Monday:
Rest day? Hah! Mr. R&R bundled up and headed out to shovel snow and I got to work on the last bit of my meal prep for the week: spanakorizo, Greek-seasoned chicken, and tzatiki sauce. After a false start (I grabbed 2 bunches of Walter and Spot's dandelion greens and started washing them instead of the 2 bunches of spinach) the spanakorizo simmered away on the stove, the chicken went into the oven, and I threw together the tzatziki sauce. Total time in the kitchen: 1 hour. Dinner: Awesome!
After dinner, we gave Walter his weekly bath and then took him and Spot upstairs to listen to music while Walter dried off. All four of us were dozing off!
Tuesday:
It's cold and crappy outside. Must be swim night! The original workout called for 850 yards, but I tacked on another 100 yards because...well...goals. Dinner (at 9pm - ugh) was identical to Monday's dinner and I was super excited about eating leftovers. If you want to try it for yourself, here' are the recipes for the Spanakorizo and the Tzatziki
Wednesday:
Bike assessment time. Tonight was all about seeing if the last 4 weeks of getting my ass kicked at high cadence/low speed and sweating buckets translated to an increase in my functional threshold power (FTP) - the power output I could theoretically maintain for an hour. According to TrainerRoad, an increase of 2-3% is to be expected. My increase in FTP, after a really friggin' brutal assessment, was on the low end: 2%. Mr. R&R and I were both ravenous and big bowls of whole grain spaghetti, puttanesca sauce, and freshly grated parmesan cheese seemed like the quickest way to satisfy the raging hunger beast.
Thursday:
It was my night to work late. Fortunately things went quite a bit faster than usual and I was able to escape a little earlier than normal. Mr. R&R and I hit the gym around 8:00pm for a 3 mile (treadmill) run and a brief strength training session. The run sucked beyond suck. Midway through Mile 1 I started getting a weird knot in the front of my abdominals. This wasn't like a regular old side stitch - it was in the front, not the side. Okay. Fine. I dug my fingers into the knot in an attempt to release it and maintain my pace. That didn't work. Mile 2 was just an exercise in pain. The knot basically felt like a someone was pinching the muscle and twisting it any time I tried to go much faster than walking pace. I must have managed to dig my fingers into it just right because as much as it sucked, I was able to pick it up again a little for Mile 3.
Afterward, I dragged myself into the free weight area for some dumbbell rows and raises and then over to the mats for plank shoulder touches while Mr. R&R finished up in the weight room. It was well after 9pm by the time we got out of there, so we listened to the Bernie/Hilary debate while picking up burgers for dinner. Politics and burgers...makes me feel like I'm in college again!
Friday:
So, that nasty little knot from last night had lasting effects. I actually had a tender spot on my stomach from how hard I dug my fingers into it. In an unusual turn of events, I actually left work at 5pm, stopped at the grocery store that's on my route home to procure a whole chicken, and had time to lounge around and read for a while before Mr. R&R and I headed for the pool for our Friday night swim date. The prescribed workout was 850 yards, but in the spirit of trying to add a little more distance this round, I ended up swimming 1050 - and at the fastest average pace I've swam yet! Granted, I still inhale/swallow a gallon of pool every time I try to do a flip turn, but speed is slowly, but surely improving. We came home, chowed down on some italian beef and mashed potatoes from my freezer stash, read a little more, and crashed.
Saturday:
I had grand plans of sleeping in today, but that went out the window when I woke up at 7:30am and couldn't get back to sleep. I ended up having a good breakfast (egg tacos), drinking coffee, and lounging around with a book for most of the morning. That was the calm before the storm because somewhere around 8am, I had hatched a plan.
My plans for the day had originally involved a training session, a bike session, and a bunch of errands. I had planned on getting to the gym a little early to squeeze in a 1 mile warm up run before my training session because I didn't want to waste time/money on a supervised warm up - and then I got the bright idea that I'd go in even earlier, do Sunday's planned 3 miler, go to my training session, run the errands, hit the bike, and end up with two back to back rest days. I was a little behind schedule, so I was only able to cram in 1.75 miles before I met with my trainer (who totally kicked my ass). I debated calling off the whole plan, but the thought of two solid days off drew me back to the treadmill - and I'm really glad I did. I ran a really awesome mile and a half!
I stopped off at my mom's to drop off some freezer jam and pick up a ladle I'd left there after a family holiday event, picked up two pounds of coffee from a local roaster, and then Mr. R&R and I made a trip to Trader Joes to pick up everything we needed for the coming week and a special treat - the makings of prosciutto and caramelized onion pizza. Happy early V-Day to us! Of course before the pizza could happen, the bike workout had to happen. Let me tell you - getting on that bike did not sound like fun - and it wasn't. 45 really uncomfortable minutes later, Goddard was done, and it was time to eat!
