So the kefir is kicking ass and taking names. I'm now making it in 1/2 gallon jars and have almost a gallon in the fridge right now. Am working on ways to eat it... goes in salad dressings and popsicles and have made some cheese. Hope Mom and Dad are ready for some kefir! :)
Next up cultured vegetables... aka saurkraut ... the real deal. Here's a good LINK as to how it's done! I'm excited to try this. Word on the street is that it's very beneficial for rebuilding your gut flora and enhancing digestion. Basically just have some w/ every meal.. particularly protein rich meals. I'm going to get this worked out! I'm going to try to get some cabbage tomorrow (if places are open on the holiday)... give me a week and I'll let you know how my home made kraut is! My mom will get a kick out of this since she used to force the stuff - albeit out of a can - on me once a year as a kid. We'll see if mom likes the real deal.
Get ready mom and dad we're fermenting fools up in here... home brew in your place all probiotics in mine! :)
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Well that didn't take very long...
I like the weight lifting/plyometrics in P90X and want to continue to weight lift now, but I MISS endurance sports. It's just a different kind of 'burn'.. not the muscle burn the mental and calorie burn. I miss feeling like I used it all up. You endurance junkies know what I mean. I just can't explain it. I love that feeling like I left it all out there and the following empty need to eat feeling.
I went for a random almost 40 mile ride the other day and it felt GREAT! It was hard.. HILLY! I've mentioned that it's hilly here right! This was the first ride w/ a new friend (well and her friend) and this was Nicole's longest ride to date. We rode from Nicole's house over to meet Monica and by the time we were done w/ the main part of the ride (still needed to ride home) Nicole and I were both pretty used up. We had a MASSIVE long hill to ride up to get back to her house or we could add another 5 miles to our ride and still have hills, but not the big MASSIVE long one. We decided when we were initially done w/ the main ride to do the extra five and skip the big climb because frankly we were worried we wouldn't make it all the way up. Well, we got closer to the hill and Nicole said, "you want to add 5 miles or climb for 5 mins?" We had just come off a nice long downhill (you know the kind where you go like 35 miles an hour w/o working at it) and I was feeling pretty good now (uh since I hadn't used my legs for a few minutes) so I said, "Let's climb!" And we did. We got all the way to the top w/o falling over. And were definitely SPENT by the top. It felt AMAZING!
I was really expecting to barely be able to walk the next day. Weekend warrior syndrome. But I felt FINE! FINE!!!! I couldn't believe it. I did take the day off (aside from 2 hours of mowing.. ugh).
There are a lot of sprint races around here so I'm considering just jumping into a few. I'm working myself up to start swimming in the sound once a week w/ the tri group in Fairfield. It's a haul down there, but I'm going to tag along w/ Nicole. It's worth it to have people to swim with.
We've been doing a lot of yard work lately. Our yard is wild and out of control and every time I mow I day dream about truck loads of mulch. I do want to make more beds around the house and around the perimeter of the yard and have started buying plants here and there to fill in these areas. You could plant hundreds of dollars worth of plants in this yard and would barely notice it's so wild and big. Of course we are used to 'urban' yards that are much smaller.
I'm finally getting around to putting a fence around our piddly little veggie garden. I have potatoes and a few plants that Nicole gave me that need to get in the ground NOW! I'll put some seeds in too to see what happens then might get some starts to put in too. All one big experiment.
My kefir water and milk are going gang busters in this warm weather and I'm getting it in the kids in smoothies.. they won't drink it straight up. I'll have plenty to try some cheese recipes soon. Probiotics are GOOD!!!
Hope everyone is having a great start to summer and for all of those racing.. Good luck. It's starting!!! I'll be out there spectating for sure... and maybe jumping in here and there. I'm going up to Lake Placid w/ dad to volunteer for Ironman on July 25th! Can't wait!
I went for a random almost 40 mile ride the other day and it felt GREAT! It was hard.. HILLY! I've mentioned that it's hilly here right! This was the first ride w/ a new friend (well and her friend) and this was Nicole's longest ride to date. We rode from Nicole's house over to meet Monica and by the time we were done w/ the main part of the ride (still needed to ride home) Nicole and I were both pretty used up. We had a MASSIVE long hill to ride up to get back to her house or we could add another 5 miles to our ride and still have hills, but not the big MASSIVE long one. We decided when we were initially done w/ the main ride to do the extra five and skip the big climb because frankly we were worried we wouldn't make it all the way up. Well, we got closer to the hill and Nicole said, "you want to add 5 miles or climb for 5 mins?" We had just come off a nice long downhill (you know the kind where you go like 35 miles an hour w/o working at it) and I was feeling pretty good now (uh since I hadn't used my legs for a few minutes) so I said, "Let's climb!" And we did. We got all the way to the top w/o falling over. And were definitely SPENT by the top. It felt AMAZING!
