First up was a mini yoga session. Even though I know staying flexible is one of the keys to being an injury free runner, I still skip out on anything more than your standard hamstring stretch and foam roller session after a run.

Hot-post run mess. Stretching is not a priority. Bravo is.

Sometimes I just don’t feel like stretching after a long run and I can barely keep my you know what together as it is, so stretching falls to the wayside. Sue me.

In an effort to correct my less than stellar stretching routine, I tried out  “Yoga for Athletes”, a 17 minute mini-practice full of hip openers and hamstring stretches and hosted by Ted McDonald. Even after only 17 minutes of hip openers and deep breathing, I felt more relaxed and limber and less in a funk.

Next up, triceps and abs from Cassey Ho over at Blogilates. I first came across Cassey and her blog during the Fiteratti Awards and she probably has more pep in her left pinky finger than I have in my entire body. More importantly, though-her workouts are great!

First, I did the “Payphone Triceps Challenge” which was perfect since I had just downloaded the song on Friday. In short, you’re doing tricep dip variations for the duration of the song Payphone by Maroon 5.

After almost four minutes of dips, my triceps are still seizing. Even though I use the song method for running intervals, I had never thought to apply it to resistance workouts-I’ll have to use this more often!

Following my triceps torture  fun, I decided to check out one of Cassey’s beginner pilates videos, since she’s a certified instructor.

Holy abs. This will now be part of my routine. By the end of this short

Renee invited me to take a test run with the group a few weeks ago and this Saturday I finally took her up on the offer (and we got to meet IRL for the first time!). This week’s long run meet at Ocean Beach and it was gorgeous. So gorgeous that I didn’t bring my camera. Of course. So here’s someone else’s photo of the view from mile 15-

(source)

Anyway, I was a little concerned about running sans iPod and with a group of strangers, but after spending 3 miles catching up to my pace group, I was put at ease. The group run provided a change of pace (literally) and I also got to meet fun and interesting people-including a nurse practioner and an assistant high school principal-which made the run (almost) fly by. I actually went into total dork/sappy mode and told these new running mates (who are probably now afraid of me) that “This is so much better than running alone!”, to which one of the runners responded “Awww. That’s…sweet.”, probably because she thought I had no friends. Oh well!

After my run, man friend and I took our friend Ken to pick up his Bay to Breakers race packet where we saw this guy-

Yep! That’s Meb Keflezighi, a.k.a the top U.S. Olympic Marathon qualifier. He can basically run a marathon in just a bit more time than it takes me to run a half marathon-we all felt speedier just being within feet of him. Ken even got him to sign his t-shirt that has a bunch of other Olympic runners’ autographs on it

All smiles.

and then promptly jumped into my man-friends arms out of excitement

Everyone gets excited when they meet Meb.

Which brings us to Sunday (I know, I’m a pro at the segue).

It was a cross training day and also uncannily warm, so I took my workout outside to do some stairs. It was so pretty out, I took a video to share with you. There were parrots chirping in the background (Yes! There are wild parrots in San Francisco!) and a narration of the landmarks in the scene (you can see Alcatraz in the distance, followed by the Bay Bridge, then downtown and finally Coit Tower)…but I forgot that my headphones were plugged in so you won’t get to hear my voice. Oopsy daisy.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Case in point A…

and B…

and C. 

And last night, I lived out a Bravo dream.  No, I will not be on the next season of Real Housewives, but I did get to see Andy Cohen live!

And all I have is this blurry picture…but it’s him.

My man friend completely surprised me with two tickets to Andy’s chat with the Commonwealth Club, the nation’s oldest public affairs club. Even though some of the moderator’s questions were pretty serious (Andy’s upbringing and gay rights in America), he balanced it by talking about my favorite subject, Bravolebrities. Andy discussed the Real Housewives series as well as his favorite Bravo show, Top Chef. I even learned some new things, like Andy was a CBS News producer for a decade.

Afterwards, I ended the night with Around the World in 80 Plates (once again, Bravo is one of the constants in my life) and my favorite better for you version of  hot chocolate (recipe below) since it’s freezing in San Francisco. A perfect night in my book if you ask me.

Hot chocolate gives me the warm and fuzzies…just like Bravo.

Light Hot Chocolate 

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa

1 tbsp Truvia

dash of salt

1. Boil almond milk and when small bubbles develop, add remaining items.

2. Turn heat down to medium and stir until all ingredients are combined, making sure that any clumps of cocoa are broken up.

Enjoy!

So I’m going to default to my bread and butter, workouts and eating. I’m a pro at those

I’m a Southern girl and for some reason, I have been craving (to put it lightly) pulled pork lately. I think I’ve been mentioning it to anyone who will listen on a daily basis.

Heh. Yes I have a horrible sense of humor (source)

Luckily, a slow cooker came into my life, providing the perfect opportunity to make pulled pork (instead of weird kale dishes).

Yep, that was officially my first crock pot dish…Slow cooked vinegar kale. I liked it but it might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Then, as if a sign sent from above, a recipe for pulled pork from SkinnyTaste.com showed up in my daily nutrition newsletter. I adapted the recipe  a tiny bit to  accommodate the fact that I’m a lazy cook fit my needs.

