Random Thoughts about Getting Physical and Rocking ‘n Rolling

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In the last two days, I’ve been inside three doctors’ offices.  First, I had a 6 month follow-up for Little Lion Man’s hip dysplasia.  According to the nurse practitioner, “Everything looks great”.  His hips are developing normally (excellently) and now our visits will occur once a year.   Honestly, as fast as little man has been running and climbing these days, I knew everything with his hips would be fine and I didn’t have any worries.

Then, today I had my annual physical.  My cholesterol is high again (240), but I think that might be related to my soft foods diet as I have been eating a lot of eggs.  Also, my vitamin D was low, which is so weird to me living in sunny Florida and all.

Apparently, a vitamin D deficiency is a typical diagnosis as people age, especially for someone with darker skin or someone who consumes a vegetarian diet.  I don’t eat enough fish or beef liver, but I’m sure it’s a combination of everything.  I have been prescribed a vitamin D supplement once a week but I prefer ten minutes in the sun as a prescription.

I also had a follow-up with my oral surgeon today for my wisdom teeth extraction.  When I mentioned to him that I am still have some pain, he said that’s to be expected for up to SIX WEEKS!   Oi vey.  At least I’m healing well and he seemed pleased about that, but I still need to stay on soft foods for a little while longer.   Ugh.  I really miss almonds and tortilla chips with salsa.

Speaking of my soft foods diet, I lost another 3 pounds for a total of 7.5 pounds.  I’m happy about the weight loss, because my clothes are fitting a bit better, but I’m not too thrilled about the way I’m losing weight.  Oh well.  At least I’m only 10 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight.

On a related note about my weight, my general practitioner said, “You don’t look like you weigh 135 pounds.” Um…thanks?  I’m all muscle, baby. Yeah, I hide my weight well since most of it is tucked away in my juiceful butt.

This Sunday is the St. Pete Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon and I feel pretty good about it.  Even though I haven’t really trained as much as I had hoped, I think I’ll do all right, especially since I threw in some resistance training last week.  Yes, every once in a while, I run with a stroller to remind myself how much I hate running with a stroller.

Last Sunday, I ran 10 miles and it felt good.

10 miles

Time 1:47:55

Ave Pace 10:48

Max Pace 8:07

 

Here are the rest of my runs:

2/2/12

4 miles

Time 41:04

Ave Pace 10:16

Max Pace 7:36

 

2/3/12 (stroller run)

3.1 miles

Time 34:07

Ave Pace 10:58

Max Pace 8:26

 

2/07/12

3.1 miles

Time 31:37

Ave Pace 10:12

Max Pace 8:05

 
And in case you haven’t heard…for the month of February, I’ve committed to showing my abs some love with my #lovemyabs challenge.  Every Wednesday, I’m hosting a linky party.  So, stop by tomorrow to link up and see everyone’s progress.  I’ve already noticed a difference, but I’ll fill y’all in tomorrow.

 *Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*

Stacy

Run to Get a Good Feeling and Crash Your Party

Posted on by Run DMT
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This Sunday is the long awaited St. Pete. Rock ‘N Roll Half Marathon.  I’m not expecting any great PR (personal record) or PB (personal best) because I haven’t trained as hard as I would have liked.  I’m just going to get out there and run.

As long as I finish around 2:15 (my last half marathon time) and before 10:00 a.m. to see Flo Rida perform at the finish line, then I’ll be happy.  I’ll get a good feeling.  Yeah.

If I don’t make it to the finish line in time, then I’ll be sure to crash the after race party.



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Chicken Pot Stickers for Chinese New Year

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PhotobucketGung Hay Fat Choy!

Did you know that Chinese New Year is a 15-day long celebration?

That’s 15 more reasons to eat Chinese food!

Of course, I didn’t cook 15 Chinese dishes, but I did serve my family Chinese Chicken Pot Stickers this week, which are always a huge hit with my family.

The preparation is a bit time consuming (about an hour), but if my whole family eats without complaint, then it’s totally worth it.

