Kale Chips

First of all, sorry I've been such a slacker. My lack of racing this year has equaled a lack of posting. I'll try to do better.

So I have heard about this magical vegetable call kale. It is supposed to help you live longer, feel better, and it will probably give us the ability to fly as well. I have also heard a lot of people don't like kale because it is bitter and gross. Due to this Kale scares me. I don't want to ruin my beautiful smoothie with a gross bitter vegetable. I had heard from some of my facebook friends that kale is absolutely delicious in chip form. So the next time it popped up in my organic bin I decided to not substitute it out and to give it a try.

Making kale chips is really easy. You take one bunch of kale, cut the ribs out (basically the stuff that is not the green leaf). Then you dress it in olive oil and salt (mix it up in a bowl like it is a salad). Then you lay out the leaves on a baking sheet, like I did in the picture below.

You then bake it on 350 for twenty minutes, until crisp. My first batch turned out only okay. I think part of it was the type of kale I used (see above it is extra veiny) and I thought it would be good to put bacon salt on it (not good, it was/is gross). What I do love is how it crunches and then disappears in my mouth. I can see how it is an addicting snack. I can only describe it similar to popcorn.

I have yet to try kale in my smoothies. I really like my spinach smoothie so I think I am going to stick with that. I'll try to post that recipe next week.

Crossfit

After several months of trying to strengthen my core again on my own and not having much luck, I decided to get serious and start Crossfit. For those who do not know, I would describe Crossfit as a combination of boot camp, circuit training, and Olympic weight lifting. If that does not help just search it on YouTube. It is really hard to describe.

I had heard of Crossfit before, but had not had much interest because it would be so expensive on top of my current gym membership. One of my good friends started going to a Crossfit box. She convinced me to start coming. As soon as Spring came around and I could end my membership at the gym, I signed up.

I've already been really impressed with the Crossfit gym I joined. I really selected that one based on the fact it is the only gym I'm aware of East of Seattle that has a shower at their location. There isn't a box close enough to my house where I could work out and then come home to shower again before work. So I drive to Issaquah twice a week for my WODs (Work Out of the Day). The box I joined also makes new members take a two week beginner class before joining the regular ones to make sure we learn proper form and can keep up.

I have never been to a gym class before where I wasn't if not the best, one of the best in class. In Crossfit I am definitely one of the worst. Even in the introductory class I was towards the bottom. I have already discovered my nemesis are cleans, followed closely by burpies. It took me many reps to get the right form and I am still not even sure.

After just three weeks of doing classes my back already feels better. I am drinking the cool aid for sure. I am no where near up to the times and the weights the regulars are at, but I know I'll get there. I would rather take it slow and escape injury. I look forward to sharing my progress with everyone.

Race Report: Kirkland 5k

My journey to this race was a some what interesting one. I knew I wanted to do a half marathon this year, but I did not want to pay the really high fee to run in Seattle RNR. I decided to sign up for the Kirkland half marathon instead. It was much easier to get to and I could do the 5k instead, if finding time to train was too difficult. I signed up back in December thinking May sounded so far away and a training for a half could be feasible. Well February quickly came around and my regular running schedule was no where close where it needed to be to train for a half, much less one as difficult as Kirkland. The 5k it is.

As it was, the 5k was even difficult to do. For medical reasons I had to take almost 3 weeks off from running. I was nervous to do such a hilly run. When I woke up this morning I really wanted to stay in bed. I contemplated for a second about skipping it, but I had a friend meeting me at the finish. I also had to go for a run anyway, so I might as well run a race. Of course Hailey chose to sleep in until seven, making me miss out on an opportunity to sleep in.

Once I had my coffee my outlook changed, but I was still dreading running up Market Street, which is at least a half mile up hill. Before I knew it I was kissing my husband and kiddo good bye to walk down to the starting line.

Lining up in the race corral I got really excited. It was a beautiful day in Seattle and about 62 degrees at the start of the race. I got a little emotional thinking about how it was Mother's Day and what a cool tradition it would be to run the race every year, thinking one day Hailey might join me. I honestly had to keep my eyes from tearing up.

The race started on time and the first part of the course lead along one of my usual three mile routes, from the Juanita Bay Park to the bridge and up Market Street. I usually do not go all the way up Market though. It was a killer. Many people stopped to walk at that point (I would say this is not very fast race, anyone really serious runs the half. I lined up in the front of the 8 to 10 minute mile group and did not have a lot of people passing me). I slowed down to my distance running pace. I stopped to walk for about 20 yards, but other than that I ran the whole way up. The nice part of making it up, the rest of the run is down hill most of the way back

I really think this is one of the hilliest 5ks around. Maybe only a mile of it is flat and the course really zig zags through the neighborhoods (and a lot of really nice houses). I had a beautiful view of Lake Washington for part of it. It would be so nice to wake up to that every morning.

By the time I hit mile two I was getting pretty tired. We hit the straight away I run on all the time. I struggled to keep motivation to run quickly. Then a mom passed me with a double stroller and an infant who could not be any more than three months old. I felt like a slacker. After I made the turn for the last .4 miles to the finish I was able to kick it up a notch and at the end I sprinted to beat out a guy running just in front of me. I finished with a time of 31:59 and a pace of 10:18 a mile. I'll take it for such a hilly run and that beats out my Valentine's Day Dash bathroom stop time, which was my goal.

