Crazylegs and Exams

As promised (partly out of guilt from my lack of consistent posting around here lately), I thought I’d give a run down of my third and Bailey’s first Crazylegs race experience. For those of you in Madison who haven’t run Crazylegs and are thinking about trying it in the future, or if you’re not from Madison and are intrigued anyhow, here are some consistent hallmarks of the race:

1. The weather will be wonderful. And by wonderful I mean the temperature will plunge to the high 30s/low 40s. It will be raining. It will be windy, and the wind will continue to change directions so that the rain is always blowing into your face. The first year I ran Crazylegs with my dad, there was a severe thunderstorm warning for Dane County but the race went on anyway. Thinking a sweatshirt would help keep me warm, I ended up being soaked within 5 minutes and killed my iPod in the process. I had fun anyhow, though my dad said afterwards he’d never do it again.

2. You will spend more time waiting to run than actually running. This is another mistake I made the first year. The race officially begins at 10:00 am if you are a seasoned marathon runner who is clocking 6 minute miles consistently. If you’re a fun runner like me, you’re looking closer to 10:15, or in this year’s case 10:45. Fortunately for Bailey, I know the system and we didn’t even leave her apartment until 10:15. We still waited for over 20 minutes, but with thousands of people slowly migrating towards the starting line, you at least have some communal body heat to share.

3. You will look ridiculous. This goes in part with the first two. Don’t try to wear make up. Don’t try to look super cute. You will be soggy and shivering and miserable until you start running, and then you will just want to get to Camp Randall. You won’t care how you look. The first year I ran with my dad, he offered me a plastic poncho to wear, which I refused because I didn’t want to look stupid. As a result, I had to buy a new iPod.  This year, I still refused to buy a poncho, but Bailey did manage to fashion some “2 minute rain coats” – I ran the race wearing a garbage bag with holes cut in for my head and arms. Did I look absurd? Absolutely! That’s half the fun.

This past week was the final week of classes, launching me into finals period. Finals period is an interesting breed in law school, and perhaps in any school. You don’t have the pressure of having reading or assignments done for class, but you have an always impending sense of doom if you happen to be doing something other than studying. Such has been my life for the past week, paired with some not-so-fit coping habits for stress. It finally caught up with me this weekend – I feel terrible! But it’s just another reminder that taking care of yourself by choosing what you do and what you put in your body is going to have an impact. I need to learn and re-learn this periodically.

For example, strength training has not been on my radar at all this past week, and I’ve been subsisting off the candy dish at work because I haven’t been packing any sort of balanced lunch. My dinner last night consisted of ice cream (bad), brussell sprouts (good), and fried cheese(bad). I’m not one to let yesterday’s shortcomings rain on today. I’m going to go to the gym for a cardio/strength mix, and then go out to my parents house for a morel mushroom dinner. There’s always a reset button.

Musical Monday tomorrow! Promise!

Weekly Challenge Update & Habits

Good morning to all my Goldleaf Challenge people! I hope you had fun with last week’s challenges and enjoy this week’s shake up on more “Choose-your-own adventure” style items.

Basic

– Walk or run 3 miles 3 times this week – 10 points

– Keep a detailed food journal – 10 points

– Write down one healthy habit you’d like to implement and one unhealthy habit you’d like to get rid of in your life. List 3 ways you will achieve both and read it each morning as a reminder. Some ideas for might include drinking 64 oz of water each day, not snacking after a certain time in the evening, cutting down on sweets or work candy (oh the infamous Goldleaf Candy bowl) or work dessert (oh the infamous Wednesday/Thursday staff meetings, complete with one if not two desserts), adding more work outs to your schedule (I’ve been focusing on getting more strength training in), getting more sleep, quitting smoking or drinking, etc. – 10 points

Extra Mile

– Perform 3 interval cardio work outs and 3 strength training work outs this week (see previous week’s challenge for interval and strength work outs) – 20 points

– Cut out carbs 2 days this week (for the science to back this up, go here) – 15 points

– Eat breakfast within an hour of waking up and stop eating at least 2 hours before you go to bed – 15 points

This week’s challenges are about establishing healthy patterns and habits that you can take with you after the challenge ends in June. While my schedule sometimes impedes my best efforts to be 99% healthy, I have accumulated some habits over the years that are such a part of my routine now that they’re basically non-negotiable:

1. Eat breakfast.

You’ve heard it a million times, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” I NEVER skip breakfast. Also, breakfast is pretty much the only thing I can cook so why would I skip it when it tastes so good? I try to eat a decent sized breakfast, especially since I work out in the morning, that’s around 400 calories.

