New Year's Haiku

This fresh brand-new year,
I will learn to use my wings.
Watch out -- here I come!

Sports Chalet sale!

If anyone lives near a Sports Chalet, they have all Go Fit products (including kettlebells) on sale for 25% off the normal price. So if you're looking to pick up a kettlebell, now may be the most cost-effective time to do it!

Merci!

Big thank yous to everyone who provided wonderful suggestions for my dinnertime dilemmas. I'll comment more specifically when I have time, but for now know that your wisdom is appreciated, and as a result, here was tonight's dinner:

Jerk Chicken (pre-marinated from Nugget Market, Tim and Austin ate this)
Steamed broccoli (everyone ate this)
Tater Tots (the kids and I ate these)
Salad (Tim and I ate this)

Believe it or not, my family LOVES Brussels sprouts (Austin's just ok with them), so it wasn't quite as much of a setup for disaster as it might have seemed for me to cook them. And the dinner recipe wasn't chosen to impress. It actually didn't take that long to make and I chose it because it looked like it had a lot of flavor, it was reasonably healthy, and it seemed like something my family would like. (I used to make a honey and curry chicken dish that everyone loved until I made it too much and they OD'd on it.)

I'm considering starting a different blog to record dinners -- what works, what doesn't, and what I learn. If I go this route, I'll let you know in case you want to play along!

Last night ended with us watching a scary movie, and Tucker unable to sleep. So I spent most of the night on the floor of his room and then I was unable to sleep. So I'm heading off to bed now.

Kettlebells with Tracy

Tracy Reifkind is teaching kettlebell swing classes in Palo Alto in January. I took her class in Healdsburg in September and it was wonderful! Here's a video from the Healdsburg class. I'm in the pink t-shirt and black shorts. There are more videos on Tracy's website.



If you've ever wanted to learn to swing a kettlebell, get yourself to Palo Alto to learn from one of the best.

The problem with dinner?

(Warning -- this is a free-form stream of consciousness post, and since it's from my point of view, may not be very fair to everyone involved. But it's what's going on for me...)

The ultimate problem may be that I'm asking for too much. What I want is for everyone to like and eat what I cook. I'll even settle for 3 out of 4. But it rarely goes that way.

Tonight I tried a new recipe: Curried Chicken Flatbread with Chutney and Yogurt Drizzle. Sounds good, right? I also made some roasted brussels sprouts with apples and walnuts (another new recipe). So I started on the veggies, mixing up the dressing (olive oil, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt), trimming the brussels sprouts, prepping the apples (thick slices) and chopping the walnuts. Mixed all and put into the oven.

Now onto the flatbread. There was an option to make your own dough, but I opted for a thin-crust Boboli. Started cooking the chicken (seasoned with garlic and pepper). Made the sauce (chutney, rice vinegar, curry powder). Chopped the veggies (scallions and jalapenos) for garnish. Once that was in the oven, started cleaning the kitchen.

Tucker comes downstairs with his hand covering his nose. The smell is making him nauseated. This irritates Tim (who knows how frustrating dinners are for me), but I don't take it personally. I start scrambling some eggs. Then grab the veggies out of the oven. We sit and eat.

Tim and Austin LOVE the flatbread. Apparently the flavor is wonderful, and the yogurt, scallions, and jalapenos that top it perfectly offset the rest of the dish. Veggies are another story. Recipe called for putting whole brussels sprouts into 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. I should have known that wasn't long enough, but it was written down so it has to be right, right? So brussels sprouts were undercooked. Apples and walnuts tasted good, and I'll try that recipe again, halving the sprouts and cooking a little longer.

The big problem here is the takeaway. I feel discouraged after yet another failed dinner. And I'm hungry, as I didn't even cook something I could really eat. And I'm lonely because I was all by myself during dinner prep. (Tim offered to help, but I just couldn't bring myself to ask him. In retrospect, it would have been a nice way for us to spend time together.)

I feel like no matter what I try, I can't get it right. If I cook anything with beef, Tim doesn't like it, as he's kind of done with beef. When I do "normal" foods -- straightforward basic flavors -- the kids don't really care for them. Actually, it feels like Tucker doesn't care for much of anything these days, and maybe that's something I need to remember, as the truth is that 66% of the people who COULD eat the dinner LOVED the dinner. And the loneliness is my own fault. So maybe I've come to my own answer here. The good news is that as discouraging as this whole dinnertime thing is, and as much as I'm tempted to just grab a box of cereal and some soy milk, and say "So what are y'all havin' tonight?", I'm still in there trying. And that has to count for something, right?

