Back to Basics: BLTs!

I feel like it takes me so long to feel “back to normal” after a vacation.  This maybe partly due to the fact that I continue to have a half empty suitcase on my floor for a good week after returning…

Well this weekend I finally did all my laundry and even spent some time in the kitchen! 

Nothing too time consuming, but it was nice even to have a sit-down breakfast.

An old standby…French Toast!  I made it with TJ’s Whole Wheat Tuscan Pane which is a pretty dense chewy bread so it needed to soak in the egg mixture for much longer. 

With bananas, strawberries, real maple syrup and butter!

Great way to start the day.

The simple meals got even better as we approached lunch time. 

We had taken Bromley to the dog park, and on the ride home I started getting excited for BLT’s!

We had some gorgeous tomatoes that were ripe from the garden and what better way to eat them than with salty bacon, lettuce, and toast!

Also super excited to use the bacon from our latest Meat CSA!

This is hands down the best bacon I’ve ever had! 

Sandwiches ready for assembly!

Lightly toasted bread, a little smear of mayo, and the rest.

The key is to cooking the bacon on med/low….if you cook it too high, it starts to curl up and bend and that doesn’t make for easy sandwich assembly.  Cooking it for longer on med/low gets it just as crisp but still maintains its shape. 

Lots of bacon :)

And a deli pickle for good measure.

I savored every bite! 

Why are the simplest things always the best!

I kind of want another one right now.

It’s also been really great getting back to a normal workout schedule!  My legs are still sore from Saturday morning Crossfit:

7 time:

5 sandbag cleans 
5 back squats (at 80% of your 1 rep max)
5 strict pull-ups

The sandbags are 60lbs.  I can clean over 100lbs using a barbell but these sandbags are really awkward!

(source)         

Then the squats!  I haven’t done a 1 rep max in a while, but my most recent 3 rep max was 140lbs so I used 110 for this workout.  35 of those…are hard. 

It was a good one and I am feeling it!

Oh and did I mention we had a little belated anniversary dinner Saturday night at Menton!  :) 

All in all a great weekend.

What’s your favorite sandwich???

Crossfit and 5k

I truly believe Crossfit has improved my running.  Since Reach the Beach, I’ve gone for 1 maybe 2 runs, aside from any running that may be incorporated into the workout that day in Crossfit.

Instead of running, I’ve been WODing…4-5 times a week, and I love it. 

(taken from our Crossfit facebook page)  That's me in front in case you couldn’t tell.

So then 4th of July rolls around and I register for a local 5k that is 5 min from my house and a bunch of people from Crossfit are running as well!

The 4th turned out to be a pretty warm day.  Brian was running too and we decided just to take it easy and see how it goes.  The heat usually doesn’t bode well for me.

A few minutes after we started I see that we’re keeping a fairly fast pace (for me) and I’m worried about crapping out later.

Let’s just say I was shocked that we maintained a good pace the whole time!  We stopped twice at each of the water stations, but just kept trucking…and I ended up with a new PR!!

28:26!!!!  My previous 5k PR was a couple years ago at 29:10, and since then I usually hover around 30 minutes.  I can NOT believe I maintained that pace in that heat!  I was so pumped!!

Some of my fellow crossfitters after the race!

Looking forward to more races :) 

So yeah Crossfit is awesome, I love it. 

I love being able to see the results each week…especially the lifting.  I’m really loving the Olympic lifts as well as the power lifts.  I guess its in my genes…my dad used to be a competitive power lifter.  I have photos I need to scan in…they are awesome from his lifting days back in the 70’s/80’s!

We recently started a Fran cycle at Crossfit.  We tested our Fran time, and from there we are going to do lots of workouts focused on improving those skills, and then re-test in about 6 weeks!

Fran is a well known benchmark workout…every crossfitter wants to know their “Fran time”. 

(me, Post Fran…loving me new Lulu top!!)

Its a quick workout, 21 reps, 15 reps, then 9 reps of thrusters (65lb for women) and pull-ups. 

Since this is supposed to be a quicker workout we found our maximum 1 rep thruster (which is a front squat with the bar, and as you stand up you “thrust” the bar up overhead)…. and then used 50% of our 1 rep max. 

The point is, you don't want to use such a heavy weight that it slows you down too much.  Our coach didn’t want anyone over the 6-8 min mark.

I used a 45lb bar, and body rows.  We didn’t use band assisted pull-ups this time…if you couldn’t do unassisted pull-ups you did ring rows or body rows.

My time was 5:52. 

Looking forward to testing it again!

And even thought I can’t really do unassisted pull-ups for a workout yet…  I did get THREE kipping pull-ups in a row!!  Booya! 

I guess that I’m just excited that in just over 7 months of Crossfit, I am able to see myself improving.  It’s definitely motivation to keep on going!