2. Sweat at least once a day.

It’s a pretty hectic day when I don’t manage to fit in a work out. But when I don’t, I try to at least fit in something that gets my heart rate up, whether it’s a quick walk or taking the stairs.

3. Eat green things, preferably without lard.

This is pretty self explanatory. I choose the healthy option, even if it means getting pretty specific with the waiter when I’m out to eat. I choose dishes with vegetables, over bread, pasta, or rice. I do like potatoes just for their skins though.

4. Don’t drink your calories

I always drink water with lemon, unsweetened ice tea, or some variation. You’ll never see me with a Coke or Mountain Dew, a macchiatto or other sugary drink from Starbucks. The one exception is a dry cappuccino, because I really adore coffee, more than I should.

What are your non-negotiables?

Musical Monday 3 & Increasing Intensity Cardio

Happy Monday! This morning, my run was powered by a great mix that I immediately knew I’d share for Musical Monday.

Musical Monday Playlist 3

Come Back Clean – The Crystal Method

Escape Velocity – The Chemical Brothers

The Fear – Lilly Allen

Don’t Stop – Foster the People

Shake It Out – Florence + the Machine

Talk that Talk – Rihanna (feat. Jay-Z)

My Iron Lung – Radiohead

Random, no?

I’ll also share the cardio work out I did this morning. I prefer to get the hardest work out of the way early on in my work out – I want to do my sprints first and work my way down. However, I don’t really end up pushing myself if I know it’s figuratively “all downhill” from the first 15 minutes of my work out. Today I did an interval work out that intensified with a couple of recovery periods in between sets.

1 – 5.0

2 – 5.5

3 – 6.0

4 – 6.5

5 – 7.0

6 – 7.5

7 – 8.0

8-9 – 4.5

I repeated this 5 times for a total of 45 minutes. Even thought it averaged out to a 10 minute mile, I was sweating more than I normally would if I had done this work out in reverse.

Do you like to save the hardest part of your work out for the end, or get it out of the way immediately?

Stay tuned for a recipe later today…

Favorite Food Friday & A Belated Chicken Chili Soup Recipe

Good morning and apologies for neglecting this blog the last few days. This has been one of the busiest, but most fun weeks of my spring semester. As a law student, I participate in Moot Court (we’re better than Mock Trial, ask anyone), and last night I was electing to the executive board to direct Wisconsin Law’s Evans Competition. It’s a constitutional law moot court competition and lots of fun! I’ve also gotten to meet some really cool people over the last few days, and that has kept me out past my bedtime and not logging my meals as closely as I normally would.

That being said, I’m definitely still focusing in on my work outs and went for a long interval run yesterday morning that looked like this:

Run 4 minutes, walk 1 x 3

Run 3 minutes, walk 1, x 3

Run 2 minutes, walk 1, x 3

Run 1 minute, walk 1, x 3

Cool down with a 3 minute walk

Total time: 45 minutes

I ran at an 8.0 mph pace and walked at 4.0 mph.

My favorite food to brag on today? Ice cream. What? Ice cream isn’t a healthy food. Well not necessarily, but in moderation it can be an indulgence that keeps you on track versus mindlessly munching through other snacks and calories. So I’m going to give a quick run down of the ice cream (both dairy and non-dairy) that I use to satiate a sweet tooth.

