#MotivateMe Monday: Week 5/6 and my first 15 km Run

Its time for another #MotivateME link up powered by Fitness Cheerleader and Running Rachel

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Last week:
Monday: wk4w2- DONE (with extra Burpees)
Tuesday: Rest day and Maybe some burpees Wk5w1 (strength)- I forgot my phone so I did a similar workout
Wednesday: Walk Semi Rest
Thursday: Rest 30 min walk
Friday wk5w1/w2 without the burpees
Saturday wk5w3 30 Burpees before dinner+walk
Sunday wk5w4 (ish) + 1 hr of rollar blading


As much as last week was a slightly messed up tutoring week, and busy with wedding invitations (seriously we spent ALL day on Saturday fighting with at home printing), I managed to fit in most of the workouts. I missed the long run, and I was short 60 burpees, and didn't push myself on workout 4 but overall not too bad.

On Saturday I was suppose to do a long run, but after fighting with invitations all day, I really didn't feel up to it. I have this huge issue with Running from Point A to Point B and back to point A, especially if I have done the same path before. I always want to give up and turn around and go home. So I decided to try a new strategy....I planned to RUN HOME FROM WORK.  My office is about 15 km away. I was planning on a walk/run, and worst case if I was dying I could hop on a street car.  I have done 10 km before, so I figured running an extra 5 km wouldn't be a huge stretch.

I got to work and realized I forgot my phone (again!), and was going to call the whole thing off. No way was I doing a 15 km walk/run with no music. I was going to go to the gym, but I didn't feel like it, and decided just to take a rest day and consider the walk home from the go train station as my exercise. 

Then, at the end of the day, I did the math. I had just missed the Go Train, so if I waited around for the next train, and then the 30 minute walk home, then a 1 hour gym session, I realized I could run home and be done my commute and exercise in about the same time.  Then I remembered that I had a little portable radio (that looks like a walkman...so ballin') in my desk from back when I didn't have a data plan, so I was all set for music! It also helped motivate me knowing that my friend Erin was training her butt off for Spartan race, and I would fall behind if I missed this run. That was all I needed to decide to RUN!

Then I realized I had no socks. Fail. Not letting that stop me I decided to start the run and then stop at a Shoppers and buy socks. I also bought gummy candies for run fuel, since by now it was 5:30pm and I was starving!!

My run was lovely. It wasn't too hot, but the sun was out, glistening off the lake. I've biked the same route before, and ran parts of it, but because I knew I was in it for the long haul I allowed myself to relax a little bit and stop and smell the roses so to speak. (Or in my nerdy case, stop and read all the historical signs). 

Same view, ~one year ago

Also, because I didn't have my phone, I wasn't caught up with tracking my time or my steps, or taking pictures. Because the radio was fairly cumbersome and very sensitive for tuning, I picked the first station that was clear and listened to that all the way home. I wasn't worried about fiddling with volume or finding the best running song.  It was slightly freeing to be somewhat "unplugged".  I love all of the apps out there that track everything: sleep, steps, posture, cadence, heartbeat, pace etc. When I was triathlon training they came in handy, and they are great for improving my baseline. But some times all I really need is sneakers, socks(!), gummy candy, and maybe some tunes. 

I made it home in about 1.75 hours (including the sock stop), and did a lot of walking (mostly to read the historical facts). But I was still able to run at the end, and wasn't dying when I got home. Considering that around 5 years ago I got winded walking the 1km to school, I think I'll call that a success. 

I also didn't eat all the candy, and now have more gym socks, that was also a success!

As I have mentioned before here, as much as I was never super unhealthy, it still sometimes boggles my mind at how far I have come from the end of university, and I'm so glad I still have the motivation to keep going!! 

This week: 

Monday: 15 km run (wk5w3)

Tuesday: Semi Rest 

Wednesday: W6w1- Strength (+extra burpees)

Thursday: W6w2- HIIT 

Friday: Rest?

Saturday: W6w3- need to do hills!

Sunday: W6w4

#MotivateME Monday Week 4/5 of Spartan Training and a Cake Pop

Oh Mondays.  This morning I woke up ready to take on the week but monday had other plans. My breakfast spilled all over my bag and my perfectly scheduled tutoring got all messed up..which I only realized half way to tutoring. Bright side: I had time to write this post while waiting for a drive home...There may have been Starbucks involved.

Now it is time for the #MotivateME link up powered by Fitness Cheerleader and Running Rachel

From two weeks ago I got most of my planned workouts done (week 3 was hard!!) and it was a crazy tutoring week..so I was exhausted. Like almost in tears at the gym on Friday night exhausted.  Luckily last week was short a short work week and I feel back on track now (minus the annoyances today). I'm still following this workout, and trying to, in general, do them in order. 

