Two Hills, SUP #2 and A Plank Workout

After a stormy yesterday and more rain in the forecast, I was thrilled to find the streets dry when I headed out for my run this morning. It was early and there weren't many people out, but I felt safe running alone because I was wearing my Wearsafe tag (talked about it in this post).

15% off annual service with code RUNNINGESCAPADES

Unlike my last run, the humidity was really low, so I followed my Discovery Bay loop route. This means that I run two big hills, one in the beginning and one to finish the run. The first hill feels the hardest but the actual elevation gain is 119 feet compared to the slightly longer second hill at the end with a gain of 122 feet. In all honesty, both are HARD!

This was my second run using my new interval set of 2 minutes run and 1 minute recover. Sometimes if I knew that a downhill was up ahead, I lengthened my run time so that I could walk the downhill (sounds crazy right?) and keep my knee happy.

I give this run two thumbs up. 1) My knee felt good. This is always my biggest concern. It will never feel the same as it used to, but each run it feels stronger. 2) The temperature was PERFECT! Low humidity is definitely more fun for running. 3) I ran 4.56 miles, yay! I'm really loving these longer runs. 4) Those hills ---> there's still work to do, but today was a pretty good hill day.

After a shower and breakfast I headed out to meet my friend for some SUP. She also recently brought an iSUP board back from the US with her and is joining the DB Ladies SUP group.

We met at the beach and I was so happy to see my board had survived the 90km winds from yesterday's big thunderstorm. It would have been a bummer to only get to use it once.

It was a little chilly and cloudy (it actually started pouring when we were putting the boards away), so I was even more determined not to fall in the water than I was the last time. I only like to get wet when it's warm and sunny!

We're both a little rusty, so we made perfect partners SUPing around the bay, laughing at each other's wobbles, and getting our SUP confidence back. We ended up getting wet anyway since we had to walk to our apartments in the pouring rain ---> next time I'll pack an umbrella just in case.

Planking. I figure I can't be the only person who is on the fence about holding planks for multiple minutes (my PT told me short spurts are better because our form doesn't collapse). Anyway, I thought I would share this pyramid plank workout I made up and that really tested my core.

How often do you switch up your running route?
How do you push yourself up a big hill?
Do you plank for time or mix it up?

Mountain Monday Rewards

I didn't have anything fitness on my calendar today (which goes against my whole motivation plan), but I knew I wanted to do my planks on the window bed after I hung out there with a cup of coffee. Nothing like a fun location with an awesome view to keep you motivated.

Some of my favorite Athleta pieces are on sale 20% off today!

While watching the news and contemplating my fitness options, I saw some messages being exchanged on WeChat between members of my "old" hiking group (full disclosure: I'm still working on establishing a new one) and I realized it was Mountain Monday. Knowing that they were going to be climbing Nanshan made me want to climb to Lookout Point here in DB. So just like that, I headed out for a hike.

On the way up I passed a lady resting (it's a steep climb). Shortly after I took the picture below, she joined me at the top and we chatted. She just moved to Hong Kong and also American. We exchanged information and made plans to meet up for a hike in the future. My reward for hiking was gaining a new friend.

When I got home it seemed like a perfect time for a smoothie. I'm excited that I found my favorite protein powder in the stores here, but I wish I could get it at Amazon prices! I love the taste of my smoothies with the added vanilla flavor.

My front shin muscles were still sore from my extra long hike on Friday, so I went to the spa to get a pedicure and a thirty minute foot massage.

Since going gluten free I haven't really missed bread or pasta too much, but I have missed croutons on my salad. I remember finding some in the US, but it's not as exciting as snagging these babies here. They make me want to have salad for lunch every day!

The AWA Discovery Bay Neighborhood Group hosted a cocktail event at a little bar called Hemingway's at the D'Deck.  It was the type of event where you write your name on a sticker, slap it on your chest and then tell your story multiple times.

It was awesome! I met some really funny and interesting women from Ireland, the UK, Hong Kong...I can't wait until the next event. It's hard for my introverted self to go to these events, so I love when I find the reward was worth it.

How have you been rewarded for your choices lately?
Introvert or extrovert?
Last time you wore a name tag?

Sunday Sprints and Low Carb Meals

Low carb day = sprints day.

Over the last six weeks I've kind of started to love these workouts. They're tough. They make me seriously sweat. My heart rate kicks up to the 160s. My legs feel like jello. 

What's not to love?

I rode my bike to the fitness center because I was hoping to finish my workout and get home before it rained again. 

Today's sprint workout was the toughest, but we've been building up to it, too. Mentally these might have been harder because it was the first time I did a sprint workout solo. mrC has joined me for all the others (he uses the bike). And like running, just knowing that I was going to go longer may have messed with my head before I even started, too. 