I’ve modified the Steamy Kitchen recipe to include ground chicken, because we prefer chicken and we typically don’t eat pork.  Also, my local supermarket doesn’t carry dumpling skins, so I use wonton wraps, which seem to work fine.  The pleating part gets a bit tricky, though.

Of course using the wonton wrappers, I make way more dumplings than my family could ever eat in one sitting, but they are great leftovers.

One of these days I’ll visit an Asian market to buy dumpling skins to make real Chinese Pot Stickers.  But for now, this will have to do.  Like I said already, it works and it’s just as tasty too.

(By the way, that’s Hot and Sour Soup in the background from our local Chinese take-out restaurant.  I have yet to learn how to make that.)

 

Chinese Chicken Pot Stickers

Ingredients
1 package of frozen dumpling skins, defrosted overnight in refrigerator or 40 minutes room temp (Do not microwave or set in water.)
1 pound ground chicken
3 stalks green onions, cut into 2 inch sections
1/2 cup canned bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon rice wine (or dry sherry)
2 Tbsp canola oil
¼ cup water

For the slurry
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water in a small bowl water

Dipping Sauce
1 teaspoon Asian chili sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Directions
In a food processor, add the chicken, green onions, garlic, ginger and bamboo shoots and pulse several times.  Then, in a large bowl, combine soy sauce, salt, cornstarch, ginger, rice wine.  Add chicken mixture and combine well.

Spoon 1 teaspoon of the filling onto dumpling skin. With your finger, dab a bit of the cornstarch slurry around the edges of the dumpling skin. Fold over and press to secure edges. Make sure edges are sealed tightly. Shape the dumpling so that it has a flat bottom. Cover loosely with plastic wrap so that it doesn’t dry out.

When ready to cook, heat a large nonstick pan with canola oil over medium-high heat.  (I use an electric griddle.) When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the dumplings, flat side down to the pan. Let fry for 1 minute until the bottoms are light golden brown.

Pour 1/4 cup of water into the pan and immediately cover with a tight fitting lid. Turn heat to medium and let the dumplings steam for 3 minutes. Open lid and let the remaining liquid cook off about 1 minute. Cut into a dumpling to make sure that the filling is cooked through.

Remove to plate covered with paper towel to drain excess oil and water.

Wipe the pan clean with paper towels (or wash) and repeat with remaining dumplings.

Serve with dipping sauce. (Serves 6-8)

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight.  Link up and see what everyone else is flinging this week.  



*Also shared at*

Five Pins from Pinterest

Posted on by Run DMT
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Mama's Losin' It“Are you on Pinterest? Share the last five items you pinned, choose one and let it inspire a blog post.” – Mama Kat’s Losing It

Just five?

Yesterday, I pinned my Love My Abs button to encourage others on Pinterest to join me in the February challenge.  I’m so proud of my little bloggy button.  Isn’t it cute?

To help with the challenge and mix it up a bit, I pinned this.

Then, there are all the yummy recipes I’ve pinned this week, like the Honey Lime Tilapia. I can’t to sink my teeth into that one!

Forget Valentine’s Day!  I’m already thinking about St. Patrick’s Day and baking these Guinness Butterscotch Brownies.

But the item I am most proud of this week are the magazine files in my pantry, which was inspired by this pin.

I found a pair of magazine files at Ikea for $6.99.  Target has similar ones, but they are sold separately for a tad bit more money.

The magazine files look so great in my pantry, but I especially love that I’ve stopped an avalanche of food storage items from happening on my head. Boxes of cling film and sandwich bags are no longer rolling all over my shelves or falling and hitting my in the face when I open the pantry door.  And like Martha Stewart always says, “It’s a good thing.”

Now, I just need some help with the rest of pantry, but it needs to be cheap affordable and practical.  Got any more bright ideas Pinterest?

#LoveMyAbs – Week 1, Day 1

Posted on by Run DMT
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I don’t know if I’ll post every day of the challenge, but I’ll definitely tweet #lovemyabs every day to keep you up to speed with my progress and my daily ab exercises.