I was really expecting to barely be able to walk the next day. Weekend warrior syndrome. But I felt FINE! FINE!!!! I couldn't believe it. I did take the day off (aside from 2 hours of mowing.. ugh).
There are a lot of sprint races around here so I'm considering just jumping into a few. I'm working myself up to start swimming in the sound once a week w/ the tri group in Fairfield. It's a haul down there, but I'm going to tag along w/ Nicole. It's worth it to have people to swim with.
We've been doing a lot of yard work lately. Our yard is wild and out of control and every time I mow I day dream about truck loads of mulch. I do want to make more beds around the house and around the perimeter of the yard and have started buying plants here and there to fill in these areas. You could plant hundreds of dollars worth of plants in this yard and would barely notice it's so wild and big. Of course we are used to 'urban' yards that are much smaller.
I'm finally getting around to putting a fence around our piddly little veggie garden. I have potatoes and a few plants that Nicole gave me that need to get in the ground NOW! I'll put some seeds in too to see what happens then might get some starts to put in too. All one big experiment.
My kefir water and milk are going gang busters in this warm weather and I'm getting it in the kids in smoothies.. they won't drink it straight up. I'll have plenty to try some cheese recipes soon. Probiotics are GOOD!!!
Hope everyone is having a great start to summer and for all of those racing.. Good luck. It's starting!!! I'll be out there spectating for sure... and maybe jumping in here and there. I'm going up to Lake Placid w/ dad to volunteer for Ironman on July 25th! Can't wait!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Slowly but surely
IF you can see past my silly outfit ... two coats on my waste and inappropriate pants for a trail run I think you'll see that the P90X is starting to work. :) My shoulders have.. GASP.. are those muscles? :D YEAH! Nothing like seeing progress to keep you moving. Only 1.5 weeks left in this month then I'm onto the last month in the first round. Can't wait for round two. THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY IS!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Mothers Day
I will start this post ( or provide a disclaimer ) that I do like being a mom, but damn!
Mother's Day was not the best this year. I started out going to a race that I felt was largely a waste of my time. More on that later. Then came home to kids that didn't really want much to do w/ me and are in a phase where they whine, back talk and fight almost constantly! UGH. Not ideal for me.. on 'my' day. I wasn't really feeling the Mother's Day vibe all week... see above regarding the behavior of my offspring.
Jason is all up in Lily's grill and Lily is wanting some space. BAD BAD BAD combo. I'm thinking they are also still recovering from our trip to Seattle as sleep - or rather going to sleep - has not been going well around these parts.
The race. The Northface Challenge is always well run and the course was great. I got up at ass crack, had some coffee, hoped for the daily you know before race stuff which didn't happen, then made some breakfast and headed out on my 1 hour and 10 minute drive to the race venue. The drive was nice enough. Parked at the designated parking area to be shuttled over. My race started at 9am and the last shuttle left the parking area at 8:15a. I was early... maybe around 7?45a. Then went and stood around in the FREEZING WINDY cold for over an hour. I had originally planned to stash my outer layer w/ the gear check guys, but didn't bring a bag (thought I'd be able to get one??) and didn't want to stand in line w/ everyone else that waited till the last minute to strip off their stuff so I decided to be "that" dork running in a fleece and long (not meant for running trails) boot leg tights over my intended running gear. SAAWWWEEETT! The race photos should be spectacular ... two coats tied around my waste! ha. If there are even any photos of me bc my number was covered on "accident".
I loved loved loved the descents. I figured out how to use my knees and relax my legs and hop down. Great fun. The run overall was well marked. It never did thin out completely (500+ runners), but it opened up enough to run and i was comforted by other people around w/ my tendency to get lost in the woods. My nutrition held up (I know it's just a 10k, but I was worried about my lack of carbs) I think 10k might be my new favorite.. particularly trail.
Moral of the story for this race is I'm only going to do stuff that's 30 mins away for a while.
I got home and the kids basically watched scooby doo mother's day marathon most of the day. I relaxed, made the kids some bracelets, thought about doing laundry and remembered it was Mother's Day and saved it (reminding myself I need to do it today), researched some stuff while watching Scooby (should have napped), Tom cooked a delicious dinner. Then the kids were sassing me and generally just not listening so bad I couldn't take it anymore. Jason was going to get a hair cut, but I took the clippers (which he insisted on opening himself though Tom and I had both asked him not to) and sent him into his bedtime routine. Both kids baulked at this and wouldn't listen and were continuing to back talk so I put them both in their rooms and told them that was it time for bed. Tom and I then stood outside their rooms and kept walking them back to their beds while they screamed and cried in protest! Jason finally gave up and went to bed so I left Tom to finish up w/ Lily.