Stonyfield Frozen Yogurt (Fat free)

Calories per serving (I do 1 cup servings, because honestly, you’ll never see me eating just 1/2 cup of ice cream) – 200

Stonyfield has some great frozen yogurt flavors in Vanilla, Dark Chocolate, and Java. They’ve also recently released some greek yogurt ice creams which are super creamy. I like the chocolate and vanilla flavors, but haven’t tried the fruity or honey ones yet. Have you?

Pro: Relatively lower calorie count, still have great taste, fat free.

Con: Higher sugar content

SO Delicious Sugar Free Coconut Milk Ice Cream

Calories per serving: 200

This stuff is amazingly creamy. I’m a big texture or “mouthfeel” person, and this stuff definitely passes the test. I can’t really detect a coconut taste in the chocolate flavor, and only a little with the vanilla. It’s also great for those who are lactose intolerant. But beware how much of this you eat in one sitting. Part of that great creamy texture? Lots of inulin, a fiber that can make you very uncomfortable when ingested in high quantities. There’s also quite a few grams of sugar alcohols, which can be hard on the digestive system. I’d suggest doing half this kind of ice cream with another, less fiber filled kind.

Pros: Lower calorie count, tastes amazing

Con: Sugar alcohols, high fat, high fiber – limits how much you can comfortably eat.

Arctic Zero Ice Cream 

Calories: 75 (you heard me)

This is a staple in my freezer. Arctic Zero is made out of whey protein and for the health conscious recently single. The entire pint has 150 calories. Now I won’t say this tastes just like ice cream – it’s definitely milder, but the texture is pretty similar to Stonyfield’s frozen yogurt (non-Greek). I like to sub in half Arctic Zero with half “regular” frozen yogurt or ice cream to achieve the perfect balance of sweet, frozen goodness. My favorite flavors are the Vanilla with a Touch of Maple, Chocolate, and Pumpkin Spice. I’m pretty unimpressed with the Strawberry and Chocolate Peanut Butter, which were pretty tasteless in my opinion.

Pros: Very low calorie, good mouth feel, low carb without being painful on your stomach

Cons: Expensive, less tasty

And now for the long awaited Chicken Chili Soup from my amazing sister, Bailey.

Ingredients

• 6 cups water

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

• 1 onion, chopped and sautéed

• 1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained

• 1 (15 ounce) can ranch-style pinto beans

• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans

• 2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chile peppers

• 1 (1.25 ounce) package reduced sodium taco seasoning mix

• 1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix

Directions

Combine the chicken and water in a large pot over high heat. Cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour, or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from the pot, and cut into bite-size pieces. Return the meat to the pot. Add the onion, kidney beans, ranch style beans, pinto beans, black beans, tomatoes, taco seasoning and ranch dressing mix. Mix well, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes or until heated through. Also can be heated in a crock pot on low for 2 hours instead.

This tastes amazing with a bit of sliced avocado or sour cream on top to counter the spice of the soup.

Hopefully it gets cold enough one more time to really enjoy this. But if it stays warm, you now have a bunch of ice cream to try.

Setting Goals and Music Monday

This probably should have been an earlier post for my Challenge readers, but I didn’t think of it before. When it comes to weight loss or achieving a certain fitness goal, what bar do you set for yourself? I’ve used a couple of different markers in the past and wanted to discuss some of the benefits and drawbacks of each.

Scale

The most obvious marker that I think most people use is the scale. We have certain number in mind that is our happy weight/sweet spot/good range. Mine is 120-125 pounds. Anything below and I start to look gaunt and boney and above that I feel kind of sluggish. It’s been pretty easy for me to maintain for over a year now. Before that, my range was around the 130 mark, but I hadn’t discovered the benefits of lifting weights. I’m proof that you can be smaller by lifting weights, instead of a strict cardio regimen.

The benefits of using the scale as a marker is that it’s a consistent measurement, and you have a concrete number to focus on getting to. The drawback? The scale can be arbitrary, especially if you turn into a daily weigher. If you ate a high sodium meal, or later than usual, it can show up as a couple pound weight gain the next day. So long as you weigh in at the same time each day/week, and understand that minor fluctuation is normal, this can be a useful tool. I use this about once a week. If I notice that I’m creeping toward the higher end of my range, I up the cardio interval work outs and watch what I eat a little more closely. Another problem with focusing in on a number is that if you’re building muscle while losing fat, you might not see any change and get discouraged. This brings me to my next marker, measurements.

