Summer Garden Pasta and Caroline signs to UMW

Today's workout was a short and simple one: 3 mile run (most of it trail running which adds a little hardness to the running) and 185 squats for the Squat Challenge! I couldn't stay long at the gym this evening because....

I was making dinner tonight for the family and decided to bring out a favorite recipe I made last summer, Summer Garden Pasta! Recipe can be found on my Recipe page :) I found it a refreshing pasta with the tomatoes and basil leaves and not so heavy like so pastas can be. Very simple to make!

Exciting news in the Deale household today....

Caroline signed to be apart of the University of Mary Washington Field Hockey program next year!!

Mary Washington is a D3 school which means they do not take part of the National Signing of Intent like D1&D2 schools do. However, the high school decided to recognize those student athletes who will be playing at the D3 level next year by having their own version of the signing day, media and all! Caroline even got interviewed by the news which was pretty thrilling to see her on tv tonight :)

 

 

 

Can't you tell how proud of an older sister I am :)

Hopping like a frog!

When talking to Tori this evening about my workout, I said I probably looked like a frog hopping around with all the jumping I did!

Curious? Here's what today's workout looked like!

I started out with a 20 minute elliptical before doing 180 squats for the Squat Challenge then did a 30 minute workout using my Nike Training Club app called "The Shakedown". For those who don't have the app, here is what it looked like today:

*You will need 10-12lb weights and a medicine ball*

 

1 minute light jog

2 minute straight leg kicks (1 minute each)

1 minute slide and glide

1 minute walking lunges

2 minute recover

2 minute wood chops

1 minute mountain climbers

30 second tuck jumps

1 minute push away balance

1 minute walk out push up to swivel

1 minute ski jumps with medicine ball

1 minute froggers

1 minute recover

2 minute plank row to rotation--I just did a plank here

1 minute alternating step back lunges with weights

30 second high knee runs in place

1 minute 2 feet lateral hops in place

2 minute broad jumps

1 minute bicycles

1 minute shoulder press

1 minute bunny hops with medicine ball

2 minute pretzel stretch

2 minute lower back stretch

1 minute standing hamstring stretch

Saturday morning workout, let's go!

Breakfast: a cup of juice, a slice of banana nut bread and strawberry greek yogurt. I woke up earlier than I wanted to this morning but went out on my front porch and enjoyed this lovely spring morning :)

This weekend for my 10k training consisted of a 4.5 mile run. I used the MapMyRun app to put together a run that resulted in me doing a loop that took me through Crozet.

Running by cows only happens when you're a country girl ;)

Since it was a beautiful morning (I know repetitive, I just love spring!) for a run, I was really excited to get going.....
.....until around mile 2. When I had to go to the bathroom. really bad. uh oh. Luckily a good song came on my ipod which totally distracted me until I got back to my gym.

Has anyone ever had the urge to go while running? What do you do?!

When I got back to my gym, I immediately went straight into today's squats for the Squat Challenge--160! I did 80 on the squat machine then 80 off of it.

After the squats, I did 100 fire hydrants on each leg. A nice gluts workout for sure! woo!

The abs today looked like this:

 

75 crunches

75 side crunches, each side

75 cross legged crunches

1 minute bicycles

 

1 minute break

 

50 crunches

50 side crunches, each side

50 cross legged crunches

1 minute bicycles

 

1 minute break

 

25 crunches

25 side crunches, each side

50 cross legged crunches

1 minute bicycles

 

I was pretty hungry by the time I got home so had a turkey wrap for lunch and my usual post workout glass of chocolate milk!

 

Have a great weekend everyone!



 

 

 



2.62 for Boston

This morning while I was checking facebook over breakfast, I came across this event--->

Seeing that my plans for this weekend fell through, I was suddenly free for this weekend and thought this would be a nice way to run for a wonderful cause. I left a note for my family asking if they wanted to join as well (which they did).

It was a beautiful evening for a run and the event was very low key (no time, just ran 10 1/2 laps) with some UVa students, community members such as ourselves and some runners from the area who ran in Boston!

Everyone got ribbons to wear and you could donate to get a shirt, which I did for my mom, Caroline and I to share :)



 

We took a quick group picture then it was off on this nice, casual run! I've gotten so used to running on roads, gravel, hills, etc that running around in a circle on a track felt like a whole new experience (especially since I haven't run on one since Track&Field days in middle school).

Since this was just a casual run, I didn't bring a watch, just my ipod.

 

It was nice to see everyone out enjoying themselves on this lovely Friday evening and I'm so glad my family was able to join! :)

 

Have a great weekend!

