Workout update

Saturday, Jan 29th - Rest day. We did take Molly for a ~45min walk.

Sunday, Jan 30th - 3mile run
1.4 miles in 13:12
0.8 miles in 7:17
0.8 miles in 5:59 - really pushed this
total time - 26:28
We then walked Molly for ~40min.

Mileage for the January = 65.8miles!

Monday, Jan 31st - Bootcamp with Stephanie.
40 push-ups in 2min - my new record
5min plank
Lots of plyometrics and weights.

Good start to the week!

Enjoy!
ELH

12 miles

So I was supposed to do 14 miles, but only did 12.
I created a great 6 mile loop with a mile off shoot to get to 7 miles on google maps. Unfortunately, that off shoot didn't have a side walk and I was running ~8:30am and there was a lot of morning traffic. 12 is great! and my longest training run.
I did stop and get some water, shed some clothes, and blow my nose at 6 miles.

Splits:
1st loop -
2.4 miles - 22:36
1.7 miles - 14:26
1.9 miles - 16:12
total 53:15
2nd loop -
2.4 miles - 21:53 (this split is a little off since I was playing with my watch)
1.7 miles - 14:31
1.9 miles - 16:36
total 52:20
total time 1:46.25

-Enjoy!
ELH

workout update

Turtles at Maui aquarium. I could have watched them for hrs... GAH, not so much!

Monday, Jan 24th -
Boot camp with Stephanie
34 push-ups in 2min
5min plank
10min of: 10 squat and press with 2x10lb weights, one burpee with a push-up
Repeat with two burpees and push-up, then three burpees...
I got all the way up to 8.
The rest of class was more weights, abs, and cardio.

Tuesday, Jan 25th -
Track workout
800 warm-up
3 x 2 x 1200 with 2min rest in between 1200s and 4 min rest between sets.
400 easy walk cool down.

I wanted to target 8:10min miles which would be ~2:03/400
My times -
1st: 6:08 (2:02.8, 2:02.6, 2:03)
2nd: 6:02.1 (1:58.4, 2:02, 2:01.7)
3rd: 5:50.4 (1:56.9, 1:57.8, 1:55.7)
4th: 5:45.2 (1:54.7, 1:56.2, 1:54.3)
5th: 5:45.3 (1:55.2, 1:55.8, 1:54.3)
6th: 5:44.3 (1:52.8, 1:56, 1:55.5)

I guess I need to warm-up more. Overall, happy with the workout.

Wednesday, Jan 26th - off and travel day. I do make a point of walking the airports and not taking the trains.

Thursday, Jan 27th - 40 min walk with G and Molly. Compact Chain with 10 lb weights finished with some ab work and stretching.

Tomorrow is the big 14miler!! I am going to do to 2 - 7 mile loops so I will have somewhere for a pit-stop. My longest run has been 13.1, so this should be fun and interesting.
-Enjoy!
ELH

Parrchoke

Artichoke, pretending she is a parrot!

My name is not standard. In fact if you google just my first name, you won't find many hits.
My parents got creative and named me after a Star Trek character. They made the spelling and pronunciation up! When GAH and I first started dating he would refer to me as The Girl because his friends could not get my name right!

So I believe that babies should have some what standard names with minimal spelling creativity. Chatey is not Katie!
I do believe that animals should have extremely creative names!
My parents first cat was Kitty. The first kittens we got were Misty (he was a boy) and Benny (he was supposed to be Jenny but my parents didn't like the idea of girl name for a boy cat! But they were okay with Misty!?!) Our second kitties were Hershey and Flower.
I love Cats and Gus, Theater Cat is my favorite.
"Gus is the Cat at the Theatre Door
His name as I ought to have told you before
Is really Asparagus, but that's such a fuss
To pronounce that we usually call him
Just Gus"

I named my first cat Asparagus! I thought it was fitting to name my girl tailless cat, Gus!

Fast forward 5 years and my research group's Scientist found out that their cat was having kittens. His wife played on my emotions and convinced me that Gussy needed a friend!
I picked the black kitty (she has a tall). Her name had been decided from a grocery store ad listing Asparagus and Artichokes on sale!
Asparagus (Gussy) and Artichoke (Arti or Chokie or Chokes) are my fur-babies.
If GAH lets me get another kitty, their name will be Apricot!

Enjoy!
-ELH

PS - GAH named his dog Molly - one of the top female dog names. B-O-R-I-N-G!!

Sunday Run

Getting ready to show off our shoes!My shoes were Kate Spade and the girls were in cranberry patent leather peep toes!

