How the Hours Fly, As the Moon Drifts By
It’s been yoga abs for the past few days - with the increased mileage and hot yoga (which involves a lot of crazy core moves too), I finding the 365 Abs Routine Fitness Streak a bit of a boring distraction.
Streaks seems so fun in theory and after two months and I like the results - but there is this sense of “eh” about it.
After tomorrow, I’m retiring the streak. I would rather find the time and energy to complete a 120 minutes of hot yoga six times a week and get a full rest day.
I also really want more hot yoga sculpt in my life!
I had whipped up another pot of my Hearty Indian Lentil and Spinach soup for dinner - borrowing the picture from my old recipe since we even had the same mini bell peppers for the top!
The house smelled wonderful and today needed a cozy soup and some time cuddling on the couch.
I enjoyed my soup with a slice of Ezekiel toast with a wedge of Laughing Cow, but I was so hungry I forgot to photograph it. :D
Dessert was summer heaven: ripe, perfect, in season strawberries - from far, far, away and courtesy of Fresh Picks.
These fruits taste like spring which makes me jealous of the parts of the country where people are luxuriating in the sunshine.
Off to do some serious foam-rolling and yoga in front of the fireplace - I am so tight tonight!
The Bully Bachelor + Tough Mudder Test
Our old neighbors were featured on “Marry Me Monday” on The Bachelor tonight - it was so fun to see someone we knew and such a surprise. Nigel used to love that girl, so he took his broken heart on the prowl during his evening walk tonight. He met two blonde women tonight so tune in next week to see who he’ll choose. :D
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My sick day eats:
…a plate of popcorn…
…and a bowl of wild long-grain rice with Asian veggies including broccoli, green peas, sugar snap peas, carrots, peppers, and baby broccoli.
My cold got much worse as the day wore on - so I decided I didn’t want to blow my nose through hot yoga and worked out at home instead with my Tough Mudder Circuit. Good lord people, I would say I’m as weak as a kitten but that would be an insult to kittens.
The photo above would be me attempting to do scissor kicks really, really fast.
A month ago, I wouldn’t have been able to make it through half these moves - I have hot yoga to thank for some of my basic strength. However, putting up more then one set of the complex moves was a real challenge. And there were some “ummm…” moments - like the chin-up and chair dips.
I find marathons and half-marathons exciting (sorry, Tough Mudder marketing). It sounds egotistical, but I am certain I will finish and that over time I will get faster, whether I run 13.1 miles or whether I run 30 miles.
However, running a Tough Mudder race is one of those goals that makes me want to throw up.
I don’t want to skip obstacles and I don’t want to be helped everywhere because I’m a girl and don’t have the strength. Friends have suggested doing a smaller Warrior Dash or Spartan Race first, but I prefer popping the obstacle race cherry on a longer distance. So yes, a goal that makes me want to throw up.
Plan A is to work hard and kick ass. Which will hopefully make Plan B an unnecessary backup (grabbing onto some hot Marine’s back and not letting go until the finish line). :D
Be Pushed by Your Dreams And Not by Your Problems
So Downton Abbey was my awesome weekend (link contains spoilers). I have plans to watch Season 2 through the Super Bowl and luxuriate in the costumes. Oh, those costumes!
I was obsessed with Manor House when it aired and this show fills the hole in my life for Edwardian drama. The series is written by Julian Fellowes (of Gosford Park fame) and is fabulous!
As my father would say, the youngest daughter has “a face for the ages.” I think she is unbelievably lovely - and probably the most pleasant to watch onscreen. She looks like an Edwardian portrait, no?
This was a deliciously lovely weekend. I totally finked on watching The Woman in Black because I freak out when I’m home alone! Snuggles under a blanket instead with Downton Abbey! The show needs an English bulldog. :D
Marathon Training
This is the third week that I have been able to run four times for a total of 16.1 miles.
My long run this week was 6.51 miles - no knee pain during and only a mild twinge after.
Hot Yoga
I was only able to make it to four hot yoga classes this week - one advanced, two beginner, and a Core Restore, which was much needed because my run left me so tight. The increased mileage is making me a bit cautious but I need to hit six classes next week - I don’t feel right anymore when I don’t have enough yoga in my life!
My workout log is available here!
I’m 36 days into my abs routine streak and I’m making some changes. First, John wasn’t able to keep up the streak so I’ll be going it alone. This will be much easier for me to get the routine done earlier and to make it longer!
Thursday’s Routine
I focused on transitions - moving from plank in side planks without rest. And yes, I wiped out on the seventh plank! :D I hoping that by adding these quick transitions with difficult moves, I’ll get stronger and bring it to my yoga mat!
Friday’s routine was just a hodge-podge - I didn’t feel like an abs routine so I got this one done.
I did this routine on Saturday and today and it’s one of my favorites. It’s the “Ab Ripper” section from P90X and it’s such a great routine. All the descriptions are available here!