2 mile hill workout & Lower Ab Attack

Today's breakfast consisted of the ever so yummy Peanut Butter Overnight Oats! I was dragging a bit this morning and this definetely helped with waking me up! If you like peanut butter, I reccomend :)

Workout

Last night, I was reading up on the 10k I will be doing in May. I came across this part in the description that inspired my running workout for today:

......Hospital Hill is the 200 foot, two mile climb....

 

Yay. Just what ever runner likes to see, a 2 mile hill. I read more and this will take place I believe from mile 3-5.  

 

 

Knowing that this hill will either make or break most of the runners, I knew I had to prepare.

Today's run for my 10k training was actually a 2 mile run so I decided to run up and down a hill right next to my gym as many times as I could until I reached 2 miles.  I figured this would be the best way for my legs to get used to the endurance without going out and finding a 2 mile hill in my area (though with where I live, may not be that hard).

It ended up going by pretty fast and I only ran it up 3 times before running less than a quarter of a mile to finalize the 2 miles.

My legs were feeling sore but great (as was my booty) when I went back into the gym....to do 150 squats. Yep, my butt sure was getting a workout today!

 

I then finished with Lower Ab Attack. The only thing I changed with this was doing 10 lying leg raises (3?! really?!)

 

I left the gym feeling that awesome feeling that I love getting when I leave after a great workout. That feeling got even better when I got home and saw that this came in the mail today! Beast!!

 

 

 

 



Leg Rest and Upper Body Day

I was pretty ecstatic just now when I logged on and saw that I have over 1,000 views!! Thank you! :) Please feel free to share with your friends and to comment (though I've heard sometimes the comment box doesn't work?) or share any tips you may have yourself!

Onto today's workout!

I got off work early today and when I arrived at the gym (45 minutes earlier than I usually do), I was surprised to see how dead it was! Ironically the only other person who was there when I walked in was....my dad. Ha!

 

 

 

Since my legs were really sore from the past two days, today was going to be a no leg day.

*Advice--Listen to your body!! Taking a rest from a certain body part or a whole day is good for you! Your body needs a break every now and then.

 

I started out by doing a nice 30 minute clip on the elliptical then did three 1 minute planks with a 30 second rest in between.

 

Upper Body Workout

Triceps pulls with resistance band (3x25)

Bicep curls with 12.5 pounds (2x20)

Tricep kickbacks with 10 pounds(2x20)

Shoulder dips (*Can't remember the exact time so I made one up) with 12.5 pounds

--2x20

Lat pull down (3x15)

Upper back machine (3x15)

Chest press (3x15)



600 abs

First up for the workout today was a 3 mile run which was much enjoyed on this lovely day! I love running in 60 degree weather.

Then was 140 squats for Squat Challenge! I have definitely starting to feel it in my glutes and upper hamstrings!

I then decided to come up with a workout called The 600 Abs. Below is how it looks:

100 crunches (4 sets of 25)

100 cross leg crunches (4 sets of 25)

100 Russian twists with medicine ball (4 sets of 25)

100 crunches with weights (4 sets of 25)

100 bicylces (4 sets of 25)

50 hips to ground while in plank (5 sets of 10)

50 side crunches (4 sets of 25)





Workout/healthy tip of the day: On the treadmill, increase your pace by 1 mph and you'll burn an extra 2 calories per minute.

Monday Blues

Nothing too exciting about today's workout, I defintely was feeling the Monday Blues!

Started out with 135 squats as part of the Squat Challenge. I did 60 using the squat machine then did the remaining 75 not.

I wanted to do some cardio but all the machines were in use (mind you, my gym is really small so it can fill up quickly!) so while waiting for something to become available, I did the following arms & abs workout 3 times through, doubling the amount they suggest. I recommend moving quickly from one to another to get the tempo moving ;)

I then finished out the day with 15 minutes on the Stair Master at Level 10.

 

Hope everyone survived Monday...only 4 days till the weekend! ;)

Color Me Rad!

                            Yesterday, for the 3rd time, I did COLOR ME RAD!!!!

Tori, Caroline, and my friends Jessie and Kellie all did it with Ben and Tori's fiance being our spectators (though I think by the end, they wish they had done it!)

What is great about this race is that it isn't a serious race so if you are wanting to do a fun, non timed 5k with friends and family! Plus, the experience is too awesome!

Caroline and I ran with disposable cameras (yes, remember those? They still exist!) so we could take pictures throughout the run and those will be getting developed tomorrow!

If you haven't done one yet, I highly recommend it :) There is Color Me Rad and The Color Run. I recommend wearing clothes you don't care about or can wash easily (I just wore spandex under the tutu--which did get tossed-- and a men's wifebeater from Dollar General) and old sneakers.

