I ran for the first time in two weeks today!! I ran three miles in my neighborhood and only walked a quarter of a mile. I was breathing pretty heavy, but my legs felt good. Exactly two weeks ago I ran a marathon and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to run until this weekend. I was okay with a two week break from running, especially after a rough experience with a hot marathon and upset stomach. I’ve been busy with school concerts, but this is the last week of school and I will be able to run and go to classes at the gym now!
We sent out our save the dates this weekend! YAY!
Vega One is hosting a giveaway of free samples of their Vega One Nutritional Shakes. They are completely vegan and taste great mixed in smoothies. I was really surprised to like the vanilla chai flavor so much! For a limited time, click on this link to get a free trial pack of Vega One! Then, leave me a comment telling me your favorite exercise or distance to run lately!!
Nasoya contacted me a few months ago about trying out some of their products and hosting a giveaway. I waited until Colby and I moved into the new house so I could use my new kitchen to prepare some tofu-based recipes! Nasoya makes other food products besides tofu, like noodles, wonton wraps, hummus and Nayonaise. I’ve tried to use extra firm tofu before, but didn’t really know what I was doing. After looking through lots of recipes on TOFU U, I found a few recipes to try.
After Nasoya sent me some free product coupons, I went shopping at my grocery store’s organic refrigerated section.
I’m more confident with the silken tofu because I’ve used it before. Silken works great in desserts, smoothies and dips. I was a little worried about the extra firm tofu and found a recipe on Nasoya’s site to try.
I was suprised to use cornstarch as “breading” for the tofu but later realized it was perfect because it absorbed the extra water. I do wish I would have cut the tofu a little thinner, but it was easy to cook on the stove.
Extra firm tofu dipped in egg and worcestershire sauce and then coated in seasoned cornstarch.
The taco/burritos were absolutely delicious. The tofu was fantastic and I would have never thought to use cornstarch as a breading. They didn’t have too much taste, so I wish I would have put more seasoning into the mix. They were nice and crispy inside the taco and I made them for my parents and Colby. Mom and I ate them while Colby and my Dad ate shrimp tacos.
I also used the silken tofu to make Nasoya’s avocado dip for the tacos. I’ve made guacamole recipes that use half avocado and half white beans or peas before but they were never as good as this. My whole family thought it was great and I just threw all the ingredients into the food processor and it was great.
I made Mama Pea’s pb blondies with silken tofu for the second time and they always turn out great. The silken tofu mixes with dark chocolate to make a ganache for the top of the blondies.
Do you want to try a few free Nasoya products? Nasoya is going to give one reader 5 free products (tofu, noodles, wonton wraps, hummus, Nayonaise-anything you want to try!) and some Tofu U gear. You can also take a pledge on their website to cook tofu once a week for a month and receive coupons. Their website also has lots of videos and recipes, so definitely take a look.
To enter the Nasoya giveaway… leave a comment below telling me your experience with tofu. Does it scare you and you would just go for their other food products? Do you cook with tofu all the time? Do you want to learn how to cook tofu? Let me know! I will pick a winner Saturday morning
Sunday Workout: Not quite sure, but I’m hoping for something low impact like walking or pilates!
I was planning on posting early this morning, but I slept in until 10:30!!!!! That is crazy! We got back late from the drum corps show in Allentown around 1 am and by the time we got to sleep it was probably 2 am. Thank goodness I did my long run yesterday!
The winner of the $50 gift card to Dick’s Sporting Goods from Independence Blue Cross is …
Email me with your info so we can get that gift card mailed to you!! So nice the Philly IBC giveaway went to someone in Philly!!
So last night, I went with the other marching band instructors to a drum and bugle corps competition and took a charter bus to Allentown, PA with some of our high school band students that signed up for the trip. I know that probably none of you will understand any of this or have heard of drum corps, but it was a huge part of musical life for many years.