After about three minutes of preparation (no, really) and about six hours in the crock pot while I was at work, my pork dish went from this-

MMM Meat ‘n Sauce

to this!

Delicious. Along with my roasted pre-made brussel sprouts, I was one happy girl.

And on to workouts!

My training plan called for 4 miles and since I was doing a lunchtime workout, I decided to spice things up a little bit with the following workout-

[all at 1% incline unless otherwise noted]

800 meters at 6.0 mph

800 meters at 6.5 mph

2 sets of:

10 squat jumps

10 push ups

800 meters at 6.5 mph

800 meters at 7.0 mph

2 sets of:

20 tricep dips

20 walking lunges

800 meters at 7.0 mph

800 meters at 7.5 mph

2 sets of:

10 squat jumps

10 push ups

800 meters at 6.5 mph

800 meters at 6.3 mph 5% incline

I wanted to fit in that last set of dips and lunges, but I had to get back to my office. Priorities

While my meats were a cooking,I did the Tone It Up Tuesday workout, plus one full circuit of Fitness Magazine’s June beach body workout (I’ll post on this soon!).

If would like to watch either of the films, click the video links below to view the official films.

Part One: Consequences

The first episode in this four part series provided a comprehensive overview of the state of obesity in America. This film covered the rise of obesity over the past twenty years and the environmental factors that have greatly contributed to the obesity problem, including increased serving sizes, lack of physical activity and lack of access to healthy foods.

This portion of the documentary shared a fair amount of statistics, but here are a few that stood out the most to me-

• Among children born after the year 2000….
  • 1 out of 3 children will have diabetes
  • 1 out of 2 minority children will have diabetes.
  • Could be the first generation of children in recent history to die before their parents due to obesity related health issues.

Part Two: Choices

The second episode examined the human side of the obesity epidemic by interviewing people from all walks of life who have dealt with being overweight.  As someone who always loves diving into the human element of scientific documentaries, I found the second installment of the series more interesting than the first. Each interview focused on  the challenges that come with being overweight-from the successes and failures of weight loss to the complications that can arise from being overweight. I thought the directors did a great job putting a human face on obesity problem and more importantly, making it clear that overcoming obesity is very challenging. There were moments where I wanted to cry and moments where I wanted to jump up and cheer .

In addition, I think that the second installment provided very simple, yet practical weight loss and lifestyle tips that viewers can easily implement to live healthier lives. The piece covers tactics such as the practice of mindful eating, moving more and eliminating sugary drinks from your diet.

Watching parts one and two provided me with A LOT of information on obesity in America, but the most prevalent message that came across to me was that obesity shouldn’t be viewed as a personal problem, but as a societal problem that everyone can help solve.

Parts three and four air tonight at 8 p.m. and online on the official HBO website. If you watched last night, what did you learn about obesity in America?

Yep, that’s all mine.

instead of planning out my blog posts.

In an effort to redeem myself in the blogosphere and get ready for the week ahead, I decided to post on a Monday night and prep some of my meals for the week..

In the mix-brussel sprouts with garlic, salt pepper and olive oil for roasting, a SIAB (salad in a bag) and soup for lunch tomorrow and my piece de resistance, pulled pork made in my brand new slow cooker.  Thank goodness my workouts are all mapped out for me.

Even though my entire week of eats isn’t planned out (and lets be honest here, I’ll be eating leftovers since I’m cooking for one), planning out at least a few meals will get me a step ahead of the game.

***

In other (more important) news, I’m excited to watch parts one and two of the new documentary, The Weight of the Nation, which airs tonight on HBO. The project is a presentation from HBO and the Institute of Medicine, in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutues of Health. At the center of the project is a four-part documentary series, featuring case studies, interviews with some of the nation’s leading health experts, and individuals and their families struggling with obesity. You can find out more about the project here and even watch the films online on HBO’s official website.

Since I’m a documentary nerd, love learning about health related issues, and know that the obesity problem is not just a personal, but national problem, I thought I’d share a few facts I learned just from browsing the film’s official site.

Did you know…

• More than one third of American adults and 17 percent of U.S. children are considered obese
• One in four adults gets no leisure-time moderate or vigorous physical activity at all.
• The obese workforce costs American business an estimated $73.1 billion per year.
• The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate to intense aerobic activity every week for adults.

With that said, it’s almost 8 p.m. on the West Coast and time for me to tune in. For more information on the film, the obesity epidemic in America and steps everyone can take to live healthier, visit the official website.

Did you watch The Weight of the Nation?   Did you learn anything new?

Even though I had never visited a Crunch before, many of my friends and coworkers are members, so I know a few things from word of mouth. First off, these gyms aren’t your run of the mill fitness centers. That’s because Crunch was founded with the mission to make  working out fun by fusing fitness and entertainment.
Their mission became evident the moment I sent foot inside of their Polk Street location-

Get ready for a (sweat) show (source)

Probably the most beautiful gym ceiling I’ve ever seen.