So there’s my little fitness update for you :)

What keeps you motivated??

Martha’s Vineyard 2012: Lilly & Lobster

Greetings from Martha’s Vineyard!

I’m on my yearly trip over to the island with my best friend and her parents.  I’m a lucky girl, they keep adopting me year after year for this trip ;)

Our trip started off as usual with a drive down to Woods Hole to hop on the Steamship over to Vineyard Haven.

Think we packed enough??  This was my stuff and Jocy’s stuff…me for 4 days, her for a week.

We thought the pile was pretty entertaining. 

Yesterday morning I decided to hit up the local Crossfit Box here on island…

(source)

I’m glad I went!  It was a pretty small gym, but everyone was really nice and I had a great workout to kick off my little vacation.

After a good warm-up consisting of sit-ups, over-head squats with PVC pipes, push-ups, and burpees we did this WOD:

• 800M run
• 30 ground-to-overhead (I did clean and jerks with 65lb)
• 30 burpees

It was a nice sweaty workout and I was back to the house less than 1 hour later!

Then after getting ready we decided it was lunch time.  We hit up one of our FAVORITE spots in Edgartown: The Atlantic.

I know I’ve said this before, but Jocy has got to be my favorite eating buddy because 99% of the time we love the same things and we both love sharing!

We split the tomato bisque

(they even pre-portioned it out into individual bowls for us)

and it comes with a mini grilled cheese with multiple types of cheese in there…including goat.

It’s just heaven

Somehow this grilled cheese and tomato soup has become probably become one of our Top 3 favorite meals on the island!

Then this happened….

I texted that picture to Brian…he said I wasn’t allowed in that store.

But he didn’t say anything about this store…

I only have 1 Lilly dress, from many years ago, and I wasn’t planning on it, but we decided to try stuff on :)    

And I did buy one….any guesses???

 

If I could have purchased them all I would have…

 

Ok I’ll tell you…the Navy one in the middle!  I was deciding between the Navy one and the one with the Yellow top.  The yellow was more comfortable, but the Navy fit like a glove and I could probably get more use out of it!  I was worried about the low back (see bottom right corner) but the dress is actually tight enough that I could go sans bra!  Woo hoo!  The dress is actually an Emma Graham dress, I got it at In the Pink which usually sells all Lilly Pulitzer stuff but they had a few of these too…the pink one I tried on (also LOVED that one) was also Emma Graham!

The day concluded with purchasing some delightful cheese, olives, and salami from here:

And finally this beast for dinner…

Jumbo lobsters were on sale at the Edgartown Seafood Market.  Joc and I treated her parents (and us) to a nice 5 pounder!!  We had it cooked and then her and I took all the meat out.  We were going to have hot lobster rolls.

That would be the lobster next to a standard point and shoot. 

 

Mmmm Mr. Lobster you were delicious.  I was a little worried because I have heard larger lobsters can have tougher meat, but not this one!  Tender and flavorful!  We had a nice big salad and I had a pile of lobster meat.  We feasted :)

Time to head to the beach!  Have a lovely day!!

Almond Flour/Macadamia/White Choc Cookies

I baked AND cooked today.  That shouldn’t really deserve an announcement, but I feel like it does.  I haven’t spent some quality time in the kitchen in what feels like a WHILE!!  May was FULL of weekend events and activities, and I’ve been trying to get to Crossfit as much as I can in the weekday evenings.  I love being busy, but I’ve noticed that I haven’t been really cooking or baking as much…except for simple dinners that I don’t really feel are blog-worthy. 

June is shaping up to be just as busy, so I had to take advantage of this relatively FREE weekend…those don’t come around often!

This past week was not the best for me, eating wise.  Especially after being pretty diligent about cutting back on the starchy carbs.  We had a LOT of leftovers from Brian’s birthday party…including CAKE!  Delicious delicious cake.  I had a little piece pretty much everyday last week…yeah.  It doesn’t really bother me, I mean it was AMAZING cake, but when I’m putting so much effort into my workouts, I want to respect that with what I’m eating.  Everything works better that way. 

So the cake is now gone!  (Brought into work and froze some for future cake cravings).  However, I do enjoy a good baked good so I opted to make some Paleo-ish cookies!

I saw these at Trader Joe’s yesterday and new I wanted to do some sort of white chocolate/macadamia cookie!

For my while chocolate I ended up with this…

Yes it has pieces of freeze dried strawberry in it…

But I figured that would taste good, AND it was the only white chocolate I could find with non-GMO soy lecithin in it.  Soy lecithin is in SO many things!!  Especially chocolate.  It’s an emulsifier used in numerous products, and even in organic products it doesn’t have to be non-GMO.  Being “certified organic” means 95% of the product must be organic, but no one is regulating that pesky 5%.  Then if that 5% is made from soy products, chances are it’s genetically modified since about 90% of all soy in this country is from genetically modified seeds. 