Since today is the official launch, I thought I would do a no holds barred post and put my abs out there for the whole blogosphere to judge see.

Here I am. Day 1:

Good lord.  I need a tan and a six-pack.  Hopefully in four weeks, I’ll have both.

As for my ab exercises, today I did 120 reps.

40 crunches

40 bicycles

40 cross over crunches

February Challenge: Love My Abs {Launch & Linky Party}

Posted on by Run DMT
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Runners know the importance of adding ab exercises to training but fitting it in is the real chore of core training.

If you follow me on Twitter, then you may have seen me occasionally use the hashtags #sixpksabs or #100pushups.  See, my Twitter running tweeps (@ForrestGump49er  @RunningRealtor1 @tryn2bfit @runningmom2boys) and I often try to encourage each other with these small challenges.

So, to keep up the motivation and support, I had an idea for a new challenge starting February 1.  It’s a challenge to work our core, called #lovemyabs.

Basically, during the month of February, each participant attempts 100 daily ab exercises.  Do all 100 reps at once or break it up throughout the day.  It’s entirely up to you and what fits best into your lifestyle.

Then, each week slowly increase by adding another set of 20 reps.  In other words, the first week you do 100 reps.  Then week two, you attempt 120 reps. By week three, you go for 140 and by week four, you should be close to 160 reps.

The plan would look something like this:

Week 1: 2/1-2/7 = 100 reps

Week 2: 2/8-2/14 = 120 reps

Week 3: 2/15-2/21 = 140 reps

Week 4: 2/22- 2/29 = 160 reps

This is just a guideline.  If you can do more reps, then go for it!  If it’s too much, then try a set of 10 reps ten times throughout the day.  Remember the important thing is to show your abs some daily love.

Also, this isn’t just about doing 100 crunches every day, although you could totally do that if you want.  There are so many great ab exercises out there, so mix it up and have fun!

And by the end of the challenge, you’ll have over 3000 ab exercises under your belt.  Now, you gotta love that!

If you want to join the #lovemyabs challenge, grab the button, link back to Run DMT and sign the linky below. By joining the linky party, others can visit your blog to show support and offer encouragement.

Blog about your #lovemyabs experience daily or write a weekly recap because we want to see your progress.

Then, swing back here every Wednesday to link up and share your #lovemyabs post.

If you’re not a blogger, you can still participate.  Simply add your Twitter ID/profile homepage to the linky party and tweet about the challenge using the hashtag #lovemyabs.  Talk it up on Facebook and Google+, too.  Encourage your friends to show their abs some love too.

<a href=”http://deniseisrundmt.com/2012/02/01/february-challenge-love-my-abs-launch-linky-party/”><img src=”http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k224/DeniseMOTG/Run%20DMT/Feb_LoveMyAbs_Challlenge.png” border=”0″ alt=”Photobucket”></a>

So who will love their abs this February?


More Gasparilla Booty

Posted on by Run DMT
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I captured so many great photos from the Gasparilla Children’s Parade and I wanted to share some more,  If you missed my previous Gasparilla post, gather ’round to hear the tale again, me hearties.

Random Thoughts for the Last Day of the Janathon and a New Challenge

Posted on by Run DMT
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PhotobucketLast week, I moaned and complained about my forced soft food diet.  I mostly complained about all the boring foods I’ve been eating and not losing weight.  Well surprise, surprise!  I lost 3.5 pounds.  Who would have guessed?!

For the last day of the Janathon, I had to get blood work for my annual physical, which meant I would have to refrain from exercise beforehand or in other words, running before the blood draw.

This morning when I woke up, my jaw hurt, so I was kind of glad that I couldn’t run.  However, it also meant that I couldn’t take any ibuprofen to relieve the pain, because I also had to refrain from eating or drinking anything before the blood draw.

I had mentioned to my friend, Kelly that I wouldn’t be able to run before the blood work and I asked if I could tag along to her Zumba class. She’s always raving about her Zumba class and how much fun it is, so I thought I would give it try.

