Workouts and a ‘Me’ Day

You’d think I could publish a post everyday since I don’t work, but I NEED those couple of days to get enough material to write about. Ha.

So I did manage to post on Monday, but I didn’t tell you that I got my hair done. Big whoop!

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Just a little touch up. Keeping my hair on the less-than-platinum side because I think it needs to be a bit darker for optimum wedding hair. 

I then proceeded to ‘ruin’ my salon hair by going straight to the gym for some cardio. (I did the strength portion before my hair appt). Yup, no more straight hair. But 50 minutes and 20 miles on the bike were worth it!

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Check out those chub fingers.

ImageThat was my gracious pre-workout picture from Tuesday. I think too much blood got to my brain. I completed 35 minutes of a circuit interval that LITERALLY kicked the shit out of me. 2 minutes of FULL OUT sprint followed by 3 minutes of recovery. Repeated 6 times. I came home and just about died.

Check out that bum!

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Ow OW!

I managed to clean myself up in time an head downtown to meet my friend Mackenzie for drinks. (More water than actual beer, but I had to drive home!)

Yesterday, I took a ‘me’ day and headed to Banff. A pretty easy, short (and beautifully scenic) drive.

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When I left, it was nice and sunny. Most of the snow had melted. But as I got further into the mountains, snow snow SNOW.

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I got to downtown Banff and walked around through most all the shops for a few hours. Maybe some purchases were made. I also managed to have lunch at Wild Flour Bakery. A veggie wrap that could have been better, but the ambiance was perfect.

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I ended up looping the main street a few times because there were a few gifts I wanted to purchase. I am not an impulse buyer- I literally went into every store without making a purchase, THEN went back to stores where I knew I got the best deal/gift.

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I was looking forward to getting back to Calgary because I wanted to get out of the snow. I don’t like driving in it, especially when it’s not plowed and people drive like maniacs. Oh, and wildlife. As I left, I spotted a huge buck near the train tracks. I immediately thought to myself “I come all the way out to the Rocky Mountains and all I see is a friggin deer? C’mon mountains, you can do better than that!” No sooner did I think that to myself, I got on the highway and saw about a dozen of the largest Elk I’ve ever seen. Still no moose, though. Le sigh.

The initial portion of the drive back was not fun (think bleeding hands from hardcore white knuckling and music off because I couldn’t concentrate enough)

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I just kept telling myself I’d be out of the woods soon- back to sunny Calgary.

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh……no. I brought the snow home with me around 6pm yesterday and it hasn’t stopped since. Even Layla’s like “WTF man!”

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After the tense drive home, I switched into my ‘home workout’ clothes (usually really ghetto outfits that I feel comfortable sweating in, but not in public) and got my workout on. I modified the Workout B with Intervals B to Workout B with Cardio Intervals from Best Body Bootcamp. Rather than getting through the strength portion and having a separate cardio session, I incorporated the circuits with a 5 minute cardio blast after each set (similar to the format of Workout A- for those of you who are in BBB). The strength moves got me really sweaty on their own, so the addition of the cardio blasts were a one, two punch to my energy levels. 

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Please ignore the mess in the background- I am packing/unpacking/making a mess. But I did have my workout buddy with me. I do all my home workouts in ‘my’ room- the door is always propped open with a door stop, but I close it whenever I workout because I try to muffle my music/singing for Tyler as much as possible. Layla freaks if I close the door without her in with me, so she is now a regular in the room. The dog who is afraid of everything now doesn’t so much as flinch when I swing my ropeless jump rope just above her head. She just stands or sits or lays around with maybe an eyebrow twitch here and there.

Now you’re caught up.

 

 

Vacation’s Over. O.V.E.R.

Please allow for this post to be a sporadic* as possible. My mind= jell-o. Thanks.

My parents just left this morning.

They flew from NY to vegas to stay with friends, then drove to Montana to stay with the same friends (how nice would it be to have homes in both vegas and MT?!), then drove here to stay with me and Tyler. Now they are driving back to Montana, then back to vegas, then flying back home. I am tired just thinking of how exhausting that trip must be. While they were here, we:

  • Went to the rodeo at the Calgary Stampede for my Birthday!!!

 

  • Drank a LOT. (10 out of the 11 days to be exact)

 

  • Went to the Grandstand show at the Stampede

 

  • Went to Lake Louise and Banff

 

  • Ate a LOT. (more on that later)

 

  • Shopped
  • Went to 2 of Tyler’s football games

 

  • Played cards

Of course, I cried hysterically when they left. But then I got to cleaning the house and I got over it. Besides, I am flying to NY on AUGUST 6TH for 18 days!!!

About the eating thing. And the drinking thing. I drank like a fish while they were here. A total, sloppy fish. And I supposed I felt like I ate a lot (anything is filling when your belly’s full of booze). And I tried to work out. But I considered their time here as vacation. I got 5 -what i would consider- GOOD workouts. And while at the Stampede and Lake Louise, we were walking around ALL DAY. And sweating. But there was a hot dog with BBQ sauce and bacon consumed. As well as poutine. And, well, the margaritas.

