought at the beginning of the year just from the local dollar shop.

Oh and I must show you what I ate for lunch today!!!

I freeking LOVE coriander!!! If I was to come back as a herb in another life it would be Coriander!  Except I find it super hard to grow 😐

Corn and Spinach Fritters with Baby spinach salad and Garlic and Cucumber Yogurt!

Anywho this meal came out to be just under 600 Cals,  my children had the corn and spinach fritters with an Avocado Gauc that I added mashed egg to for extra protein punch!

What was for lunch at your place today?  What Ab workout’s do you have up your sleeve?

And that’s how I punched today in the Face – of course while I once again Pimped the Beast!

Jay 🙂

Pimping the Beast 30.10.2013 – A Crush on running

You know that feeling you get when you are in the beginning days of a relationship.  The butterflies you feel in your tummy and the nervousness you get from just being around that other person…?

Yeah I had that, again! and Gosh did I Pimp out the Beast today!  It had bling and everything!

It has been months since I have been out to the TECT Park for a decent trail run, and today I finally got out there 3 weeks shy of my 15k event.  Here is my run…

A bit missing, but you get the jist.

I gotta tell ya, all I could think of last night and this morning was getting out there and running it again.  I was trying to re-call the bends and dips and the differing terrains all in one course of which is named Buffalo Girl.

I took my friend Amy out there, she was a Buffalo Girl Virgin before today.  We had run the Te Rerenga trail plenty of times before, almost once a week at one stage, but never had we struggled together through the Buffalo Girl.

The Cutty grass that cut Amy’s leg which made her holla a weird noise, that scared me and had me actual jumping very high in the air!

The Buffalo Girl trail is about as complex as Te Rerenga, but on a bigger scale.  Steeper hills, streams, long gradual ups and downs, elephant graveyards…

Today we completed about 4k (4 there and 4 back, didn’t allow enough time to thrash the whole lot) of the 15k distance that my Trail run in November will call for.  I gotta tell ya, because I don’t get a heap of child-free time between and now to train for the event, I know that the last 5k is going to be somewhat like a semi-suicide mission and I will be running on pure mental grit!

If you have followed me for long enough, you will know that the longest distance I have completed in an event is 10k – and that was road running.  I am just going to give it all I got, and hope the land goes easy on me!

I have my dad for moral support on event day, he will be running alongside me.  I said that he can just go on ahead and run his race, but he said he’d like to hang around.  I am probably going to need it ha!

I also Wogged (Walk/Jog) this morning with my run group and surprisingly my feet are feeling good, no pain what so ever, both pairs of shoes are winners so far!

I really love that moment where you feel like you have come so far in your run, realising that months before you could not complete such feats yet here you are brushing it off like it is just another day at the office.  The first time I ran out at the TECT I was sore for days after… today – nothing. YUSS!!

So what did you get up to today? and how did you Pimp the Beast?

See ya tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel 😉

Jay 🙂

PTB 29.10.2013 – Cross training my Off day

Not sure what Pimping the Beast is? … cruise on back to this post to find out, then quickly come back 🙂

I finally got the Bike Trainer set up down stairs.  I even gave it a whirl!

I only did about 10 mins because I had to get the driveway hedge trimmed before my children woke from their arvo nap.

These days my children sleep less, so I get less time to do things around the house.  And because it is Spring, shit just grows like crazy!  We are having to mow our lawns almost twice a week rather than every fortnight or so.  While Hubby is away I must keep up with the maintenance.  Ya know… with the boy jobs and all!

Anywho, back to the Bike Trainer, I don’t want to sound like the most Rookie person out there, but I still don’t get how to operate the gears…. it’s not really like driving a car and its kinda pissing me off!

I just kinda fiddled around till I got it at a good resistance and went from there.

It is kinda loud seeing as I have a semi-slick on thanks to one of my MFP buddies, But its not super loud – well the kids still slept through it anyway.