So HAPPY FING MOTHER'S day mommy. I will get them to submit! I WILL! ha ha
Then there is just crap on TV on Sundays. Must remember to DVR stuff during the week so I have stuff to watch when I really just want to veg and sit in front of the TV.
On a high note.. a friend turned me onto Kefir and it's many benefits. It's also SO easy to make yourself so I have abandoned any thoughts of brewing my own Kombucha and will be making Kefir. I got some starter and made my first batch using coconut water and milk and it's pretty good. I ordered some 'grains' (have no idea why they are called that. they are actually a culture) to be able to make it over and over and over again. I'm pretty excited. I know I'm a dork.
I'm working on doing some more sewing... though I know I should be focused on finishing my priming and painting in the basement. Those of you that know me personally know that I am very easily distracted and prefer to bounce around a couple of projects to avoid boredom.
P90X is still rocking.... about 50 days in now. Can't wait to start my second round as I think that's when people REALLY start to see results.
The Candida Diet thing (basically meat and veg and fermented dairy) is proving slightly difficult to stay on, but I power through. When I crave something 'sweet' I drink herbal tea or have some raw chocolate made w/ cocoa and coconut oil. NO sweetener. The ultimate dark chocolate. Sometimes I'll put some raw almond butter in it to 'sweeten' it a bit.
Here is hoping for a better day today.... though I have a feeling there will be a lot of room time for the kids. Thank God for preschool.
Gotta say.. not LOVING the twin thing at this stage. Four is better, right? RIGHT? Only one more month until their birthday!
Oh, and I'm headed to Madison this weekend for a quick trip! YEAH!!!
Mother's Day was not the best this year. I started out going to a race that I felt was largely a waste of my time. More on that later. Then came home to kids that didn't really want much to do w/ me and are in a phase where they whine, back talk and fight almost constantly! UGH. Not ideal for me.. on 'my' day. I wasn't really feeling the Mother's Day vibe all week... see above regarding the behavior of my offspring.
Jason is all up in Lily's grill and Lily is wanting some space. BAD BAD BAD combo. I'm thinking they are also still recovering from our trip to Seattle as sleep - or rather going to sleep - has not been going well around these parts.
The race. The Northface Challenge is always well run and the course was great. I got up at ass crack, had some coffee, hoped for the daily you know before race stuff which didn't happen, then made some breakfast and headed out on my 1 hour and 10 minute drive to the race venue. The drive was nice enough. Parked at the designated parking area to be shuttled over. My race started at 9am and the last shuttle left the parking area at 8:15a. I was early... maybe around 7?45a. Then went and stood around in the FREEZING WINDY cold for over an hour. I had originally planned to stash my outer layer w/ the gear check guys, but didn't bring a bag (thought I'd be able to get one??) and didn't want to stand in line w/ everyone else that waited till the last minute to strip off their stuff so I decided to be "that" dork running in a fleece and long (not meant for running trails) boot leg tights over my intended running gear. SAAWWWEEETT! The race photos should be spectacular ... two coats tied around my waste! ha. If there are even any photos of me bc my number was covered on "accident".
I loved loved loved the descents. I figured out how to use my knees and relax my legs and hop down. Great fun. The run overall was well marked. It never did thin out completely (500+ runners), but it opened up enough to run and i was comforted by other people around w/ my tendency to get lost in the woods. My nutrition held up (I know it's just a 10k, but I was worried about my lack of carbs) I think 10k might be my new favorite.. particularly trail.
Moral of the story for this race is I'm only going to do stuff that's 30 mins away for a while.
I got home and the kids basically watched scooby doo mother's day marathon most of the day. I relaxed, made the kids some bracelets, thought about doing laundry and remembered it was Mother's Day and saved it (reminding myself I need to do it today), researched some stuff while watching Scooby (should have napped), Tom cooked a delicious dinner. Then the kids were sassing me and generally just not listening so bad I couldn't take it anymore. Jason was going to get a hair cut, but I took the clippers (which he insisted on opening himself though Tom and I had both asked him not to) and sent him into his bedtime routine. Both kids baulked at this and wouldn't listen and were continuing to back talk so I put them both in their rooms and told them that was it time for bed. Tom and I then stood outside their rooms and kept walking them back to their beds while they screamed and cried in protest! Jason finally gave up and went to bed so I left Tom to finish up w/ Lily.
So HAPPY FING MOTHER'S day mommy. I will get them to submit! I WILL! ha ha
Then there is just crap on TV on Sundays. Must remember to DVR stuff during the week so I have stuff to watch when I really just want to veg and sit in front of the TV.
On a high note.. a friend turned me onto Kefir and it's many benefits. It's also SO easy to make yourself so I have abandoned any thoughts of brewing my own Kombucha and will be making Kefir. I got some starter and made my first batch using coconut water and milk and it's pretty good. I ordered some 'grains' (have no idea why they are called that. they are actually a culture) to be able to make it over and over and over again. I'm pretty excited. I know I'm a dork.
