Sweaty Saturday 5K, GRIT and a Walking Tour

Today I improved my 5k time.

Five thoughts during my run:

• the weather was amazing - only 70 degrees and practically no humidity. The change in the weather makes a run feel soooo much easier, doesn't it?
• it had been over a week since my last 5k run. I couldn't believe I had let that much time go by. My last 5k was the Thursday before last! I was sick on Monday and had to skip the night group run and I ran a one mile warm-up before strength class last Saturday. Wow!
• I love my Mizunos (affiliate) - they feel so light on my feet and I think they just look good.
• I only stopped for a break twice ---> once at the beach to stretch my legs and keep my knee happy and second on the final big hill at the end. mrC came along and pushed me to start running again. It was my best run in a LONG time. 
• every muscle is still sore - the ones I could feel the most during the run were my glutes and trapezius (back of my neck/shoulder area). I could really feel the soreness of my glutes when I was heading up the final hill. I guess I know my glutes were activating ;)

I was sore from Thursday's GRIT workout. I took this class a couple of times in February, but I didn't remember much about it. This class was about 30 minutes HIIT strength and 20 minutes core. I actually liked this class better than Bodypump. I used lighter weights, but the repetitions were much faster.

There was a good mix of cardio strength, supersets, and a bunch of core. It was challenging, but that is exactly what my body needs. I didn't burn as many calories as I expected, but hopefully they were burning long after class was over.

I walked my way through Friday's active recovery day on a history of Hong Kong walking tour with mrC. Even though we have lived in Hong Kong for nearly a year now, it was fun to learn more about the history and politics from a local.

Our guide was very open about the way Hong Kongers see events from the past as well as things that are currently happening. It was very helpful to hear a local explain the effects of past wars and post-war agreements made with the British and China on everyday life in Hong Kong.

It was also interesting to learn new things about places that we have visited many times. For example, the HSBC Bank building has two lions made out of bronze flanking the front of the building symbolizing protection and security. What we didn't know is that the holes in the lions are from bullets and that the lions were actually stolen by the Japanese during the war.

We wrapped up our successful run today with some pool time. I will never get tired of this place. It is impossible to NOT relax here.

Then part of breakfast included a big Bob's Red Mill protein (affiliate) smoothie. I've been making more of these lately and getting better at using my Hong Kong blender (I really miss my Ninja (affiliate).


Any improvements or PRs you want to share?
Have you ever taken a tour of your own "home" town?
Do you love/hate your blender?

I'm a little late and off topic, but still linking up with Lacey and Meranda and Rachel for the Friday Five 2.0!

Hiking: Cape D'Aguilar

The 2017 hiking season officially began for me yesterday.

I have been waiting for the temperatures to cool down to a more comfortable place before I joined the AWA hiking group. Thinking out loud: Hiking in the heat is not fun to me. Luckily, the nice weather we have been having continued and we were blessed with perfect weather.

The hike starts at Cape D'Aguilar Road. It's a nice easy walk down a narrow road (open to cars) to the Cape D'Aguilar Marine Reserve.

At the fork in the road, you can go left to the lighthouse, but we went right toward the Marine Reserve area first. On the way down, we took an overgrown path that led to an awesome cave that opened up to the sea. It was awesome to watch and listen to the waves rolling into the cave.

We continued our walk down to the Marine Reserve building. The place looked very run down, but we walked past it, and there was so much to explore.

The first thing we saw was Miss Willy. This is supposedly the actual skeleton of a killer whale. There was no information in English to confirm this.

The views of the water were just beautiful. We could see the outlying islands, boats and just endless blue sky.

We felt compelled to explore, so we climbed the rocks and found more views and crashing waves on the other side.

I found a nice little spot to enjoy the view and listen to the waves. I love the sound of waves. Thinking out loud: It would be a great spot to stop and have a packed lunch.

Before heading back, the group took advantage of the prime photo backdrop to have some fun.

We skipped the lighthouse (Hok Tsui Beacon), but thinking out loud I wish we had taken the time to walk up the road to it. It's not as big as the ones we see in New England, but it is the oldest lighthouse in Hong Kong.