My new vibrator!

I got a Clarisonic, but I love calling it my "face vibrator" which is proof positive that my inner 12-year-old is alive and well.

In 12 days I will be 48 years old, and I'm still working on the habit of washing my face, morning and night. Somehow having a toy to play with is helping, and for the past few days I've been faithfully vibrating (washing) my face twice a day. It helps that it feels nice. And I think I'm noticing an difference in my skin, which is a welcome thing at any age, but especially as I edge closer to 50.

Need more to read?

Fit Bottomed Girls posted some fit links, including a great list of health and wellness blogs that I'm dying to check out. Yeah, like I need MORE time at the computer, right??? Also worth a look are the Nike ad link and the People Jam link.

I'm recovering from a quick, violent case of stomach flu. Friday night was yucky. Saturday was somewhat better, but I went to bed at 8:30 last night and didn't get up till 6:30 this morning. Today I've eaten some oatmeal which feels good, so that's a step in the right direction. If I keep feeling good, I'm going to do a slow 12 mile run, reserving the option to cut it short if running feels bad.

That's all the news from here for the moment. Have a wonderful day, friends!

Did it!

So I did the 12 days of Christmas workout. It was tougher than I expected. It started out just fine. Quads were tired during squats, but all was great until I got to pushups. Even though I did them at an incline (to a weight bench) I had to break them up. Same with pull ups and box jumps (and I only used a 16" box!). By the time I finished those 3 exercises, it was getting very tough. Did renegade rows with 12.5 pound dumbbells. Had to break up knees to elbows into 10, 10, and 10. Did thrusters with the 12.5s, and the burpees were a joke -- almost like a dream where you're trying to run, but it's like running through honey? Yeah, that was me. But it's done. Next time I'll be trying for straight sets of each exercise.

12 Days of Christmas workout

I found this on CrossFit Fuel, and think it's going to be my workout today:

120 sec of Jump Rope
110 Lunges (each rep counts)
100 Squats
90 Sit-ups
80 Mt. Climbers
70 Push-ups
60 Jumping Pull-ups
50 Box Jumps
40 Renegade Rows 10lb DB
30 Knee to Elbows
20 Thrusters
10 Burpees

Wish me luck...

Today

Laurie posted this quote from Kristen Armstrong's Runner's World blog regarding this wonderful season.

And here we are, a week away from Christmas, days away from Hannukah,and the pace of the season threatens to outpace us. I came to the conclusion that a great way to honor Erin, to honor each other, to honor ourselves and to honor the intended spririt of the holiday season is to give ourselves Grace. The grace to listen to our bodies when we are tired. To enjoy an extra cookie, or three. To huddle up in cold weather and snuggle our children instead of begrudging our lost workout. To take time to savor the chaos and the onslaught of relatives, knowing that soon enough things will settle back to normal and the only thing that will stand out is the reflection of how we spent our time. To hug our grandparents and listen to their stories. To let the kids wrap the gifts, decorate the cookies, sign the cards, and string the lights without our 'help.' To stretch out with a good book. To leave dirty dishes in the sink and linger at the table. To sleep in or stay up late. To include someone who feels blue this time of year. To allow our greatest gift to be our presence, in the moment and in our hearts.

Love well. Our time is now.

3:00 pm

Just back from a 9 mile run. Julianne called me hardcore for running in this weather, but I really don't think of it like that. Here's my thinking. I have the time to do the run. I always feel better after running. And with the right layers, and a cap and a pony, running in the rain is actually a good thing.

I set out not knowing how many miles I wanted to go, but I figured on going at least 4 miles. At 5, I felt good and was just happy to be outside and running. At 8 I wasn't quite home, and figured I would finish at 9. This means that if I do a quick 3 mile run tomorrow, I'll have 1500 miles for the year, and that seems like a good thing to have happen on Christmas day, right?

Ok, time to get cleaned up and back to cooking. Tim called and both Austin and Tucker agreed that this was the best snowboarding day of their entire lives. I couldn't be happier for them!

1:15 pm

Presents are all wrapped. Stockings are filled and hidden. Nearly all the cooking and baking is done. So what's a girl to do? Go out on a lovely lovely run. It's started raining again, but with a hat and layers, rain is delightful to run in. So off I go...

Now I REALLY wish I was snowboarding!

This is the view from the chairlift. Look at all that amazing powdery snow!!!

My poetry...

...was mentioned on Cranky Fitness! I didn't win the Vita Mix (which is only fair, as I already own one), but it was fun to play.