2 weeks ago:
Monday: wk 2 w4 Complete!
Tuesday: 30 min walk- Rest day due to work stuff
Wednesday: wk3w1- Walk
Thursday: 30 min walk - strength training (wk3w1)
Friday: wk3w2-yes but I did skip the burpees at the end
Saturday: Run 6 miles with circuit every mile (modified wk3w3). I ran 6 miles in gorgeous weather but didn't do full circuits.
Sunday: Density Training (wk3w4)-nope needed a break. 

First Outdoor Run of 2015!

Last week:

Monday: planned to do wk3w4 instead I worked on wedding invites...all evening.
Tuesday: 30 min walk between tutoring
Wednesday: A bad version of wk3w4. I totally phoned it in but at least I tried. 
Thursday: Citychase Crash Course-I counted this as wk4w3. 1 hr ish of sprinting.  Felt pretty good after!
Friday: wk4w1 + 30 burpees
Saturday: lots of walking at my cousins dance show
Sunday: wk4w4 once again not a very good job at this but at least it is done.

THIS WEEK:

This week my goal is to get caught up on Spartan race training. I'm getting kind of nervous about the weight/upper body stuff for Spartan Race. If you cant do an obstacle you have to do 30 burpees so I'm just going to practice all the burpees (and tutor, and do wedding stuff, and have a clean house, and have home cooked meals, oh and a 8-5 job too...I need a time turner!)

Monday: wk4w2, I guess if I'm not tutoring I might as well go to the gym!

Tuesday: Rest day and Maybe some burpees

Wednesday: Walk
Thursday: semi rest (I TTC so I always get some walking)
Friday wk5w1/w2
Saturday wk5w3
Sunday wk5w4

Lessons learned: always have my gym stuff with me for last minute change of plans! I could have gone to the gym while waiting for a drive home instead of eating a cake pop.

There was once a cake pop here. 

Editor's note: Kaylee finished writing this post in her gym clothes while waiting to go to the gym with Mike. Whether or not she actually went to the gym was never confirmed...or at least not known until the next blog post. 

Kaylee's note: the Cake pop was delicious. 

City Chase Crash Course: The 1st Losers

My normal Thursday night involves running around the city, getting from work, to tutoring, to tutoring, and then a long ttc ride home. This Thursday night my night involved running around the city, getting from chase point to chase point, and then a long ttc ride home.

As discussed here, here and here, we love the City Chase adventure races. After missing last year, we were really excited for this year's race on August 22nd. So excited in fact we registered for city chase entry as a wedding registry gift.

We were also excited (we get excited a lot), when City Chase announced a Mini city chase event, where the top 3 teams get free entry to the race. Mike and I aren't competitive at all (insert sarcasm font), so we immediately signed up and got it into our heads that we could win this thing. Since we had done quite well with endurochase in 2013, and we knew the downtown core, and our running skills are better than they have ever been, we were in it to win it. And hey, if we got free entry we could take it off our gift registry!

Both of us had to scramble to get to the starting point after work (only complaint with the whole thing was the 5:00pm start time), but we arrived and settled in, and sized up our competition... All while taking blurry selfies.

This event was dubbed "City Chase: the intimate affair" by one of the organizers, and that is what it really felt like.  City chase events have over 500 teams, and people have been running the race for 10+ years. At this event though, there were only 30ish teams, so the chances were quite high. About 20% of the teams were teams like Mike and I who were in it to see if they could win, which for most people isn't an option at the large city chase. There were also a lot of first timers, which was great, as it is a nice preview for the summer's event.

We had mapped out our strategy as we waited. Since Goodlife is a major sponsor of City Chase, we knew that there would most likely be some check points at the major Goodlife Gym's downtown. (HINT for anyone doing city chase). The organizer announced that teams would have to complete 6 checkpoints, 3/4 mandatory checkpoints (which were mapped), and the other 3 could be the optional checkpoints, which were in puzzle form, so you had to solve the location before you went.

Normally during big city chase, Mike and I take our time and solve a few clues, then figure out the best game plan. We knew in this race, with a limited number of check points, line ups could be an issue. So we decided to go to the furthest clues and work our way back. After we got our clue sheet we BOLTED to the first mandatory checkpoint down at Steam Whistle brewery. We were the first one there, so I guess our running skills were in better shape than I thought. After that we ran to Union Gym where we did jenga, and beat a super huge line up.