AND GUESS WHAT?!!!

I.did.not.gain.a.single.pound.

I am so happy. You really have no idea.  Now please excuse me while I get myself together for a Grade A sweat session. Boy, do I need this.

*I learned this word from Clueless. 

Cher: OK, it will get easier, I promise. Just as long as we do it everyday. Not just sporadically.

Tai: How do you know if we’re doing it sporadically?

Cher: That’s another thing, Tai. We’ve got to work on your accent and vocabulary. See, sporadic means once in a while. Try and use it in a sentence today.

Vacation Burn Workout

Oh Hey.

Just got back from Banff/Lake Louise with Tyler and my parents and the Margarita machine is about to be put into action. BUT FIRST. I thought I would share my latest gym workout with everyone. My arms were a-hunka-hunka-BURNIN’-love afterwards. (Since my parents arrived last week, I have managed to get in a workout about every other day. On days a don’t have an ‘official’ workout, I have been walking walking walking and still sweating sweating sweating.

Vacation Burn Workout

10 minute HIIT workout (90 seconds moderate pace, 30 seconds WORK- this can be either increasing speed or resistance or both. I used the spin bike)

Round 1

  • Single leg hammer curl x12
  • Curtsy lunge with bicep curl x12

(then switch and do the same thing to the other side)

  • Lateral raise x12
  • Front raise x12
  • Overhead press x12
  • Weighted split squat x12

60 seconds of alternating toe taps/jump rope

Round 2

  • Standing hammer curl x12
  • Curtsy lunge with knee and lateral raise x2

(then switch and do the same thing except change legs for curtsy lunge)

  • Lateral raise/front raise combo x12
  • Tricep kickback x12
  • 4 SETS OF WEIGHTED SPLIT SQUATS (2 sets of 12 each leg…and HOLD THE LAST REP OF EACH SET AS LONG AS YOU CAN!!!!)

10 minutes HIIT (same as above- I did the elliptical this time)

…if you REALLY push yourself, this workout will really get you good ‘n sweaty.

I leave you with some pics from the day:

Started with a 5:30am walk/run with the pup

And of course she rolled. And rolled. And rolled. I will only bore you with one of the 5203957 pictures I took of the event:

Now for some pretty mountain pictures. I took more of them on my camera, so I will post them as soon as I am margarita free.

Kinda so pretty it looks fake, huh? And that’s just the side of the road. Wait till you see some of the gorgeous pics of the water!

And last (for this post):

Cocktail time. I’m out.

**PS: I wrote a Guest Post for Athena over at Fitness & Feta which she featured yesterday. Thanks, Athena!

Here it is, folks

“I know that one day, Veronica and I are gonna get married on top of a mountain. And there’s going to be flutes playing and trombones and flowers and garlands of fresh herbs. And we will dance until the sun rises. And then our children will form a family band and we will tour the countryside and you won’t be invited!”

…of course you’ll be invited! April 21, 2012: best day ever.

I mean honestly, look at that backdrop… THE MOUNTAINS, people. SO gorgeous! And it was the best weather, ever. Whatta surprise, whatta surprise.

I’m still waiting to get more pictures from our friends who were there, but I couldn’t hold out any longer on posting these for you to see!

Andddd…the ring he proposed to me with wasn’t even the real deal! It LOOKS real, but Tyler wanted to make sure that I loved it before he gave the jewel-man the go ahead. (I get the real mac-daddy in less than two weeks!)

Sure looks real to me.

How convenient that I had my nails painted with glitter on that day?!

Our Saturday (post engagement) was rounded off with lunch in downtown Banff at one of my favorite places, Saltlik

I had a raspberry fizz

And a turkey burger (with only half a bun)

The six of us stayed at Hidden Ridge Resort, and spent the afternoon walking around town, hitting up The Fudgery, the Hot Springs and of course, the liquor store. Lots of celebratory drinks. LOTS.

Dinner was at The Grizzly House. ohmygosh it was fantastic. It was a fondue place that is a must-see when you visit Banff!

I got the Alberta platter which consisted of beef, buffalo, elk and venison.

And I tried rattlesnake, wild boar, and ostrich. YUM!

We really had a great time there. The funny part was that each table was equipped with a phone, and our placemats had a layout of the dining room, so you can dial a table and talk to them!

Obviously, I got really creepy and went to the restroom and used the phone in there to dial my table. “I’m in the bathroom…bwahaha” God, I’m a perv!

Mmm, meat. On a hot stone. Nom nom nom.

Our group! (Thank you so much you guys for being there for that special occasion! It means the world to me)

Not much detail- I like to keep that event in my life a little close my heart, but I shared some snippets!