Measuring Tape

Measurements are a pretty cheap and simple way to track your progress. All you need is a tape measure, hence escaping the chore of deciding what kind of scale to buy. The one with a body fat calculator? The one that talks to you? Digital or analog? Interpretive dance? Measurements will show progress as you gain muscle while losing fat, though it’s generally a slower method. If you prefer this route, I suggest taking your measurements once a week and writing them down in order to track the benefits of your exercise and diet changes. I still do this once a week, since I’m always changing up my weight training routines and like to see where the changes are showing up.

Clothing

When I read fitness or fashion magazines, I always hear some actress talk about how A) She doesn’t diet (I call bullshit); B) She maintains her physique through yoga (And genetics); C) She doesn’t own a scale and goes by how her clothes fit. Going by your clothes is fine, thought it’s going to depend on how often your washing you clothes – my jeans straight out of the dryer and tighter than they are after a day or two of wear. I’m more apt to go by how I look in my clothes when I see photos of myself posted on Facebook. However, this might be more indicative of styles that are flattering to my body type and those that are not.

Using this method, you’d want to use the same point of reference – with vanity sizing slowly taking over just about every store, I’ve gone from a 4 or 5 to a size 0 in some stores. Use the same dress/pair of jeans/etc.

What methods do you use to keep track? 

I thought I’d put a little playlist together of the music that’s currently powering my work outs. I call it Musical Monday, because alliteration is all over the blogosphere with What I Ate Wednesdays and my Favorite Food Fridays.

Helena Beat – Foster the People

Feel So Close – Calvin Harris

My Favorite Game – The Cardigans

Someone That I Used to Know – Gotye

Wild Ones – Flo Rida ft. Sia

I Know Where It’s At – All Saints

My Love Is Better – Annie

Lien on Your Dreams – Black Motorcycle Rebel Club

Tribulations – LCD Soundsystem

Aberdeen – Cage the Elephant

Ghosts ‘n Stuff – Deadmau5

I Get Around – Dragonette

Starry Eyed – Ellie Goulding

The Middle – Great Northern

Daylight Robbery – Imogen Heap

New In Town – Little Boots

Sexy and I Know It – LMFAO

Maneater – Nelly Furtado

Also included by not listed individually: anything by Lady Gaga or Britney Spears.

My work out playlist tends to be much more upbeat/emotionally intense than my usual walking to class or hang out playlists.

What do you like to listen to while working out? Do you have a different tempo for running or cardio versus weights?

Sleep is Good for You & Healthified Southern Cookin’!

We are supposed to sleep about eight hours a night, give or take depending on the individual. When well rested, we tend to function at our best, physically and emotionally. In the physical sense, this means we function at our metabolic best, make better eating decisions, and have the energy to move around whether it’s for a run, the elliptical, housecleaning, or lifting kettlebells.

My friends, I wrote this on the plane to Florida, red eyed and running on one hour of sleep. I need to follow my own advice. But first let me explain myself.

My flight was scheduled to leave at 8:50 am from Milwaukee, which is about an hour and twenty minutes from my house. I am the kind of traveller that shows up two hours early for ANY flight, whether it’ from our podunk little airport in Madison, our dingier, more industrialized one in Milwaukee, or one of the two in Chicago. To arrive around 6:50 (or 7:00 since I like to live my life on the edge), I made plans to leave my house at 5:30.

I usually make an effort to get my seven to eight hours in every night. I’m a pretty light sleeper, and take melatonin religiously. My friends on the other hand, are complete night owls. So when we ended up not getting back to my car until 1:30 am, and tossed around the idea of watching a movie, I decided to pull an all nighter. Well almost, I catnapped for an hour between getting home to prep my apartment for my absence and leaving.