Besides, I couldn’t let the last day of Janathon slip by without doing something.  Stupid jaw and blood draw.

Although I kept tripping over myself with every salsa and samba move, the class was a lot of fun and I loved the music.  Between the pelvic thrusts and the hip gyrating, Zumba gave me an opportunity to work some a different muscle group and incorporate some core training, too

But I felt like I needed more core work, so I did 50 push-ups and 100 crunches when I got home.

Speaking of core training, my running tweeps from Twitter and I are starting an ab challenge tomorrow, Wednesday February 1 called #lovemyabs.  The goal is to do 100 ab exercise every day in February while increasing each week by 20. Trust me.  It’s totally doable!

If you’re game, stop by tomorrow for the details and the official linky party kick-off.  In the meantime, commit to the challenge by adding the #lovemyabs button to your blog and link back to Run DMT.

Don’t you just love the bloggy button I made for the abs challenge?  Isn’t it so cute?

 *Proudly submitted to Stacy Uncorked, because when I blog about my training, it’s usually pretty random.*

Stacy

Janathon 2012 – Day 30

Posted on by Run DMT
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PhotobucketThis morning I woke up and I felt nothing.  I had no jaw pain.  So I jumped out of bed, threw on some running clothes and ran out the door.  It was a chilly, crisp Florida morning, but I felt warm all over because I WAS RUNNING!

And it felt so good.

I only did three miles and took it easy.  I worried about injuring myself if I pushed too hard after 3 weeks of forced rest.  Then, about halfway into the run, I felt my jaw throbbing.  It didn’t hurt too badly, just more annoying than anything else.

It wasn’t a great run.  It wasn’t a bad run.  For me it was just right, because I got out there again.

3.1 Miles

Time 31:19

Ave Pace 10:06

Max Pace 7:06

Only one day left of the Janathon!  I need to make tomorrow a good one!

Love You Like a Love Song Earwig

Posted on by Run DMT
11

Every time Selena Gomez and the Scene’s song plays on the radio, my kids yell and beg from the back of the mini-van for me to turn it up.  It’s a cute song, so I don’t mind.  Like an 80s throwback, it’s got a good beat and it’s easy to dance to you.  Even the video is an 80s throwback.


 
And much like the bubble pop music of the 80s, this song will get stuck in my head for days. At least the lyrics are sweet so I don’t mind when they keep re-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat-petaing in my head (except when that part plays over and over in my head).

It’s been said and done
Every beautiful thought’s been already sung
And I guess right now here’s another one
So your melody will play on and on, with the best of ‘em
You are beautiful, like a dream come alive, incredible
A centerfold miracle, lyrical
You’ve saved my life again
And I want you to know baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby

And I keep hitting re-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat

I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby

And I keep hitting re-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat

Constantly, boy you played through my mind like a symphony
There’s no way to describe what you do to me
You just do to me, what you do
And it feels like I’ve been rescued
I’ve been set free
I am hypnotized by your destiny
You are magical, lyrical, beautiful
You are… And I want you to know baby

I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby

And I keep hitting re-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat

I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby

And I keep hitting re-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat

No one compares
You stand alone, to every record I own
Music to my heart that’s what you are
A song that goes on and on

I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby

And I keep hitting re-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat

I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby
I, I love you like a love song, baby

I love you…like a love song…

When I really listened to the lyrics, I realized the song could be so much better than a bubble-gum pop hit.  If someone slowed it down and sang a more soulful version of it with just an acoustic guitar, you would then hear the beauty in the love song.

Surely, someone has figured that one out already.  I couldn’t be the only one.  (Nope, I’m not and don’t call me Shirley.)  

Although the volume of the video is very low, Dena’s version is definitely worth listening to, so crank it up.


 
I even found a tutorial guitar lesson, which I was sure to pass along to my guitar playing hubby.  Maybe he’ll serenade me for Valentine’s Day.

For that, I’ll love him like a love song and I’ll keep hitting re-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat-peat.



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