Weekly Recap: January 24-30

Although I've said I teach spinning, I technically have only been teaching indoor cycling for the past 4 years. Spinning is actually a trademark term that you can only use if you're Spinning certified and ride on Spinner bikes. Luckily, the gym I teach at doesn't get that technical and only labels the class as Indoor Cycling, which I am certified to teach. After debating a couple years whether or not I want to spend $350 to get certified, I finally broke down and officially became Spinning certified on Saturday. This will actually give me the opportunity to hopefully start teaching at some other gyms that only take Spinning certified instructors. The certification class itself was pretty boring since I know how to set up the bike, proper form, etc. but at least we got to do two 1 hour rides while there.

Monday: 45 min elliptical; lifted total body

Tuesday: 45 min spinning; core

Wednesday: 30 min elliptical; total body circuit

Thursday: 30 min Jillian Michaels: Yoga Meltdown Level 1
30 min Pilates @ lululemon

Friday: 40 min elliptical; lifted total body

Saturday: 2 x 1 hr spinning

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning

TOTAL: 0 miles

Pilates & Pampering at lululemon

Last night, I met Lynn at lululemon at Easton for Pilates & Pampering. One of the lululemon Ambassadors was teaching a complimentary pilates class in the store for 30 minutes followed by pampering at Aveda across the street. I was excited because I was finally able to attend one of their in-store classes. They have yoga classes every Sunday but unfortunately it's at the same time I teach spinning so I can never make it. I hear the yoga classes are great too because they have a featured yoga studio once a month and an instructor from that studio teaches the complimentary Sunday classes that month. I love how lululemon really tries to reach out to the community and offer something other than a clothing line. Now only if their clothes weren't so expensive...

I heart you lulu

Anyways, the pilates class was great. I had never done pilates and thankfully I teach a core class so I managed to make it through 30 minutes but my abs were burning by the end. Afterwards, we went to Aveda for hand & chair massages and Lynn & I were able to catch up with each other. I'm really hoping lululemon will start having a more events during the week or on Saturday mornings.

I was also excited to finally show off my late Christmas presents from Todd. He had to take back one of my presents and we went shopping last weekend and he got me the Effortless Tote and Sigg Om Bottle from lululemon. I had been searching for a cute yoga mat bag and finally found one that will carry my yoga mat and all my other gym stuff. You can never go wrong with an "I Heart Running" water bottle either. I really needed to throw out the one I use every week for spinning and will replace it with this one.

Water bottle & gym bag....
...which doubles as a carrier for my yoga mat!

Jillian Michaels: Yoga Meltdown

I was quite proud of myself today after work because I did 2 things I have a really hard time motivating myself to do: 1) Work out after work and 2) Do a workout DVD at home. Although I am starting to get quite the collection of Jackie Warner & Jillian Michaels workout DVDs, I find myself struggling to actually do them at home because I get easily distracted and since I live on the 2nd floor of my apartment building, I really don't want to annoy my downstairs neighbors. This will be solved once Todd & I move in together in April because we'll be living in a townhome so no need to worry about jumping up and down and bothering anyone below us. Anyways, I recently got the Jillian Michaels: Yoga Meltdown DVD and decided to do it today after work since I didn't make it to yoga earlier in the week.

Jillian Michaels: Yoga Meltdown

There are 2 workouts on the DVD that are 30 minutes each. Although I've been doing yoga for the past couple months now, I wanted to start with Level 1 just to be on the safe side. The workout was challenging but do-able and I am excited to try Level 2 next time. It was different from a traditional yoga workout in that you would do a standard yoga pose but then add reps to the movement to keep your heart rate up. It didn't leave me drenched in sweat by any means and I guess I'll find out tomorrow if I'm sore or not but I will definitely be doing it again soon.

I'm Officially a Gleek!

I'm a little late on jumping on the Glee bandwagon but I finally broke down about a month ago and bought the Season 1 DVD when it was on sale on Amazon. It took me a few episodes to get into it but I'm pretty much obsessed. I actually watched 4 straight episodes one day last week after leaving work a few hours early due to the weather. I love musicals so this really shouldn't come to any surprise and I can't wait to start watching Season 2!