I don’t get to run today, I run with my group on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays while the hubby isn’t home.  I want to try get out with the kiddies in their stroller an extra day during the week, I’ll have to consult my planner and fit something in.  But while I am on off days I am glad I have another way to fit in some exer-ma-size!

I still need to give INSANITY a go, and I need to organise my strength training…still!  I will have to research that tonight!

Well that’s my deed done for today,

How did you Pimp the Beast today?

Have you tried a new type of cross-training lately?

Jay 🙂

I Just Want to Run – Half Way

Our group has lessened as the weeks have gone on, but I will make sure to see it through to the end.

Today we completed Week 5 Day 2 of the C25k programme – Jog 8 min/Walk 5 min/Jog 8 min with 5 min Warm up and Cool down.

The faster paced group is averaging around 4.2k now, and around 3.6k for the slower paced group.

We have planned to complete Day 2 of Week 5 once more before tackling Day 3 which is a full 20 min Jog.

I think some of the ladies are slightly nervous about the 20 min Jog, but I think if they just lessen their pace, they will be able to get through the full 20 non-stop without too much trouble.

I may join the slower paced group for support for Day 3, to help get them through the tough bits.

After this week we will have just 2 more weeks of the programme left to complete.  I expect we will spread it over the remainder of November.  I know by the time we finish the full programme the group will be able to jog a full 30 mins/close to 5k.

It is getting closer, and I am super excited for each and everyone of the I Just Want to Run ladies.  They will all be completing a full 5k in no time… they may actually like it too!

Spreading the Running bug!

Jay 🙂

PTB 28.10.2013 – Snack time

In my pantry there are no ready to eat snacks 😦

I have to make/bake/create them.  There is a lot of prep behind my fast food!

Especially where my children are concerned, there is much need for small snacks to make up Morning and Afternoon tea’s.

I have dedicated Mondays to Food Prep.

Unfortunately for me my supermarket shopping isn’t due to arrive till tomorrow afternoon due to the Long Weekend, so I had to get creative… or hit up Pinterest.

On my Pinterest, I have many a recipe I have not yet tried.  I sifted through some snack/healthy eating recipes and came up with a couple that I could whip up using things I already have in my pantry.

No Bake Energy Bites and Banana Bread (I made this recipe into semi-mini muffins, and made some substitutions).

No Bake Energy Bites

Ingredients

• 1 cup (dry) oatmeal (I used old-fashioned oats)
• 2/3 cup toasted coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed or wheat germ
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or cacao nibs (optional)
• 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp. chia seeds (optional)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

For this recipe I subbed the Toasted coconut for plain shredded coconut.
I used Craft Crunchy Peanut Butter.
I subbed the flaxseed/wheatgerm for Organic Quinoa Cereal (I tried this cereal as a cereal, I hated it! lol it is not for everyone!)

In hind site I should have put less chocolate chips than suggested – perhaps a 1/3cup rather than half a cup.  I found it too hard to make up the balls with so many chocolate chips (probably the only time you will ever hear me say that!).

Makes 20 1 Inch balls – roughly 70-80 cals per ball.
These are a good replacement for store bought muesli bars and taste very similar to one of my favourites.  Even though they are only an inch in diameter they pack enough sweetness and a slightly savoury note to take that edge off till the next meal time.

BANANA BREAD

75g/1⁄3 a cup of soft butter, plus extra for greasing and serving
4 ripe bananas, mashed up
200g/1 cup of soft brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
1 pinch of salt 170g/11⁄2 cups of flour (spelt or whatever)

Instead of Butter I used Cereal and fruit oil… a new product at my supermarket – they sent a free sample with my groceries a few weeks ago so I decided to try it out in my baking. I used 2/3cup of the oil.

I only used half the amount of Brown sugar.
I used 1 cup of regular flour and half a cup of Wholemeal flour

Makes 12 – I didn’t work out the cal content of these ones, I wont be eating them.  Just made them for the kiddies.
I am working on a lower cal version of this recipe.  I will be sure to post!  All Packed up and ready to freeze – Freezes Well 🙂

So Mondays will now be my ‘New Recipe day’ for Pimping the Beats, as well as my Food Prep day.
I hope to get as ‘Clean’ as I can with these recipes.

