Weekend Recap

It was a great weekend despite the lack of sunshine :-) I started the weekend off with a great run Friday afternoon, my usual 4 mile loop around Town Lake. It was raining lightly which doesn't bother me and the temperature was perfect!

I have always had a very strong cardio vascular system so that part of running has never a problem for me. My legs tire way before my heart and lungs but lately I've noticed a shift. Over the past few months since starting Crossfit my legs feel much stronger in my runs. It has been a gradual evolution and now it seems that my heart and lungs are having to play catch up! On my Friday run it became even more evident. I could feel more power in my legs than before and I was enjoying the sensation of running faster so much but soon noticed that my lungs and heart were having a heard time keeping up. It's a very strange feeling for me and at first I was concerned but I'm enjoying it now knowing that I'm in that place of gaining strength where I was once weak and ultimately will find balance between the two.

I have this slightly OCD thing where beginning and ending points are very important to me. I always like to start my run in the same place and end in the same place. Living downtown, I just walk down to the trail and hop on at the same place every time. My walk to the trail and my run were always completely seperate in my mind and I did not set my legs in running motion until my feet hit the trail. Recently, my runs have extended into what used to be my walk to and from the trail. It began one afternoon when I decided to run up the winding, steep dirt trail that I must walk on my to and from the trail. It was at the end of my run and I was tired and ready to stop but something inside me said keep going, just push through the exhaustion and pick up your tired legs and go and I did it! Crossfit has conditioned me to push through the exhaustion and the voice inside my head that tells me to stop when I can actually push through and go further. When Coach Crystal calls 1 minute or 30 seconds left in a workout, I somehow always find a second wind to pump out those last few reps with more power and speed than I thought I could. So now the distance between my run and my walk to and from my run has become shorter. The minute I step over the railroad tracks now, my legs go into running motion. I now run down to the trail and back home from the trail. When I need a little inspiration to push myself up that steep, winding dirt hill at the end of my run or when I find myself facing a hill with dread I think of this Crystal 2009 CF Games Sandbag Sprint and charge my way forward :-)

After my run, Mr. X and met friends for dinner at Asti. One of the questions I get from people about my new Paleo diet is "how do you eat out?". Well, it's very simple and in some ways easier than back in the day when I was a vegan. For example, at Asti I ordered the salmon cooked without the breading they sprinkle on top to add a little crunch and it came with cauliflower, sun-dried tomatoes, capers and olives. It was filling and delicious!

Saturday morning at 9:00 I went to my dear friend Kimberly's Vinyasa yoga class. We hit all the spots my body needed, thanks Kimberly :-)

Following class I went home and made breakfast at 10:30:
2 egg whites with 1/2 c chopped green peppers and onions cooked in coconut oil
1/2 c diced canteloupe with 1 oz of prosciutto

I had an appointment at noon that lasted until 1:30 and had to run to Whole Foods to pick up stuff for dinner and lunch so I did not eat lunch until around 2:30:
1/2 lb of Baby Back Ribs from WF
Spring greens with cabbage, carrots and beets

Got hungry again around 4:30 and knew we wouldn't be having dinner until at least 9:00 so I had a German Chocolate Larabar :-)

Mr. X has a Saturday tradition of eating steak for dinner, he has done this for as long as I have known him. Now that I eat meat, I've joined him in this tradition and we cooked out some absolutely delicious grass-fed, locally grown ribeyes. I made a side of mushrooms sauteed in olive oil, garlic salt, pepper and red wine and a side of spinach cooked in olive oil and garlic. It was all so yummy!

After my Hatha Flow class with Kimberly yesterday, I went to WF's to buy groceries for this week's lunches and dinners. I had planned to get creative this week and try some new recipes but was lacking the time and creative energy so I just bought my usual staples:

Kale
Green Peppers
Sweet Onion
Sweet Potato
Mushrooms
Spaghetti Squash
Canteloupe
Mandarine Oranges
Salmon
Egg Whites
1 lb 96% lean ground beef
Yogi Tea Rejuvenation Green Tea
Assortment of Larabars
Prosciutto
Naked Coconut Water

I made spaghetti sauce with meat and spaghetti squash for 4 lunches and will have the salmon, kale and sweet potato for 2 dinners. I usually go out for dinner with Kimberly on Wednesday night and then on Friday and Saturday with friends and/or Mr. X so I will go back to WF's to pick up some fresh seafood for Thursday's dinner and have the left overs for lunch on Friday.

Since I was going to be busy whipping up my lunches and dinners for the week, I just bought some prepared Blackened Catfish for dinner and made a salad of Spring greens with cabbage, carrots, beets and cucumbers from the WF's salad bar for dinner last night and had 2 mandarine oranges before bed.

The CF WOD for today looks like fun:

press 3 X 5
2 Rounds of:
20 box jump(24in)
20 kb clean and press (16kg) (10 R/10 L)
20 lunges with KB (pass through)

I'll report my results here tomorrow so stay tuned :-)