Weekly Recap: January 17-23

I felt like I had another successful week in the books until my run on Saturday morning. I was hoping for at least an 8 mi run but I'm still having some lingering right hip pain. Again, it doesn't necessarily hurt but it doesn't feel normal if that makes sense. I'm definitely glad I didn't try to push my luck with Boston this year. I'm going to take another week off from running (although with the extremely low mileage I've been doing, I don't think that will be that challenging). To keep my fitness level up, I plan on doing a lot of spinning this week.

Monday: 4 mi (8:27 pace); lifted total body

Tuesday: 75 min Power Flow Yoga
30 min bike

Wednesday: 5 mi w/ 2 x 1 mi @ 7:30 & 7:26 (7:47 pace); lifted total body

Thursday: 75 min Spinning/TRX combo class

Friday: REST (in Cleveland)

Saturday: 4 mi (8:15 pace); 30 min bike

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning

TOTAL: 13 mi

Concert, Grilled Cheese, and Beer in Cleveland

Todd & I had tickets to see Naturally 7 in concert in Cleveland on Thursday night so we drove up after work and stayed the night with our friends, Emily & Mark. Of course, when we planned this trip several months ago, we weren't planning on snow getting dumped on us so it took almost 3 hrs to get up there instead of the usual 2 hrs.

I had seen Naturally 7 open for Michael Buble back in the summer and thought they were incredible. They're an acapella group consisting of 7 guys but what makes them great is that they use "vocal play." What this means is that there is no band playing instruments, but they manipulate their voice or make different sounds to sound like a bass, acoustic guitar, cymbals, snare, and even a turn table. I had tried to explain the concept to Todd before going and played a few of their songs from iTunes but it really doesn't do it justice. I know we both had a great time and were very impressed with the group.

Since we had taken Friday off work, Todd & I were able to sleep in and then enjoy the day in Cleveland. We started off with an early lunch at Melt. If you've ever seen Man vs. Food, this is the restaurant Adam Richman goes to on the Cleveland episode and takes part in the Melt Challenge. Adam had to eat a grilled cheese sandwich with 3 pieces of bread, 13 different kinds of cheese, fries, and coleslaw and it weighed almost 5 pounds. Although Todd & I didn't end up attempting this $22 sandwich, we did enjoy some other variations of a classic grilled cheese sandwich.

Melt Bar & Grilled

Menu with tons of grilled cheese options
We started off with some pieorgies
Todd got the Wake & Bacon with cheese, fried eggs, and bacon
I got the Purple Parma
Eggplant with cheese, tomatoes, and sun-dried tomato pesto

Everything at Melt was delicious and we were stuffed despite only eating half of our sandwiches. Afterwards, we made a quick stop at the West Side Market for pieorgies to take home and then we headed to Indigo Imp Brewery. If you haven't caught on by now, no matter where we're traveling, Todd & I must stop at a brewery. Indigo is only sold in Cleveland and a few select stores in Columbus. We saw that the brewery was only open on Fridays so we were hoping for a tour and some samples, but what we didn't realize was that this place is run by 1 person! It was a very small scale brewery that the owner had built himself and he rents space from a warehouse type building. He didn't even have a license to let us try samples but he was excited we had heard about his beer since we're from Columbus so he gave us a short tour of the place. It was actually pretty cool to see and hear about his experiences. We ended up buying a variety pack of beers to try at home.

Todd & his 6 pack

Since Todd was actually hoping to sample some beer, we decided to drive to the other side of town to Rocky River Brewing Company. Todd was excited to try their sampler tray and I even had a few sips of each beer. We came to the consensus though that the beer wasn't very good.

Rocky River Brewing Co.
Todd's Sampler Tray

We met Emily & Mark out for Happy Hour appetizers & drinks at the Cleveland Chophouse. After a few hours of laughing & talking, Todd & I decided to head home since I had to get up early yesterday for a baby shower. It was nice to have a 3 day weekend and go on a short trip to see some friends especially since my next few weekends are going to be super busy.

Another Thing Checked Off the Wedding List....

Todd & I officially booked our honeymoon a couple nights ago! I feel like it's another huge weight lifted off my shoulders in terms of wedding planning.


