The Good and The Better...

I was going to say that I had a "good choice" recipe and a "bad choice" recipe for you...but at the last second I changed my mind and decided that no matter how bad it is, it is even BETTER! :) Make sense???
The other night I made Chicken Spinach burgers. I used a super extra lean ground chicken so it was really healthy! And since I'm trying to limit the amount of bread carbs, I didn't actually make it into a burger. I just topped it with some sliced tomato and a sprinkle of feta cheese.
I roasted butternut squash drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with a no-salt seasoning (also trying to cut down my sodium, which has made a HUGE difference for me!).

And of course in Misty fashion I had a giant Claussen pickle on the side, a cup of salsa for dippie, and a diet coke and I was a super-happy girl!
So we'll call that a good day...got some good workouts in and a nice healthy dinner....
THEN THERE WAS YESTERDAY...
I'm sitting at my desk, minding my own business, and what thought came into my head?? CUPCAKES!
I have no idea why! Cupcakes actually don't even usually tempt me that much, but I had an idea in my head and I couldn't focus on anything else. I made myself finish working on my Fall paperwork for Tumbling Stars and then cut out early...
I ran to WalMart and got my supplies and I was ready! I was kind of making the recipe up as I went along (a mix of about 5 recipes I'd seen), so I was just praying they'd turn out ok. I was pretty happy with the results!


The ones with chips on top are what I named Cupookies!! They are a chocolate and caramel flavored, but have a surprise ball of cookie dough baked right in the middle! :) YUMMY!! The others that have crushed candy bar on top are Snickers Cupcakes and have a miniature snickers bar in the middle!


So about 3 hours worth of work all so I could satisfy my craving for ONE cupcake...but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT! I'm finding that I really love cooking or baking, especially when I have someone or a group of people in mind that I think are going to enjoy it!

Randomness

Not that my "semesters" don't all blend together right now, so like it makes a difference, but I had the huge urge to do ONE LAST fun trip before "summer ended"! So Linda Lu and I packed up to head out to a wedding that we were supposed to be going to...but plans quickly changed! We were headed to the river! We threw a tent in the car, packed one small bag each and hit the road! It was so much fun to not overthink it, not overplan it, ...just DO IT! :) We found an amazing little camping spot that was far enough away from other campsites that we only had one drunk guy run directly into our tent in the middle of the night while we were asleep (yeah, THAT was fun), but not so far away that we were those stupid girls that get killed in every horror movie!

We ate a yummy dinner at Adobe Verde, caught a couple hours of sleep, and hit the river bright and early the next morning for a 6+ hour float!


OH we laughed SOOOOOOOOOO hard on this trip!




It was a quick trip, but we had sooooo much fun and I came back refreshed and ready to tackle things at work!
I had to tweak our training schedule just for one day, but don't worry we made it up on Sunday morning and didn't miss a beat! Speaking of training, we are officially in our "light" week after our PEAK week last week! I laugh that we now consider a 1200 meter swim a light swim day, but after many 2000+ meter swims, this feels like cake! My body is definitely starting to feel the effects of the rigorous schedule as I'm having a lot more aches and pains starting to pop up everywhere! Nothing a quick ice bath in the morning and HOT baths every night can't fix! ...and don't forget the ibuprofen!
For weeks I've been SO excited because my appetite just WENT AWAY! So, burning more calories than ever paired up with no appetite= good results for Misty! :) But don't you worry, it came back this week and it came back with a vengeance! I seriously CANNOT eat enough to be satisfied...I am INSATIABLY hungry! I wonder if a "healthy snack" of a spoonful of Peanut Butter or a small handful of almonds is still healthy when you eat 7 spoonfuls of PB and 2 lbs of almonds...because that's the kind of day I had yesterday!!
I'm walking a little funny today because of a KILLER crossfit workout from Monday!
Here it is:

Part A. Three rounds for time of:
30 Push-ups, release hands from floor at the bottom
12' Wall climb
95 pound Overhead squat, 21 reps
12' Wall climb
Seven minute time cap. Score time of completion or reps completed within the cap.

Rest 30 seconds.

Part B. Three rounds for time of:
30 Toes to bar
95 pound Ground to overhead, 21 reps
Seven minute time cap. Score time of completion or reps completed within the cap.

Rest 30 seconds.

Part C. Three rounds for time of:
6 foot Wall jumps with burpee, 5 reps
20 ft Rope Climb, 3 ascents
Twelve minute time cap. Score time of completion or reps completed within the cap.