This bar specifically listed it’s soy lecithin as (non GM), so that’s why I got it.  It also would have been okay if it said 100% organic, or if it was organic soy lecithin. 

I know I can’t avoid it all the time, but when I can, I will. 

Anyways…moving on :)

Almond + Macadamia + White Chocolate
+ Cherry Cookies

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped small
• 1/4 cup ground flax
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter, barely melted (grassfed is best!)
• 3 T maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup dried cherries
• 1 ounce white chocolate, chopped

Pre-heat oven to 375

In a mixing bowl combine almond flour, macadamia nuts, flax, baking powder, and salt.  Stir to combine. 

Add in butter and syrup.  Stir to combine.  Add egg and vanilla.  Stir to combine.  Mix in cherries and chocolate.  Since there is no wheat flours in this dough, you don’t have to worry about “over-mixing”, so just stir until it’s all combined evenly. 

Scoop or spoon mixture onto a cookie sheet.  I lined mine with a sil pat.

Bake for 10-14 min, until starting to get a little golden brown on the edges.  Cool completely.

Between the nuts and butter, these are pretty rich!  But also delicious. 

Happy to have these to indulge my dessert cravings this week. 

As far as Crossfit goes, I’ve been able to do a couple of the more well known workouts lately!

On Memorial Day we did “Murph”.

“Murph"

For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run

In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005.

This workout was one of Mike's favorites and he'd named it "Body Armor". From here on it will be referred to as "Murph" in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run. If you've got a twenty pound vest or body armor, wear it. (source)

Sounded intense.  I was a little nervous about this one, but it ended up being pretty fun!!  It helped that we had  BIG crowd that day!!

(I’m on the left, kneeling on the ground) (source)

Because there were SO many people, the pull up bars were for those who could do them unassisted (i.e. no resistance bands which is what I use).  So I did body rows which is using a racked lifting bar that’s set up closer to the ground.  So basically I was sitting/lying on the ground, grabbing the bar and pulling up that way.

Like this! (source)

I’m sure it would have been a lot harder if I could have done it with regular pull-ups (even with a band), but it was still challenging.  Most people break it up by doing 5 pull ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 squats for 20 sets.  Much more manageable that way!

Took me 44 min and change. 

Also had my first go at Fight Gone Bad

"Fight Gone Bad!"

Three rounds of:
Wall-ball, 20 pound ball, 10 ft target (Reps) 14lbs for women
Sumo dead lift high-pull, 75 pounds (Reps) 53lb for women
Box Jump, 20" box (Reps)
Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps) 55 lb for women
Row (Calories)

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute.The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point. (source)

I did the weights prescribed for the ladies.  Again we had a lot of people at this one, so we did 2 heats and had a partner.  Having a partner was great because they counted your reps for you and kept you motivated!  It’s a lot harder to give up if someone is telling you that you can get a few more reps! 

Score: 217

Still LOVING Crossfit :) 

Now lets all wish the rain away, at least by Wednesday!  I’m golfing (for work) and the DMB Concert that day! 

How do you deal with party leftovers???  I have such a problem throwing out food, so a lot of times I end up eating things I normally wouldn’t have in the house, but I have my limit too!  I try to give them away, or bring stuff into work but that doesn't always work either. 

Balance: Crossfit + Running

Earlier this week I contributed to the official blog of Reach the Beach, where my teammates Tina, Patricia, and I talked about how we were balancing our RTB training with our love of Crossfit.

This is what I had to say about that…

I’ve been Crossfitting for 4 months now. I’m hooked and I love it… the Kool Aid has been drunk. I don’t remember ever jumping into something so fervently in such a short period of time before in my exercise history. Now, even with Reach the Beach only 6 weeks away, I’m still trying to figure out the balance of Crossfit with my training runs. I’m sure it doesn’t help that Crossfit still has that new and exciting feel to it… I don’t want to cut back! But on the other hand, I know my body, and I know that I need to get in those runs.

Gotta love my “I’m dying” face haha…(Source)

Currently my plan has been to maintain Crossfit 3-4 times a week, as I had before, and get in a longer training run on the weekends. When I trained for my very first half-marathon last year, I was having some issues with plantar fasciitis so I had cut out my shorter mid-week runs, leaving just my long runs, so that I wouldn’t be running too much on my foot.

I was just looking to be able to (somewhat) comfortably finish the half-marathon, not go for any particular times, and I did just that. So, for me, I know my most important training goals are to make sure I get in the longer training runs once a week. I’m confident that those runs, plus the metabolic conditioning aspects of Crossfit will be enough to get my through my 3 legs and Reach the Beach!

