It had been a while

It's been awhile since I blogged. So here is what's been up....
*went with hubby to NCAA tourney round one to cheer on our alma mater, Murray State
*spent a weekend with Run2Walk (picture below with my trainer after a workout and interviews)
*went on longest training run yet (11 miles)
*tried bodyglide LOVED it
*got badly sunburned on that run
* used tea bags as a sting remedy (picture below)
*developed multiple pinched nerves in my upper back and shoulders requiring two days off work and a week of no working out
*didnt focus on eating super great during that week off
*brought focus back to nutrition this week
*got my new running shoes in
*took my show choir to watch show choir nationals in Nashville. Very cool
*counting down to spring break
*figured out training runs now through the race 4 weeks from tomorrow

Pictures below!

Quick bedtime thoughts

First thought... I wish I was already sleeping!

I had this funny realization tonight. I had frozen banana slices an hour before bed (my trainer has me eat a healthy snack at that time to maintain sugar levels as I sleep). I felt like I cheated big because they were so sweet. It used to take a LOT more than a banana to make me feel like I cheated. Pretty cool that my mindset has changed like that. Proof that it's a lifestyle not a diet.

Weigh in tomorrow for Salmon Biggest Loser. I'm feeling confident this week. If I win and get the $10 I'm going to purchase my own domain for my blog! Yipee. Let's see how it goes. I'll post in the morning!

Good night all!

Great week so far....

I'm having a good week so far! Pounds are dropping (for the first time in a while), tried three new recipes I like, workouts are going well, and I'm seeing physical differences!

I'm weighing when I want to everyday to every other day and I truly feel that it keeps me motivated as long as I remember the concept of fluctuation. So far this week I'm down 3 pounds. Hubby better watch out in our Biggest Loser weigh in Wednesday morning!

New recipes I tried:

Turkey Stuffed Peppers:
Preheat oven to 385*
Cut the top off and hollow the seeds from 4 peppers. Place them in boiling water.
While they boil.... Brown 1 lb of ground turkey. Add chopped onion (Half of a small onion) ,2 tbsp of minced garlic, and 2 tbsp of chili garlic sauce (optional).
Once good an brown add mixture equally to the four boiled peppers. Stan them up in a baking dish, top with 1/.2 oz of colby cheese.
Bake until cheese is fully melted.
Serve!
248 cal each

Lemon Pepper Brussel Sprouts:
Wash Brussel sprouts
Place in a steamer on the stove too or steamer bag or however you steam. Spray with olive oil. Just a spritz! Shake with lemon pepper.
Stir to coat
Steam until desired tenderness.
* I have a kitchen sprayer that sprays whatever you put in it. For me EVOO. *

White wine Bay scallops w shrimp over while wheat pasta.

Thaw out frozen bay scallops 9 oz
(Kroger sells 9oz bags and they are on sale now for 3.99)
Thaw out fully cooked mini shrimp 4.5 oz
(Also Kroger)
Chop up 2 bell peppers i like red an orange for the vitamin C.
Sautée the peppers in a skillet with a spritz of olive oil. Set them aside
Sautée the scallops once finished add shrimp. Put peppers back in. Add a splash of white wine.
Serves 4:
Serve over 2 oz of whole wheat pasta.
Calories each 145
Calories each w pasta 325

I also learned how to make a great treat from fellow Twitter friend who is also on a running/weight loss journey @_J2.

Frozen Banana Slices:
Slice a banana and freeze
Easy right?!
When you eat it it has an ice cream texture/consistency. For someone like me that craves ice cream this is fantastic!
You can pair it with nutella if you have room in your daily intake.
Calories: 90-105 each
Add nutella for 100 cal per Tbsp

I also ordered new running shoes:

That takes me back to my doctor appointment for my knee.
Doctor said this :
Your knee is fine
X ray show great healthy knees
Flexibility is normal for a childhood soccer player
Still over pronating a bit
He loved my running shoes (Asics Kyano)
Suggested I still with the same support structure but change to Saucony. He said the heel on a Saucony is ever so slightly raised higher than the Asics providing relief to my knee.
He also prescribed custom orthotics (shoe inserts) for the pronation.

So I went to my local running shoe provider. I picked the Saucony ProGrid Guide 5 based on its similarities to the Asics that have treated me well. I tied them on. They were purple and green. Cute.... I told the sales clerk that "one day I will find a running shoe that is right for me that is solid hot pink" we both giggled an I said "too bad the fit is more important than looks"
I headed home to read more online. Not only did I find the Guide 5 to be Runner's World Editor's Choice but also found that they come in almost solid hot pink. So I went back to the store the next day and special ordered them in pink. It's not about color and look but if it's what you need and it comes in your favorite color why not?! Picture below!