UUUGGGGHHHHH!! I should have known it would be bad.... it's hard to even read!

I just cannot explain what it is about CROSSFIT that makes it so amazing! Seriously, if you haven't before, go to Crossfit.com and check it out! I've seen the results in people around me! I'm working on a video that I like to call "Ode to Crossfit"...watch for it coming soon!

Cooking, Running, Puking....actually in that exact order!

So I'm obsessed lately with finding recipes that are AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS as well as healthy...IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?! Listen, I am a lover of food! Eating is a social event for me, food makes me happy, and if you ever want to see me rebel in a big way tell me I absolutely can't eat something. I don't care if it's something I don't even like...if you tell me i CAN'T have it, I will WANT it even more! :) I pride myself on having a stomach of steel (well, this morning was an exception, but more on that in a minute). Typically, I could eat mexican food for every meal of the day. Heck, I can walk straight out of a mexican food restaurant and go for a run and I'll feel just fine! I can hang with the big boys when it comes to eating and there's just really nothing dainty about me! However, you can see how all of this does NOT go well with a crazy/rigorous training schedule. So...I'm changing my mindset...food is FUEL. It's a necessity to live! EAT TO LIVE, don't LIVE TO EAT! If you know me at all, you know this new thought does NOT come naturally to me. So I repeat it to myself 1,000 times a day hoping that one day I'll believe it.
On my quest to find new and exciting recipes that are healthy AND yummy, I've found tons of blogs, websites, and discussion forums FULL of recipes! Some of them are SURE to end up being disgusting, I'm sure I'll ruin a few with my less than great cooking skills, but I'm hoping to come across a few "diamonds in the rough", if you will, when it comes to DELICIOUS, HEALTHY meals! And of course, I can't wait to share all of them with you...the successes and the failures!
I'd say last night's was a success. Don't get me wrong, I didn't lean back in my chair moaning with miserable satisfaction like I do after a meal at Pappasitos (you think I'm kidding? I know that sounded dirty, but THAT'S HOW MUCH I LOVE FOOD!), but it was good!
I made Chicken Roll Ups with a side of garlic green beans.

Flatten out some lean chicken breast, rub with spicy mustard, add one slice reduced fat cheese (whatever kind you like), celery and carrots, roll up and secure with toothpicks...

...spray with Italian Vinegarette Dressing (salad spritzer) and place on a greased pan/sheet and VOILA!

The green beans were just cut green beans sauteed in a skillet with some hot EVOO (as Rachel Ray would say! Extra Virgin Olive Oil) and some browned garlic! MMMMMMMMM!

While my dinner was cooking I decided to try one more recipe. I keep hearing how you should just AVOID the center aisles of a grocery store...if it has enough preservatives in it to allow it to sit on a shelf that long, it's not good inside your body! Well, I guess that does make sense! However, all of these protein bars, energy bars, and other things I supposedly should be taking in during a 2+ hour workout are on an aisle! So, why not make my own energy bars?? Like I said, I'll try anything once!

In a bowl I combined:
1 scoop whey protein
1/2 cup natural crunchy peanut butter
2 TBSP honey
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
Berry of choice (i did mixed berries, but you could do just raisins)
Then I formed them into little logs...ok, I KNOW it looks like poo-poo...

...but most energy bars LOOK like it and TASTE like it too! I think these will be YUM-O! I haven't tried one yet, they are chilling in the fridge, but on my next long workout I'll have one and report back!

So, what a great evening, and I woke up feeling awesome! I got out of bed at 4:45am ready to teach my 6am PiYo (Pilates/Yoga) followed by a quick run (according to the tri calendar). Then I made my big mistake...I took a horse-pill sized multi-vitamin because LaLa (my second mommy) always gets on to me about not taking any. However, DON'T DO IT ON AN EMPTY STOMACH! I KNOW this rule...I actually sat there and debated eating something to go with it, but in a rush left the house and never got around to it. I felt great all through PiYo and even started off one of the best runs I've had in a while. I don't know if it was the new running shorts (a new running accessory always makes me feel fabulous), the new playlist on the iPhone, or the fact that my workout buddy is out of town and I thought if I ran faster I could get it over with quicker, but I started out at a WAY faster pace than normal! I could sit back all day in my lazy pace and run for hours...but I'm talking 2min/mile FASTER than I normally do! Pair this with the fact that it was, I swear, 150 degrees at 8:00am and I was DYING!! Being the stubborn brat that I am, I REFUSE to walk once I've set my workout. But let's just say you are FORCED to stop for just a second when you make a visit to the pukie club...yep, right there off of 518...2.5 miles away from my car. Oh well, what do you do? I popped in the spare piece of gum that I always have in my pocket, cranked the music back up, and finished the run! They say "pain is weakness leaving the body", well a LOT of weakness left my body this morning and now I feel great! It's 9:30am, the kids are starting to pour into the front door of Tumbling Stars and I'm off to start my Tuesday!