All and all,  for a challenging course I recommend this race, probably not for a first 5k, unless walking is an option. For the half finishers, flowers can be ordered to give the finishing moms as they cross the line. Medals are awarded to all the finishers of the half too. Now how sweet is that.

Finally Finished 30 Day Shred

It only took me about five months, but I finally finished 30DS. I wouldn't say I am the best example of how the program is supposed to be done (okay maybe the worst example). I did it once, maybe twice a week. I had experienced multiple illnesses causing me to put things on pause. The rest of the week I ran three to five miles to round out my five work outs a week. I have also lost pretty much no weight. Okay, maybe a pound. I think you'll see more results in my after pictures below. I lost my before pictures. I'm so sad. I suppose the after ones speak for  themselves. Considering I had a baby six months ago my abs look pretty good.

Since I lost my old before pictures we'll use these ones for my before Crossfit pictures, which I am going to start in mid May. Now that I am in better shape I did find 30DS was getting too easy for me. I think it is a great starting point to recovering from injury or getting back into things after being gone for a while like I was. I might do a level three work out again in the future. Now it is time for me to move onto something new though.

Race Season Fail

That's me. Of the eight to ten races I planned to do this year, so far I am doing two (hoping for four to five, but we'll see how it goes). One of those races is a half marathon I signed up for thinking I would have time train for and I was really wrong. Instead I am doing the 5k. Although, half the reason I signed up for it was because I knew if I didn't have time to train I could at least do the 5k instead and not feel like I was wasting a bunch of money. :)

Only until this past three weeks have I really had the energy to start upping my mileage. I just did five miles this past week end and it felt great. I didn't feel guilty for doing it and I still had plenty of energy when I got back home. I'm just slowly adding distance each week and not really worrying about getting faster. I'm sticking with my three mile runs during the week and counting my runs with the jogging stroller as speed training. I am also counting upping my speed on the treadmill that last half mile because I REALLY want to get off the dang thing as speed training too :) ... Any ways, I'll worry about upping those week day runs when I actually start training for a distance race or when I want to have a cheese burger and milk shake.

I'm starting to feel like a runner again and its nice to have that confidence back. It isn't how many races I do, but how I feel that counts.

Goal Update

Sorry I haven't posted very much. In truth I have lacked the motivation to post since I have not been doing anything new.

Since I have transitioned back to work I have been successful in working out in the morning. I have been getting up at 5:45 and going to the gym to run three miles on the dreadmill. I do that two to three days a week. I get up and do 30DS one day a week here at home. Then I have been usually doing one or two runs on the week end outside. All in all, almost every week I work out five days a week.

My pace is around a ten minute mile. It's a little slower when I run outside because we have a lot of hills around here. It is a minute thirty slower when I run with the jogging stroller. I finally made it to four miles this week! I have been feeling guilty leaving Hailey for anything longer than 30 minutes. I try to go out when she goes down for a nap and that way I know I won't miss much. It also helps I am not her only food source anymore.

I am six days into level three on 30DS. I am looking forward to having it complete. My 30DS has turned into a five month shred, but I am curious to post a before and after picture for you guys to see how far my body has come from four weeks post baby. I wouldn't contribute 30DS to the results, but to overall exercise.

Looks like it might be May before I have my next race. For now my goal is to work on getting up my mileage. I am not following a training plan right now just slowly working up increasing my mileage every weeked.

Back to work

Last Tuesday I went back to work full time from being on maternity leave. While that was a big challenge in itself, what is also difficult is still finding the time to get my work outs in.

As I figured out after I had my baby, I can't manage working out for more than 30 minutes at a time. It is just too much to ask for a 60 minute work out right now. I signed up for a half marathon in May (seven months post baby) and I am doing the 5k instead. I just don't have the base up to do the mileage per week I need to train. I'll revisit the idea in the fall. I am at 12 to 15 miles a week right now.

The first week back my goal was to not make myself guilty if I didn't get to the gym or get a run in. I found with the hours I work, I needed to work out in the morning. At night I would get home and it was only an hour or less until Hailey needed to go to bed. I would miss a moment with her entirely if I chose to work out. After bed time I would be too tired to work out. Coming to this conclusion, I had to get up to exercise at 5:45am.

I'm not a morning person at all. I have always worked out at night. Any attempt to work out in the morning was usually an epic failure. The first couple of days back to work I focused on going to bed earlier to help me with the early wake up time. Since Hailey got up at 6am sometimes, adjusting to the early time was a bit easier. By the time I felt ready to work out in the morning, my body was really craving to go running. I told myself if I got up that day to work out I could reward myself with an afternoon coffee. So I got up and ran three miles. It wasn't that bad and I felt so much better knowing it was out of the way. I also had more energy in the morning at work. Coming home and giving Hailey cuddles felt that much better too.

I've only attempted my morning get up twice, but so far it has been pretty easy. After a full month of doing it I plan to reward myself with some new running tights. On those really tough mornings I will do the afternoon coffee. So far maintaining five days a week seems manageable. On cross training days I'm doing 30 Day Shred at home (yes still, that's a whole different blog post).