Thanksgiving Preparations and a Walk with Zelda

Happy almost-Thanksgiving, friends!  If your Turkey Day celebrations involve cooking, baking, or traveling, I hope you have a delicious and safe journey.

With “only 17” people coming tomorrow, we have plenty to do!

I need to start cleaning and organizing, so it’s a quick post today!

Dinner

Yesterday involved a lot of food prep, so it was a takeout kind of night.  Hello, Chinese!

I ordered hot and spicy baby shrimp—mmm.  I would definitely get it again.  Prior to last night, I don’t even remember the last time I had Chinese, so I’m sure that added to its tastiness.

I had to Instagram my fortune cookie, too.

Workout – Running

I took a rest day Monday (two days before a race, I always take a day off), and I set out this morning for an easy, 20-minute shakeout run.  The cold weather made it quite difficult to warm up—thanks a lot, 35 degrees—so I’ll have to keep that in mind during tomorrow’s turkey trot.

Breakfast

After my run, I made a spinach and egg-white open-faced breakfast sandwich.

Since I’ve been home, I’ve been having a hard time cooking food in a pan; between yesterday’s “pancake” and today’s “omelet,” it’s struggle city big time.

As I ate my breakfast, a certain greyhound refused to leave my side.

Someone wanted a w-a-l-k. (Zelda recognizes the word “walk,” so we have to spell it out or simply abbreviate it to “w.”) How could I say no to that face?  The cold weather called for a coat—for both of us.

For greyhounds, the general rule of thumb states whenever you wear a jacket, they need one, too.  Anyway, we drove into town and set off!

Zelda loves stalking squirrels, which is funny because as a former racer, she had to chase a fake rabbit around the track.  She wasn’t a great competitor—she “retired early”—but I’m sure if she had to chase squirrels she would be a champion.  But then she’d probably still be racing and not living here.

Did you have any pets growing up?  How about now?  Are you a cat or dog person?

SOS: Please Send Running Water

It’s Friday!  TGIF!

So, there’s a small problem at ye olde homestead.  As I type this blog post, we are currently operating with a limited supply of running water due to water pump problems or something.  Hopefully, this issue will be resolved soon, seeing as how I’m rocking some serious post-workout b.o., but what’s a girl to do?

Dinner

For most of yesterday afternoon, we were without water, so cooking dinner and running the dishwasher were out of the question.  Solution:  plastic plates and Thai takeout.

I went with the classic pad Thai and requested it “medium” on the heat scale (mild, medium, or hot).  I can’t remember the last time I had takeout, so it was a nice treat.

Frozen grapes for dessert?  Of course!

Workout

After completing my triathlon Wednesday night, Thursday became a much-needed rest day, so I was ready to get after it at spin class this morning.  Margaret and I went to Ron’s 8:30 a.m. indoor cycling class at the YMCA.

It was interesting to attend an indoor cycling class after riding a road bike.  Sure, spinning promises a sweaty challenge, but after tackling a hilly 10 miles, it seems much more manageable.  You can change the resistance to mimic road conditions—think climbing hills and fast straight-aways—but the main difference I noticed involves supporting and engaging your upper-body:  During an indoor cycling class, it’s easy to use the handlebars as a support system—trust me, been there, done that!  However, on a road bike, the role of your upper-body becomes twofold.  Poor posture results in stressed back and shoulder muscles, prompting you to support your body instead of allowing it to be supported, and you also have to steer the bike; riding on a road bike is a total-body workout.  In an effort to mimic this level of upper-body engagement, some indoor spin instructors—like Ron and Donna from HWS—incorporate arm exercises like push-ups to work your upper-body, too; I love this increased activity, but these exercises do not truly mirror road-bike riding conditions.  This isn’t a revolutionary insight by any means, but I now understand and truly feel the difference between indoor cycling and outdoor riding.  Do you prefer spinning classes or outdoor riding?

Now, since indoor spin classes seem “easier,” it’s time to add swimming to the mix.  Fellow blogger Verity at Cardigan Girl Verity is a veteran swimmer (who just completed her first triathlon!), and she game me some advice.  First, because the Cazenovia Triathlon swim portion measures 400m (I’m doing the sprint tri), she suggested I work up to swimming 600m in a pool, which makes a lot of sense—if I can comfortably tackle 600m in a pool, then a 400m open water swim (OWS) shouldn’t be a death sentence. (Fingers crossed!) Second, she added I should try to swim three or four days a week for about 45 minutes.  Right now, this seems very daunting, but here’s my plan:  I go to spin class on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, so why not wake up earlier and swim beforehand?  Not only will this help me improve my swimming stamina, but this brick workout will also mirror a triathlon.  Now, I just need to find my swimsuit!  For those of you who triathlon or complete brick workouts, does this sound like a feasible goal?  I doubt I’ll be able to swim for 45 mins. right off the bat, but I can definitely work up to this time.

Breakfast

Call it a routine—I had the exact same morning meal as I did yesterday.

Two Kashi waffles with PB and banana slices.  I could eat this combo literally everyday.

The Nate Race

Remember how I ran the Nate Race this past Saturday?  I finally tracked down the pictures, and although I couldn’t find any action shots, I did stumble upon this post-race awards ceremony shot.

Third place in the women’s 20-25 division.  Freezing, drenched, and rocking the “wet-dog” look.  Ha!

Margaret and I are off to our grandparent’s house for baking round two.  What’s on your agenda for this fabulous Friday?