Source

We walked back to catch the bus to Shek O for a shared lunch at the Shek O Chinese and Thai restaurant. The casual open air seating was a perfect spot to refuel after a day of exploring. It also gave me a chance to refresh with Shower Pill body wipes (affiliate).

After lunch we walked over to Shek O beach to have a look. You can see D'Aguilar Peak and maybe even the lighthouse out on the end of the cape. It is actually possible to hike from the beach over to Cape D'Aguilar. The trail is unofficial and marked only by other hikers leaving chalk marks and flags.

I would love, love, love to come back here to play in the water. Hiking to the cape? Maybe.

Do you ease into activities because of the weather?

Would you hike an unofficial trail?

To get Cape D'Aguilar:

We took the ferry from Discovery Bay.

At Exchange Square we took bus 25 to Admiralty MTR (to meet the rest of the group)

Took Island Line to Shau Kai Wan station exit A3

Took the #9 bus to Cape D'Aguilar Road

PS - #9 bus also goes to Shek O

Other hiking posts:

Lamma Island

Macau

Hiking: Tiger's Head - Lo Fu Tau

Hiking: 3 Best Parts of the MacLehose Trail Section 2

Hiking: Wilson Trail Stages 1 & 2

Today I'm Thinking Out Loud with Running with Spoons

Tabata Tuesday - My Bounce Back Workout

A twenty minute FASTer Way to Fat Loss® Tabata workout doesn't sound too hard, until you are right in the middle of it.

This was my first workout since Saturday. Sunday was a rest day. We made it to church before the Typhoon Signal #8 was raised and cancelled the rest of the Masses for the day. We have started a new weekly routine of going out to breakfast after church. One reason is that we like to share an order of banana bread French toast. Seriously good stuff (at Zaks in Discovery Bay).

Yesterday I was all signed up for my Monday morning Bodystep class and looking forward to running with the 5K night group. Instead I spent the day feeling pretty crappy. I slept a lot and started reading a new book that a former co-worker recommended All American Boys (affiliate).

So today was my bounce back workout.

I started my workout with a 5 minute walk around the crescent that surrounds the courtyard in front of our building. A few stretches and then I tapped start on my interval app: 8 sets of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds rest for 5 exercises. I take 30 seconds rest between exercises, mostly so I can stretch, but also so I can catch my breath.

squat jumps
mountain climbers on steroids
scissor jumps
burpees
toe taps

I've been a fan of Tabata workouts for awhile. I love the variety, the intensity, the length. They are great for those days when you don't really feel like working out, but want to get one in, kind of quick and dirty. Boom! They're also really good when you're coming back from a sick day.

When I was done, mrC joined me and we went for a low intensity walk to the beach and back.

I spent the rest of the day getting organized for our Hong Kong visa renewal appointment at the end of the week, tying up loose ends from the US Navy visit and making plans.

For dinner, mrC made us some Italian crock-pot chicken and green beans. My macros for the day were good, so I was able to have a little Chobani yogurt for dessert.

Tomorrow I'm joining the American Women's Association's hiking group for the first time since the spring.

What's your go-to workout after a sick day?

Thoughts About Workouts and Other Stuff

Things that make me go hmmm. (I'm linking up with the Friday Five 2.0 - join the fun here)

It was leg day on my workout schedule. I started with a one mile warm-up run on the treadmill. I had already walked to the fitness center, so my legs felt good during this run. For some reason the Nike Run Club app on my watch thought I had run for 50 minutes? Hmmm.

Another thing that makes me go hmmm...why doesn't the treadmill and my watch distance ever match up?

My FASTer Way to Fat Loss® strength training workout was broken into three parts:

LEGS: squats and deadlifts
SUPERSETS: thrusters/plie squat jumps and scissor step-ups/calf raises
GLUTES: kickbacks, clamshells, bridges, abductors

It was a good workout, but I had trouble figuring out how to do the scissor step-ups in the fitness center. There are several weight benches that are the right height and some low step platforms that are kind of too low. I used the low step platform today because I wasn't sure if it was appropriate to put my shoes on the weight bench. I did wonder though, do people step up on weight benches? Hmmm.

