Oh my Legs!

Here are a few leg workouts for you my dear!

First- Lunges!

Lunges are rough! They are one of the workouts that the next day I totally feel it! Lunges are great for your legs, especially for your butt. Using the Bosu adds to the challenge, making you use your core to balance as well as putting more weight on one leg.

Ashley showed me these a while ago, they are sure to make you feel the burn! They are also great to mix it up from your regular lunges.
*Please excuse the uber-sexy man, I don't have a bosu at home & wasn't about to take a pic of myself at the gym

I definitely recommend using weight if they are too easy. You want to do 2 sets of 25 on each leg. And as always be sure your front knee doesn't pass your toes.

SQUATS

After the lunges, go directly to these. Grab whatever weight you usually curl (between 5lbs & 15lbs in each hand) and stand like our cute gal..."Sally" below:

Be sure to not let your knees pass your toes. Do 3 sets of 15. For extra credit: after you do your 15th sit in squat position & hold while you do 15 curls with the hand held weights you have. Your legs will SHaaaaaaAAAke!

Hammy's

Lastly we have the Hamstring curls. These babies are painful (for me). Lay flat on your back, place heels on ball: butt raised so that your body is a straight line from head to toe. Slowly pull in ball towards yourself, without letting your butt lower. Make sure your hands are relaxed at your sides and all the work is in your core, butt, and legs(mainly hamstrings). Slowly push ball back out.

Do 2 sets of 25
Feel the burn baby!!

Happy to be Healthy

Mari

Carpenteria 5k

Picture this:
Cloudy, gray sky with a mist of rain falling over an equally gray & blue ocean.
Now throw in:
Sweaty bodies, loud breathers, and a muddy/rocky hill or two.

That, in a nutshell, was my 5k this morning. Can I first just say I would love to live in a small beach community? After running through them over the past couple years, I've fallen in love. Okay the race: First time ever running a race with trails, normally I've ran asphalt only races, so this was a more challenging. 5k's are interesting to me because they attract so many different people; the walking grannies, to the show off HS cross country team runner, to the average joe like myself, or the "overweight surprise" (the person you least expect to pass you that does). The beautiful scenary really distracted me from thinking about how tired I am or how much time I had left. I completed the race faster than I thought I would, I was aiming for a consistent 10min mile and I averaged about 8:25min per mile. I am happy with the result, but I realize that I am training for endurance & not for speed so I am still aiming for (like you Court) 10min miles for my half marathon. I had so many older people pass me! No joke, like 7 chicks over 40. What?? Of course I thought they were amazing, but still...it was a bit of a blow.

Next race: 10miler end of April
Santa Barbara
I have never ran that far in my life. Eeek!

here i am after my muddy race

One last thought:
What is it about ultra marathon runners that makes them want to run a 5k & make the rest of us look like we are crawling? Can't they just stick to the 100miles & leave us weaklings to our minor triumphs?

healthily, happily,
mari

Run your little heart out!

Here I am after running the Salt Lake half marathon last year.

I am one of those weird people who loves running. I don't love it every day, but I probably love it about 80% of the time I do it. When you finish you feel so accomplished and strong.

My favorite time to run is in an actual race. I love the collective energy you feel at the starting line, the people cheering you on in the streets, and the feeling you get when you cross the finish line knowing you worked through the pain and did your best. This year I am signed up for a half marathon in April, and a 24 hour relay in June, and am still deciding when and where I want to do my first triathlon. Sadly, these will be my last races until I have a baby. My doctor says I need to tone it down if I want my fertility up. Since I am all out of whack I am going to do what she tells me and hope it works! Anyway, I am so excited and can't wait for race day to be here. I have found it really difficult to find time for true distance running (which is what I really need to be doing right now) because of the house renovation, moving, packing for a trip, working, etc. but I am doing one distance run a week. My usual training for a long race goes a little something like this:

Week one: 2-3 3 mile runs
Week two: 2, 3 mile runs, one five mile run
Week 3: 2, 3 mile runs, one six mile run
Week 4: 2, 3 mile runs one seven mile run

So I basically build up and add one mile per week of training. I have found that this is the best way to get ready for a race. You shouldn't kill yourself and run distance every day. Our bodies need a break, our muscles and joints need to heal. Because I haven't been able to give my training the time I would like, my goal is just to finish my marathon in about two hours, which is what I did last year. If I run around 6 miles an hour this is totally doable. I wish you could be here to run my April race with me! It is so much more fun doing it with someone else. Keep up the good work, it will pay off.