So all in all a good week so far. Running tomorrow. Cross trained over the weekend to rest up my knee one more time. Looking to run a 10 miler on Friday while Run2Walk is here with me! Love me some long runs with my brother!

"If you can dream it, you can do it"
Walt Disney

Biggest Loser in the Salmon house!

Well a few weeks ago my hubby got the motivation that he needed to go on his weight loss journey. They began Biggest Loser at his school where he teaches. He is a very competitive type and it really gave him the push. He's lost 7% of his body weight so far in 5 weigh ins. Not bad in my opinion.

At my previous school that I worked at we did Biggest Loser a few times. I got third place the semester before we moved and the move (that I've talked about before) put the weight back on because it was 2 months living with family and what not without our own kitchen.

Anyhow. So my hubby came up with the idea that He and I do our own BL at home. So we are...

Here's how it works. Weigh in days are Wed. Same as his work weigh in. Each week the biggest loser % wise gets $10 spending money and we set $10 aside. The first person to their overall, final goal gets the set aside total that we add to each week. It's like a jackpot on Wheel of Fortune. $10 extra spending money may not seem like much but we hold a tight budget to get out of debt (Dave Ramsey's way) and so $10 is pretty good and the total at the end will be even better. We are keeping the total on the fridge so we can see it a lot for motivation.

I love competition. This will be a lot of fun. I'm still cheering for him. Though I want to beat him! Just think.... If he wins at work and I beat him then I'm really doing good! I am so proud of his success so far and I hope that he wins his BL contest at work!

It's also much more fun to go to the gym together!

Go Brandon I love you very much an I'm so proud of your progress.

So I'll keep y'all updated. Today was week one. He beat me by a lot! His percent was 2.3% and mine was 0.2%. I had a slow week weight wise. He better be ready next week!

I had a great run yesterday! Awesome
400 meter repeats. Times were really great! They were 2:49-2:26-2:47-2:41!
This far surpassed my trainers goal of my 400 meter repeats being 3:26 and under!!!

Today was cross training and strength circuit. I zoomed through my circuit to keep my heart rate up. However I did not let my form suffer. I then headed into the pool and did a circuit between running, running backwards, and kicking only (no upper body) the length of the pool. I did about 11 laps total. I really kicked up my intensity in the water tonight. Kicks only are tough. I kicked harder than ever tonight!!!

Picture below from my circuit tonight.

Running update.

I haven't posted nearly as much in the last week as I wanted. I kept saying to myself "I have to blog this" it was the step between thinking and typing that malfunctioned. Lol. My job is busy right now getting my choirs ready for choral festival and getting grades in for this last week of the quarter! Yikes. Life!!!

So what's been happening?....

New stuff from my trainer. I'm cross training 3 days a week in addition to my 3 days of runs. My cross training right now consists of riding my bike and swimming (or water running and other water exercises for my legs). I also strength train along side my cross training two days a week. I have a running specific strength circuit that is new that I really like.

I have time goals for all of my runs right now. I am really pushing my pace on my tempo runs and working hard on my 400m repeats. Right now my 400m repeat time goal is less than 3:25 for the quarter mile. I did 3:05 and 3:11 last week. Very pleased. Wanted to do four. Was very sore from cross training and only did two. Then my 4 mile run on Thursday went great. My last two 4 mile training runs were 1:05 and 1:11. This 4 mile training run was 58". Yay I knocked 7 min off of my previous time. My pace goal was 14:22. My pace ended up being 14:34. Very close. When I ran 9 miles a few Saturdays ago I did not even get winded. Pushing that pace got me winded and it felt great!!!

I've been having knee pain in my right knee. It started after the 9 mile run and I can't quite get it back to normal. I utilized the free physical therapy assessment at my gym (I'm becoming a regular in this training process lol). Anyhow the PT there determined that my ligaments are too limber and allow my knee to shift around too much causing wear and tear on my meniscus. My 4 mile run still aggitated it pretty good so I'm headed into my regular MD (sports medicine specialist) on Thursday to get his thoughts. They already have an x ray planned. We will go from there I guess. I have to stay on top of aches and pains more than normal because I'm not just training for me but also for Run2Walk. I can't hurt myself and not be able to run my race. I'm ahead of schedule in my training for that exact reason. To allow for rest if needed.

So that is my running update.

I've been weighing often again and I truly think I do better with frequent weigh ins. At least for now. That leads into my next post about Biggest Loser in the Salmon house! Coming soon. Soon for real this time!

Picture of my sad face at physical therapy for my knee assessment after work.