Another thing that makes me go hmmm...what is the proper etiquette for wiping down mats in the gym if you didn't leave sweat marks?

After our workouts (mrC ran a 5k on the treadmill, yay!), we walked back to the apartment for our cool down and enjoyed the amazingly pleasant fall-like weather we are having right now.

Let me side-track for a minute...The nice weather actually started yesterday. Here I am all dressed up and waiting for the bus to go to lunch with the girls and NOT sweating to death. (PS - I love my sandals ((affiliate)) but for the life of me, the right heel strap will not stay up, no matter how tight I make it. Ugh, but I still wear them)

And since I brought up lunch, here is the freshly made pasta I had for lunch. If you are ever in Hong Kong, I highly recommend dining at Cucina at the Marco Polo hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. They have spectacular views of Victoria Harbour (you can see the table where we sat on the Cucina website here - right in the corner). My friend's husband is the General Manager of the hotel, so we might have had some VIP treatment thanks to her ;)

How about more good food? I'll share our post-workout breakfast from today: Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pancakes. I've been looking forward to making these ever since we brought the box back from our trip to the US in September. First I was saving them to eat in October (anyone else do that?) and then it was just a matter of time to make them.

They are soooo good! Why, oh why, don't they sell these year round? And why did I only buy one box? Hmmm.

mrC had to run to the airport, so I got caught up on some TGIT on Hulu. When he gets back we are going out to dinner.

What do you have going on for the weekend?
Do you like pumpkin pancakes?
Are you a Grey's Anatomy, Scandal or How To Get Away With Murder fan?

A Thursday 5K & Strength Training

One thing I love about my carb cycling program (and I've said this A LOT) is the flexibility. I moved my days around to accommodate some plans that I have on Friday.

So instead of a fasting day, I did a strength training day.

But first...I woke up this morning and decided to run. Before waking up completely and changing my mind, I threw on my Mizunos and headed out the door. It was being able to run while the sun came up that convinced me to go.

By the time I got to the beach and took this selfie (about half way into my run) I was looking more awake. There were a lot of other people awake too: runners, walkers, bikers, commuters, students. In New Hampshire, I could go for a run and never see another person (besides cars). I love the constant activity here.

One of my safety measures is that I text mrC to let him know that I'm heading out (the other is the Wearsafe tag I'm wearing on my tank) and where I'm running. Today was easy since it was the route that he picked the last time we ran together except I added an extra part along the beach promenade.

Running in DB means you have to run some hills. This route is one of the easier ones. According to MapMyRun, this route gets a climb rating of 5 (the easiest). For any climb to be rated (receive a climb score/category ((by MMR)) it must be at least 500 meters in length with an average grade of 3% or more. Even though it is one of the easier ones (officially and unofficially), it is still hard.

The end is at the high rises

I felt pretty good about my run. My overall pace was 11:11 ---> not bad when you take into account that I walk every mile for my knee and more on the last uphill because it's hard. It also feels good to be doing longer runs.

The actual strength training: I did the at-home version - back, biceps, triceps and abs plus finishers. My arms were feeling sore from my Bodypump class yesterday, so I didn't push myself too hard today. The end was the killer. Holy cow! I'll just show you this video of one of the finishers: man makers x 20.

I decided to work one day ahead and do my Wednesday VIP FASTer Way workout at the hotel gym since I will be in full-fledged event mode tomorrow! My VIP ladies are doing some of @sarahcanntraining's workouts this month. It was killer!

A post shared by Amanda Tress (@amandatress) on Sep 12, 2017 at 4:01pm PDT

Off to the pool for a bit again as my reward. Ironically, mrC is flying the maker of this towel today. Small world. I didn't stay long because it is actually too hot ---> 90 degrees and feels like 97 is what I call Hong Kong Hot.

The contractor was back to finish the water damage repair. He did a good job; the wall looks brand new. 

It was a regular calorie day and I kept it simple: protein bar snack, turkey roll-ups and watermelon for lunch, grapes snack, and scrambled eggs with ham and rice cakes for dinner (again).

Do you before, during or after the sun comes up?

Ever done man makers before?

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