May 14, 2013

Homemade food

Yesterday, I said I was going to do hill repeats today; if I hadn't stated that, I most certainly would have opted for an easy 4-miler instead ;) But because I said that's what I was going to do, that's what I did.

Hill repeats are miserable, but they're very effective! Since I've been heart rate training recently, I was curious to see how the hill workout would affect my heart rate. The goal was to get my heart rate up to 90-100% of my maximum for a short period of time (Zone 5).

My plan was to do a short warm-up, then set the treadmill at 5% incline and 7.5 mph (8:00/mi pace).  I would run 1/2 mile, and then hop off and rest while the treadmill continued to go for 1/4 mile. Repeat for a total of four times. I did this workout before, but it's been about a month. (I know 5% doesn't sound that difficult, considering my treadmill goes up to 12% incline--but after a quarter mile or so, it feels like it might as well be 12%!)

Today was TOUGH. The first interval was hard, but my heart rate stayed in Zone 4. Same with the second. But each interval got my heart rate higher than the previous. By the fourth interval, my heart rate finally got into Zone 5 for about 1/4 mile. I was gasping for breath after that interval, so I just walked at 2.0 mph for about 5 minutes until my heart rate got below 100. I had "runner's lungs" for the rest of the day--I love that feeling!

Since I am giving up peanut butter for six weeks, I decided to do something different for breakfast today (usually I have oatmeal with peanut butter and other stuff on top), and it ended up being really good! I chopped up an apple, and added a little water, cornstarch, cinnamon, and stevia. I microwaved it for a couple of minutes, and then stirred in 1/4 cup of muesli (this is the Muesli Fusion Athlete Fuel):

It was surprisingly really filling, and only 4 PointsPlus.

This whole no-grocery-shopping-in-May thing is getting pretty difficult. I still find it fun to have to be creative with meals, but the kids aren't happy with some of their choices. They want to bring CANNED soup to school for lunch instead of homemade soup. We're out of canned soup, so they just have to make do with homemade. I know, poor kids! ;)

The whole family is loving the homemade bread, though. I had a huge bag of bread flour in the pantry, so I've been making bread just about every other day. Today, for dinner, I made French toast with the homemade bread, and it was fantastic!


Jerry and I spent the afternoon cleaning out our cars. I have no idea how my boys make such a mess in the back of my Jeep. I took the vacuum out there and spent a long time vacuuming it out. Give my boys a couple of days, and it will look like I never cleaned it, I'm sure. But it always feels so nice to get into a clean car! (Kind of like getting into bed with freshly cleaned sheets--love that!).

9 comments:

  1. I find with hill repeats, the hardest part is starting them. Once I am doing them, I actually enjoy it!

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  2. Wow - those repeats sound hard!! I think hill repeats are always a challenge! Great job!

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  3. I've never tried hill repeats on a treadmill; I'm sure that's even more miserable than outside! My husband and I tried the no grocery store thing a couple of times last year. We called it playing "Survivor" lol
    It is amazing how creative you have to get!

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  4. I'm really impressed with you sticking to your "From the Pantry" challenge! We could probably make it a couple weeks without grocery shopping, but that would require a lot of extra brain power on my part. And after working, I'm often low on that. :)

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  5. AnonymousMay 15, 2013

    I was always jealous of my friend's 'snack pack' stuff! But now I can say I was raised organically before it was popular!

    Your kids will appreciate it too!

    I also admire your pantry challenge and Jerry's work resolution. It's good to set goals.

    Good luck with your car! My puppy does the same thing.

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  6. I love that you are honest about how tough your workouts are! And 5% IS a LOT!! I did the programmed hills workouts on the treadmill a few months back. All that changes is the elevation (from 0-7% for a Level 4 program) and my goal was always to find a pace that I could keep the whole time. If I ran outside, I could keep around 6.5mph, but I was lucky to keep 5.2mph for an entire 30min program. So-- kudos to you and your workout!!

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  7. That workout sounds terrible. But good on ya for doing it! I love working on hills because then in races you can blow by most everyone on the hills because they aren't used to them. :)

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  8. AnonymousMay 17, 2013

    That bread looks amazing! Do you have the recipe posted?

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    1. I don't, but it's very basic. I just used the Betty Crocker Classic White Bread recipe for bread machines (I set mine on the dough cycle, and then shape the loaf by hand and bake it in the oven).

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