9:30 am

The house smells amazing! The pumpkin cake is done. The tortellini soup just needs to simmer for 10 more minutes, and then it will chill (literally) till tomorrow when I'll add the tortellini and zucchini right before serving. Next up is the lasagna prep, so I'll cook the veggies (carrots, zucchini and onions) and make the sauces, but I'll assemble the lasagna tomorrow.

Here's a picture Tim took on the way up to Tahoe. Thank goodness for 4 wheel drive!

He texted me a while ago saying that there's nobody on the slopes. They may have their best day of snowboarding ever!

Getting stuff done

The fam left for Tahoe an hour ago without me. :( But it was my decision. There is no way I could in good conscience go snowboarding when tomorrow is Christmas and I'm in charge of Christmas dinner. I'm a little sad, but mostly I'm relieved, as this gives me a whole uninterrupted day to get all my Christmas ducks (geese?) all in a row. So be warned -- this could be a day of much stream-of-consciousness writing.

Lasagna noodles are cooked. Cake's about to go in the oven. Next up, tortellini soup. Also on today's agenda is a lovely lovely run!

The Last Man Standing, the race report

One thing I now know is this: if your travels take you anywhere near a mall at this time of year, you should allow for some extra driving time. On Sunday I went straight from my son's water polo game to register for and run in The Last Man Standing run, a celebration for local runner Paul Kamerer's birthday.


The race shirt.

Race start time was 1:00. I cruised in at 12:55, scribbled my reg form and tossed some money along with it, then started running in the direction of the starting line, which was quite a ways away. Fortunately, they started the race a little late, but I was still on the wrong side of levee as I heard "On your marks, get set, GO!" and the race started. I wanted to scream "Wait for meeeee!" but that would have taken valuable oxygen!

So I crossed the start line a bit after the official start, but that was fine. Along the way I met the birthday boy, who was escorted by a younger woman running on either side of him. Many people were wearing party hats. There was all ages present, from high school cross country runners, to kids with their parents, to runners in their 60s, 70s, and 80s (that's my best guess on the ages).

I finished the race, and then joined two guys who were cheering people on. We chatted about marathons and ultras (one guy assured me that an ultra is WAY easier than a marathon, because you don't run the entire time -- good food for thought for sure!). After a while, they decided to go in (it was cold and raining), but I wanted to go back and see how Paul was doing. I wasn't the only one with that thought, and there was a group of maybe 30 or more runners all running behind Paul. As he approached the finish line, he sped up and we all cheered as he finished!


Me and Paul (he's wearing my gift to him -- a Zombie Runner hat).

You can read more about Paul and Pinkhouse Gym here. Paul's actual birthday is December 26th. He will be NINETY YEARS YOUNG! Isn't he what everyone wants to be when they grow up???

My new favorite circuit

In a CrossFit-ish manner, i did this today:

7 rounds for time (took 17:30)
5 pullups (resistance band assisted)
10 incline pushups
15 deadlifts (60 lb barbell)
20 stability ball crunches
25 kettlebell swings (12 kg kb)

I also walked for 45 minutes passing out flyers about Bayside's Christmas services. It's sunny and chilly today -- perfect!!!

Christmas at Bayside

Here's a video from last year's Christmas service at our church. I hope the song translates on the computer -- experiencing this live is truly amazing!

More goal thoughts

It's Saturday night and I'm bored. Tim and the kids went snowboarding today, and although I wanted to go too, there was too much to do with Christmas just around the corner. So I shopped and wrapped and did laundry and straightened up. I did take a few minutes to do this workout:

5 rounds of
5 pullups (with elastic band for assistance)
10 pushups
15 dead lifts (60 pounds)
20 stability ball crunches

But other than that, it was a day of rest. Seriously, it took like 13 minutes to bang those circuits out.

So while folding laundry I was thinking more about goals for the upcoming year. In the back of my mind, I've been thinking about doing a 50 mile race in April. But it just occurred to me that if I do that, it will mess up my running afterwards. And I'm not sure I want to do that. Honestly, I think I could do a 50 mile race. It wouldn't be easy and it wouldn't be pretty, but I really believe I could do it. I just don't know if I'm willing to pay the price of the aftermath.

Where does that leave me? One of my goals will be 1000 miles for the year, because that really works for me. But beyond that, I just don't know. I like CrossFit. I like P90X. But am I committed to doing a full P90X rotation, or a certain number of days per week of CrossFit? I love kettlebells, and I'd LOVE to get an Art of Strength certification. But as a goal? I don't know.

Honestly, I'm not in the right frame of mind to seriously decide on goals for next year. But that's what's swirling around in my head at the moment.