Spinalicious Night

Last night was full of all kinds of sprints. It all started with a warm up mile and lead to 3 miles of sprints and then a cool down mile, on the treadmill. I was feeling pretty awesome. Some of you may ask if I broke the treadmill again. The answer is no.

Then, I headed over to the spin room and was greeted with a smile by one of my favorite instructors. His "to do" board indicated that we were really only doing a lot of heavy sprints for the entire hour long class. I walked in the class with a huge (but sweaty) smile and I walked out the same way (I did walk out with a lot more sweat, though):

We still haven't had the funds to get our heater fixed (actually we just need a brand new one), so we're using space heaters. they really do help. When we feel like the heaters aren't doing anything we walk outside and see how cold it really is out there. I think Mickey likes the heaters, too.

I'm excited that we get our fireplaces cleaned out next week and we can have really heat!I just hope we have enough firewood. 

How cold is it where you live? Since I live in Cali, it doesn't get as cold as most places. It was 34 yesterday (at night and 50 something during the day). 

Do you prefer sprints or intervals? I'm more of a sprints kind of girl!

Sprints and and the Time I Broke the Treadmill

Look at these legs. They are so powerful! So powerful, they broke a treadmill.

It started with a mile warm up. I upped the speed, to start my 3 more miles of sprints. I turned the treadmill up to 8.5 and stepped off. I glanced up at the tv on the wall and when I looked back at the treadmill, it was going crazy. All the numbers were flashing 8 in everywhere possible (times, mileage, calories, ect) and the map showed a full graph and everything. It was crazy. Also, I couldn't get the treadmill to stop. It was going 8.5 and fast. 

The 2 older men on either side of me were starring at me and wondered why I was walking away from this crazy machine. I walked away to get someone to make the craziness stop. When the manager came over, the guys were telling him how fast I was going, while I was running on it. One of them said I was like "the energizer bunny. I just kept going and going". It was so cute. 

The managers just unplugged the treadmill and looked at it in a very confused way. I really did break it! I  moved to another treadmill and enjoyed a very speedy 3 miles in sprints. I loved that it only took me 22 minutes. Love it! I wasn't really feeling my spin class, so I came home and made potato and leek soup. It was so worth it!

Have you ever broken a treadmill or anything like that?  Anyone running CIM this weekend? I live very close to the course!

A Recipe for Tired, but Loved Legs

My legs have been needing some extra love this week. I've been putting them through some stuff they haven't had to do in a while: lots of running, stairs and spin class. I love my legs!

I still have one more day of toughness to put them through. Tonight, I have my first long run of my season. I'm only running 5 1/2 miles, but I haven't ran over 4 1/2 miles in a very long time. I haven't been in any sorts of training in well over a year. Buying a house and fixing it up has taken a lot of my time.

The above picture was taken post shower. I wasn't sure if sprints, followed by a spin class was going to be a good idea. I am sore, but I'm still in the beginning stages of  training. Friday is going to be a great rest day!

I ended up running 3 miles in sprints, which was a killer. I pretended that someone was chasing me down a dark ally. It was a real motivator. I was having a horrible time getting motivated to even go to the gym. But, I made myself and I'm so happy I did! I always regret it when I don't go, but I'm always happy when I finish a workout, good or bad.

Spin class was a terrible muscle breaker. During the last 10 minutes, I got a huge stomach cramp, I just couldn't take it anymore. I ended up leaving during the cool down (a couple minutes early). When I got had home, I immediately started the shower. Come to find out, I really had to pee. Once I did, the cramp went away (sorry if it's tmi). Thinking back, I did guzzle about 30 oz of water in about 1 1/2 hours. It's amazing of what will magically stop pain.

How do you love your legs? What's your recipe for tired legs?

Too Fast for the Treadmill

The other night, I started watching the movie Prefontaine.  He was such an inspiring man. He got me inspired to work on my speed. I haven't been doing any speed work. I know you need speed work in order to get faster. That just makes sense. But, since I haven't been training for anything, I haven't had that on my mind. Since watching the movie, I've had the urge to do so. 