Although hard to explain… here is an “about” video you could watch to get an idea… Drum Corps or DCI (short for drum and bugle corps) is a group of about 150 members made of percussion, brass and color guard that tour the country all summer long with an 11 minute show. This is basically the highest level “marching band” like activity that you can audition to be a part of that is an extremely demanding physical activity. Members must be 21 and under (usually college age) and audition from all over the world. There are different corps that you could think of as sports teams, where everyone follows their favorites.
I had a math teacher in high school when I was just a sophomore that introduced me to drum corps and is to this day one of my best friends I had no idea what it was all about, but played trumpet very well for a high school student and ended up spending three summers devoting my time to this activity. I actually started running when I was in high school before going “on tour” with my drum corps when I was 17 (I was very young!) to get in shape for the summer. To show you how athletic you must be to perform, here is a video to explain…
Anyways, if you care… here are a few favorites that you could watch to get more of an idea of what a show looks like:
(fast forward to about 2:30 and watch the crazy “drill” or movements of the brass players in this show)
No, not quite like the movie “Drumline” Cherie. This is much better
Some pics from our rainy night…
The corps I marched with for two summers… watching them warm up before the show.
My friend Andrea drove from Erie (6+ hour drive) to make a spur of the moment trip to see the show! I was so happy to see her
My drum corps buddy Kim that teaches marching band with me at our district
Colby’s first show and I think he really enjoyed it… minus the rain!!
So give me feedback… do you think I’m a total music nerd now? Did you watch any of the videos? Maybe you’re impressed to hear about this strange sub-culture you never knew about and how music and athletics can go together?!
Thursday Workout: 3 miles (28:13) and BodyPump class (1 hr)
Friday Workout: 2 miles??
After another long day of teaching band camp, I headed to the gym Thursday for BodyPump class. I completely changed my week 2 runs from my half marathon plan, but I am making sure to still do all the runs…they are just on different days and out of order! I usually run mid-week on Tues, Weds, Thurs and I ran Weds, Thurs and hopefully today! The only reason I question if I will run today is because my left ankle was really sore after running. I wore an older pair of shoes to the gym because I thought I should still have mileage left on them, but they are the pair I wore for my spring marathon and they feel dead!
Love love love my BodyPump!
Get Out, Get Fit Giveaway!
My first giveaway!! Independence Blue Cross is currently starting a new program called “Get Out, Get Fit!” on their Facebook page. IBC’s facebook page focuses on the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and offers exercise instructions, health and wellness tips and Philly workout spots.
IBC is hosting a “Get Out, Get Fit” photo contest where facebook fans can enter by submitting a fitness-focused photo of you exercising in your favorite location for a chance to win up to a $500 gift card to Dick’s Sporting Goods! This photo contest will take place on their Facebook page from July 28-August 31.
For my first giveaway, IBC will award one Pink Runner reader a$50 gift card toDick’s Sporting Goods!!! You have THREE ways you can enter to win this $50 gift card, so please make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!
1. Leave a comment with your favorite way to stay healthy & fit
3. Tweet the following message: @pinkrunnerblog is giving away a $50 gift card to Dicks Sporting Goods to support @ibxhealthysteps! http://wp.me/p1zXD2-ez
I will announce the winner on Sunday August 7th! Good luck!
Thursday Workout: BodyPump class (1 hour) and 2 mile walk/run on treadmill
So I did my 30 minute ab class and 1 hour spin class Wednesday night. It definitely helped posting that I was going that morning because I didn’t want to back out and then have to take it off my exercise log!!So, I must confess that I do not love spinning. I know it is good for me because it uses different muscles and can make me a better runner, but I look at the clock every 10 minutes when I am there. I just think about how I would rather be running during that hour and that running would probably burn more calories.
I loved the capris for spin class and thought they were very comfortable. I can’t wait to try them out in the Fall when I run in the cooler weather!
Sugar-Detox:
Since I went on a sugar high during the past few weeks, I’ve been trying to go without sweets for the past few days. Today I caved and ate a pack of peanut butter Tastykakes… I couldn’t help it!!!! One pack had 2 cakes for 180 calories and 12 grams of sugar. Not the worst, but the box is empty now so I can’t go to them tomorrow! Haha! Take that box of sugary-goodness!