10 minute WU on elliptical 

15 minutes of 20:20 sprints (which is 23 sprints) on elliptical 

30 minute CD on treadmill 

It wasn't that bad. The last three, the extra three, were the hardest. I was so ready to be done when I got to the last three. One thing that makes it easier is using my Gymboss interval timer. Not having to watch the clock helps.

It poured the whole time I was working out which also helped a little by giving me something to focus on besides my legs. At the same time I kept thinking I was going to have to ride my bike home in it.

My planks today were a little random. I tried to remember some of the harder ones from my 31 day challenge, but between the tough sprints and having to plank in the main room because the yoga room was occupied (by a Chinese lady who seemed to just be roaming the center today), I couldn't think.

I stuck with basic forearm plank, plank with reach, and plank with side twist. I did all for 40 seconds each. 

It stopped raining by the time I headed home. An interesting thing happens after it rains here: snails. They are everywhere and they're HUGE. I almost ran over this guy.

This afternoon, I rode my bike to the other side of town to say farewell to a friend who is moving to Hong Kong. It's not far away at all, but she will not be a part of the regular activities anymore. One day that will be me.

What I ate on low carb day

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs with ham, pb&j rice cakes, coffee

Lunch: salad, tuna fish, Coke Zero

Snack: pb&j rice cakes

Dinner: crockpot bbq chicken, green beans, Coke Zero 

Macros: hit my goal to be below 50g net carbs, but short on calories. I wasn't hungry though.

Did you workout today?

Any strange creatures come out to play when it rains in your neighborhood?

The Time I Forgot to Workout and It Was Ok!

Have you ever had one of those days where you have everything planned out perfectly so that you can get everything done and do what you want, but then it doesn't play out that way?

That was me today.

I started with some easy plank flow stretching for the next to last day of the plank challenge. I had time to do my full body workout but decided to do it before dinner (aka my biggest meal on feast days). 

I had an early meet up with the girls to head over to Hong Kong and spend the day at Golden Beach.

After a day in the sun, we stopped at Tuen Mun Town Center to do some quick and dirty (cheap) shopping for some of our favorite things before crossing the border back into China. 

The bus ride across the border, immigration, and two more buses all combined took about an hour to get back to the apartment where mrC had a delicious dinner and flowers (awe!) waiting for me in all my sweaty stickiness. 

It wasn't until after we ate, cleaned up and I was working on this post that I realized I completely forgot to do my feast day full body workout! Big whoops!!

I am so programmed to do my workouts in the morning, that even when I don't do them, my brain thinks I must have because I always do. Honestly, I was ok with it. I didn't jump up and rush to change into workout clothes and get it done. It's one day. I walked A LOT today. I carried over-weight grocery bags across the border of Hong Kong and China. In the 90 degree 94% humidity. It's ok.

Moving on, here's what I ate today

Breakfast: 

Lunch: packed a bunch of stuff for the beach, but only ate the pb&j rice cake sandwich. 

Dinner: TWO servings of gluten free spaghetti

Dessert: flourless cake (one of my favorite things to get in Hong Kong)

Macros: not enough calories overall, but a good job hitting goals.

What would you have done? Workout or pass?

Do you like the beach?

At Home Workouts, A Dream Fitness Class and Saturday Meals

The fitness center gets crowded on the weekends, so I stay home (when I can) and use videos for my workout. I got started with my plank challenge. Today's plank pose was the hardest so far. I could hold it for about 5-6 seconds before losing good form. So I did more sets.

Then I picked two workout videos from my favorites list to do back to back. Both are full body workouts that get my heart pumping, but work different parts of the body.

First I did this one from Fitness Blender. It's a HIIT cardio workout that really works the legs. I followed up with a Pop Sugar video that worked the arms and core more. Together I got an awesome 40-ish minute full body workout with cardio.

At the end I added some lower body exercises from this article that are good for people with bad knees (me!). I did the lateral band walk and some hamstring curls using my stability ball. 

While we're talking workouts, I would love to try this one. I love SurfSet and SUP yoga, and this one looks like a serious cross between the two.

It was regular calorie day, so here's what I enjoyed:

Breakfast: protein pancakes

Lunch: smoothie bowl, pb&j rice cakes, turkey slices

Snack: Fuji apple --> I love these things. 

Dinner: bowl of quinoa - I was going to add tuna, but we didn't have any. I was too lazy to go out in the rain to get a can, even though it would have only taken 5+ minutes.

Macros: not too bad but short on calories

I did not feel well pretty much all day. Tummy troubles. They would come and go, usually after I ate. I felt this way a little bit after the last fast day too, so I'm not sure what's up. 

Your hardest plank pose?

Do you like water(ish) fitness classes?

Favorite way to eat quinoa?

Feast Day: New Ab Exercise and Eating All the Fruit!

Today I rode my bike to the fitness center prepared to do the killer full body feast day workout. It was shorter than the previous feast days, but it still challenged me. Today I was able to do ALL of the push-ups. Upper body strength is my weak area.