Hope everyone has a colorful Sunday!!

Today's theme: run, squat challenge, abs, arms

 

 

Sticking with my 10K training program, today was a 2 mile run. I'm glad the yucky weather from this morning (April showers bring May flowers?) cleared away to a beautiful 70 degree weather afternoon!

 

After the run, I came into the gym and did 105 squats on the squat machine (*My other Squat Challengers--how are you all doing?!) where I believe I intimiated the high school boys who were lifting next to me ;)

 

For the ab portion, I did this workout 2x. (I'm not really sure if this is really what the Victoria Secret models actually do but Im always up for trying new ab routines!)

 

 

 

And last but not least, I did a quick arm workout! I did sitting biceps and shoulder press with 10 pound weights 3x. I then put a resistance band around the ballet bar in the aerobics room, got in a semi squat position and pulled the band back till my arms were slightly past my body for a tricep and upper back workout.

 

 

Keep Calm and it's almost Friday!

 

 



#RunforBoston

Today's workout was a 3 mile run and Abs.

All over my twitter today, I was seeing hashtags that said #RunForBoston and lots of retweets from fitness twittees (twitters? what do we call people who we follow on twitter?) of it and I felt that since  I had already planned to do a run today, I would post a tweet dedicated to RunForBoston.

After my run, I wanted to do a nice hard ab workout since my legs were sore from yesterday and today as well as my arms and back.

My ab workout consisted of this:

100 jump ropes

50 jumping jacks

50 crunches

50 squat jumps

50 russian twists

1 minute plank

50 crunches on left; 50 crunches on right

60 seconds high knees

25 reverse crunches

25 jack knifes

10 burpees

50 bicycles

50 leg lift crunches

25 mountain climbers

25 crunches on exercise ball

 

*Tomorrow I am taking my parents on a date to see 42 and out to dinner so no workout will be happening tomorrow (except for Day 9 of Squat Challenge, 100 squats! Hello triple digits!)*





Nike Training Club and Boston

As I am typing this post, I am currently watching CNN on the sickening event that happened today during the Boston Marathon. My heart goes out to the families and friends who were affected. I am also thinking of the runners, who trained so hard for this big day and the only memory they will remember from it will be a bad one. </3


Today's workout consisted of a 30 minute ellipitical at cross country setting, Day 7 of Squat Challenge (80!) and a workout from my Nike Training Club app.

I used the Nike Training Club app alot last summer but then it kinda got forgotten about. Oops.
So today, it got dusted off and brought back to use!

Nike Training Club app is like having a personal trainer in your phone. You pick from 4 different options (lean, tone, strong, focused) then pick a level (beginner, intermediate, advanced) with all custom-built workouts.

I chose to do a 45 Get Lean-Advanced workout called Pioneer.

The workout looked like this:

(*you will need a jump rope, dumbbells, medicine ball, step, mat)

• 2 minute light jog
• 2 minutes of straight leg kicks
• 1 minute of slidand glide
• 1 minute recover
• 1 minute of wood chops
• 2 minutes of 2 feet lateral hops distance
• 2 minute alternating medicine ball push up---* I did a set of push ups in replace of this
• 2 minute opposite arm/leg supermans
• 1 minute jump rope
• 1 minute recover
• 2 minute plank row--split this into two 1 minute planks
• 2 minute broad jumps
• 2 minute Russian twists
• 2 minute walking lunges
• 1 minute jump rope
• 1 minute rocover
• 2 minute opposite arm/leg extension
• 2 minute dips with legs straight
• 2 minute crazy ivans
• 2 minute push away balance--* I did 2 minutes of various ab workouts
• 1 minute jump rope
• 1 minute recover
• 2 minute single leg deadlift dumbell row
• 1 minute tuck jump
• 2 minute push away balance--*again, did 2 minutes of various ab workouts
• 1 minute toe touch
• 2 minute quad stretch
• 2 minute standing hamstring stretch

Good night everyone!

Hike and abs

Happy Saturday readers!

Is anyone else so excited for spring like weather after the beat down of heat we had earlier this week?!

Ben and I decided to go hiking at a park near his house in NOVA after breakfast. It ended up being an 8 mile round trip hike and our legs are definitely feeling it! It was a nice change for a leg workout besides running and doing stuff in the gym.