I am really feeling good about ‘Cleaning’ up my act!

Have you tried a new Recipe lately?

How did you Pimp the Beast today?

Jay 🙂

PTB 27.10.2013 – Adding a 4th Run day

Today I made sure that I got back on track.  I woke at about 6.30 am and couldn’t get back to sleep so I laced up and went for a run.

I don’t usually run in the weekends, but the Hubby was home so I decided to add a 4th Run day to my weekly regime.  This 4th Run day will only occur when he is home, unless I find childcare arrangements for Saturdays to be able to get an hour or so in.

It was colder this morning than it had been other mornings, so it took me a while to get loose and find my stride.  I am still breaking in the new kicks so I took it easy.
By about the 3rd km I felt good enough to keep it non-stop which I did all the way home.  I made sure only to do a 5k as Hubby needed time to pack (while children weren’t bugging him) before heading off again for another 3 1/2 weeks.
It has been a bit rough only having him home for a week, but I can’t complain as he doesn’t have to work while he is home and also the next time he is off he will be spending 9 weeks with us, hence my decision to train for Half Mara.

My run was slow this morning.  I am definitely starting to notice some weakness in my core, I haven’t done any core work for a really long time.  I was finding it hard to keep good form as my lower back wasn’t cooperating which in turn was putting pressure on my hips, which then put pressure on my knees.  It is safe to say that I need to sort my strength quick smart!

I think I have rectified my mess from yesterday.  I know we all have bad days so I thought it was necessary not to go digging for something to write about, rather I should tell you all I didn’t complete the challenge for yesterday.  I am ok with that, as long as I don’t lose focus on the bigger picture and have it all just stop!

Tomorrow I have some plans to do it all over again, We need to get serious about Pimping the Beast, December is not too far away, and I have a body to prepare!

How was your weekend as a whole?  and How have you Pimped the Beast today?

Not sure what I am talking about?  Read my Initial blog post on it here. Small changes everyday to make the most of 2013, and hit 2014 strong!

Oh and an update on the Run group later tonight,

See you then,

Jay 🙂

P.S. Listened to an interesting Podcast by Steve Runner along my run – Phedippidations Podcast 309 The Paradox of Pronation.  It was particularly interesting to me seeing as I have been surrounded by a lot of Pronation talk lately.  I also struggle to get a grip on the ‘right fit’ of shoe and how the support of a shoe must be correct for how you run…  my mind boggles with all the contradicting information available online these days, so it was interesting to hear about a few of the studies in the podcast.  You should check it out!

PTB 26.10.2013 – or not…

Today was an abortion! My cat threw up at 4am in three different places down my hallway carpet, my children fought all morning – ending in tears and bite marks on skin, my husband and I had a disagreement. It all quickly turned to shit all before 10am!

Today I took a day off Pimping the Beast. Instead I drank Margarita’s and relaxed in the spa with my children – lets just call it a Mental Health Day!

Back into it tomorrow!

How did you Pimp the Beast today? Did you have a day off too?

See you tomorrow,

Jay 🙂

PTB 25.10.2013 – Chia, but different

Today I skipped the Oats and yogurt and had toast, peanut butter and banana.

I really felt like a simple carb and ‘toast’ was how I was going to get it.

Because I had a different breakfast I realised I was going to miss out on my Chia Seed for today.

There is no way I can miss out on Chia, there are far too many benefits to miss out on!  In the list below Jess Ainscough will tell you why…

Here are a heap of reasons to eat chia:

1. Chia is gluten free

2. It is super high in dietary fibre, making it great for digestion and healing digestion issues.

3. It contains 20% Omega 3 ALA, making it a super food for the brain and heart. Chia has eight times more Omega 3 than salmon!