Day 25 of the plank challenge and I'm getting better at challenging myself. Really focusing on keeping my body still makes the planks harder and I'm feeling the work. Which is the point right? 

Ab vacuum exercises. I first heard of this when I attended the Shenzhen Health and Wellness Fair 

last year and took part in a Body Flex session. The instructor mentioned this type of breathing being good for weightloss and I thought she was crazy. Now I'm thinking, why not? It's only 1 minute of my day.

Why are these abdominal vacuum exercises so hard for me tonight?!?! Maybe it's because I'm 2200 calories and a gallon of water deep for the day? Or maybe I just need to do them more often!! 😩 What are vacuum exercises? When done properly they can help SCULPT and SHRINK the size of your waistline in just weeks. How? By engaging some of the most neglected muscles in the body: the transversus abdominus and the lumbar motifidus. These are the muscles BENEATH the rectus abdominus and the obliques (the muscles we tend to work!), and I will venture to say they are THE most important group of ab muscles to work! The how-to is actually simple and can be done nearly anywhere. Simply inhale deeply, and exhale COMPLETELY. When all air is deflated from your lungs, draw your belly in as far as possible. Try thinking about pulling your belly button in towards your spine. Then HOLD. I will vacuum in front of the mirror with @realchrispowell, in the car while stuck in traffic, in bed at night, standing at the counter paying bills...you name it, I've vacuumed doing it. Try 3 sets of 20 seconds to start with, and build up to set of 40 and even 60 seconds. Your waistline will thank you!! #MyKindOfVacuuming #CouplesThatVacuumTogether #AbdominalMuscles #Abs #swolemates

A photo posted by Heidi Powell (@realheidipowell) on Mar 29, 2016 at 10:14pm PDT

What I ate: it was all about the fruit today!

Breakfast: 

We totally took advantage of the buffet at the Hilton again. No cooking, no clean up, the view, the fruit.

Snack: 

I love loading up on carbs with sweet potato chips!

Lunch:

Left overs and more fruit. 

Dinner:

Went out with friends to a new place in Sea World, Baia Burger. It was so good and I love sweet potato fries.

Dessert: 

Chocolate almond protein shake. Recipe --> 1 scoop chocolate protein, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1/2 cup almond milk, and ice. Oh, wow. This hit the spot.

Macros: I splurged a little today on gluten and dairy. It is a lifestyle choice for me, so when a GF/DF option is not available I'm not always going to pass on the food. I did a pretty good job consuming the carbs, but feel short of the goal mark by about 40g along with fewer calories than I'd like for feast day.  

Ever tried abdominal vacuum exercise?
Favorite fruits?

Workout Wednesday: Mixing Things Up & Low Carb Day

It is good to mix things up every once in awhile.

It gives you a new perspective 

Prevents boredom

Keeps you on your toes

These were all of things I was trying to convince myself as we headed to the fitness center for low carb day #2 workout: sprints again...but in a different form from yesterday. Coach wanted us to mix it up. Why? It's good to change up your fitness routine for several reasons:

1) to continue to challenge your body

2) improve strength and conditioning

3) to keep exercises effective

Since I always do my sprints on the elliptical and I'm not running, that left me with the bike. Then I had to decide which bike: recumbent or upright? I chose the upright because it imitates an outdoor bike and I thought would provide a harder workout.

I definitely got a good cardio workout doing 20 sets of 20:20 sprints, but my legs did not "feel the burn" the same way they do on the elliptical. It was my first time, so I probably need to play around with the incline choices more (I ended up on level 8) and figure out the whole standing up thing.

Side note: after doing some reading for this blog post, it seems as if both types of bikes can produce a good caloric burn (although some argue that you work harder on the upright so you burn more calories than the same workout on the recumbent), but the recumbent provides more protection for the lower back during the workout. Both bikes require quads, hamstrings, and glutes to do the work.

I posted a video to my Instagram, but here are some of the faces I make when doing bike sprints. Pretty funny!

After a 30 minute cool down walk on the treadmill, it was plank time. For my plank challenge I really tried to keep my body stationary while doing the full plank with arm reach. It's a lot harder than when you let yourself rock back and forth.

Since we were already there, we hit the pool again for a little post workout chill time.

We thought we'd mix things up at dinner a little too and ate out on our balcony. It was still near 90 degrees, but in the shade and with the breeze, it was very nice.

What I ate on low card day (repeat)

Brunch: scrambled eggs with ham, pb&j rice cakes and gf sausage patty 

Snack: celery and humus 

Dinner: crockpot chicken, greens beans, salad

I still crave something cold after dinner on low carb days (usually I would have fruit or yogurt), so I've been using pb&j rice cakes as a substitute. It's not the same. At all.

Macros: another good low carb day, but I'm ready to eat all the fruit!

How do you mix things up lately?

Which bike do you prefer?

What is your favorite dessert?