Catching Up on a Monday

Not one, but two workouts to post!

First up, Saturday was my day for a long run in my local county park.  (Have I mentioned lately how grateful I am to have access to open spaces with trails?  I'm ever so grateful.)  First there was a 1.3 mile walk to the park entrance, then a 0.5 mile hike up the trail to where I started running.  3.1 miles of running along the trails in a nice loop, except for some steep switchbacks where I just couldn't run any longer and had to walk a couple, and then the 1.8 miles back home.  I didn't get exactly the route I had planned, because I discovered that the rangers were doing invasive tree removal and asked hikers to stay away from a particular section of the trail.  The route ended up being dandy, however, with lots of opportunities to challenge myself with hills.  Oh, the hills.

Sunday was a total rest day.  Everyone should have a rest day in their exercise routine.

I figured out that Monday mornings are my best opportunity to really work on legs, so that my muscles have a chance to recover before the next big running training session on Thursday.  The weight room was full of guys, so I decided to just work out on the weight machines, doing a circuit of leg presses and extensions, lat pull-downs, chest presses and flys, rows, weighted crunches, etc.  As I was finishing up the second circuit, suddenly all the guys decided to leave the weight room and come work on the machines, so I was having to work in.  Not what I wanted, so I decided to finish things up in the empty weight room with some squats (60 lbs), back extensions, crunches, etc.  Plus a couple of chin-ups.  (Not two in a row, alas.  Yet.)  Then there was 10 minutes of foam rolling.

Geez, I am feeling the sore already.  Good thing I packed some extra protein for breakfast: two hardboiled eggs *and* a cheese stick, plus a couple of clementines.  Interestingly, everything at breakfast had to be unwrapped.

I'd like to share some fabulous recipes with you.  Not mine, but over at This Rawsome Vegan Life.  Emily has put together a wonderful collection of raw vegan recipes that are easily assembled by any beginner with a food processor.  She has drunk the raw vegan kool-aid, so to speak, but everyone is allowed to live their life as they think best.  I like all foods in moderation, so I will totally nom on a raw vegan dessert after my dinner of liver and onions.  She particularly excels at dessert creation, and I purchased her book last week.

Yesterday I assembled a berry cream cake (one layer of coconut milk and cashews and one layer of raspberry and date goodness) which is proving to be just lovely.  I like being able to adjust the sweetness to my own taste, which runs towards less sweet.  Any dessert consisting primarily of dates, fruits, nuts, and coconut is going to be extremely calorie-dense, but a small portion is very satisfying.  Now, sugar is sugar, whether it's from cane juice or honey or dates or bananas.  Nevertheless, I would prefer to obtain my sugars and fats from natural sources rather than processed ones, in order to get other wholesome nutrients along with the sugar molecules.