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In the following week, I will continue with marathon training and I will aim for six hot yoga classes, including a Core Restore class.
I also want to change up my abs and strength routine to serve me more - I am going to be tracking my routines in a seven day segment here. This week I will be focusing on the Ab Ripper routine and the Tough Mudder Routine and allowing myself two restorative core routines - I have to find something that will work for that!
Tough Mudder Inspired Abs + Eat All the Healthy Things!
Prettiest smoothie ever! My breakfast was a raspberry and blackberry smoothie with unsweetened almond milk, a container of Chobani plain Greek 0%, and half a banana.
I made a picnic lunch to go with a sliced pear, a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter and blackberry preserves and a low-fat pepper jack cheese stick!
Workouts
I ran a three miler today with some good numbers - two miles at a 9:43 pace exact, a half mile at a 9:26, and the last half mile at a 9:10 pace. Three miles in 29:30. No knee pain beeches!
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Yesterday’s ab workout was a repeat of Routine 30 but today’s workout is a standout. One of my goals for February is to commit to the weights and commit to a focused abs routine that I can build on.
We have plans to do a Tough Mudder race this year but we haven’t finalized which one - but I remembered their awesome training plan available here!
You can find descriptions for all the moves here - they are intense for me and I had to skip using weights for some of them. I’m looking forward to seeing where I will be with the entire Tough Mudder workout by the end of the month!
Working it Out, Playing Catch-Up!
Monday’s workout was a simple C1 Hot Yoga class - I was silly and forgot my towel! It was a nice relaxing class and I need to do more of these to get my body used to the volume of yoga I’m demanding from it.
I’m also playing catch-up with posting our fitness streak workouts! Our routines are all over the place and I am very impressed we have been able to keep our streak up. In February though, I would like to focus these workouts and have each day build on the previous one!
Foxes Under the Bed
I tossed and turned and woke up late because I was dreaming so much last night. There was a fox in my dream and this morning I remembered how I used to make my father check underneath my bed for a family of foxes.
He would get on his hands and knees and use an umbrella to chase them out. Three months of this and my mother had enough - she suggested I be weaned off this behavior. The next morning my parents found me sleeping in my sister’s bed because I refused to sleep above the family of foxes.
Breakfast was a bowl of chai tea oats and a clementine.
And a lovely cup of coffee with a quarter cup of unsweetened almond milk!
Our fitness streak is tough - between hot yoga, running, and our daily abs workout, my abs are constantly sore. We try to have “pulse” days but I think we need more yoga abs stretching workout for “rest workouts”. They won’t interrupt our streak and will provide some relief to our sore abs!
I am Getting Sucked in + Day 2 of Consecutive Running + 365 Abs Fitness Streak!
You are all too! I know one of you is watching The Bachelor with me!
I love watching with John because it’s funny to see the male viewpoint on the drama. I subscribe to the philosophy girls need to “hide the crazy” and unleash it in small doses because there’s only so much cray-cray that a guy can handle at once. Let’s be real, this applies to both genders in any kind of relationship. :D
For example, I saved it till the sixth date that I’m afraid of the zombie apocalypse. Last night’s episode brought out some major cray-cray!
Okay, back to reading My Foreign Affairs! Now you all know why I don’t overdose on chocolate - the siren lure of trash t.v. works even better!
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Today was day two of my “consecutive running” training plan. I ran a mile in 9:41 this morning and took care of my stabby knee pain with some stretching.
I also went to a C2 hot yoga class with a teacher that I am in love with. Sometimes a teaching style clicks, and hers works for me! C2 classes are intermediate and she loves making us do poses where we fall out to challenge ourselves - I am definitely going to try to take another two C2 classes this week!
If anyone saw me in the gym this evening with John, I was a total treat. Why are weights so darn heavy?? John had me do:
Pull-ups (with him supporting my knees)
Lat Pulldown @ 40lbs/ 2 sets, 10 reps
Lat Pulldown @ 50lbs/1 set, 10 reps (aaah!!!)
Shoulder Front Lifts with 2.5lbs (3 sets/10 reps)
Shoulder Side Lifts with 2.5 lbs (3 sets/10 reps)
I also busted out crow pose a few more times for good measure, since my body weight, I can manage. :D
Our abs program is going awesome! I can’t wait to see where we are six months into this.
Saturday Routine, Routine 14 of 365
Half-Moon, L+R
Plank 1 Minute
Sit-ups, 50
Sit-ups, 50
Plank, 1 Minute
Half-Moon, L+R
Bicycles, 25, L+R
Sit-Ups, 50
Sunday Routine, Routine 15 of 365
Pulses - 1 minute each of sit-up pulses, total 8 minutes.
Monday Routine, Routine 16 of 365
Plank held for 1:10
25 sit-ups
Plank held for 1:10
25 sit-ups
Plank held for 1:10
25 sit-ups
Side Plank, 10 breaths each (both sides!)
Side Plank, 10 breaths each (both sides!)