Our strategy then brought us up yonge street as we realized a lot of the optional clues were on yonge. We had to do one of those magic eye puzzles (which we both couldn't do but luckily we could ask people to help), and also play a game where each partner had to write down 3 things in a category independently and then compare, until you had 9 that matched. We bombed the first round (3/9), but the second round we got 8/9. Not bad! (Bruce Willis movies: Armaggedon, Die Hard, Die Hard 2 incase anyone was wondering, we both almost wrote Die Harder, even though that isn't even a movie...yet).

After that we sprinted (seriously, so much running) up to the Trinity Bay Goodlife and I had to do oragami and Mike ran on treadmill. I wish I had snapped a picture of my fish..it was awful, but it did the job, so we were out super fast. Good old 3-D spatial skills. I helped a few other teams who were very confused, and then Mike and I sprinted to the next stop. While Mike was chatting with the other chasers, we realized that we were doing really well, and we did in fact have a chance to win it.

And here is where everything fell apart. We had one more clue that said the start/finish line of City Chase Aug 22nd, and we assumed that it was at city hall. So we ran accross the street to City hall. And searched around for a volunteer. None to be found. I thought that one was a mandatory check point, so we wasted a little time trying to find the person. We then realized that was not a mandatory, so we doubled back to Trinity Square, and quickly did the stilts challenge.

We then SPRINTED to the finish line Shoeless Joes on King, and didn't see any other teams. When we checked in the organizer said "you are team number........4".  My heart sank. As much as it was just for fun, knowing we had lost free entry killed my soul. And then to add salt to our wounds we found out it we were 30 seconds away from 3rd, and about 2 minutes away from 1st. SO CLOSE.

We later found out the clue we messed up on was right across the street from the bar, and we could have done that on the way to steam whistle. If we hadn't have messed up with city hall we maybe even would have came in first!!

We were upset, but it is all for good fun, and we were proud that we did so well in general. Running that much in about 1hr was pretty intense.The organizer asked if we would still be doing city chase even since we didn't get free entry and we told him about our wedding registry idea. He thought it was great and requested that we tweet a screen shot.

When they handed out the prizes, he called us up to award us "4th place" as in the 1st losers...and based on City Chase humour, I thought it was just to poke fun at us (which I was ok with at this point), he was teasing us about coming in 4th, and reminding us that we only lost by 30 seconds, but then organizer actually told everyone that we were getting married and registered for city chase as a gift and then he GAVE US FREE ENTRY TO CITY CHASE this summer!!!

I know it isn't that big of deal, but guys, I almost started crying. I was so happy. It was so nice of them to do that, and it seriously made my night. And that is why I love the city chase organization. They are always having fun with it, and surprising the participants.

So here is the picture for twitter:

Thanks City Chase you guys are the best!! See you August 22nd! 

#MotivateME Monday- Week 3 of Spartan Training

#MotivateME Monday is a weekly link-up co-hosted by Fitness Cheerleader and Running Rachel

Oh hey bloggy friends!

I'm back! No real reason for the quietness around here (ahem wedding planning, tutoring, house stuff, Easter visitors) but I've been planning to post for a while and finally got around to it. I have been trying to coordinate a post for a Monday to join the #MotivateME Monday link up. It is a link up I found over at Fitness Cheerleader where we all post fitness and healthy eating plans for the week and then go spread some encouragement to other participants. 

My fitness plans for the next 6 weeks are really going to be focused on Spartan Race training. On May 17th one of my besties, Erin at GymCraftMed, and I will be participating in the Super Spartan race (13 km 20+ obstacles).  I am following this training plan but I spread it over 12 weeks instead of 8 since I was still doing other things such as Soccer and Yoga in March (and a dance class or two). ow that the race is 6 weeks away I have to get my butt in gear! Since I slacked a little last week (mmm Easter chocolates) this is a heavy training week.

Fitness Plan for this week:

...to use these a lot!

Monday: Density training (week 2 workout 4) Done!
Tuesday: 30 min walk
Wednesday: Strength training (week 3 workout 1)
Thursday: 30 min walk
Friday: HIIT training (week 3 workout 2)
Saturday: Run 6 miles with circuit every mile (modified week 3 workout 3)
Sunday: Density Training (week 3 workout 4)

Well this should be fun... 

For food, I plan to eat as normal, but I would like to watch my sugar intake, increase my water, and eat a little more protein and veggies than normal. Next week I'll do a more detailed food plan. 

Photo from Fitness Cheerleader and Running Rachel

Join the link up over at Fitness Cheerleader! 

Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

Oh hey strangers!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and January! I spent my holidays at home in New Brunswick which was nice and relaxing, full of family visits, and wedding planning. I returned to Toronto and dove back into work, tutoring, commuting in the snow, and trying to sell a car. I also got totally sucked into the book/tv series Outlander, and have been reading like a fiend....and totally ignoring the blog.

Which reminds me, this little blog is 4 years old now. Thanks for reading! To celebrate, I am sharing this muffin recipe. I have collected quite a few frozen bananas, and have been put to the task to using them up. For the past couple of Sunday's I have been trying new muffin recipes...which lead to a Frankenstein mishmash of ideas that lead to this...

I started with the concept from Running with Spoons, but converted into Carrot Cake, after my friend Brittany and I were discussing how February 3rd was Carrot Cake Day. These Muffins are actually pretty healthy! Lowish sugar, no oil, no butter, and made with Oats! Yes, there is cream cheese. I'm justifying it by pledging to do a little more working out. I work out for food. Truth.

There is also a full serving of fruit, and good fibre things from the oatmeal, but you won't even know it is "healthy"....they are sneaky muffins...like Ninjas. Carrot Ninjas. They are pretty much a bowl of oatmeal in muffin form. With cream cheese. Guys..I tried to make it healthy ok, the cream cheese just fell in the bowl.

Mostly Healthy Carrot Cake Muffins

Time: 

20 minutes Prep

20 minutes cooking

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients: 

2.5 cups of whole oats (slow or quick, whatever you have)

0.5 Cups of flour (whole wheat, oat flour, whatever you have)

1/2 Cup of Yogurt (Plain Greek, or Vanilla, or non greek, whatever you have) 

2 eggs (I used 1 XL egg instead)

4 Small defrosted frozen bananas

1/2 Cup of Grated Carrot

Additional 1/4 Cup Grated Carrot (reserved)

1 Cup of crushed Pinapple Drained

1/4 Cup of Brown Sugar 

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of baking soda

2 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Vanilla

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/4 cup of walnuts (optional)

Cream cheese filling (totally worth it. Do it, don't omit, just don't eat 10 of them at once). 

1/2 Pkg of light cream Cheese (4oz) softened

1/8 Cup of White Sugar

Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffin tins

Add the oats, yogurt, egg, bananas, 3/4 cups grated carrot, pinapple, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, in a food processor. Pulse until oats breakdown. Mix in walnuts and reserved grated carrots. If mixture is too liquidy add flour as needed until batter becomes thick, but not doughy. 

In another bowl mix cream cheese and sugar. Do not eat the whole bowl of cream cheese mixture while waiting for the oven to preheat. DON'T DO IT. 

Pour muffin batter into tins, filling half way. Add a spoonful of cream cheese mixture, then top with muffin batter mix. (Hide the evidence) 

Bake in the oven for 15-17 minutes. 

When they come out of the oven go "Oh how did that cream cheese get in there...oh darn, guess I will have to eat it anyway!"

Check if done if when inserting a toothpick if it comes out dry. 

Enjoy...feel good about eating a healthy version of carrot cake, cream cheese and all!

Christmas Crafts: DIY Wreath, Holiday Baskets, Homemade Granola, Yearly Ornaments

Ok, I should be doing 10000 things other than blogging right now, but I always do these things, take all the pictures and then never blog about it...so here is a short and sweet and picture filled blog post with what I have been up to the past couple of weeks!

1. DIY WREATH

I bought a twig wreath from Michaels

Bought some pinecones and ribbon from target, pine boughs and berries from a flower store

 Moseby tried to eat EVERYTHING

 I placed everything to figure out the way I wanted to look

 I started glueing the boughs, and using some ornament ties. I created a layered look to hide the glue.

I added the berries by tucking them into the twig wreath with ornament metal thingies

I added pinecones on top to cover the metal clips

I made a bow out of the wreath by wrapping it around a piece of cardboard 3 times, and tying it together with another piece of ribbon

 Tadaaa: Finished product!

Time spent: 1 hr, Money spent ~25 bucks. 

2. HOLIDAY BASKETS

After realizing that holiday baskets cost a million dollars I made my own. 

I bought the pinecone sticks, the birch stick and the red berries. I then stole used downed branches and sticks from a local park and busted out the spray paint. Guys, I was so excited to spray paint, you don't even know. I now have a spray paint tarp and everything. 

I then bought some dollar store planters, and some sand and stuck everything in the sand. Pretty darn simple. 

I also added the same stolen  found branches to decorate the stairwell. I added red balls to the bannister, and ice lights. I also went to the dollar store and bought GIANT Christmas ornaments and hung them all over the tree.

So Christmas-y!

