Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Matchstick Challenges

As stated in my previous post, I promised to be more active in my blog postings and updates.  This includes Molly's Matchstick Challenge.  I'm weeks behind, but am going to pick up this week with Challenge #9 while attempting to squeeze in previous week's challenges in order to catch up.

Click the link above to see previous challenges; below you will find Challenge #9.  Join us in the weekly challenges.  Play catch up with us and post your weekly updates!


Matchstick Challenge #9! Info//Join Note: If you joined late, post the current week’s challenge instead of going back to the beginning and starting there. You can post  past challenges as well, but part of it is the community that we build  by working on the same thing together, every week! Ladies and other ladies, (reader survey says my readers are 98%  female) it is time for another challenge! Last week’s posts were really  great, and I’ve actually turned them it into a running feature. I’ve  posted some “Is It Really Healthy?” posts on this page right here,  and will keep updating the list with new reviews that I write and  receive from you! Visit the page to find out to have your review  featured. This weeks challenge is another “do” challenge. The last two you  could pretty much do from your computer if you wanted to (or even yell  from the couch and have a computer or hired slave type down your words  for you), but not this week! This week’s challenge is to make healthy choices more accessible. Think about the reason you eat chips, or candy, or a sugary protein bar. It’s easy. It’s right there. You can grab it and take a bite in less than five seconds. When I’m hungry, I’m hungry right then, and I want to eat right away (probably why there aren’t any elaborate recipes on this page—I am almost admirably impatient.) To grab something like, a handful of grapes, you have to get the  grapes out, deal with those weird bags they come in, wash them, and put  them in a bowl. To get some carrots? You have to get them, peel them,  cut them, whatever. It takes work, and when you’re hungry and want  something right away, you’re probably going to skip all of that in favor  of something quicker (and probably less healthy.) So this week, let’s flip the tables and make healthy  food a little more accessible! Cut up fruits and veggies and have them  all ready to go in a container in the fridge. Maybe make a couple mixes,  like a container of carrots, cucumbers, cauliflower and sugar snap  peas. You could get a little dish with some hummus or something to dip  in them all ready and in the container with them, so that’s one less  thing you have to do when the time comes. Make eating fresh &  healthy foods easy on yourself by taking a few minutes right now. You could also try to bring healthy snacks or lunches with you,  instead of buying them at school or work. I would almost never buy  something from a vending machine unless I was super hungry and that was  the only thing around. I’ve caved before and went through a drive though  just because I didn’t have something healthy with me and I wanted to  eat right then. If you have a [healthy!] protein bar, bag of veggies, banana or wrap with you, you can eat that whenever you get hungry, instead of getting junk. See how many healthy choices you make by making nutritious food more available! Looking for ideas?-88 Snacks Under 100 Calories-Great Take-Along Ideas from Another Lunch Tag it with matchstickchallenge and link up to this post when you’re done, and maybe do all of these things too. [I’ll stop bossing you now, I guess. Maybe.]

Matchstick Challenge #9!

Note: If you joined late, post the current week’s challenge instead of going back to the beginning and starting there. You can post past challenges as well, but part of it is the community that we build by working on the same thing together, every week!
Ladies and other ladies, (reader survey says my readers are 98% female) it is time for another challenge! Last week’s posts were really great, and I’ve actually turned them it into a running feature. I’ve posted some “Is It Really Healthy?” posts on this page right here, and will keep updating the list with new reviews that I write and receive from you! Visit the page to find out to have your review featured.
This weeks challenge is another “do” challenge. The last two you could pretty much do from your computer if you wanted to (or even yell from the couch and have a computer or hired slave type down your words for you), but not this week!
This week’s challenge is to make healthy choices more accessible. Think about the reason you eat chips, or candy, or a sugary protein bar.
It’s easy. It’s right there. You can grab it and take a bite in less than five seconds. When I’m hungry, I’m hungry right then, and I want to eat right away (probably why there aren’t any elaborate recipes on this page—I am almost admirably impatient.)
To grab something like, a handful of grapes, you have to get the grapes out, deal with those weird bags they come in, wash them, and put them in a bowl. To get some carrots? You have to get them, peel them, cut them, whatever. It takes work, and when you’re hungry and want something right away, you’re probably going to skip all of that in favor of something quicker (and probably less healthy.)
So this week, let’s flip the tables and make healthy food a little more accessible! Cut up fruits and veggies and have them all ready to go in a container in the fridge. Maybe make a couple mixes, like a container of carrots, cucumbers, cauliflower and sugar snap peas. You could get a little dish with some hummus or something to dip in them all ready and in the container with them, so that’s one less thing you have to do when the time comes. Make eating fresh & healthy foods easy on yourself by taking a few minutes right now.
You could also try to bring healthy snacks or lunches with you, instead of buying them at school or work. I would almost never buy something from a vending machine unless I was super hungry and that was the only thing around. I’ve caved before and went through a drive though just because I didn’t have something healthy with me and I wanted to eat right then. If you have a [healthy!] protein bar, bag of veggies, banana or wrap with you, you can eat that whenever you get hungry, instead of getting junk.
See how many healthy choices you make by making nutritious food more available!
Tag it with matchstickchallenge and link up to this post when you’re done, and maybe do all of these things too. [I’ll stop bossing you now, I guess. Maybe.]

