WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY

Wednesday boot camp. Lots of tabatas along with running on treadmill. I can't believe that I have been doing this three times a week for almost a year now. I love working out with other people and being challenged to always do better.

Thursday was baking. I made bread and also tried a new recipe for peanut butter bars from King Arthur Flour that jenny recommended
. Let me tell you these were good.

Friday my husband and I went to see True Grit. I don't think I ever saw the first movie with John Wayne. We both liked it but thought that The Kings Speech was better.

Saturday I had books to return to the library. Amy had asked f I had read The Passage. I told her I had gotten it when it first came out but couldn't get into it. " Try it again" she said. She thought it was really good and even Florian is reading it. So as I was browsing the shelves there it was, I guess waiting for me to try again. We'll see how it goes this time.

FORGOTTEN

Oh boy, all day yesterday I was craving some chocolate. Nothing in my cupboard but a half bag of chocolate chips. Not what I was wanting. I know, you're thinking she just went back to WW and now she wants chocolate. Yes. When I couldn't find any I gave up and made a cup of tea thinking that would help with the cravings. That night as I was getting ready to prepare dinner I open the cupboard with the cookbooks in it and pulled out a recipe box. What came tumbling out with the box were three chocolate bars that Amy had given me at Christmas. I had stuck them back in the cupboard and forgotten them. This was like winning the lottery, there was a blueberry and almond, cranberry and orange and raspberry and raisins. Today I'm going to treat myself to a square or two with a cup of tea.

The temperature was a bit cooler this morning but I still needed to get out. Headed for the trails but decided to reverse the way I usually go. It was cool but I quickly took off my jacket. It's amazing how fast I warm up once I get out. They are still working on the new bathrooms at the park so had to use the porta potty. I'll be glad when those are gone.

GO BUY A TICKET

This weekend my husband and I went and saw The King's Speech. If you haven't seen this movie go buy a ticket. It's a true story about King George VI and his struggle with a speech impediment. One of the best movies I've seen in quite some time. It is also up for 12 academy awards.

This morning there were 6 of us at boot camp. We had a circit of abs, bicep curls, row, lateral pull downs, hamstring curls, hammer curls and run outside. We went through the circuit three times and each time she switched it up a bit. We were doing twelve reps except for abs which was twenty.

BUSY WEEK

I received a signed copy of Rachael Ray's Look + Cook cookbook for my birthday from Katy and family . It has over 100 recipes with pictures and they all look yumo. I had picked out several to try and finally decided on the paprika chicken with egg noodles. It was easy to make and having the pictures helped. We all enjoyed and I would make it again. I am trying to use new recipes this year so this was my Thursday go to.

Thursday was also hair day and I had a date with my stylist for a cut and color, and boy did I need it. When I walked in he laughed and said " did I forget to cut your hair last time !"

Thursday I also went back to Weight Watchers. I had made lifetime but over Christmas the pounds had snuck back on and I needed to get back before I had major damage. They are doing the new points program and it seems like it will be a lot better. You're allowed a lot more points on this program, they want you eating more fruits and veggies which are 0 points now.


Friday was boot camp and we were out side. It was a lot of cardio but the day was so nice you didn't mind. I mean what is with this beautiful weather, 83 on Friday.


Saturday was weigh in at the gym and another boot camp. We were out side and she was dealing the cards. The class was at one and I find I have less energy in the afternoon than the morning. Tomorrow I need to get out and do my run. I have been lack in getting my runs in for the week. Need to work on this. I remember how my teachers would mark my grade card with " needs improvement" well this needs it.

RUNNING, PULLING AND DRAGGING

This morning was overcast in the 60's with a breeze. I did my warm up mile outside. It was nice to get away from running on the treadmill.
When I came in to the gym Shayla asked what it was like outside. Not bad I said and so she decided we'd go out for boot camp. It was pulling the sled and sprints. We also had the big rubber band where one is inside and the other behind holding it as we try to run. I always feel like I am either going to trip or go flying into the person I am holding. In between the running, pulling and dragging we had to do push ups and abs.

NEW EQUIPMENT

Shayla added a new piece of equipment to the gym, the prowler sled, and today was my first time to try it. It looked like it'd be easy. Hey you just push it across the carpet. I couldn't even get it started. Finally Shayla had to help me start out. This was hard but i was doing it.


Here's what it looks like being pushed. One side you are low and the other high. I found the high side much easier to push.
Before we did this we had to do the clock push ups. Starting at one and doing one rep than moving to two and doing two reps until we reached twelve. That was 78 push ups! A lap running on the treadmill and than doing the clock push ups this time starting at twelve and going to one. Another lap running on the treadmill and then lunges, prowler and V sit ups. Quite a work out for Monday.

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL...

day in the neighborhood so get on out and run. Finally weather that I have been waiting for, sunny with no breeze and temperatures going into the high 60's. Got dressed this morning in my running clothes so I would be ready when the temperature got high enough, was 44 when I set out. Beautiful day with lots of people out. Of course I dressed too warm and had to shove my sleeves of my long sleeve shirt up. I even picked up some ice from the ground and rubbed it on my arms and neck to cool off. Yes, there is still ice in the shady places. It felt so good to be out and I had forgotten that I had loaded some new songs on my i-pod until they came on. By the time I got home it was 62. Woo Hoo! Did 5 miles.