In addition to that, I think I want to try doing 2 runs “back-to-back” to mimic what the relay will be like.  And by “back-to-back” I mean 8-12 hours in between runs. 

In other news, my Crossfit box is starting a big 60-day “Paleo Challenge” starting next week.  I’m still on the fence about this whole Paleo thing, but I’m always up for a challenge…especially when it involves keeping better track of my food intake!  Plus we’re going to be broken into teams and there are other ways to get points aside from eating…

(Cauliflower “rice”…really liked this!  Will have to experiment with recipes more)

1 point each for the following:

• getting 8 hours of sleep
• 20 min stretching/mobility
• taking your fish oil
• completing the WOD (workout of the day)
• water: drink half your body weight, in ounces, a day
• eating Zone (the zone diet is also a favorable way of eating for Crossfitters) This PDF has a great breakdown of The Zone diet

But you get 4 points for eating Paleo, losing points as you decline from 100% (4 points) paleo to 85% (1 point).

I’ve already made another batch of Paleo Brownies…mmmm.  This time baked them for only 20-22 min.  Much better consistency if you like your brownies on the fudgy/gooey side :) 

As much as I do agree with many aspects of the Paleo diet, I just don’t see myself going 100%.  I find I get too resentful/angry when, in my head, I “can’t” have something.  Plus I don’t want to stress over it.  My focus during the challenge will be to incorporate more Paleo-friendly meals, keep my carb intake down, and keep it clean!  Plus we’re doing some baseline workouts to compare at the beginning and end…I love seeing improvements, and not just in my appearance! 

I’ve been doing a pretty good job of this lately anyways, so I just need to keep it up!  Can’t hurt for my Vegas trip next weekend either ;) 

Red Sox home opener tomorrow!

I think Bromley could teach them a thing or two ;)

 

Tomorrow’s Friday!!!  The weekend is going to be beautiful, I just feel bad for the marathon runners on Monday…great weather for spectators but it’s going to be a warm one!

10K by the Sea

Sunday I ran my best 10k yet!!

This was a last minute decision when Tina emailed me about running the Cohasset Road Race by the Sea. I figured a 6-mile run would be good for my training, and I was free, so why not?!

(photo from Tina)

In typical Bridget fashion I was running late….Cohasset is a lot farther off the highway than I had thought. I barely had time to park, use the porta-potty, and get to the starting line. I didn’t even have time to pick up my number!! So sadly I didn’t get officially timed, but I used my Garmin and it matched up with the clock at the finish line so I’m confident in my time.

It was a fairly small race (less than 15oo people), so I easily found Tina, Patricia, and Patricia’s friend Ro at the start. Patricia is also on the RTB team in case you forgot!

Well, I’m not as fast as those girls so they easily left me in their dust ;) I didn’t mind, I was not about to try and keep up at their pace! I’ve only done a handful of 3 – 5 mile runs in the past couple months, so I wasn’t exactly trained (but I do believe Crossfit helped me greatly!).

According to my Garmin (the race was over 6.1 miles actually…grrr), I ran 6.27 miles in 1:02:20! Average pace of 9:57. FOR ME…that is GREAT! Considering I’ve only ever ran a sub 30min 5k ONCE, I was not expecting this…because the course was actually very hilly!!  My only other 2 10k’s were around 1:10, so I shaved off almost 10minutes! 

I’ve decided I like rolling hills (did I really just say that??). There were lots of hills, but none were too long and they all had a downhill afterwards…which is where I made up some speed :)

Plus the course was beautiful…some of the houses I saw were insane.

The race was very organized as well and had water stops at each mile!

After the race I found the girls + Tina’s husband Mal and we headed to the Red Lion for some food and drinks.

(photo from Tina)

I was planning to get a beer, but their selection was less than stellar so I stuck to water and food.

Lobster Bisque And split a flatbread with Artichoke, Spicy Aioli, Arugula, and Mozzarella.

Mmmm that flatbread was goooooood.

Fun time with fun ladies…and Mal! We had a blast talking Crossfit as we all do it except for Patricia’s friend Ro….but I think she’s convinced now ;)

In other fitness updates….I did handstand push-ups!!!  Like numerous handstand push-ups!!  If you’re just starting you put 1 or 2 small ABMATs under your head so you don’t have to go all the way down, but STILL!  I was psyched!  Luckily handstands came back to me easily as I used to do gymnastics back in the day.

(p.s. that is an ABMAT.  Source)

I also climbed a rope…not all the way to the top, but over half way…crazy.  That is definitely something I never thought I’d be able to do. 

So yes, I’m still loving Crossfit. 

This post started with a post about dinners, and then the 10k but it was getting crazy long…so 2 posts done tonight!  Holler!  Dinners to come.

Monday is done folks.