We then went to the gym for a quick workout session because hey, why not?! I did Day 5 of Squat Challenge--70 then did a long ab workout consisting of:
Crunches
Bicycles
Sits up with weights
Russian twists
Suitcases
Toe touches
Toe touches to L sit ups
Sit crunches
Hip twists
Planks
Side planks



*Shout out to my friends and sisters who I know did the 3.2 run in remembrance at Tech today, such a wonderful run :)

At home workout

I decided to skip the gym today so I could go straight home and work on some homework and other things on my To-Do list before heading to Ben's this weekend....however...that doesn't mean I had to miss doing some sort of workout!

I immediately did Day 3 of Squat Challenge of 60 squats. Tomorrow is rest day then Saturday is 70!

I found this workout online a few months ago and it has been my go-to at home workout when I have felt the urge to workout late at night or when I've been snowed in, etc. I do double/triple the numbers it suggests.

Belated Birthday Gift

My sister's birthday gift arrived for me last night and I have already gotten great use out of it. It is a massage stick! Great for rubbing over sore muscles and feeling like you are getting a mini massage done! When I start training for my half this fall, it will come in great use ;) Thanks Caroline :D



Total Body Circuit

Is there anyone else who get so used to doing things at a certain time that when it doesn't happen during that usual time, you feel all out of whack?!

Well that's how I felt when I arrived at the gym at the time I am usually leaving! Totally threw my body and evening for a loop. Ah!

I jumped on the treadmill and did a quick, fast paced 1 mile run to get re-focused and my heart racing.

I then did 3 rounds of Total Body Circuit, courtesy of http://www.pbfingers.com/!

 

 

My workout ended with Day 2 of the Squat Challenge--55 Squats on the Squat Machine. I had a couple of my friends start this with me and Im excited to see the progress with everyone! Btw--when I first read the Squat Challenge, I immediately starting singing to myself  booty booty booty rockin everywhere, I found you Ms. New Booty. ;)

 

 

 

B.A.B

Wondering what today's subject line stands for?---Butt. Abs. Back.

Creative, I know ;)

Let's back track to this morning:

I planned on making dinner for my family tonight and decided to make Creamy Italian Chicken Crock pot. (*you can find the recipe on the Recipe page*).

I put all the ingredients in the crockpot before I left for work this morning so that all I would need to do when I got home was cook some pasta (egg noodles) to go with the chicken and toss up a salad. YUM!

 

 

Now onto the workout!

I found this squat challenge online last night and decided to accept it! Here we go booty for the next 30 days! Any other takers?

 I did today's squat using the squat machine.

 

 

 

The rest of the Butt workout looked like this:

50 skaters

80 side leg lifts with resistant bands (*this also works your outer thigh a bit)

75 fire hydrants

25 ball rolls

 

Abs

100 bicycles

50 reverse crunches

50 russian twists with weights

50 "sitting indian style" sit ups

50 side crunches per side

1 minute plank

 



 This next exercise works both butt and back--> Supermans with ball. Below are pictures that best describe it (disregard my awkward picture taking):

 

Starting position....body flat. arms on ground (unless you're taking pictures of yourself in the mirror). Ball on ground with feet holding onto it.

Lift legs and arms up at the same time then lower.

 

Back

 After doing 50 supermans, I did 45 (3x15) on the upper back machine and 45 (3x15) doing lat pulldown.

 

 

I am looking for lower back exercises so if anyone has any suggestions, please send them my way!

 



Today is brought to you by SWEAT

Mondays are usually tough but the Monday after a wonderful and relaxing spring break? Even tougher. What also comes with getting back to waking up at 6:30am again is also getting my body used to working out after work again. I much prefer working out in the morning but there is no way I could wake up at 5 go work out. Kudos to those who can!

Today's workout consisted of a 3 mile run and Jump Rope n' Abs aka lots SWEAT!

I got my new Glitter Gold Sweatyband over the weekend so today was the perfect day to break it in...and boy did it do its job because running in 80some degree weather does make you sweat just a tad ;)

After my run, I came inside (the AC felt WONDERFUL), I did the following workout:

2 changes with this workout:
1) 60 jump ropes instead of 60 seconds of jump ropes.
2) Instead of side crunches on exercise ball, I substituted in other ab workout....I cannot do side crunches on the exercise ball! I can't ever stay balanced or feel like I'm stable enough to do a crunch....Any suggestions?!

Hope you all stay cool the next few days...stay hydrated if you do go outside to run!

2 mile fast run and Pink Grapefruit Smoothie!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

 

 

Today's weather turned out to be much nicer than was expected earlier this week (though with how Mother Nature has been, who knows anymore!) so decided to go on a quick 2 mile run! I'm going on a Girls Weekend with Liz and Tori so I know I won't be getting a workout out in.

 

Breakfast was Peanut Butter overnight oats then good bye to Ben then off on the run!