Over-Exercising…
So, I DEFINITELY need to cool it with the two workouts in one day and take tomorrow completely off. I should have probably skipped BodyPump tonight, but I just love it too much! My body feels a little beaten up after running 5 miles/BodyPump on Tuesday, ab class/spinning yesterday and BodyPump/2 mile run/walk tonight. I tried to run tonight after class and my legs felt so heavy. A rest day is definitely in the works for tomorrow and will only include foam rolling and stretching!
I have been looking at different 1/2 marathon plans for the race I signed up for in October. I would like to do a 12 week training plan, so I would need to start training the week of July 25th. I think I will end up blending a few different plans together to create something I’m happy with for this race. I’m planning on figuring this out within the next few days and I will make sure to post what I decide to use! I would still love to do BodyPump 1-2 times a week while I train for this race.
I did buy more Recoverite today so I can keep taking a scoop of this and a 1/2 or full scoop of protein after my classes. It has definitely helped my muscles recover faster!
Procrastination…
I started my next online grad class this past Monday (Music Theory through Boston University). I had big plans to get some work done yesterday and today and it’s funny how nothing got done… I think this class has me a bit overwhelmed and I am avoiding it! I need to get my act together! I’m such a hypocrite though because I am typing this as I am supposed to be listening to my professor in Boston giving a “live lecture” on things I don’t understand… Good thing it is recorded and I can go back and listen to it again tomorrow if I need it. I’m all sweaty and haven’t showered yet and I’m just sitting here in my smelly clothes. Gross right? Sometimes I don’t shower right after class. I feel like I need to make sure I stop sweating before I shower!
Oh yeah…Big Brother 13 starts at 9:00 tonight so I will put off my work even more…
Yesterday, I woke up at 2:30 AM to leave for Ocean City, MD at 3am with Colby and his family. Crazy, huh?! I was happy to go on my first fishing adventure. Surprisingly enough, there are no pictures from the beginning of our adventure before 7 am… hmmm… maybe because I looked like a zombie.
Colby’s Mom and I going out on the water early in the morning. I was very lucky to have her there with me
Colby, his brother and dad went out on the sandbar to feel for clams with their feet. I stayed in the boat
Apparently, I am a huge wimp and hoped to not catch anything because the fish grossed me out. I guess I’m no Skinny Runner…
I caught a few flounder, but they were too small and went back into the water. Whenever I caught something I yelled for Colby and he was sweet and took the fishing rod for me as I screamed and ducked for cover so the fish wouldn’t touch me.
I know… he must love me a lot to deal with my diva fishing attitude.
Two more exciting things…
1. Colby and I signed up for an October Half Marathon!! Now I get to pick a training plan!! Any suggestions?
2. I got my capris in the mail!!!!! I will post pictures of me modeling the awesome capris soon!
Today I am BodyPumping with the bff Anne and running!!
Today was a LONG and frustrating day at work today. I’ll leave it at that and not go into work-details
I woke up this morning at 5:30 when the BF was going to go workout and swim and I had planned to run a nice 4 miler. That did not happen because I couldn’t open my eyes and set my alarm for 7. When it went off at 7 I hit snooze for 45 minutes. 45 minutes!! I basically rolled out of bed, threw my greasy hair in a ponytail and coffee with my eggs and waffles.
I finished around 4:00 today and thought maybe I would go to the ab class that was a half an hour before the spin class I was supposed to go to at 5:30 tonight. I came home and sat down for 15 minutes and when I tried to get up to change for the gym I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I NEED to start taking recovery drinks when I kill my muscles at BodyPump! My legs still feel trashed from all the extra weight on the squats and lunges Monday night.
When training for the Pittsburgh Marathon… I always made a smoothie with my recovery powders:
Lesson learned… when I work out hard – I should probably make a recovery smoothie.
When I got home, my day got better when I saw this face:
and got this in the mail:
and even though I was bummed about not working out and being tired I was pretty ecstatic when I saw that…