Be Healthy, Be Happy
Courts

Living a Little Greener

As I continue to make my life a little Greener, with using less power, to recycling, to just being more conscious of our environment I thought of another Green thing that I love~Green Tea!

Green Tea is one of those drinks that some people feel isn't okay to drink. While I completely respect others' opinions, I just wanted to do a small post on why Green Tea is so great for you. The taste may take a little while to get used to, but it is super good for you. I love how it's so light & fresh. Click here to see some of the many benefits of Green Tea. I don't love it plain, but it can be made in a variety of ways. Adding mint or lemon is yum! Here is a great recipe for a Green Tea with Ginger & Mint. I prefer to serve mine cold, keep it in the fridge in a pitcher and whenever you need a little sweet instead of reaching for a higher calorie or sugar loaded beverage you can pick a healthier option! (of course water is the #1 choice but sometimes you just need a little flavor!) Just pour it over a tall glass of ice & enjoy!

being healthy makes you happy
xoxo
mari

Sorry for the delay folks...

Long time no post from me! Sorry Mares, I promise to do better starting right now. The reasons for me not posting go as follows: last week I had the death flu and did absolutely nothing for 7 days. We are busy boxing up our current house. Two days ago, my sweet husband decided to contract both pneumonia and bronchitis (who exposed us to these horrible illnesses? We are healthy, vitamin taking people!). So this might help explain the lack of effort on my part when it comes to contributing to this awesome blog. Here's to being healthy once again!

Once I was feeling well enough to start cooking again (and what a better way to get healthy than to prepare your own fresh, vitamin rich foods in a pleasant environment) I decided anything with a zesty homemade Marinara sauce topping sounded amazing. So that is exactly what I made. Did you know that together tomatoes and olive oil help your body absorb the nutrients from each ingredient much more effectively than if you had them on their own? That is why they taste oh-so-good together, our bodies need them to be companions! So here it is, my recipe for this week is an amazing homemade marinara sauce:

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 can (32 ounces) whole Italian plum tomatoes and their juices
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

To Make:

1. Heat oil in a large, nonreactive skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
2. Place tomatoes in a large bowl, reserving juices. Crush tomatoes using your hands. Add tomatoes and reserved juices to skillet. Stir in red pepper, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until slightly thickened, about 25 to 30 minutes.
3. Remove sauce from heat, stir in cheese. Remove bay leaves before serving.

Feel free to add some of your other favorite herbs and spices to this delicious mix! I love to chop up some fresh basil and serve this over whole wheat pasta, grilled chicken breast, or use it in panini's. It is so zesty, light, and fresh you won't be able to get enough of it.

Be Healthy, Be Happy and I love you!
Court

Stepping Stones: First Race Scheduled!

First race for 2009 is scheduled! I just signed up!
Date: March 21st
Event:5k
Goal: beat 10min miles
(current training pace)

Since my decision to run a half marathon in the year 2009 (race date TBA), I have begun to run 3times a week regularly. Between 2-4miles. In order to keep with my goal, I have decided to sign up for a few smaller races along the way to keep me motivated. The first is in just two weeks, a 5k in Carpenteria. I am looking forward to this race because its been almost a year since my last 5k. I haven't been training the way I used to (for speed), so it will be interesting to see how the results differ. I have been training at a consistent 10min mile pace, so my goal for this race is to simply beat that.
I will definitely let you know how this "stepping stone" process works, smaller races leading up to bigger races. I know you have a bunch of races this summer. I want to hear about them, what you are doing to train & what your goals are.

BE Healthy. BE Happy.
xoxo
Mari