SNEAK PEAK Tuesday Routine, Routine 17 of 365
The House of Pain!
Plank 1:00
Sit-Ups, 50
Plank 1:05
Sit-Ups, 50
Plank 1:10
Sit-Ups, 50
Plank 1:15
Sit-Ups 50
Hope you all had killer workouts too!
Death by Plank and Kicking Our Asanas on Date Night!
Breakfast was a hot coffee with a cup of unsweetened almond milk and a teaspoon of Splenda! Fuel for my first hot yoga class of the day, a C2! It was a toughie doing it two days in a row and my left knee acted up a bit - but no stabbing pain!
Lunch was a veggie falafel footling from Subway which I ate as two meals - I get my bread pulled out and all the veggies.
We had two great abs routines. On Thursday, John picked the following:
Routine 12 of 365:
Sit-Ups, 50 (I can do 40 straight, John does 50)
Bicycle Crunches 25 each
Plank 30 seconds
Toe Touches 20
Sit-up pulses, 1 minute
Sit-up pulses, 1 minute
Bicycle Crunches, 25 each!
Sit-Ups, 50
Routine 13 of 36: This was my routine and it was Death by Plank!!!
Plank 45 seconds
Bicycle Crunches, 25 each.
Plank 1 Minute!
Butterfly Sit-Ups, 25 reps.
Plank 1 minute!
Parallel Shins sit-ups, 25 reps.
Plank 1 minute!
Side Plank - each side, three breaths!
The highlight of today was the arrival of my new super yoga mat - the Manduka Black Mat Pro! I was silly and bought it from my studio but it’s much cheaper on Amazon. The mat lives up to the hype, it’s amazingly thick without being plush and feels really solid underfoot.
Our date night tonight was a hot yoga class with John - he let me enjoy the mat while he used a regular one, but a surprise Valentine’s Gift might be arriving early for someone!
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{John looked like this - except male, six feet tall, and wearing a t-shirt from a recent race!}
I met John at the studio and I was so excited because I’ve been wanting to have a hot yoga date and I haven’t had a two-in-one class day in a long time!
We took a C1 which was perfect after my challenging C2. I love watching John in hot yoga - he is so strong that his chatarungas are perfect and he can kick ass on the arm balances. Me, I still do sexy push-ups! :D
Today, John held crow pose three times: 20, 25, and 30 seconds each!
I was able to hold one for ten whole breaths! Holla yogis!
Now we’re off to an Indian meal feast for our marathon dinner! Happy Friday!
Streak it to me Baby! Day 6-11 of 365 Abs Routines
Last nights dinner: roasted Portabellas with balsamic vinegar and garlic slivers, cherry tomatoes and yellow and green zukes on the sides, all over a bed of baby spinach and arugula. A cup of unsweetened hot cocoa for a sweet treat and the night was perfect.
If I could just juice all these veggies and then some, I would be a happy camper - so efficient!
And more workouts!
Did you think 39.3 miles would stop the STREAK??!! We don’t think so! :D
Day 6 (Friday): 20 Minutes Abs-Centric Yoga, a nice stretching workout!
25 sit-ups
Then this routine!
Day 7 (Saturday):
Sit-Up Pulses for 1 minute each! We do 8 minutes in total but are trying to build up to 1:30!
Day 8 (Sunday):
More Yoga abs - this time with Tara Stiles! + Half Moon for 8th move!
Day 9 (Monday):
Regular Sit-Ups, 50 reps total, 25 each set.
Side Angle Sit-Ups, 25 reps each side.
Floating Sit-Ups, 25 reps.
Straight Leg Sit-Ups, 10 reps.
Ceiling Toe Touch Swing, 10 reps.
Bridge Pose, Hip Thrusts, 10 reps.
Straight Leg Raises, 10 reps.
Pullover Knees to Chest, 10 reps.
Day 10 (Tuesday):
Same as Monday!
Day 11 (Wednesday):
Pulses, alternating sit-up and bicycle crunches for 1 minute each! Total, 8 minutes! Whew - these kill me!
Our Fitness Streak: Day 4 of 365 Abs Routines
Last night was a late one - John came home from work at 10:30 pm, we still had to take out tree down (I helped my taking every last ornament down and my effort to surprise John by removing the tree by myself was a lesson in comedy!), and John still has a workout!
But we didn’t miss our fitness streak! :D
It was my turn to pick the routine and I decided to turn to Tracy Anderson for some inspiration.
Mehnaz’s Routine, Routine 4
Plank 60 seconds
Pikes 10 reps
Ankle Crossed Crunches, 10 reps each, L+R
Circle Crunches 10
Reverse Pendulums 10 reps each, L+R
Commander Sit-Ups, 10 reps
Plank, 30 seconds
I loved this routine and after the marathon, I might bring it back with more reps! Some of the moves were a bit advanced so I’m glad John was okay with taking it a bit easy!
How is everyone else streakin’? :)