The results? Well let’s see…

In addition to being a traveler who shows up two hours prior to her flight every time, I always, always, always am selected for screening by TSA. I don’t know what it is about little blonde girls from Wisconsin, but I always get pulled aside for special screening. In case you start to feel too safe, I also always forget to take my mace key ring (Thanks Dad!) off my keys, and end up stuffing it into my carry on bag prior to going through the check out. So far, it’s made it EVERY TIME.

So I got pulled out for additional screening, and was too tired to care. They also searched one of my carry on bags, discovering the jar of oatmeal I was packing.

TSA Man: We need to confiscate this.

Me: But it’s my breakfast.

TSA Man: This constitutes a paste or gel and is not in an appropriately sized container.

Me: Really? It’s not because you want me to spend $10 on a coffee and granola bar?

TSA Man: You may go back on the other side of the check point and eat this if you like.

Me: Will I need to get checked again?

TSA Man: Yes, we will need to recheck anything.

Me: Fine, confiscate my breakfast. I’m sure it’s necessary.

I’m usually rule abiding, and fear the authority of TSA to detain, strip search, and generally be completely ridiculous but I wanted to tell him “Yeah, enjoy the oatmeal and I’ll enjoy my mace.” That’s why I hate commercial air travel. I’d rather DRIVE to Florida if my car was in the condition to do so. Getting snarky was something new and probably related to sleep deprivation. I really wanted oatmeal for breakfast, but settled for a Nugo bar instead. I discovered Nugo bars in college and they’re tasty, come in several yummy flavors, and are all sorts of natural and even vegan. Maybe if I’d been noshing on these during that ill-fated vegan phase of my life, I’d have been more lucid.

I got to take a nap this afternoon and go running on the beach, then spent the evening with my family and my sister/best friend. Despite my sarcasm and mild annoyance with the aspect of getting to Florida, I really enjoy the experience of being in Florida, so much that I’m considering moving down here for a bit after graduating from law school

Beach Work Out

Run 5 minutes

15 push ups

50 bicycles

20 alternating lunges

Repeat 6 times, brushing off sand as needed.

This is pretty simple, but I’m on vacation so I plan to exercise accordingly.

Here’s another meal that requires using your teeth.

Lindsay’s BBQ Pork or Chicken Salad (Serves 4)

Ingredients

Slaw Salad

2 bags shredded coleslaw mix (you could also do 1 bag green cabbage and 1 bag red)

1 cup shredded carrot

1 green onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1/4 cup light mayo (depends on how wet you like your slaw, I’m a dryer slaw kind of gal)

2 tbsp apple cider vineager

2 tbsp yellow mustard

salt, pepper, garlic powder and celery seed to taste

2 packets Stevia in the Raw

In a large bowl, mix mayo, apple cider vineager, yellow mustard, stevia, and spices. Slowly add coleslaw mix, carrot, green onion, and green pepper and mix until well coated.

BBQ Pork/Chicken

I can’t really cook meat, but even I can use a crock pot. Place 1 pound lean pork tenderloin or 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot and cover with water. Cook on low for 8 hours or 4 hours on high until fully cooked. Using two forks, shred the pork/chicken and cover in BBQ sauce. I like Stubb’s because it doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup in it.

Put 1/4 refrigerated coleslaw mix on plate and top with warm BBQ chicken or pork.

Total calories: 240-300

Why is it awesome? Aside from appeasing my southern roots, this is high in protein and packs some serious flavor. The slaw offers antioxidants, filling fiber, and a cool contrast to the spicy BBQ.

Knowing When to Dial Down a Work Out & Breakfast for Dinner

When it comes to my fitness routine, I’m all about pushing myself. If I’m not covered in sweat by the time I leave my gym or finish an outdoor run, I don’t feel like it really counted. The upside to this mentality is that I get a lot of bang for my buck – by pushing myself really hard, I complete more efficient and effective work outs. I also get some positive reinforcement that I don’t necessarily get at law school – writing memos that no one will ever read is not the most fulfilling work in the world. The downside is sometimes it’s hard to overcome the mental barrier that doesn’t want me to do push ups until my muscles fail, or go up another 3 pounds with dumb bells, because it’s hard and it’s tempting to do “good enough.” But sometimes “good enough” is exactly what your body needs.

