Ho, Ho, Ho

Christmas is right around the corner. This weekend, we put up lights, and got a tree. I had a very blonde moment while parking in the garage with the tree on the roof of my car. I forgot it was there, and didn’t pay attention to the lowered ceiling directly over me. We almost lost it, but we didn’t, thankfully. PHEW! Decorating the tree with S, while listening to Christmas music was comforting and relaxing. I didn’t get in the spirit last year, and it feels good to be a part of it this year. 🙂

Skiing! We went skiing Saturday! I jumped on the chance to go before I get in the heart of training. My legs can only take so much! It felt so great to be up on a mountain. 🙂

I finished Week one of training with an amazing 6 mile run on Sunday…really the only day I stuck to my schedule. My body needed a break, and I went to yoga THREE times last week! It felt awesome (and I went again last night…one day, hopefully, I will have enough time so I can go more often. It makes me feel sooooooooooooo good.)

 

Skiing!

(I wrote this on 2/28, and forgot to publish it! OOPS!)

The peppers turned out AMAZING! And, there were lots of leftovers. Yummy!

So, I seem to be back on track, training wise, except I skipped a 5 mile run yesterday…to go skiing! It was totally worth it. I figured since it was only a 5 miler, I could forego it for a day up skiing in fresh powder. I am very happy with my decision. I went to Alpental, and not only had they gotten 4 new feet since Tuesday, it dumped all day long, too. The visibility sucked, but we were skiing on fresh, soft, fluffy snow. It was quite a treat. We skied hard, and I am sure I expended quite a bit more energy than I would have with a 5 mile run.

Saturday night, I made dinner for a small group of friends. It was a wonderful evening. This is what I made:

Salmon Lasagna

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used butter instead)
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
18 ounces frozen creamed spinach thawed (I used chopped spinach instead)
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
15 ounce container ricotta cheese (I used cottage cheese instead)
8 ounce package no boil lasagna noodles
15 ounce can salmon drained and flaked
(I added one zucchini)
Directions

In saucepan heat vegetable oil over medium heat until hot then stir in flour and cook 1 minute.
Gradually stir milk into flour mixture stirring constantly until mixture boils and thickens.
Stir in parmesan and pepper then set white sauce aside.
In medium bowl mix creamed spinach with mozzarella and ricotta.
Preheat oven to 375.
Spread 1/4 cup white sauce to cover bottom of rectangular baking dish.
Arrange 1/3 of the lasagna noodles over sauce overlapping to fit.
Spoon half of the ricotta mixture over noodles then top with half the salmon.
Repeat layering once then top with remaining lasagna noodles and remaining sauce.
Cover baking dish with foil and bake lasagna 40 minutes.
Remove foil and bake 15 minutes longer.

It was delicious! And, again, lots and lots of leftovers. 🙂

I start week 7 of training tomorrow. Tomorrow is the first day of March (YAAAAAAAY!!!)

 

Fall…or summer?

It’s almost October, and yesterday felt like the middle of summer. It was HOT. Not only was it nearly 80 degrees, but it was also humid. Sticky. Uncomfortable. Yet, I needed yoga, so I went. I was fully prepared for an incredibly hot room, which it most definitely was. I was dripping with sweat nearly immediately.

I had to take a couple of rests, but I still saw improvement in nearly all the postures again! My flexibility is returning rapidly. I have been running 4-5 days/week, so my hips are exceptionally tight, but I am seeing them open up a little more with each class I take. My traps are also loosening up, which feels awesome. Last night, I had my hands BELOW my nose in Eagle Pose!

Also, in Half Moon with Hands to Feet Pose, I bent (in all directions) the most I have yet. My legs are almost straight when I bend forward!

My body is needing yoga more and more these days: Baby H is over 20 pounds, I only outweigh Pablo by 30 pounds, and I continue to run 4-5 days/week. Winter is right around the corner (yet you wouldn’t know it by the weather this week) and I will add skiing to the list…oh, and climbing this weekend!! Yay! My climbing plans fell apart a couple of weekends ago due to bad weather, so I am really, really excited to get outside this weekend to do some climbing. 🙂

 

Life is good

I went to The Melting Pot last night for dinner! YUMMMMERS!! I have been wanting to go there FOREVER and I finally went. 🙂

Yoga Monday night. Class was amazing. My neck was really, really sore from the climb Saturday, from staring down at the snow for hours. It feels great now!

Short run today and yesterday.

Baby H is sleep trained, and doing fabulous.

I am blessed with amazingly wonderful people in my life.

I am healthy.

I am in the best shape of my life.

I also reconnected with an old friend with whom I used to ski race. 🙂

Life is good.

 

I deserve it

This blog started out as a blog about yoga because it makes me feel good and makes me happy. This blog has now become a place for me to write about all the things that make me happy: yoga, running, climbing, spending time with my family, visiting California, my puppy, massage, eating, skiing. Am I missing anything that I have written about? So, this is now my happy blog. 🙂

Other things that have made me happy recently: my purring cats, the movie, “The Blind Side” (rent it NOW! It’s a feel good movie that reminds me a little of Invincible, and the family dynamic of the Tuohys is AMAZING! I was smiling throughout the whole movie. If you want to smile, go get it NOW!), my incredible friends, 14 month old twin girls I spend 10 hours/week with, my convertible, the movie, “The Invention of Lying” (SOOOO good. Another feel good movie),

Oh, and I quit Facebook (at least for the next 30 days). I am on day 4, and it feels really, really good. I don’t care what my Facebook friends are doing. But my real friends? I know exactly what they are doing, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Facebook. THIS is how I would much rather spend my precious time.