Today's goal was 10miles.
I meet up with Stephanie and another boot camp/running enthusiast for a very chilly (23-25F) run this morning.
Between the three of us we had two GPS watches, a Timex pace watch, and three different speeds. One GPS watch died :( at ~8miles.

Some of the splits -
2.25miles - 19:48
4 mile point - 36:19
Mile5 5 was a snowy run in the woods!
Miles 6 and 7 - 16:47 with mile 6 being 8:13min
Miles 8 and 9 - 16:46

Total mileage 10.2 in 1hr 26min
Last Saturday, I did 10.6 in 1hr 36min - so I am very happy with todays run!

Enjoy!
-ELH

Workout update

GAH's dog checking out my older tailless cat. We have a blended one dog, two cat family!

This was a hard workout week since I ended up catching a cold and have a wicked cough!
Sunday, Jan 16th - recovery day
Monday, Jan 17th - Boot camp with Stephanie! She kicked my butt.
2min of push-ups -> 32
5 min plank
Lots of work with weights and cardo.

Tuesday, Jan 18th - went home sick. I did go for a short walk!

Wednesday, Jan 19th - Boot camp with Stephanie!
2min of push-ups -> 33
5 min plank
5 min alternating jumping lunges
5 min of laying flat on the ground with one arm up like you are holding a candle and don't want to get wax on you. Stand up fast, then lay down, keeping your hand up. We did 2 1/2 min on each arm.
2 min of single leg squats x2
Arm dips
Finish with some ab work.

Thursday, Jan 20th - ~5mile run with roomie in 44min.

Friday, Jan 19th - I was supposed to do a track workout, but it had snowed the night before and was really windy. I am also still a little sick, so I decided to do another cross training workout.
15min of running up and down 7 flights of stairs
90sec of calf raises on each leg
2 min of single leg squats on each leg
2 min of squats
2 min of 2nd position pile squats
2 min of alternating jumping lunges
1 min of squat jumps trying to touch the ceiling!
I finished with some ab work and stretching.

My plan for the weekend is -
Saturday -> compact chain
Sunday -> redo the airport run at a faster pace, since I know the route!

Enjoy!
-ELH

G's email box

So I thought about starting a new theme - random emails from GAH's email box.

GAH has a straight forward email address (ex. bobsmith at gmail dot com) and about once a week the email address gets mixed up and it ends up in GAH's box. I think the best one so far was from a wife who was in the middle of a nasty divorce. She was pissed that her soon to be ex hadn't returned her emails...they never made it to the ex-husband! GAH is diplomatic and does let the sender know their error.



This is this weeks latest email... (names and addresses have been changed). It looks like girl A was trying to forward girl C's email to a friend.



"From: CK
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 12:20:39 +0000
To: AM
Subject:
A,

This is all very sad to me! I have chosen the bridesmaids and usherettes with the same amount of care and devotion and with real thought! I had special requests for YOU to be a magical part of the ceremony but to be honest I am so sad at all of this and for all the times in my life this is not the time for me to feel hurt and upset. You are with the family members A and I cant believe you would even question that!

We are grown woman and you had to have understood this was a decision I have had to put a lot of thought into You have upset me so much and I actually think you have been rather selfish - this is not even about my wedding or my day this is all about you not being a bridesmaid!

Why have you not bothered to pick up the phone to me since the engagement - not once since the 15th December have you called to say congrats (bar Xmas day when I called you) you have been in JHB I am sure?

You could have used your home phone or grans phone or something but you have not so much as called and I have not called you because I have not heard from you! You were so strange and badly behaved in xx on that holiday and I totally understand you have been going through the most difficult time in the last while and we have drifted A and we have very different lives in different places

BUT WE ARE FAMILY and the fact that you have kicked up such a stink when I have asked you lovingly to be a special part of the wedding - not even recognising that I want you there but focusing on what you are not instead of what you are!

You hardly gave me a chance to share and celebrate and plan with you and now I feel sick every time I think of this all. You have not asked once about the wedding, half the reason we moved the venue was because I knew you would DEFINITELY be able to be there and you have not made one comment about it - not even one nice or loving or joyous comment.

Every other girl called immediately and glowed about being a special part of the ceremony even if it was to just be there! Most of the girls being so understanding about the difficulty of having everyone you love in one place and to make them all feel special as they are!