I need a weekend to recover from the weekend...

If there was a time to be a fly on the wall in my house, yesterday morning would have been it. I was home alone (Brinkley wasn’t even there) so the house was silent. Perfect opportunity for a long, hot shower to sooth my always-aching muscles (it’s getting to where I’m not sure what muscle hurts more than the other). Halfway through, the water turned scalding hot. After I screamed like a little girl and flattened myself into the far corner, I finally dove to the handle and turned it off. Apparently all of the crime scene investigative shows that I watch affect me more than I thought because my mind immediately went into freak out mode. You see, in my lovely 35 year-old house the water temp changes drastically when someone turns on another faucet or flushes a toilet in the house. So in my mind I instantly had a serial killer in the guest bathroom filling up the tub that he would drown me in. Naked ,dripping, and armed with my Glock, I proceeded to “clear” every room in the house taking corners Ninja-style only to be reminded in the last room that I cleared that I had started the washing machine before getting in the shower. I still have one leg shaved better than the other, but oh well, I was off to start my day!

This weekend has been action packed and so much fun, but exhausting! The Crossfit games in California were going on all weekend and if you ever need a picture of a healthy strong body, check out these athletes! I’ve attached a picture below that is actually my screen saver….i thought I’d share it because this picture motivates me every day and, well, so that if you don’t read this blog but just see the pics you may just assume it’s me in the picture...

Ummmm...I wish.

In honor of the games we had to do some killer crossfit this weekend! I decided this was the weekend that I would be able to do a Muscle Up. A muscle up is on the rings and is a pullup followed by a dip. First attempt...

2 questions, what’s up with my face, and where exactly is my BROTHER’S hand? I know I just looked crazy and spastic but I would not let it conquer me, which I am regretting today! I feel like I did a million and found new muscles in my body that I didn't know existed...and every single one of them hurt.

After a ridiculous amount of attempts at this stupid thing and with arms like noodles, it was time to start the actual W.O.D (workout of the day). I LOVE when people get into Crossfit and it becomes a social event!



And then with the little bit of muscle control I had left, I had to "play" a little with some gymnastics!

But here's the usual look of death when you are done with Crossfit...but it's such a rewarding moment to lay there with your heart racing and face pounding and leave that wonderful Crossfit Sweat Angel on the ground! Aaahhh no better feeling!

And don't worry, you don't have to be embarrassed for me...I'm FULLY aware of how barf I look in that picture, but don't really care! I LOVE the dying feeling after a good workout!
We also worked in plenty of fun and play time this weekend too

Anyway, I’m pretty proud because no matter how far away I was or how little sleep I got, I stuck to our Tri Training schedule! Kelli and I were discussing how when you have a race coming up everything is SO different! No excuses, No whining, just (wo)man up and do it!! Now that’s not exactly true, there is PLENTY of whining, but we do it anyway and whichever one of us is more rested or in a better mood that particular day just laughs at the other!
I got to end this hard, exhausting, but FUN weekend by FLOATING THE RIVER which is one of my most FAVORITE things to do!!

That's actually a picture from last year...I haven't gotten my water camera developed from this weekend yet! But all that to just say I LOOOOOOOVE the river! I'm trying to talk my girl Linda Lu into going with me just ONE more time before the summer is over!
Well back to working on Tumbling Stars Fall Schedule…which by the way I have HUGE commitment issues with scheduling…it’s just so permanent! I don’t know yet what I want to do tomorrow, I hate the idea of my schedule being set for months at a time ☺ Welcome to being a big girl Misty!