If you couldn’t tell by the marquee out front and the beautiful domed ceiling, this gym was a movie theater in its former life. The bottom floor features a main workout space for group classes with a surrounding for free weights and weight machines.

The balcony houses the cardio machines, and the elevation gives you a perfect view of the movie screen. As if watching movies on a large screen isn’t enough to get you through a cardio session, the gym also has high energy jams pumping to keep you motivated and having fun.

After touring the facilities, I met on the class court to get a quick introduction to the TRX Rip Trainer from our lovely instructors, Nick and Michelle.  Michelle gave me a quick primer on how to use the contraption and informed me that the TRX Rip Trainer is unique because it can deliver hundreds of sport-specific exercises and offers a total body workout by utilizing the lever bar and resistance cord for variable resistance training.

The workout was in a circuit format and consisted of several rotation, core stability, control, power, balance and coordination moves. Since the TRX Rip Trainer was originally developed to meet the needs of combat sports athletes and physical therapists, many of the moves focus on improving muscular imbalances and functional movement.

That’s my co-worker Andrea on the left who was nice enough to serve as a TRX model

My favorite move by far was the hockey shuffle and slap shot, where we pretended to run towards a goal and take hockey slap shots. Working against the resistance of the cord made me feel really powerful and taking slapshots was a great stress reliever oblique workout.

The class was so high action, my camera just couldn’t comprehend it all.

If you ever find yourself at a Crunch-check out TRX Really Ripped-I found muscles I never knew I had, which were definitely yelling at me the next day.

Not this kind of negative split either. Probably the most entertaining (disturbing?) illustration I found of negative splitting

Negative splitting is finishing the second half of the race faster than the second half. Runner’s World explains that it can take several miles for your body to warm up, so if you play your cards right during the first half of a race, your body will be warmed up and ready to race for the second half. [Pros often use this method-click on the image below to see how Geoffrey Mutai took the NYC Marathon by negative splitting]

If the pros can do it, I can too

After signing up for the San Francisco Marathon, I researched the race course,  read race recaps and ultimately decided that since the course is front loaded with infamous San Francisco hills, negative splitting would be the only way that I would reach my goal of a sub four hour marathon time.

Of course, one large problem stands in my way: I have not been the best at negative splitting in the past.  Although no catastrophic slowing occurs, I tend to get excited,  go out faster than planned and end up slowing down until the last few miles. Exhibit A.

Yesterday, I set out for a slower seven mile marathon pace run. My legs felt great and the miles were clicking away, so I knew I was going to run faster than marathon pace-I told you I wasn’t good at committing to paces of any kind. Since I scrapped my original plan, I decided that this was the perfect time to try out negative splitting. In order to reign myself in, I committed to running the last three miles at progressively faster pace. Apparently threatening myself works.

I reigned it in and ended up consciously negative splitting, for probably the first time ever! I’m definitely going to keep this workout in the wings for marathon training. As I’ve found out, negative splitting is something that has to be practiced and learned, so here are a few articles from the experts full of tips and workouts to help master the negative split.

• The importance of running negative splits along with a few workouts to get you there from Active.com
• Tips and tricks for negative splitting from FitSugar.com
• Did you know negative splitting has psychological benefits too?!

I have to wait for the cable guy today, so I can do a real time post, which rarely happens.

When I woke up this morning, I wanted to fit in a quick workout, but I also wanted to be done by the time the cable guy showed up to avoid totally creeping him out. I decided that Bob Harper’s “Fat Blasting Workout” from this month’s Fitness Magazine was the perfect fit.  Even though it only took 18 minutes to complete, you do each move one after the other, which keeps your heart rate and the challenge level elevated.

If you have a few extra minutes today, give this workout a try. Just click the image below to get the full workout!

Bob is not joking around.

Have a great Tuesday!

You may or may not have noticed that I took a little blogging break–and surprisingly the world did not  end.  Work got busy…then work went Vegas (that’s twice in six months), so I decided to take a blogging break and live a little. Our work trip was VERY fun (we got to know everyone just a little bit better, if you know what I mean) and it was great not having to worry about documenting every moment-even the one that involved this guy, who spoke to our group…

Bill! Yes,, he’s even better looking in person.

In the midst of enjoying our office festivities, I was even able to fit  in a training run at the beautiful Aria gym during our work trip-I’m pretty stoked that I’ve been able to follow my  Google training calendar to a T up until this point.

Wish I could run at the Aria every day!

Keeping with my blogging break, I didn’t go out of my way to photograph my every move this weekend, but I captured a few moments from Sunday (Funday). Since the weather was gorgeous on Saturday and Sunday,  my friends and I spent the day indulging in a few adult beverages and playing Jenga..with a fitness twist of course.

Strategery.

And it all falls down.

The loser (which mostly ended up being me), had to do push ups or wall sits as punishment.

The face of real winner (?)

Good form, good fashion. All in a day’s work.

It ended up being quite entertaining, especially since Maddie and I were in summer dresses.

After our fitness fun, we were somehow inspired to finger paint…

It was great to take a break from blogging, but I’m glad to be back! Here’s to the busy week ahead!