I really thought I would have had that from you but instead you have worried about a title - there are readings and prayers and blessings and things that I want special people to do FAR more important that saying you are a bridesmaid and you didn't even give me a chance to be happy enough to talk to you about this

The real stab in the heart had to be the "Let me know the date and if I am around i will be there" this is my wedding day A !!!!!!!!!!! How could you even suggest the idea that you may not be there because you would be in xx or somewhere else/ my heart shattered

This is all so sad - just so sad and i don't know what to do I wanted my friends and family to be bridesmaids but I also did not want 8-10 of them so I created the family members as ushers - this makes you no less important!

I know you are hurt but this is a marriage between M and I and if you cannot empathise with the decisions we have made as a couple then i don't know what to say I am sorry this is an email and not over the phone but it is difficult to think about how I really feel and this is very emotional. I hope we can move on from this with no hard feelings and just be happy for each other

I love you

C"



I am so glad I didn't have any bridesmaid drama! GAH's brother did want to be a musican at the ceremony, but he was the bestman and couldn't be at two places at once!

Enjoy!

ELH

Airport run

Interesting plant in a garden at the Kula Lodge. I think they look like churros.

Saturday, Jan 15th
Long run!
10.6 miles around my local airport.
It was 1/3 covered with snow and ice so my time wasn't that good -> 1hr 36min which would lead to 9:36min/mile. I want to a min faster/mile, but I am happy with this, since it was my first run over 5miles in a few month.
It was also a new path, so I had to stop a few times at trail heads.

The mile markers were not that great, so my times are a little weird. The trail is part of bike trail from city A to city B (the city names actually start with an A and a B!)
Splits:
~1.5 miles - 14:19
next time I saw a mile marker - 9:13
next mile - 11:39 - I don't think this one was correct
1.5 miles - 13:08
last mile - 8:49 - very happy with this.

The I was happy to finish this run and especially happy to have not fallen down! That was until the warm-down walk. I slipped and fell on hard on my rear on the ice into some snow. It was pretty pathetic. At that point I just wanted to lay in the snow indefinitely!

Mileage 1-9/1-16 = 5 + 5 + 4.5 +10.6 = 25.1
Enjoy!
-ELH

Track workout

One of many rainbows we saw in Maui. We even saw many Double Rainbows (but I guess it is now called Flying Star)!

Wednesday was another boot camp with Stephanie. She is killing my arms in a good way!

Today I decided to do a track workout.
4x400 easy/warm-up
Crescendo 400, 600, 800, 1200, 800, 600, 400 - 30sec rest between each run.
800 easy cool-down.
Mileage = 4.5miles
My goal was to maintain consistent splits -> 2:08 was my goal (which would be 8:32min mile.)
It was also pretty windy and cold ~30F. Fun times:)

Splits -
4x400 - total time - 9:30
400 - 2:07
600 - (400 = 2:03), (200 = 1:06) 3:09
800 - (1st 400 = 2:07, 2nd 400 = 2:09) 4:16
1200 - (1st 400 = 2:07, 2nd 400 = 2:13 - missed the marker, so it probably was 2:09, 3rd 400 = 2:04) 6:24
800 - (1st 400 = 2:05, 2nd 400 = 2:06) 4:11
600 - (400 = 2:03), (200 = 1:01) 3:04
400 - 2:00

I guess I negative split the run!
Pretty happy with this.
-Enjoy
ELH

Workout update

One of the many Maui beaches we visited.

East Maui Mountains

I mentioned before that my back has been hurting, so I took Friday off from running.
Saturday, Jan 8th
I got up at 6:30am to make pizza dough - my first attempt with yeast and making homemade pizza. It was a tasty and a big success! We took the pizza over to GH's brother's house - if you bring food you get to see and hold the newborn! It was a rectangular shaped pizza so the 2 1/2 year old nephew won't eat it because it didn't look like pizza! His loss:)
Anyway, back to workout....
After making the dough, I went back to bed for a few hrs - lower back still painful. On the second wake up, I did some ab work and stretching and took Molly for a 30min walk.
Later that night I did walk the US's busiest airport - I hardly ever take the train!

Sunday, Jan 9th
~5.5 mile run with my roomie on the walking trails near her place. It was extremely hilly and cold. Wind chill was 19F!!
It was good and I didn't have any pain.
I finished the run with some ab work.
Successful day!

Monday, Jan 10th
Boot camp with Stephanie! She definitely worked us into the ground. It was fun and gave me new ideas for exercises to try when I do boot camp on my own.

