Getting Ready For Spring

Spring Training that is.  My goal is to use this week and next to ramp up my activity level in preparation for actual training which begins on March 17th.  I only worked out three times this week, but all three workouts were really good.

Monday
No matter how you spin it, Monday will never be my favorite day of the week. I did the usual grind at work and then hauled it home and down to The Cave for 30 minutes of Pump & Burn goodness - complete with heavier weights for each segment.  The heavier weights were challenging, but in a good way!  I followed the workout with a black bean burger from the stash in my freezer (thrown in a skillet for about 5-6 min/side) and crashed hard.

Tuesday
Oh Tuesday...you were like another Monday this week.  Seriously, this was the day where nothing went right.  I was running late for work, and in my rush to feed the rabbits, wear matching socks, and get out the door, I managed to forget both my breakfast and a key component of my lunch at home! There was exactly zero chance of going home over lunch to fetch those things, so I made do with a banana for breakfast (I had one lurking in my office) and made a mad dash to the sushi place up the street for a take out lunch.

Spicy Crunchy Salmon Roll, Tuna and Salmon Nigiri

I crawled home from work completely spent and decided that hanging out with Walter and Spot sounded much better than doing anything else!

Wednesday
Wednesday was much better than Tuesday.  I made it to work on time and all of my food for the day made it too!  I got out at a reasonable hour, scurried home, threw some shrimp in a colander under cold, running water to thaw, and hit the trainer for a solid hour! I usually only ride for 45 minutes, but I need to start increasing my time in the saddle. I was pretty engrossed in what I was watching (Kona footage from 2009 - if you want to know) and felt good, so I went the full hour...and loved it!

Once I chugged down a protein shake, I threw together a quick dinner, made my lunch, watched a little tv, and fell into bed.

Mojito Lime Shrimp, Cheese Quesadilla, Black Beans

Thursday
Another day of work was followed by the most awesome run I've had in a very long time.

That run was so good...Morgan Freeman should have narrated it!

I got to the track with no real specific plans other than: a) run 3 miles b) try to keep them at 9:45/mile pace or better.  I ran those 3 miles...at a pace I didn't know I was capable of right now!!!!!!

AND IT WAS A NEGATIVE SPLIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday
I had plans to go out to dinner with Little Brother tonight, but the actual time of said dinner was kind of up in the air due to his job.  He could get done with work at 2pm or he could end up working until 8pm.  I figured that if he got out early, I'd skip working out and if he got out late, I'd hit the pool for a while.  Guess who got out of work early?  We met up around 5:30pm, stuffed ourselves with Italian food, and caught up...it was really nice.  Of course after all that food, I was couch bait since I didn't think it would endear me to the folks at the pool if I tried swimming and ended up tossing my cookies!

Saturday
Believe me when I say that I wish all my Saturdays started out like this:

After some wonderful snuggles from Walter, Mr. R&R and I headed for the East Side to run a few errands and stopped for lunch at an old favorite, Apollo Cafe.  We used to eat here at least once a week back when Mr. R&R lived in the neighborhood (before we were moved in together).  I ordered one of my favorites, spanakorizo, and unfortunately it just wasn't as good as it used to be.

Tasted more like spaghetti-o's than spanakorizo

We took a little walk around the old neighborhood and stopped into a little, and wildly popular, italian market to pick up a few treats - including Purple Door Whiskey Ice Cream!  Purple Door is a local company and their ice cream is phenomenal!

Sunday
Today was all about getting ready for next week.  Laundry was done. Groceries were bought.  Walter got his weekly bath (Normally it's not advisable to bathe bunnies, but we're doing this with the full blessing of his vet. His mobility issues cause him to end up with urine burns if we don't bathe his lower half regularly.)  I think my favorite part of the day was the hour Walter spent snuggling with me and napping on my chest afterward. He even got super-playful at one point and was tossing around his blanket until he made himself a tent...and then promptly took a nap!

On to another (busy) week!