Time spent ~2 hrs, money spent ~$75 (for two baskets, and outdoor decorations)

3. HOMEMADE GRANOLA

I made granola for a few gifts based on the recipe from Elizabeth Ryder's website with a few changes: 

2 cups raw oats

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped dried apples

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp coconut or olive oil

1 tbsp unsweeted coconut

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Mix together, and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 8-10 minutes. 

I bought some green mason jars and labels and ribbon and dolled up my jars. Moseby helped.

Time spent ~1hr, Money spent, same as normal baking, add a few jars

4. YEARLY ORNAMENTS

Since we moved to Toronto I have started making yearly ornaments using sharpies, paint, and sticky letters to document big things that happened in the year. 

2011- Move to Toronto

2012- Trip to Paris (bought this one, added the 2012)

2013- Got Tesla, went to Vegas, did Triathlons/duathalons

2014- Got engaged and bought our first house!  

This year I couldn't find a plan coloured ornament, so I did the painted ornament technique with a clear one. Basically dumped in some paint and water, and swirled it around to cover the inside. It turned out nice and blue! I let it dry over night, and then added the date and drawing. 

Time spent <15 mins per ornament, Money spent <5 dollars per ornament..but the memories are priceless...d'awwww.

I blogged about this before in more detail back in 2011.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

Other holiday posts:

Christmas Decorating

Ain't Nobody Got Time for That Christmas Edition

Being Grateful

Merry Fitness! Workout Ideas From Me to You!

As mentioned in the last post I'm doing a fitness advent calendar for the month of December!

Day 2!

As promised (although it is one day late) here is a sample of exercises for each type of workout:

Yoga:

Pretty self explanatory.

• Hot Yoga (Bikram)
• Yoga (Goodlife)
• Body Flow (goodlife)- Mixture of Tai Chi, Pilates, and Yoga
• At home yoga workout (like this)

Strength: 

For strength workouts, I will probably do a set full body workout or do upper body and abs, or lower body and abs. I will include a warm up and cool down if required. 

• Body Pump (Good life)
• 20 minute fit fix (Good Life)
• CX Works -Core Class (Goodlife)
• Get Strong/Get Focused Nike Training Club Strength workout (App for Smart phone)
• Upper Body Workout 
• Legs Workout
• Total Body Strength Workout 
• 15 minute Ab workout

Circuit:

Mixture of light weights and cardio, I will include a warm up/cool down. 

• Body Shred (Good Life) 
• Get Toned Nike Training Club Workout
• Pop Sugar Abs, Butt, and Back
• Pop Sugar 30 minute Body Weight Workout
• WOD Black friday combined with Keller
• At home circuit workout
• One minute per body part workout
• Body Shred Inspired Workout (see below)

30 seconds of each exercise

For 45 min workout complete 5 min warm up, 2x 3 sets, 4 min cool down/stretch

Set 1	S-3min	Dumbbell row in held lunge Alternating side lunge with reverse flye Dive bomber pushup (Downward dog to pushup) REPEAT
	C-2 min	Jump jack/squat/side touch ground Mountain climbers REPEAT
	A-1 min	Windshield wipers Hands and Knees leg extension
Set 2	S-3min	Wood chops Plank with row Sumo squat with shoulder press REPEAT
	C-2 min	Burpees Knee Runs REPEAT
	A-1 min	Russian Twists Supermans
Set 3	S-3min	Medicine ball alternating pushup Single leg dip with arm curl Dips REPEAT
	C-2 min	Froggers Skis/split jump REPEAT
	A-1 min	Bicycles Kickdowns

Cardio

Cardio can be tough this time of year, here are some options, I'm going to include a stretch/cooldown after. 

• Fitness Dance Classes-Zumba, Body Jam,Sh'Bam (Goodlife)
• Body Attack/Body Combat (Goodlife)
• Spin Class
• Treadmill interval run
• 5 min warm up
• 1 min 6
• 1 min 7 
• 1 min 6
• 1 min 8
• 1 min 6 
• 1 min 9
• Repeat runs until tired (Alternatively Run to random music, and adjust the speed to match the song. Great sample: "That power", slow for the JB part, and fast for the will.i.Am part.) 
• Cardio "Tri" Circuit (20 mins Elliptical, 20 Minutes Bike, 20 mins Run)
• Hill Treadmill workout
• Swimming, Skating, Dancing, Running, Soccer etc. (Any Cardio outside the gym)

Active Rest Day

On the Active Rest Days I'm going to try to at least get 10,000 steps from walking. Alternatively, this could also include a very easy stretch/yoga routine.