Active stretching/warm-up
2min pushups = 32
5 min plank

We did ~3min of each exercise using 10lb weights.
Altering lunges with bicep curls - all done slowly
10 legs kicks, roll over, 10 mountain climbers with your hips up high
Crunches with arms straight infront of you with your weights. Killer!
Army push-ups - lay flat on your stomach, pushup, right leg comes up quickly to your arm, drop down to your stomach, pause, pushup, left leg comes up quickly to your arm, drop down to your stomach, roll 360deg - repeat.
One arm triceps raises.
Squat jumps
Leg lifts - One foot flat on the floor, the other leg stretched straight out, pulsing up and down (do not raise it above your other knee)
Criss-cross abs
Superman abs
Stretching/cool down.

Tuesday, Jan 11th
5mile loop run near work in 42:30. My fastest is 41min, so pretty happy with it. It was also starting to rain/snow - part of the Eastern US storm. I was wearing a long sleeve dry fit shirt, a dry fit pullover, pullover fleece, running tights, waterproof workout pants, a beanie, and gloves. I don't get hot expect for my hands. I usually take the gloves off after the first mile and carry them with me. The best part was the bottom of my shirt was frozen when I got home!
I did some ab work when I got home.

Feel the burn!
Enjoy!
ELH

Happy Birthday BT!

Flowers from my birthday while we were in Maui! Bird of Paradise are my favorite flower.

Today is my sister's Birthday!

She is officially entering her late twenties.
2011 is going to be an amazing year for her, as she will become a wife in May!

Love You!
-ELH

What happened after the Corn Chowder...

Us being silly while watching the sunrise at 10,023 feet on Haleakala Volcano on Maui

The last post was about the success of the new Corn Chowder recipe.
Lets talked about that evening...

We invited our pet-sitter over for dinner. He is a good friend of GH and has done a wonderful job taking care of Molly, Asparagus, and Artichoke (I like random names for pets!)
He is also a drinker, so the boys had a few too many drinks that night. The pet-sitter ended up falling asleep on our couch and GH sort of passed out in bed.

Before I continue, let me tell you about our bedroom TV routine.
GH hates most of the shows I watch, so he picks the show before we go to bed and sets the sleep timer. Usually he picks 90min, I would prefer 30min since I usually fall asleep and wake up before the timer goes off. Waking up again sucks! GH would put the remote behind the pillows and then I would have to find it after waking up. I would usually end up waking GH up and the remote would fall behind the bed, again annoying! So, the new plan is to give me the remote, which I set on my night stand. This has worked wonderfully.

Back to the Corn Chowder night...
GH set the sleep timer and put the remote on his night stand. We fell asleep, I woke up before the timer went off and that is when the fun started. I tapped GH on the back and asked him for the remote. He instead handed me a bottle of Gatorade that was next to the remote. I replied with "thanks, but I wanted the remote." He put the bottle back and fell asleep. A few minutes later, I tapped GH on the shoulder again and asked for the remote. This time he turned to me and growled something vicious about not touching him again (honestly I don't remember the exact words, but it funny and a little scary)!!
WOO! Needless to say I was a little shocked. I just looked and him and considered my options - 1. Crawl over him to get to the night stand - which would probably included touching him...
2. Get out of bed and walk around to the night stand.

I picked #2!
The next morning I asked GH if he remembered what happened and he had no clue. Funny!
I guess I will need to be more vigilant about taking control of the remote before falling asleep.

Enjoy!
-ELH

Corn Chowder

Sunset in Maui.

We got a lot of cool kitchen tools for the wedding and a few cook books to test out the toys!
The past week, I have been cooking from Real Simple, Best Recipes (Thanks Liz!)
I made Golden Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives. It was pretty good, but I used long-grain brown rice that pretty much turned to mush. Next time, I'll stick with minute rice!

Chocolate Pots - basically chocolate mousse/pudding that I put in our Cobalt LeCreuset
I served it with Sea Salt Olive Oil ice cream that I made with my KitchenAid mixer ice cream attachment. The recipe came from Desert Candy.

On Wednesday, I made Smoky Corn Chowder using our new blender and Red LeCreuset soup pot. Serves 4 as main dish, 6 as a side dish.

8oz sliced bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces (I used turkey bacon and cooked it with olive oil, salt, and pepper)
1 large sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped (we like garlic, so I probably added 5 cloves!)
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (skipped this)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (used fresh crushed chile from New Mexico and probably added 1 tablespoon! We like it hot!)
20oz of frozen corn
3cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup half-and-half (used fat free version since it is what GAH puts in his coffee)
Scallions, thinly sliced
1 baguette

-Cook bacon until crisp (6 to 8 min). Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
-Spoon off and discard all but 2 tablespoons of the drippings and return the pan to medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, paprika, and red pepper and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.
-Stir in the corn, broth, and half-and-half and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return to the pot and stir in 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.
-Divide the soup among bowls and top with the scallions and bacon. Serve with bread.