We'll be spending 8 days & 7 nights in luscious St. Lucia at Sandals Grande St. Lucian enjoying married life together. Although we'll be staying at the Grande St. Lucian, Sandals has 2 other resorts on St. Lucia which we'll be able to go to. I think their slogan is "Stay at 1, Play at 3." Because Sandals resorts are all-inclusive, we won't have to worry about paying for meals or drinks the entire time and in fact, will be able to choose from 21 total restaurants between the 3 resorts. We'll have access to plenty of pools, beaches, and water sports. Todd is already excited to go scuba diving one day and play a round of golf....both of which are included! Although I don't golf, I plan on hanging out on a golf cart for a couple hours, soaking in the sun with a tropical drink in hand, watching Todd play golf. We also got a $250 spa credit for booking our trip with our travel agent so we'll also have a couples massage too. There are also a few off-resort excursions you can pay extra for and we definitely plan on doing the zipline through the rainforest. It all sounds too good to be true!

We will be staying in the Honeymoon Swim Up Lagoon Room with concierge service. Basically, our room fridge will constantly be stocked with drinks, we don't have to take care of making any reservations for meals or excursions, and will be able to walk outside our patio straight into the pool. Sounds like heaven to me.

Honeymoon Swim Up Lagoon Rooms

Only 7 months to go!

Finally!

I was pretty pumped yesterday when I found out I got my first "blogger award" from Sara at Words to Run By. She's a local runner who is truly inspirational as she's on a weight loss journey and training for her first marathon this year. She also recently became a Pace Coach for the MIT program (marathoner in training) in Columbus.

So how does this award work?

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 10 other bloggers.
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award

Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of people have been given this award recently so I'm not going to pass it on to any other bloggers. I can't remember who has received it and don't want to duplicate so you'll just get to find out 7 things about me instead.

1. My goal in life is to open a bar named "The Mullet Bar." You know, it'll be business in the front and party in the back. I'd like to have a restaurant in the front room and bar in the back room. The only thing I'm missing is the money to fund my amazing idea.

2. I got food poisoning in college from the salad bar...at least, that's what they think it was. I was in the hospital for a week because of an inflamed colon and the city health department had 4 other similar cases, all of whom were University of Dayton college students so they assumed we all had food poisoning. My stomach has never been the same since then.

3. I'm 27 years old and I'm still scared of my parent's basement. If I go over to their house and my mom wants me to get something from the basement, I will leave the door wide open and literally sprint down and back up as fast as I can. I have this weird idea that someone has broken into the house and is hanging out in the crawl space.

4. The only family I have in Ohio is my parents and my great aunt in Cleveland and it's been like that my entire life. My brother hasn't lived in Ohio for the past 12 years.

5. I have naturally curly hair although it didn't really become curly until high school. Most people who have curly hair want straight hair and vice versa but I actually love my curly hair and have never straightened it.

6. I wake up almost every work day between 4:30-4:45 AM to hit the gym before being at work at 7:30 AM. Sleeping in to me is getting up at 6:00 AM.

7. I'm slightly obsessed with cool whip and could eat an entire container in one sitting.


Thanks again for the award Sara and be sure to check out her blog!

Homemade Sushi

On Sunday night, Todd invited our friends, Derek & Emily, over to his apartment for sushi. Todd & Derek had been trying to get this planned for some time and since we just found out Derek & Emily are moving to San Francisco in a couple weeks (which I'm super bummed about), there was no better time than the present.

I had heard that Derek makes some amazing sushi so I was pretty excited to see him in action. While he was prepping the ingredients, Todd hosted a beer tasting for Emily & I. Todd is trying to find a beer that him & I both like to model our wedding beer after. He bought 8 different bottles of beer and we got started on our tasting. I had to write down each beer and rank it on a scale of 1 to 5. After all was said and done, I ended up liking the first beer I tried the best, Hoegaarden.