I'm working on doing some more sewing... though I know I should be focused on finishing my priming and painting in the basement. Those of you that know me personally know that I am very easily distracted and prefer to bounce around a couple of projects to avoid boredom.
P90X is still rocking.... about 50 days in now. Can't wait to start my second round as I think that's when people REALLY start to see results.
The Candida Diet thing (basically meat and veg and fermented dairy) is proving slightly difficult to stay on, but I power through. When I crave something 'sweet' I drink herbal tea or have some raw chocolate made w/ cocoa and coconut oil. NO sweetener. The ultimate dark chocolate. Sometimes I'll put some raw almond butter in it to 'sweeten' it a bit.
Here is hoping for a better day today.... though I have a feeling there will be a lot of room time for the kids. Thank God for preschool.
Gotta say.. not LOVING the twin thing at this stage. Four is better, right? RIGHT? Only one more month until their birthday!
Oh, and I'm headed to Madison this weekend for a quick trip! YEAH!!!
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
The Northface Challenge
This Sunday for Mother's Day I will be running the Northface Challenge 10K!!! I had registered for the half. I was really pained about this now. I ran a half a few weeks ago and it was tough... and it was on the road. I know the NFC is going to be HARD! Off road is hard enough, but the site says it's HILLY and technical. When I registered it sounded all well and good. Aside from the race being challenging for me at this point bc my running has fallen apart I didn't really think much about the time it would take... on MOTHER'S DAY. Over an hour to get there, I'm guessing 2.5 or more hours to run/walk it, then over an hour to get back. So basically all day. As I considered my mother's day this wasn't how I wanted to spend it. I wanted to spend it w/ my family. so w/ those reasons in mind (mostly the time commitment and the potential for suffering) I emailed to see if I could change to the 10k after a prompt from my Sister in Law and I didn't think it would happen, but I got an email today that I'm switched!!! YEAH! This answers all problems. 4 hours away and I'll be back for late lunch / early dinner and some family fun on Mother's day... AFTER getting some quiet me time in the woods. Perfect!
P90X is going great. I'm at it 100% now and not even a week back in and I can feel it already. Things are getting easier. I'm able to lift heavier and can knock out over 10 push ups (real ones) now. (I know not that much, but way better than when I started.) No pull up yet, but I can tell I'm getting stronger. This is yet another reason I didn't want to run the half marathon and thrash my legs. I don't want to have to skip my leg work out or any of the work outs next week b/c I wrecked myself so bad I couldn't do it.
I took some measurements that I will take again in a month.. then each month. I plan to work through the first 90 day series then do it again through the summer and then might see what I can do about a trainer at the gym to spice it up a bit. (Um... maybe a birthday present to me... :D)
And the belly bloating thing... MUCH better. After my trip to Seattle I started thinking that maybe I really do have a problem w/ Candida. I've thought this in the past, but never acted on it bc i didn't feel empowered to do it myself. I did some research and changed my diet DRASTICALLY. Went from all fruits and veggies to NO SUGAR WHATSOEVER... including fruit. And the difference was night and day.. in just a few short days. I do this for a month (I'm 1.5 weeks in) and then I can start adding fruits/carbs back in and see how my body reacts. While I do this I take herbs to kill the yeast overgrowth... then probiotics to rebuild.
The lucky news for me is that this diet goes along w/ Phase 1 of the P90X diet.
P90X is going great. I'm at it 100% now and not even a week back in and I can feel it already. Things are getting easier. I'm able to lift heavier and can knock out over 10 push ups (real ones) now. (I know not that much, but way better than when I started.) No pull up yet, but I can tell I'm getting stronger. This is yet another reason I didn't want to run the half marathon and thrash my legs. I don't want to have to skip my leg work out or any of the work outs next week b/c I wrecked myself so bad I couldn't do it.
I took some measurements that I will take again in a month.. then each month. I plan to work through the first 90 day series then do it again through the summer and then might see what I can do about a trainer at the gym to spice it up a bit. (Um... maybe a birthday present to me... :D)
And the belly bloating thing... MUCH better. After my trip to Seattle I started thinking that maybe I really do have a problem w/ Candida. I've thought this in the past, but never acted on it bc i didn't feel empowered to do it myself. I did some research and changed my diet DRASTICALLY. Went from all fruits and veggies to NO SUGAR WHATSOEVER... including fruit. And the difference was night and day.. in just a few short days. I do this for a month (I'm 1.5 weeks in) and then I can start adding fruits/carbs back in and see how my body reacts. While I do this I take herbs to kill the yeast overgrowth... then probiotics to rebuild.
The lucky news for me is that this diet goes along w/ Phase 1 of the P90X diet.
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