Friday, January 20, 2012

Super Slackers

Between the craziness of the holidays, training for our upcoming half marathon (runDisney's Tinker Bell half is only nine days away!); work, school, and our new love, CrossFit we have failed to stay on top of regular blog updates.  It has been one whole month since our last post. One Month!  That is far too long, and on behalf of both of us, I extend our deepest apologies.  As our title and description so clearly state, the purpose of this blog is to journal our training process for any and all races we sign up for and provide motivation along the way.  Rest assured that we have still been training.  We run, we CrossFit, and we somehow manage to fit life in between.  We have only fallen short on the blogging aspect of our journey.  I am here to tell you that we are going to make a better effort to get back on track as a means to provide motivation for our readers, as well as to continue to hold ourselves accountable.  This is especially important to us given that we have recently had two friends (Stephanie Q., and Stephanie L.) express their interest in joining us in running a marathon this year.

Yep, I said it.  Marathon.  Twenty six point two miles of both pure bliss and pure torture.  We have yet to pick a race, but will be sure to announce it when it has been decided.  I'm thinking a fall race is in order since Danielle and I are both teachers and can ideally train during our summers off.

So please stick with us as we get back on our feet and get back in the groove of things.  Motivational Mondays, Wordless Wednesdays, the Matchstick Challenge, and regular workout updates will work their way back into the blogroll, and perhaps a Tuesday Ten and/or Friday Five.  

Happy running, happy blogging, happy, healthy 2012! 


Monday, December 19, 2011

Diet? What diet?

This last weekend was my family Christmas in Southern California. I was off exercise for 3 days and my diet consisted somewhat of this...

Taco, enchilada, beans and rice
reduced fat turkey bacon breakfast sandwich from Starbucks
Chips and salsa
Beer
Mac-n-cheese
Grilled veggies
Tri-tip
Punch (that was clearly loaded with alcohol because that's how we roll)
Cupcake
Beer
Eggs, hash browns, ham
Crusted calamari
Caesar salad
Garlic bread
Another beer
Cookies

This was all in a matter of 3 days. This morning I went back to CrossFit and all that food I just listed slapped me in the face as hard as it could. I. felt. like. poop. During our brief chat while warming up, I had told my trainer about my weekend. She made sure to remind, while all that food was slapping me in the face, that if I kept that up I was going to be working against myself. I will do anything not to feel that way again. I want to be fit. I want to be strong. I want to be healthy. Time to change what I put in my body.

Danielle

P.S. After listing all of the food I ate over the weekend, it sure does motivate me even more to change my diet.

Motivational Monday

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Time to kick ass...

Now that student teaching isn't consuming 10 hours of my day, I need to get caught up. For the last 2 weeks my running was put on hold because there weren't enough hours in the day. There. I said it. I don't belong to a gym and I don't run at night in the dark. When the sun comes up, I'm getting read for work. I've decided to dedicate the next 7 weeks to kicking ass.

I decided to ride Amanda's coat tails by starting CrossFit. My first class was this morning and I had no idea what to expect. The CrossFit gym isn't like your typical gym. You aren't surrounded with weight machines, elliptical machines, and treadmills. It's way better than that. The room is open with options for free weights surrounding the gym. The music, and it's good music, is blasting and the energy from the other CrossFit gurus is contagious. I had people cheering me on and yelling at me to push harder.