The 8 beers in our tasting

Emily brought over Japanese candies that were delicious...we used them to cleanse our palate in between beers

Derek's plate of cucumbers, avocado, salmon, and tuna

Tempura shrimp & cucumber roll

Derek making the sushi rolls

It took Derek about an hour and a half to make all the sushi and they turned out awesome! I really felt like I was at a sushi bar because the rolls looked & tasted so good. I can't remember all the ones he made but a few of them were spicy tuna, tempura shrimp, and California roll.

Delicious (and colorful) sushi

After we ate all the sushi & had brownie sundaes, our bellies were full and we hung out watching the Golden Globes. We're hanging out with Derek & Emily again this weekend for their going away party and I really am pretty upset that they're moving. The good news is that they already know they'll be back in May and since Derek is one of Todd's groomsmen, they'll also be back in August for our wedding.

Weekly Recap: January 10-16

So I failed on upping my mileage (and slightly embarrassed because Todd actually ran more than me this week) but I did run 6 mi on Saturday morning in 7:51 pace and felt great. That's a start, right?

I mentioned running a 1/2 marathon in May so my training for that technically isn't going to start until February so I'm still just taking it easy and building a base for now. Again, I'm being over cautiously about not getting injured; however, after years of no problems, my foot is actually starting to hurt due to a bunion. I'm headed to my podiatrist soon (yes, I've actually been seeing a podiatrist for years) to see what the solution is and I'm pretty sure surgery is the only option. As long as I'm not causing any further damage, I'm gonna try to push the surgery off as long as possible....or at least until after my wedding! I gotta wear my pink heels!

Monday: 4 mi (8:15 pace), 30 min elliptical
1 hr Cardio & Strength Combo class

Tuesday: 75 min Power Flow yoga

Wednesday: REST

Thursday: 75 min Spinning/TRX Combo class

Friday: 30 min elliptical; lifted total body

Saturday: 6 mi (7:51 pace)

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning

TOTAL: 10 mi

Stromboli

Todd & I made stromboli for New Year's Eve and since we thought it was so tasty, we also made it last weekend to take to our friend's party. It was a huge hit & it was all gone by the end of the night. You can substitute other ingredients such as adding pizza sauce or veggies but I listed below the ingredients we used.

Stromboli

Stromboli

Ingredients:

1 loaf frozen bread dough (we used 2 packages of Trader Joe's refrigerated pizza dough)

1 egg

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 lb pepperoni

1/2 lb ham

1/4 lb hard salami

1/4 lb provolone cheese

Directions:

1. Thaw bread dough until soft enough to stretch, but do not allow it to rise. Stretch dough into a 12" x 18" pan.

2. Beat egg with basil and brush most of egg mixture over dough.

3. Alternately layer sliced meats & cheese on one side of dough.

4. Fold over other side of dough & brush with remaining egg mixture on top.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Ham, pepperoni, salami, and cheese layered in the dough
Folded up and ready to bake
Delicious brown & golden crust with lots of fillings inside!

Hood to Coast Movie

I ran Hood to Coast this past August and I was ecstatic when I found out this movie was coming to theaters. I met up with a couple of my Hood to Coast teammates on Tuesday night to see it & I also dragged Todd along, but luckily he actually seemed to really enjoy it.

This documentary/movie followed 4 teams from the 2008 Hood to Coast Relay. If you aren't familiar with this race, it's a 197 mile 12-person relay that takes you from Mt. Hood to the coast of Oregon over the span of about 30 hours. The 4 teams consisted of a veteran team that had been running as a team for 20+ years, a newbie team who trained by drinking beer & eating pizza, a family & friends team running for a son/husband that had passed away the year before, and an older all-female team who had one of their runners need medical attention during the relay the year before. The stories were inspiring and heartbreaking.

I personally loved the movie because it took me back to my experience just a few months ago....and it made me realize how crazy we were for running it! I was glad Todd was able to see it because it showed him what I went through since I'm sure the stories I told him didn't do it justice. Yes, you're running in the middle of the night along the shoulder of the road with cars & trucks flying by on no sleep and having eaten next to nothing. Yes, I loved every second of it and can't wait to do another relay. I also liked it because, as a veteran of riding in van 1, I never got to see the legs that my teammates in van 2 ran. I had heard about terrible leg 20 that consists of 5 miles uphill on a dusty dirt road but I didn't really understand how painful that leg must have been until I saw it in the movie.