NO CRYING IN BASEBALL

Remember the movie League of their Own with Tom Hanks and in it one of the girls is crying and he says " no crying in baseball." For some reason while I was struggling at boot camp today and felt like doing the cry that line popped into my head. Only it was no crying at the gym. Man it was hard today. For starters Cat was teaching the class and she is one tough coach. She had a work out on the dry erase board for us to do. It involved a lot of reps and a lot of jumping like burpees and Marios. Also there were squats and thrust and other upper body exercises. We had to go through 9 different exercises and then got a 2 minute recovery on the tread mill. Then repeat. The first started with ten reps then each increased by ten until you reached fifty and then you decreased by ten until you were at the last one which was 10 Marios.I will be honest, I was not able to do all the reps on the second set. She did give us a nice stretch after but said we would probably be sore. It took all my energy just to walk out to my car after class and drive home.

LOOKS LIKE...

I'm going to be able to get the skis out again. The forecast for tonight is same as last weeks, rain, sleet, snow. This has been some kind of February.
Yesterday I was back a boot camp and Shayla had plenty for us to do. We were doing squats with shoulder press ten reps and then going to the treadmill to run. I had counted about 6 sets and asked how many more are we doing. " Oh I know 100." Yep I was right. We also had reverse lunge with a single leg squat, 10 on each side repeat 2 times and in between run on the treadmill and then there were the abs to finish with. It was a great work out but I am feeling it in the legs today.
This morning I had coffee with my friend and I must say Starbucks was busy. I guess everyone is getting out because we fear we may be inside for a few days. After coffee went to the Great Harvest Bread store and bought some 9 grain bread and white wheat bread. Then it was on to the library to stock up on some reads. I found a book that my sister recommended The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean. Looks like it will be good.

LAST CHANCE

This morning they said we would get above freezing so I had one more chance to get out and ski. First I had to fix my boots because yesterday the left one completely separated from the sole. I got out the Duck Tape and started in repairing. You might say I made a new boot but it worked. I went 2.25 miles and even had some guy in his car stop and take a picture of me.

SKIING

Ready for my ski work out. I started out and quickly found my groove. Things were going great until a half mile from the house and the left boot disintegrated. It separated from the bottom so I had to remove the other ski and walk home. I guess that's what happens when you store equipment in the attic for twenty years. The good thing is that I can replace the boots.

UNDER ESTIMATED

Well they were wrong, we got more snow than was predicted. So we are snowed in but I am having my husband go up and find my cross country skies so I can get out and ski instead of run.

This is looking up my street, everything is covered. Don't you just love it!

WHAT NEXT

Well they are now predicting up to an inch of snow for tomorrow. What next ! Today it got up to 20 and seemed a lot colder then the last few days. I finished a book that I had gotten for my birthday from the Belgium group. It was Keeping the Feast by Paual Butturini. This was a wonderful story about living in Italy, recovering from tragedy, healing with food and love. Once I was finished with the book I was hungry for some food, so made some bread and some chilli to go with the bread. Perfect afternoon.
There was no exercise today, my drive is clear and the dogs have a path to the yard. If they are right I will be doing the shovel work out tomorrow.

I'm not complaining about the snow. After all what we got is nothing compared to Chicago. And it's nice to know there is no where to go.

BE INVENTIVE

We are still in the big freeze. All the roads are covered with ice and traffic is barely moving. And to think that the Super Bowl is going to be played here on Sunday. The temperature was 13 this morning and it was slim chances that I would get out side. Boot camp was cancelled so I had to come up with one of my own. Luckily we received several great Wii games at Christmas so Christy and I decided to get them out and try some. The first was Just Dance 2. I was having a bit of a time trying to keep in step and " hey, why aren't I getting perfects"
After about two songs I was ready to move on. Next on the play list was Zumba,
I let Christy wear the hip belt. This was a lot of fun but harder than I thought it would be. Again I had trouble following the steps but what the heck I was moving. Last was The Biggest Loser Challenge. Christy went first and did it all then it was my turn. I was starting with Bob and the personalized training. Trust me the warm up was tiring me out. I was wanting to stop but Christy said I had to do the whole thing. Lucky for me they turned the power off, second time today this has happened. Well that was it I was finished.
For an extra little workout I bundled up and went out and cleared a path on the patio so my weenie dogs wouldn't slip and slide into the pool.

NEW WORKOUT EQUIPMENT

Today I had a run on my schedule but that quickly changed. I woke up at 5 to the sound of sleet on my windows. Looked out and there was about an inch on the ground. Made some coffee and turned on the TV, yep it was that winter storm they had been predicting for a week. The sleet was soon followed by snow and a bitter wind. No one was going anywhere. Later in the day I dug out my flannel lined jeans and boots and went out to shovel the ice off the drive. Not that I was going anywhere but I did want it clear because it is going down to 8 degrees tonight and if by chance there was school tomorrow we'd need the drive clear. Did I mention my drive is a hill.
Anyways I think I had a pretty good cardio work out just using the shovel.