I am trying really, really hard to only do things that make me happy. I deserve it, right?

 

My imperfect calling.

I just ran 4.2 miles in the rain. Man, it was a struggle getting out the door, even though I had already ventured out in the rain with my dog, Pablo.  I tried to talk myself out of it, but I just couldn’t do it. I am glad I went. Heck, after we do something we know is good for us, but is not on our list of things we necessarily WANT to do, we’re always glad we did it, right? Have you ever had a really good workout and told yourself after, “Damn! WHY did I work out! I feel like crap now. I wish I wouldn’t have done that. What a waste of my time. UGH!” If you have, please share, because you are crazy.

I am going climbing later, and I am looking forward to that. My lower body feels like it’s been blasted the past few days, so my upper body would like some attention, too.

And yoga? None today, thank you. I need a day off from it, but I will be back strong tomorrow since I won’t run tomorrow.

I was doing some research yesterday on the benefits of Bikram Yoga, and I came across this site:  http://bikramyoga.com/Testimonials.htm It speaks of the five aspects of mind: Faith, Self Control, Determination, Concentration, and Patience. Each of these develop while practicing Bikram Yoga (I can attest to that, for SURE). I recommend visiting the site, and scrolling to the bottom to read, in detail, the five aspects of mind. There is a quote, however, that I would like to share, which I can totally relate to right now:

“It is better to follow your own calling imperfectly than follow another’s perfectly. If death should come while following your own path, this is surely better than living with the fear and anguish of following a false path. When we’re forced to do something that is against our own nature, our soul is unhappy, there is no peace. When the soul is unhappy, pain begins to trouble the body as well. Rather than change your ways to conform with the world, you must eventually find a way to express your truth from your heart regardless of the world.”

 

Day 5-Class 4

I am relaxed. I am tired. I feel no stress. I can barely move. I skied today and then I went to yoga.

Charlie and I played hooky today. We went skiing. It was my first day up this season. I am still quite sore from yoga, and oh boy, did I feel it when we were on the mountain. First run down, and my quads were screaming at me. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it through the day. The snow was H-E-A-V-Y. They had gotten about 6 inches of new snow, but the temperature had been hovering around freezing, so it was wet snow. Second run, I felt a little better. Third run I felt a tad bit better. It was more of a workout than it normally would be because of the heavy snow. We went in the back country and I was sweating profusely. “Takeiteasybecauseitsmyfirstdayup” was NOT happening. I wanted to rip my coat and ski pants off and hurl them down the mountain! My lower back ached, my quads were sore, I was sweaty and uncomfortable, and all I wanted to do was go to yoga! Ha.

I did have a good day skiing, even though the snow was like cement. We were able to find some good snow on International, but that was about it. I got a great workout, enjoyed some fresh air and beautiful views from Chair 2 (who can guess where I went skiing? it ain’t no sissy mountain), and had excellent company.

A good day, indeed. Now, off to yoga.

I met Kara at the 4:30 class. I literally got home from skiing, threw my yoga stuff in a bag, and drove to yoga. I had a medium sized bottle of water to drink all day, and hadn’t eaten a lot, but I had to get to class! Another new instructor (I won’t mention her name here) greeted me. No, wait, I wasn’t greeted at all. No smile. No hello. Nothing. 😦

It was a busy class. When “instructor” walked in, she immediately told me to move because I was right in front of her. Oops. Luckily I was able to shift a little to the right.

I knew class was going to be difficult today. Little water+4 hours skiing=tired body. I needed water about 20 minutes in, so, I grabbed my water bottle, just as I had done in the previous 3 classes and went to take a sip, just as I had done in the previous 3 classes (even though it wasn’t technically a “water break.” ) AND I got yelled at! 😦 I was told to hold off on drinking water until the water break. 2 more poses. I was mad. I didn’t want to lie down and take a break, I just wanted some water! Hello! “Instructor!” Did YOU ski all day today?? I don’t think so! Hmmph. (Sorry, venting over). I made it to the water break without dying.

So, all in all class was pretty good considering my intense workout before I went. I noticed improvement in my hamstrings, but, man, my lower back is really sore. 😦 (lots of sad faces today, sorry)

My favorite poses today were:

1.Camel pose

(I feel like I am really, really good at this! I may not be, but I feel as if I am, and that’s all that matters, right?)

2. Rabbit pose

(I feel like I am good at this, too, and ooh, it feels good! It really stretches my spine, neck and lower back).

3. Head to Knee with Stretching Pose

(I put my forehead on my knee today…with my leg straight! I haven’t been able to do that!)

Hmm…all my favorite poses were the ones where I was on the floor. Hey, I was tired today!

Kara did awesome today. I feel like I did pretty awesome. “Instructor” is not awesome.