I highly recommend seeing this movie even if you've never done Hood to Coast. It's an amazing experience and this movie proves that anyone can run if you put your mind to it.

Life, Love, and.....Half Marathons?

I've been meaning to write this post for about a week now but I just really haven't wanted to. I have decided after much thinking and advice from Todd & my mom to not run Boston this year. And you know what? Once I made this decision, I honestly felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I've been overwhelmed the past few months with work and wedding planning (it's almost like a full time job at times!) and to add marathon training on top would be way too much. Not too mention it was going to cost Todd & I at least $2000 to go to Boston. I'd been feeling unmotivated to get out and run and the thought of having to do long runs all winter long sounded pretty miserable. After training for Boston the past 2 winters (and then not even running last year), it's sometimes pure torture to go out and run in the cold. Let alone, go out and run for 3 hours when temps are below freezing. I've put my body through a lot the past few years training for and running marathons and I think I'm going to give my body a little bit of a rest from running 26.2 miles.

After running Columbus in October, I took some time off from running and tried some new classes like yoga & TRX suspension training.....and I love them! Unfortunately, once I dive into marathon training, I won't have time for those classes because not only do I have to focus on running and some occasional strength training, but I also have a full-time job, a wedding to plan, and a wonderful fiance to spend time with. Not too mention, Todd & I are moving in together in April.

I had a few friends that had amazing races this past year and to see the passion and dedication they have for running is incredible. I feel like I used to be like that and I want to get back to that place. Now don't get me wrong, I don't hate running and I never will but right now, running Boston will not light that fire for me that I need. I know that sounds funny because if anything, Boston should be the motivation that I need because hello, it's BOSTON. I think I'm burnt out from training for marathons and I miss the awesome group of girls I ran with a couple years ago.

Of course, I'm not going to give up running completely but just take the year off from marathons. I have a few races planned for 2011 and a pretty lofty goal in mind too. I'm hoping to train for & race two 1/2 marathons in Columbus this year, one in May and one in October. To non-runners, it seems like if I'm burnt out on marathons than why in the world would I run a 1/2 marathon. Trust me, there is a world of difference between running a 1/2 and running a full marathon, both in the time commitment to training and on race day.

My goal is to hopefully get an automatic qualifier for the NYC Marathon. For me, this would be to run a 1/2 marathon in or under 1:37. My PR is 1:38:30 so it's realistic but will be challenging. My Hood to Coast teammates from last year have also mentioned possibly running Reach the Beach Relay in September and Todd & I just signed up for the Warrior Dash in June. So despite not running Boston (and it's too late to turn back because I already cancelled my hotel reservation), I still have plenty of races to look forward to in 2011. And oh yeah, I'm also getting married this year!

Weekly Recap: January 3-9

I was able to run 3 days this week and felt pretty good despite my legs feeling tired during my 5 miler on Saturday morning. This probably had to do with the fact that I worked out late in the afternoon on Friday so my legs were a little sore from lifting. I'm hoping to bump up my mileage just a little bit this week and have a little bit of a "longer" run this weekend.

Monday: 4 mi (7:46 pace); 60 min elliptical

Tuesday: 75 min Power Flow Yoga

Wednesday: REST

Thursday: 4 mi (7:44 pace); core

Friday: 30 min elliptical; lifted total body

Saturday: 5 mi (8:14 pace)

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning

TOTAL: 13 mi

Brewing Away!

Todd & I made our 5th (or is it 6th?) batch of beer last weekend. We made an Oatmeal Stout which should be ready by February. Todd got another carboy (container used in fermentation of beer) for Christmas so we're hopefully gonna get another batch going in the next few weeks so we'll have 2 going simultaneously. Last February, I went through the step-by-step process of making our Holiday Ale so click here if you're interested.

Cooling the beer down with the wort chiller

My main job in the beer making process is to write down every step in Todd's beer journal so we can compare beers we make

The wort (it's not beer yet) remains in this fermenter for about a week before being transferred to the carboy for a couple weeks

Todd's next goal is to use his grain mill to crush the grains & make his beer from "scratch" and not use a beer kit.