4am...used to just be a potty break

Ah, I remember the days when I'd wake up at 4:00am for one reason and one reason only...to pee :) I'd stumble out of bed, across a dark house, and do my business all while barely opening my eyes. Then I'd stumble back to bed (never failing to stub my toe at least once), crawl back under the covers and drift back off to sleep!
But me and 4:00am have become great friends lately! I never thought I'd say it, and I've tried to resist it, but I think I've become...wait for it...A MORNING PERSON! AAAAAHHHHH!!!
At HBU I lived in an apartment with 3 other girls. We'd wake up at the last possible minute, throw on some clothes (but REAL clothes...we were NEVER those girls who thought it was acceptable to wear funky pajama pants, a grungy t-shirt, and bad morning breath to a college classroom) and even a little bit of makeup, the first one to the kitchen would pass out some granola bars and we'd walk halfway to class ALL WITHOUT SAYING ONE WORD! We were GRUMPY! I hated mornings!!
So that's why it pains me to say that at 28 years old I have finally started to live on a big girl schedule! Don't get me wrong, if you ask me what my IDEAL schedule is, I still love the idea of GOING TO SLEEP at 2:00am and not waking up until lunch. But sadly, in Houston, noon is NOT a great time to work out outside..not unless you enjoy the effects of heat stroke! So...5:30am-6:00am workouts it is! This also means going to bed at 10:00-10:30pm, which feels like it should be against my religion!
So anyway, 4:00am has become very different in my life! 5 days a week the alarms starts going off at this time. Some mornings I jump right up and am ready to attack whatever the terrible triathlon training schedule tells me I have to do that day...other days, not so much. Cursing the morning, my workout buddy Kelli, my body for not being naturally strong and hot so I don't have to work out at all, and just cursing life in general, I peel myself out of bed.
I'm a runner at heart and think it will always be my main love! I miss the mornings of just throwing on the Mizunos and heading out the door (or even just carrying them with me and putting them on at stoplights)! This triathlon is requiring a lot more brain function way too early in the morning! First of all, just the sheer amount of JUNK I have to remember to have with me

Also, I am accustomed to running a 1/2 mile loop 10-12 times...takes very little thinking. But when the schedule says 157 minute bike ride, you have to do a little bit more planning. Mapquest saves the day :) But what happens if the route I chose is full of potholes, has construction/road closures, has no shoulder in spots, or worst case scenario, what if I can't remember where I am and get lost?

Yep, that's pretty, I know. Please excuse my morning face. But the map on the hand is sheer brilliance, you have to admit. Well, except for the fact that it took 2 days to come off, even with showers and scrubbing. Oh the sacrifices I make. My skin, hair, toe nails, heels...all of my girly nature is suffering the price paid for triathlon training, but it's all worth it! Except for the occasional charlie horses and hamstring cramps, I am loving the way I feel: strong and healthy :) I began today with a 2,050 meter swim which felt awesome followed by weight training,

but now that I am up well past my new found bedtime, I am off for the night. Tomorrow is the only rest day this week, so I will definitely return to my 4:00am potty break followed by...MORE SLEEP! :)
XOXO

BABY STEPS GET YOU BABY RESULTS!!

A few months ago, my running partner and I said, "let's try something harder, like a triathlon". I guess having done a few 1/2 marathons and endless training runs (at least 3X per week) we were in need of a change! Don't get me wrong, we are dedicated to our 6am workouts and beat ourselves up in a big way if we ever miss one (no matter how good our reasons), but it was beginning to be harder and harder to wake up, put on the Mizunos, and push through 10 laps on the same 1/2 mile track! So...a triathlon...why not?? :)
Someone with a brain would say to start easy by training for a Sprint triathlon about 10+ weeks out. Well, not us...we not only signed up for a Sprint tri which was only 3 weeks away, at the same time we paid for and committed ourselves to an Olympic triathlon in 12 weeks. The Sprint Triathlon was so much fun and we really did well considering it was our first race of this kind!


But an OLYMPIC TRIATHLON??
We are talking swimming a distance that I've never swam before...total...in an entire summer..., biking a distance that makes important parts of your body go completely numb, and being expected to run at the end using the muscles that are no longer functioning from the first two events. Being a terrible mix of stubborn, a show off, an optimist, and highly competitive, I thought "I can do this! I'm a tough chick!" But even with this confidence, there was still a small part of me laid staring at the ceiling at night thinking what in the WORLD did I get myself into?? Then all my fears were confirmed when I saw this training schedule...

This is where we started last week in order to be "ready" for August 29th..although I don't think anything will make me ready! On mornings like today when I'm feeling whiney, gripey, complainey, and just downright MAD that I even have to wake up to do this, I think maybe we should have done a later race, trained longer, thought harder about it....
BUT then I remember what my wise cousin Tommy G yelled once..."BABY STEPS GET YOU BABY RESULTS"...so here we go!!!
XOXO