Now I really wish that I had an immersion blender!
Enjoy
-ELH

This weeks workout recap

Views from outside our condo in Maui!

Monday, Jan 3rd -
Boot Camp on my own (following what we do in Stephaine's Boot Camp)
2 min pushups - 32
5 min plank
8 x 4min of each exercies:
-Superman, get up fast, and squat jump (trying to touch the ceiling)
-James Bond alternating lundges
-Mountain Climber push-ups
-Over/under leg kicks
-Reverse Presentation (butt and feet on the floor, hands behind you on the floor. Keeping on foot on the floor, rise up so your body is flat with your head looking behind you. Come back in, just tapping your butt on the floor and then go back up. This works your hamstring on the leg that stays down as support - Weird but it works!)
-Squat jumps (trying to touch the ceiling)
-Standing leg kicks
-Army crawl pushups - one push-up with your left leg crunched toward your arm (right leg is the only one on the ground), keeping your hands and feet on the ground (butt off the ground) rotate 360deg, one push-up with your right leg crunched toward your arm. Repeat. This one takes about the length of a yoga mat and really works your wrists!

Finished the workout with some abs and stretching!

Tuesday, Jan 4th
Repeat 5ish mile run - 1st half split = 22:56, 2nd half split = 22:37, total time = 45:35! Pretty good.

Wednesday, Jan 5th
30min walk with Molly
Compact chain (From Stephaine's Boot Camp) with 10lb weights. 10 reps -> 1 rep.

-push-up
-leaning forward row
-bicep curl
-alternating lunges
-triceps extension
-squat with shoulder press

During the lunges, I felt a twinge in my left lower back :(
Later that day, it really started to hurt. This has been a problem the pops up every 4months or so. I stretch it out and then forget about it. I need to change this.

Thursday, Jan 6th
Rest day

Friday, Jan 7th
Planning to do a long run ~7miles, but my back is really hurting me. I decided to skip the run, do some abs, good stretching, arm weights while lying on the ground, and taking Molly for an ~hr long walk. I am planning on doing the long run on Sunday....

Enjoy!
-ELH

Auntie!

The H side of the family has a lot of grandchildren.
When GAH and I started dating, his sister had 3 children - a 5 year old boy, 3 year old boy, and a new born baby girl. About 2 years into our dating, his brother had his first son. We went to the hospital the next day to meet the baby boy. I have no experience with new borns, so I was terrified of holding the baby! The family loves to make fun of me for this. Oh well!

On January 2, 2011 we welcomed another boy to the family and what I consider my first official nephew (GAH's brother's second son)!
Mom went into labor ~8am and had her baby at 12:26! It probably helped that she had been 3cm dilated for the last two weeks.
Congratulations H Family!Enjoy!
-ELH

Book Review - Fall 2010

Piiholo Ranch Zipline, Maui

It's that time again...
Fall book reading season started Sept 7th and finished Dec 31st. I read 15 books!

Fall of Giants by Ken Follett - I listened to this book since it was read by John Lee (one of my favorite narrators.) It was long and I definitely enjoyed it. This is the first book in a series of three that focuses on 5 families starting in the early 1900's focusing on WWI and will follow them for the next ~90 years. Recommend

Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver - I'll be honest, it is a hard book to start. I was confused for the first ~50 pages or so, but stuck with it and enjoyed it. It is a historical fiction with Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Leo Trotsky. Recommend!

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova - very interesting book about art. Recommend!

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri - great book of short stories. Recommend

Double Comfort Safari Club: LDA #11 by Alexander McCall Smith - Since I am not book #11, I feel obligated to continue the series...good if you have started the series, but not really worth it to start.
The Lost Art of Gratitude: SPC #6 by Alexander McCall Smith - See above :)

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton - this is her third book and honestly wasn't that great. The story was drawn out and the conclusion was disappointing. Skip this one and read her other two fantastic books!

Vision in White by Nora Roberts - book 1 of the Bridal Quartet - great series for girls who love weddings and fast reading. Recommend!!
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts - see above
Savior the Moment by Nora Roberts - see above
Happy Ever After - see above

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos - great book and a continuation of characters from Love Walked In (need to read). Highly Recommend!

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner - another book about a plus-size girl who hates her life until she looses weight, falls in love with the wrong man, finds the right man, and has a best friend whoes a flake and goregous. Skip this one.

Last Night at Chateau Marmont by Lauren Weisberger - The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing are much better books, so you can pass on this one also.

Enjoy!
-ELH