Back on Track...

I finally had a great run this morning! Now granted, it was on the treadmill & only 4 miles but no hip pain + tempo pace = a great run. I ran 4 mi in 7:44 pace (8:28, 7:52, 7:28, 7:10). I was also able to try out my new HR monitor that goes with my Garmin that Todd got me for Christmas. My HR stayed pretty steady around 160-165 for the majority of my run (~80-85% of predicted max HR) and got up to 184 at the very end (~95% of predicted max HR). It's great to have the HR monitor to see how hard I really am pushing myself at times. It also helps take my mind off of the fact that I'm running in a treadmill and makes the time go by faster.

I know running 4 mi isn't much but you have to start somewhere & I'm getting excited about what 2011 has in store for racing!

Amazing Story

On my drive to work this morning, I heard the local radio station interviewing a homeless man, Ted Williams, with an incredible radio voice. Apparently a photographer from the Columbus Dispatch (our newspaper) took a video of Ted panhandling while holding a sign that mentioned his radio voice and the video went viral. It's had millions of hits and the job offers are rolling in, including working full-time for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was even interviewed on the Early Show this morning (from Columbus) and is flying to NYC to be on the Today Show tomorrow. Check out the video:

Peanut Butter Cup Pie

I just realized that the past two recipes I've posted, Buckeye Bars and Puppy Chow, are desserts with primarily chocolate & peanut butter and I made yet another similar dessert for NYE. What can I say? I apparently love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate but you'd be crazy not to. With that being said, Todd & I toasted at midnight on NYE with wine and Peanut Butter Cup Pie.

Peanut Butter Cup Pie

Layers of chocolate crust, peanut butter filling, and chocolate drizzled with peanut butter on top....it does not get any better than this!

Peanut Butter Cup Pie

Ingredients:

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup plus 1 Tb creamy peanut butter, divided

1 cup cold milk

1 package (3.4 oz) vanilla flavor instant pudding

2 1/2 cups thawed cool whip, divided

1 Oreo pie crust

3 squares semi-sweet chocolate (or chocolate chips)

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup peanut butter until well blended. Add milk & dry pudding mix; beat 2 min. Whisk in 1 cup of cool whip; spoon into crust. Refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Meanwhile, microwave remaining cool whip and chocolate in microwaveable bowl in high 1 1/2 to 2 mi, or until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after each minute. Cool completely.

3. Spread chocolate mixture over pudding layer in crust. Microwave remaining peanut butter in small microwaveable measuring cup or bowl 30 sec; stir. Drizzle over pie. Refrigerate 4 hrs or until firm.

from Kraft

Weekley Recap: December 27-January 2

Nothing spectacular to note this week except I ran twice and my hip felt fine. This was my last really busy week at work for awhile so I shouldn't have to be working at 4:00 AM or working 11 days for the next few months, which hopefully means more time for working out!

Monday: 3 mi (8:00 min pace)

Tuesday: 75 min spinning/TRX combo class

Wednesday: 30 min spinning; med ball circuit & stair workout w/ firefighters

Thursday: REST

Friday: REST

Saturday: 4 mi (7:56 pace); lifted total body; 15 min Jackie Warner Xtreme Abs DVD

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning


TOTAL: 7 mi

New Year's Eve 2010

After a long week at work, all I wanted to do was relax at home for New Year's Eve. It also didn't help that we hadn't really heard of anything big that our friends were doing that night. Todd & I made quite the spread and we obviously didn't even come close to eating it all. After all of our cooking, we started to watch The Goonies until I fell asleep, which wasn't a surprise to Todd or I. He woke me up a little before midnight for a piece of pie & a kiss at midnight!

Spinach Dip with Pumpernickel Bread

Baked Brie (recipe from Lindsey at Lovin' My Life) which was delicious!

Stromboli

Making Peanut Butter Cup Pie

The finished product

Todd getting our wine ready

Enjoying NYE 2010 together

2010 definitely flew by very fast & it's crazy to think that next year Todd & I will be living together and married! I can't wait!

Also, I plan on posting recipes for the stromboli & peanut butter cup pie in the next week or so.