Like a Hamster Wheel

What do I do when I’m procrastinating bored? I blog stalk.

I peruse my favorite bloggers and search though a bunch of their recipes and flag down the ones I fancy.

Tonight, I used one of those many recipes tucked away in my “To Make” box.

Jessica’s Asiago Baked Salmon.

I chopped up a bit of fresh Asiago and added a bit of parmesan and dill to the topping.

I also omitted the shallots.

Cheesy and Creamy. It was a nice change to my usual Brown Sugar, Mustard, Soy glaze.

In fitness news: I have officially tried the self-propelled treadmill at the gym.

I was familiar with the brand (Woodway) from when I used to work at a personal training firm. (It’s a top of the line brand)

But I was always so scared I would either fall face first or have trouble getting that thing to even move.

It’s very similar to a hamster wheel, actually.

Well I did a light run and it was rather fun, better than regular old treadmills.

I’m also starting to light training for running in my vibrams.

Before, I had just been cross-training and walking in them but I want to slowly build up to running.

I have noticed my balance has gotten better with the vibrams.

I have plans to take them out in the fresh air this weekend 😉

The weather has been gorgeous here for the past week.

(Denver tends to give you the same amount of sunny days as snowy days, if you remember 2 weeks ago, I think Denver used up a lot of snowy days)

Plan on going for a walk or run in Wash Park over the weekend!

STICKY upDATE

I’ve started some trial runs. I had success with the vegan version but a MAJOR fail of my non-vegan version. So off to the drawing boards again.

Have a great weekend!

Casey

Rolling With the Punches

Went back to an old favorite for some brunch.

Animal Orchestra serves baked eggs all day. Perfect for those morning when you just don’t want to get out of bed for breakfast.

I got the exact same thing as I did my first visit there.

Baked Eggs with Salmon, Rocket, Capers, and Dill

with a thick slice of bread and butter on the side

I loved the presentation in the skillet. It made it seem so much more rustic and fresh.

Heaping amounts of field greens on top.

I didn’t mind having to scarf my way down until I uncovered the deliciousness that awaited underneath.

Like tearing off the wrapping paper to see what present lies inside! 🙂

Superb. Animal Orchestra, you’ve done it again.

After hearing I was vego, heaps of people have recommended Shakahari Vegetarian Restaurant to me. I’ve heard nothing but great things, so I was excited to finally try it.

The restaurant had a great ambiance and decor. I was seated directly next to the fireplace and received a complimentary glass of fresh squeezed OJ.

Lots of thing sounded great on the menu, but most of the dishes with faux meat were fried. I found one of the few non-fried dishes on the menu, Cous de Fes I believe it was called.

Moroccan Cous-cous with a Chickpea, Eggplant, and Red Capsicum Ragout with sautéed Spinach and Olives.

The description sounded right up my alley. But I was really disappointed in the flavor. It was very bland. The only thing that had a lot of punch was the saltiness of the olives. I don’t think I’ll be giving this restaurant another go because it was a bit pricier than I’d like and there are so many other delicious venues. Ahem….Vegie Bar?

Living in a college means that things are going to get thrown your way every week. So having a schedule is pretty close to impossible. I have to make sure to get my workouts in early in the day and to roll with the punches. Someone will always be inviting you out, to grab a bite to eat, to go to a ball, to go get costumes for a theme party, or just to chill and drink coffee at some little cafe.

There are no set days I will work out, it really depends on how much time I have and how my body (and mind!) are feeling that day. I try to make it to the gym four times a week and I’ve been pretty good about keeping up with it too! Working out is so important to me because no matter how chaotic college life may get, I can always have my “me” time when I’m at the gym or running.

So even though my knee is all better (woo!) I’m still taking it easy and not running more than once a week. That doesn’t mean I don’t have my eye on one of the many 10k’s and 5k’s coming up though ;).

Here’s what my typical workout schedule looks like.

• Sprint workout (typically 2-3 miles…. oh sorry, I mean 4-5k’s)      once a week
• Spinning class or Body Pump once a week
• Rowing machine interval training for around 2500 meters
• Circuit training using the Bosu, stability ball, med balls, and weights

I’ll usually follow-up the sprint and rowing sessions with a shorter circuit using medicine balls or weights. I’ve really explored outside my comfort zone with the classes and I have to say I really like those two classes. It’s great for those days when you don’t have a ton of motivation. You can just listen to the music and do whatever the instructor is telling you to do. Body Pump uses all of the same weight training moves I am used to. It is just continuous and to a beat, not too shabby especially when its at 7:20 in the morning.

Have a great weekend!

Casey