Yesterday morning was one of those mornings. I woke up with a cardio day on my schedule and I wasn’t feeling it. My body, especially my legs, were/still are sore from CrossFit on Monday, I hadn’t slept well, and I have the beginnings of a head cold that ridiculous amounts of Vitamin C does not seem to be knocking out. Seriously, if you lick my arm right now, I probably taste like citrus.

I wanted nothing more than to hit snooze, roll over, and bury my head under the covers until the last possible minute before getting ready for work. Instead, I made myself a deal that I’d go for half an hour, after plenty of hot coffee and a pre-run smoothie. I sat down at my laptop with caffeine by my side and published yesterday’s post. By the time I was done posting the last link ranting about CrossFit, I was starting to feel more motivated. Physically I was still sore, achy, and tired, but mentally I had overcome the barrier that would have kept me in bed and fed me Cocoa Krispies for breakfast.

I ran the interval workout posted for the Extra Mile challenge in the Goldleaf Fitness Challenge. Normally I’d do a longer run, but I knew I’d feel terrible by early afternoon if I did. The point is, I still got up, and did the best my body could do that day. I felt more energized than if I had slept in, and I could breathe, which is always a plus. Exercise for me is about feeling good first, and looking good second. Sometimes these priorities flip flop, but I try to keep it about feeling good rather than basing everything on how I look.

If you’re having a roll-over-leave-me-alone morning/evening/anytime-you’ve-got-a-work-out-scheduled feeling, you can use the same tips I do:

1. Make a deal with yourself. Not feeling like an interval work out? Circuit seem too boring? Tackle it in chunks. Go for a 30 minute run rather than the hour. Promise to complete at least 3 sets if you’d normally do 4. Sometimes you’ll finish the abbreviated work out and figure “Well, I might as well just push through, I feel good enough anyhow.” Or you might have a day like I did, and just be glad you got up and moved around.

2. Keep some motivation on hand. Whether it’s SELF, Fitness, or Shape magazine (or let’s be honest, InTouch, Us Weekly, or Star), blogs, or music, keep something around to help you get to the gym when you need it. I like to read through my regular blogs in the morning because they inspire me. I also like to update my iTunes pretty regularly with music because I know I can’t work out without it.

3. Imagine how you’ll feel afterwards. I know that I’ll feel better 99% of the time after I work out. Write it on a post-it and stick it to your mirror if you need to. That’s assuming you brush your teeth before you go to the gym (if you’re a morning person like me), and I hope you do.

What motivates you?

We’re having a cold snap inWisconsin after two weeks of record high weather. Combined with my cold, I’ve been craving comfort food, and my biggest comfort food is breakfast. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a great talent for cooking breakfast dishes, and abysmal talent for preparing meat unless it’s in a crock pot or extremely easy, like Asian Cucumber Chicken.

Now I have a pretty bad habit of sitting down to just dessert for dinner. If I don’t reason with myself, I will eat a bowl of ice cream for dinner and call it a day. Instead, I’ve come up with this egg bake recipe. It’s easy and keeps well, so you can re-heat and re-enjoy for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Since I only cook for myself, my meals look pretty similar over a period of two days.

Easy Egg Bake (serves 4)

Ingredients

6 eggs

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

½ onion, chopped

2 cups spinach

4 strips turkey bacon

3 slices reduced fat swiss cheese (I like Sargento)

½ cup reduced fat cheddar cheese, shredded

Garlic powder, salt, pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 8×8 casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs. Feel free to add a splash of skim or unsweetened almond milk. Add garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.
3. In a pan, sautee onions until they start to go clear. Add mushrooms and spinach until softened and mushrooms are browned.
4. Slice turkey bacon into 1 inch sections, combine with onion mixture.
5. Drain off any excess liquid from the onion mixture and pour into casserole dish.
6. Top onion mixture with swiss cheese (I tear it into smaller strips and get decorative).
7. Pour eggs over onion mixture and cheese. Top with cheddar cheese.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until egg bake is firm.
9. Top with ketchup if you’re that kind of person (I am), and eat.