4. It boasts 20% protein

5. The protein is a complete protein with all 8 essential amino acids

6. It is high in antioxidants (It has a four times higher ORAC value than blueberries)

7. Chia contains five times more calcium than milk

8. Chia contains seven times more vitamin C than oranges

9. It contains three times more iron than spinach

10. It contains twice the potassium content of banana

11. It is food for healthy skin, hair and nails

12. It has a positive impact balancing blood glucose levels (making it awesome for diabetics)

13. Chia makes a great egg replacement. Just combine with water to form a gel, and add it to recipes that call for egg.
HOW MUCH CHIA SHOULD WE EAT?

Nutritionists recommend that 15g/0.53oz (one tablespoon) of chia is consumed each day. Be sure to drink plenty of water as chia is very high in fiber.

– Jess Ainscough The Wellness Warrior – 13 Awesome Reasons to eat Chia Seeds everyday

I wasn’t going to miss out on all of the good stuff so I thought of a different delivery of Chia – WATER – I know what you are thinking… are you crazy?  It will be ICK!

Believe it or not, It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, it was quick and painless and was over in seconds!

Looks pretty gross huh!  But I guess the awkward delivery of the Chia seed is totally worth the benefits of them.

First time I have tried them this way.  I will never go a day without them because I have found that my mood is changed by not having them.  There is a noticeable difference!

In Other news…

Took my new New Balance Road Runners for a spin today.  They felt amazing!  A little awkward at first because all the fresh padding hadn’t yet got my foot groove indentation, but no pain, no blisters (yet) and a nice easy comfy run!  Gosh I have a Crush on Running!
The test will be on my next Long Run, which I have planned for tomorrow, I don’t know if this is pushing it in the new shoes, but I kind of have to wear them seeing as the others do worse for me.

Tonight I am out for Dinner with the hubby, and I plan not to have a lot of alcoholic beveys.  This is not a promise though!  I have eaten quite well this week so I think I have allowed myself a treat out!

How about you?  How have you Pimped the Beast today?  Been for a run at all?  Tell me all about it…

See you tomorrow, where we will again Pimp the Beast!

Jay 🙂

PTB 21.10.2013 – Doin it for Kicks!

It is Labour Weekend and there are sales galore!

So I got me some new kicks!

I was well-overdue for some, my old Adidas Marathons have been expired for well over 3 months now but I love how light they are and how good it feels to connect my feet/toes with the ground.

Unlike the other pair of Sauconys, while they may be a good shoe – I don’t think that they are a good shoe for me.  We are going back to this Arch pain with these shoes, also they have always felt super heavy to run in, like big pillows of heavy cushioned fluff(cement)!!  I have never really been too comfortable in them, although being told that they were the right shoe for my feet… gah!  I don’t know… we will give this new lot a go!

So without further a do –

When I got home, only then did I realise that they had coordinating colours…weird!

Anywho, the Left pair are Road Shoes, and are for an Over-pronater, They seem more comfortable than the Saucony’s and are also super light and less Bulky – love that!

The Right pair are Trail shoes, which I hope to race in come November, So I really need to start breaking them in.  I know blisters are part of a runners life, but I will avoid them if I can!

I have never tried New Balance brand before, I hope these work out.  I am not a label basher so I don’t migrate toward the most popular brand, what ever is comfortable and what ever works is what I buy.  I have to run in these baby’s for the next 6 months (if they don’t wear out sooner) so I wouldn’t compromise function for style (or colour for that matter – not a big fan of pink!)

Run day tomorrow with the running group, I plan to take the newbies out for a whirl.  I will be doing very short wog (Walk/Jog), max of 20 mins so it will be nice for a first outing… the Group are actually in the middle of Week 5 of the c25k and still seem to be enjoying the increasing intensity.  We are officially half way, will do another update of my Running group (I Just want to Run!) at the end of the week.

So….

How did you Pimp the Beast today?

Are your running shoes up to par?

Catch ya tomorrow,

Jay 🙂