Sunday:
I'm pretty sure that the first thing out of my mouth this morning was: $*%&ing OW!. My abs and legs hurt! I didn't really want to get off the couch, but when Mr. R&R left for his run and training session, I dragged myself out to the kitchen, put on a pot of coffee, and threw a chicken in the crock pot to do its thing for the rest of the day before retreating back to the couch to enjoy my coffee, a new book, and to temporarily silence my aching muscles.
My food prep/attempt to cook my way through my Pinterest boards for the coming week included:
- A whole chicken in the crockpot (9 hours on low and the thing practically carved itself)
- Damn Delicious' One Pot Mushroom Rice: Pretty decent, but not sure I'd make it again.
- Epicurious' French Lentil Soup: Turned out way more like a stew than a soup. I think next time I'd add more liquid and a bit more balsamic vinegar.
- Pastry Affair's Beer Bread: OMG. I will never buy a box mix for this stuff again. 6 ingredients, 5 minutes of prep, and so damned good!
I also threw together a few yogurt messes and mixed up the dry ingredients for proatmeal, so I'm all set for breakfast this week too. My refrigerator is packed - and will be nearly naked by Friday night!
Round 2: Week 1 Totals:
Swim: 2000 yards (1.14 miles)
Bike: 21.07 miles
Run: 6.28 miles
Strength Training: 2 sessions
Total Miles: 28.49 miles
Total Time: 4 hours, 36 minutes
Do you ever cook any of the things you pin? If so, what's the best thing you've made?
Saturday:
I had grand plans of sleeping in today, but that went out the window when I woke up at 7:30am and couldn't get back to sleep. I ended up having a good breakfast (egg tacos), drinking coffee, and lounging around with a book for most of the morning. That was the calm before the storm because somewhere around 8am, I had hatched a plan.
My plans for the day had originally involved a training session, a bike session, and a bunch of errands. I had planned on getting to the gym a little early to squeeze in a 1 mile warm up run before my training session because I didn't want to waste time/money on a supervised warm up - and then I got the bright idea that I'd go in even earlier, do Sunday's planned 3 miler, go to my training session, run the errands, hit the bike, and end up with two back to back rest days. I was a little behind schedule, so I was only able to cram in 1.75 miles before I met with my trainer (who totally kicked my ass). I debated calling off the whole plan, but the thought of two solid days off drew me back to the treadmill - and I'm really glad I did. I ran a really awesome mile and a half!
I stopped off at my mom's to drop off some freezer jam and pick up a ladle I'd left there after a family holiday event, picked up two pounds of coffee from a local roaster, and then Mr. R&R and I made a trip to Trader Joes to pick up everything we needed for the coming week and a special treat - the makings of prosciutto and caramelized onion pizza. Happy early V-Day to us! Of course before the pizza could happen, the bike workout had to happen. Let me tell you - getting on that bike did not sound like fun - and it wasn't. 45 really uncomfortable minutes later, Goddard was done, and it was time to eat!
Sunday:
I'm pretty sure that the first thing out of my mouth this morning was: $*%&ing OW!. My abs and legs hurt! I didn't really want to get off the couch, but when Mr. R&R left for his run and training session, I dragged myself out to the kitchen, put on a pot of coffee, and threw a chicken in the crock pot to do its thing for the rest of the day before retreating back to the couch to enjoy my coffee, a new book, and to temporarily silence my aching muscles.
My food prep/attempt to cook my way through my Pinterest boards for the coming week included:
- A whole chicken in the crockpot (9 hours on low and the thing practically carved itself)
- Damn Delicious' One Pot Mushroom Rice: Pretty decent, but not sure I'd make it again.
 |
| Six servings? More like 5. |
I also threw together a few yogurt messes and mixed up the dry ingredients for proatmeal, so I'm all set for breakfast this week too. My refrigerator is packed - and will be nearly naked by Friday night!
 |
| The chicken was still in the crockpot and took up the last of the available real estate |
Swim: 2000 yards (1.14 miles)
Bike: 21.07 miles
Run: 6.28 miles
Strength Training: 2 sessions
Total Miles: 28.49 miles
Total Time: 4 hours, 36 minutes
Do you ever cook any of the things you pin? If so, what's the best thing you've made?
2 comments:
That was a very intense exercise week. Must say I feel rather lazy in comparison. Love your food pics! Your refrigerator is so organized and neat compared to the clutter in mine.
I'll let you in on a secret: My refrigerator is only that organized because otherwise I couldn't fit all the stuff in it! The doors are a cluttered disaster area!
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