 

I decided to really push myself on this run and see how fast I could go. I've also read that if you want to run faster in races, then you must train faster....duh. Since this run was only going to be 2 miles (1 mile up a road then turn around) , I knew I could push myself.

 

 

I ran my first mile in 7:12, a new record (and a time I haven't run since my middle school days haha)

 

 

 

 

The 2nd mile provided some challenges because I was running against the wind and also on a slight hill since I was running back towards my mountain. I knew my time wouldn't be as fast as the first mile but still didn't stop because of that challenge!

 

Finished time

Not too bad!

 

 

Got back to my house and made myself a yummy Pink Grapefruit Smoothie! Felt very refreshing and its so delicious!

 

 

Now I gotta finish packing and getting other things done before I hit the road!

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

 









Cross Fit!

After a-- much enjoyed and wonderful-- day off from the gym yesterday, I was ready to get back today!

I wanted to spice things up from my usual workouts and decided to pull a cross-fit work out I found on Pinterest that I have enjoyed a few times to start out.

Here is what it looks like:

In the end, you will have done:

- 3 miles

-60 push ups

-120 squats

-180 sit ups.

*I recommend getting a treadmill that is on the end and has room to do the push ups, etc. 

The rest of my time at the gym looked like this:

Legs

50 walking lunges with weights (2x25)

40 calf raises

60 leg presses (3x20)

Abs

60 leg lifts with weights (3x20)

50 Russian twists with medicine ball (5x10)

40 wide leg criss cross (4x10)

60 balancing acts (3x20)

1 minute plank

:30 side planks each sides.

Butt

40 sumo squats (2x20)

90 fire hydrants (3 x 30)

40 leg out circles (2x20)

*Ben then showed me how to use the squat machine (finally!) so I ended up doing a couple more squats with that....I could definitely fell it more in the hamstrings and glutes using that rather than standing on my own

Arms

45 lat pull downs (3x15)

45 upper back machine (3x15)

Ben and I both felt fantastic after the gym but our bodies are pretty sore now, we'd love anyone who would like to carry us around the rest of the day ;) At this point, we were starving so headed to Chipotle for a very late lunch...yum! The burrito the size of a foot for Ben, chicken tacos for me!

Birthday!

Fit For A Princess will be back up and running tomorrow after a wonderful Birthday today!! :)

Happy Wednesday!

Jumping Jacks with weights and more!

Howdy everyone!

In going all with the subject, let's just *jump* right into today's workout!


Ben and I got a late start to the gym today (which I can not complain about seeing that it is my break, I've been wanting to sleep late and 7:45 am does not count in my mind!)

Since today was National Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness Day (*fyi...April is Autism Awareness Month*), I had to show some VIA pride! For more information about autism, please feel free to go to http://www.autismspeaks.org/.

 I did 20 minutes of the elliptical then went into the aerobics room to do the rest of my workout!

I found this back & shoulder workout on Pinterest and wanted to give it a try, especially with the jumping jacks with weights!

I definitely felt the burn in my shoulders in my jumping jacks, even with just using 2.5 pound weights!

 

Next up, was the Brazillian Butt Workout

 

I then finished with my usual ab routine...for me, I have to do some sort of ab workout whenever I am at the gym:

sit ups with weight--3 sets of 15

100 crunches

100 bicycles

50 side crunches (50 each side)

50 toe crunches with weight

50 V-ups with weight bar

50 "side lefts" with weight--I don't know what else to call this. You stand with a weight in one hand and bend to that side slighty then straighten back up, using your abs. Switch sides.

1 minute plank

:30 side plank per side



 







Since it was such a nice day out, Ben and I decided to go hiking at Mint Springs, a little park that is 1 minute from my house. We ended up doing a nice 2 mile hike, and my legs got an even nicer workout because I had to keep step with Ben!

 We got to see this lovely view at one point:

 

And we also came along this:

 

It was a great fitness filled day with my prince ;)

 

 

In Memory of Katie Warrington

This post is dedicated to a dear sorority sister of mine, Katie Warrington. Katie lost her life in a single car accident this past weekend and it has everyone who knew her in shock and heart broken.

I thought of Katie and her family this morning when I went for a run. It was beautiful and the sun reminded me of Katie's smile and personality. I knew that she was shining down on all of us today.

R.I.P Katie.

I know heaven is shining brightly with emerald green and gold because of you.

10k training!

Today I'll start my 10k training for a race Im doing May 19th!

I really should've started last week (hence why Week 1 is scribbled through) but that won't hurt me anyways.

Why I'm really doing a training program, especially since I ran one before on basically no training,is that I'm hoping to PR this race! Fingers crossed!