My workout looked something like this...

200m run
squats
arm rows
push-ups

reps of 15-12-9

finished with a 200m run

I was done in about 9 minutes, my arms felt like jello, and I was winded. Cannot wait to go back for round 2 tomorrow morning.

While incorporating CrossFit into my training I will continue to run and pick up where my training schedule leaves off.

Here's to kicking the next 7 weeks ass.



Danielle

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Matchstick Music

Matchstick Challenge: Week 4
My Running Playlist:
First, I must preface this post by saying that I really only use my playlist for running.  The playlist is actually called “13.1”.  I don’t warm up or cool down with specific songs; I just set my playlist on shuffle and run. Most of my songs have some correlation to running based on their title or lyrics, others have lyrics that give me motivation based on lyrics, and some just have an amazing beat that make me want to get after it!  That being said, I did my best to use my music and put it into Molly’s proposed categories as suggested by Challenge #4. For Matchstick purposes, my list is as follows:
Three “Relaxing” Warm Up Songs:
~P.Y.T - Michael Jackson
~I Run to You - Lady Antebellum
~Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine
Three Power Songs (i.e., songs that put me in the zone and keep me going):
~Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga
~Days Like These - Asia
~Without You - David Guetta ft. Usher
Three “Angry” Songs (I hate “angry” screamo music so these are more “kick it into high gear” based on title and lyrics):
~Let’s Go Crazy - Incubus
~I’m a Machine - David Guetta ft. Crystal Nicole
~Crank It Up - David Guetta ft. Akon
Three Fast Paced Cardio:
~Mr. Brightside - The Killers
~Quiet Little Voices - We Were Promised Jetpacks
~1901 - Phoenix
Three Cool Down Songs:
~I’m Real - JLo ft. Ja Rule
~Arms - Christina Perri
~Fly - Nicki Minaj and Rihanna
One Song Guaranteed To Kick It Up (THIS is my ultimate power song, especially at 1:52):
~Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Other faves on the rest of my running playlist include more Gaga, and Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha, Rihanna, Galore, Boston, LMFAO, Foster the People, Journey, Swedish House Mafia, Vampire Weekend, The Downtown Fiction, Black Eyed Peas … and the list goes on…  Thanks for the challenge, Molly!
(photos source: iTunes)
Matchstick Challenge: Week 4
My Running Playlist:
First, I must preface this post by saying that I really only use my playlist for running. The playlist is actually called “13.1”. I don’t warm up or cool down with specific songs; I just set my playlist on shuffle and run. Most of my songs have some correlation to running based on their title or lyrics, others have lyrics that give me motivation based on lyrics, and some just have an amazing beat that make me want to get after it! That being said, I did my best to use my music and put it into Molly’s proposed categories as suggested by Challenge #4. For Matchstick purposes, my list is as follows:
Three “Relaxing” Warm Up Songs:
~P.Y.T - Michael Jackson
~I Run to You - Lady Antebellum
~Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine
Three Power Songs (i.e., songs that put me in the zone and keep me going):
~Edge of Glory - Lady Gaga
~Days Like These - Asia
~Without You - David Guetta ft. Usher
Three “Angry” Songs (I hate “angry” screamo music so these are more “kick it into high gear” based on title and lyrics):
~Let’s Go Crazy - Incubus
~I’m a Machine - David Guetta ft. Crystal Nicole
~Crank It Up - David Guetta ft. Akon
Three Fast Paced Cardio:
~Mr. Brightside - The Killers
~Quiet Little Voices - We Were Promised Jetpacks
~1901 - Phoenix
Three Cool Down Songs:
~I’m Real - JLo ft. Ja Rule
~Arms - Christina Perri
~Fly - Nicki Minaj and Rihanna
One Song Guaranteed To Kick It Up (THIS is my ultimate power song, especially at 1:52):
~Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
Other faves on the rest of my running playlist include more Gaga, and Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha, Rihanna, Galore, Boston, LMFAO, Foster the People, Journey, Swedish House Mafia, Vampire Weekend, The Downtown Fiction, Black Eyed Peas … and the list goes on… Thanks for the challenge, Molly!
(photos source: iTunes)
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