Total Calories – 225

Why is this an awesome meal? This meal is all lean protein, satiating fats, and veggies. It is also great as a later dinner because the casein in the cheese makes you sleepy.

Last but not least, a fitness tip from my friend David, who is a certified personal trainer through 24 Hour Fitness. If you have skinny legs and are looking to shape up your calves, David recommended supplementing with creatine. Creatine helps rephosphorulate (say that one 5 times fast) the muscles and aids in sustainment, strength, and size.

Keeping Goals in Sight and a Healthy Milkshake

Sometimes, life gets busy. You have to choose between having really nice hair, or going for your morning run, or getting up early enough to accommodate both. This means you choose between going to bed at a “reasonable” hour or watching those last two re-runs of 30 Rock, or investing in a venti red eye at the Starbuck’s drive through.

To make the right decision, that is, to stick with my regular fitness routine, I find it helpful to keep myself accountable to a goal. For some readers, the Goldleaf Fitness Challenge provides the accountability that gets them to put their Zumba DVD in and shake their booties, or to say no to the office candy dish or beckoning drive through on the way home. One of my best birthday gifts was 12 personal training sessions with a great woman who helped me pay more attention to my eating habits and taught me that lifting weights would not make me into Hulk Hogan. I don’t see a personal trainer anymore, but I’m enjoying my CrossFit experience (see previous posts). My On Ramp course ends this Thursday, and I know that I need to stay focused. So I signed up with my sister to do the CrazyLegs race on April 28, 2012!

I’ve run Crazylegs a few times before. It is a fun race, about 5 miles, with proceeds benefiting my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s athletic department. This year I’m especially excited to run with my little sister, who got bitten by the running bug about a year ago.

I started running when I was 11 with my dad. While I’ve grown accustomed to running long distances (10-13 miles), some knee issues have forced me to revise my running goals. Starting last year, I began doing speed work, increasing from a comfortable 8:30 mile down to a 6 minute mile. While the feeling isn’t necessarily the same as a 10 mile runner’s endorphin high on an otherwise lazy Sunday – in fact it’s nothing like it, I want to die after running a 6 minute mile, I still get the same feeling of accomplishment. That feeling keeps me lacing up my shoes in the morning and sprinting my heart out.

What keeps you motivated? Do you sign up for marathon after marathon, up your reps or weights?

Now on to the good part, a healthy milkshake. Surely this is an oxymoron, you are thinking to yourself. It’s not, trust me. You can drink this pre or post work out or while you’re sitting on the couch watching those 30 Rock re-runs when you should be in bed. Sheeesh, grow up why don’t you?

Ingredients

1 serving Vanilla/Chocolate/whatever your little heart desires whey protein*

1/2 tbsp guar gum (you can find this at HyVee, WholeFoods, and probably even Copps/Pick ‘n Save if you look hard enough or harass the person in charge of ordering inventory. Trust me, you will find yourself why you ever drank smoothies without this once you’ve tried it. Just be sure not to add too much, or you’ll end up with milkshake pudding).

1/2 tsp salt (do not omit)

8-10 ice cubes – I like my milkshake cold and with  thicker consistency, though the guar gum takes care of that

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

Stevia to taste

Garnish – fat free whip cream, one of those disgusting red cherries you get in a Shirley Temple, cereal, etc.

Directions

1. Put ice cubes, whey protein, almond milk, salt, and stevia into a blender and blend on high until mixed. Stop and add the guar gum, and blend on high for an addition 30 seconds, until the milkshake is super creamy. Pour into a tall glass and add your toppings.
2. Drink it.

Total Calories: 150 calories, depending on the whey protein you’re using.

*Choose a whey protein that packs at least 22 grams of protein and less than 5 grams of carbs. I like Tera’s Whey or Designer Whey.

What else do you like to put in your smoothie? I see a lot of people getting on the kale/greens train, but I don’t have a nice enough blender to attempt it.