I got on my handy dandy treadmill at the gym (old photo), I was running sprints at 9.5 (not that fast, but super speedy for me) and I had planned to run at least 4 miles, hopefully 6. At about mile 3.25, the tm stops working and starts making this really loud squealing noise. I broke the tm. The digital part went crazy and showed a bunch of 8's. I guess I was too fast for it!

After breaking the machine, I worked my legs and arms with some weights for about 1/2 hour, before my 60 minute spin class. 

When I got home, I told Jason what happened and he asked me to show him how I was running. So, he had me do some sprints in the backyard. It was a little difficult, because we still have some rocks back there, but no major damage was done. 

I can't wait to work on more speed out in the "real world" tomorrow!!

 Please tell me I'm not the only one that has done this. Have you ever broken an exercise machine before? Was it yours? What happened?

There's a 1st Time for Everything!!

Yesterday, I got free lunch. It was a large quantity, and I knew I shouldn't have eaten it all, but it wouldn't have been good sitting in the fridge for even 1 hour. So, I ate it all. It had a lot of salt in it, I was really thirsty when I was finished.

Today, at the gym, I ran sprints for 3 1/4 miles for the very first time ever!!! I looked and finished a 5k in 25:58 and finished the rest in 27:12. That is awesome!! I've never ran that fast before. I'm not sure if I did it correct, but I ran .1 miles on and .05 off. I am proud of myself and happy with the results!!

Afterwards, I headed over to my 1 hour spin class. Yet again, another hill class. I think the instructors get together and see how they can all torture their class with as much pain as possible. The harder the class, the better results. This is what I kept telling myself. Weights were next (nothing special about these).

When I got home, my body was craving protein, I looked in the fridge and found my favorite greek yogurt (no one is paying me to say this, it's true). I ate the entire container of Chobani blueberry yogurt with a tablespoon of PB (my favorite combination). It really hit the spot!

I love my yogurt (I have a I already said that?)!!

What's your favorite way to get protein in your body? I love chicken, too!!

Hills and Drills

Another standard Thursday morning. Hit snooze a million times, ate my cereal, and off to work. I was tough at work and didn't cave into the blackberry cobbler. Yesterday, I had more than my fair share. My co-worker will finish it tomorrow, how nice of him! I had my banana and apple as my snacks instead. My standard lunch did the trick for a few hours.

Before I headed out to the gym, I ate 1/2 of a Mojo bar. The flavor was PB Pretzels.

I've never had a Mojo bar before and wasn't sure what to expect. When I opened it, I first thing I noticed the little PB chips. I've actually never had PB and pretzels together before. It was pretty good. I was thinking that all the water weight that I'll retain from this bar, after it goes away, I'll weight myself and I'll be lighter than expected. Which will make me happy!! I would recommend this bar to anyone. Maybe as a post workout bar.

At the gym, I spent 35:48 minutes on the treadmill doing hills and drills. Drills, to me, are really sprints. For the hills, I was at 6.5 incline, and the sprints were flat. I had about 15 seconds recovery between. I really kicked my ass today. I wasn't really feeling the standard run in one spot today for 4 miles. So, I did this in 3 miles. Yay me!!

For dinner, I ate the last of the left over spaghetti. It was still good. The veggies stayed just prefect. I was surprised that they still tasted good. I'm glad it worked out! Dessert was, once again, another granola bar. I love the chocolate chip bars. So good! Of course, like many girls, I LOVE chocolate.

I hope I'm in the mood to bake right when I get home (instead of laying around for a few hours first) tomorrow. I don't want to make a mess in the kitchen tonight (I don't feel like cleaning), so I'll wait until tomorrow. A fellow blogger gave me a suggestion I will definitely use (probably not tomorrow), to use Reed's crystallized ginger in muffins. She mentioned how it crystallizes inside the muffin and tastes amazing. I can't wait to try this. Maybe next weekend...

What is your favorite secret ingredient? If you don't have one, what your favorite item to bake?