Making Progress

So far, the new year has been good and I have actually made progress toward my goals.  I finished my first book - Runner's Guide to Yoga by Sage Rountree.  While a lot of the book was repetitive information for me and I've done just about every pose suggested in the book, I did learn some things.  There were actually a couple of poses that she mentioned that I haven't done but will start incorporating into my practice based on where I get tight.  She mentions some tests to do to see where your balance is off and then offers poses to correct those imbalances.  And then at the end, she gives suggestions of quick warm-up or cool-down sequences to do before or after a run.  Hopefully, the new information I learned will help me and will help any future runner's I may coach.

I've also made progress in the "new recipe" department.  Both of the recipes I tried this past week were from the cookbook Everyday Happy Herbivore by Lindsay S Nixon.  Remember, I'm a vegetarian who leans toward vegan, and this cookbook is entirely vegan.  The first recipe I tried was the Mexican Frittata.  It's actually suppose to be more of a breakfast dish according to where it's placed in the book, but I made it as a dinner.  It's made with tofu and I still haven't mastered the art of cooking with tofu, but I keep trying.  The dish turned out ok.  I can't say that I was in love with the taste, but it wasn't bad.  To me, it needs a little more spice.  I did leave out the red peppers since I don't like them, so maybe I need something to take it's place.  Maybe a little cilantro or something.  Anyway, that one will go on my "maybe make again" list.

The one that will go on my "definitely make again" list is the Banana Frosty.  During the week, I drink a shake for breakfast every morning on the way to work.  I'm pretty boring and typical and usually just make a banana/strawberry shake.  Since I'm trying new things, I decided to try a new shake Friday morning.  OH MY!!!  It was yummy in my tummy.  The cookbook advertised it as tasting like a Wendy's Frosty and I think it was pretty darn close.  Plus, it was easy to make and I already had all the ingredients on hand.  That was a winner.

Progress is being made in my studies toward personal trainer as well.  Luckily, things haven't gotten really hectic yet after the holidays.  I only worked three days last week and we actually had a pretty free weekend this weekend.  For some reason it was really cold in the house today (although warmer than it has been outside - I think it's that thing where it gets warm enough outside to keep the heater from kicking in on the inside, so it just feels cold).  Anyway, once our morning errands were done I decided to build a fire.  And other than my 6 mile run, I've been in front of the fire all day.  Most of that time has been reading or watching videos.  I took my second test and only missed 3 out of 20.  Not bad.

I'm trying to really enjoy this weekend not having much to do.  The kids go back to school Monday and high school soccer started Friday, so there will be two games most weeks from now until the end of March.  Plus, the next two weekends will be busy with me traveling - first to Houston for the half marathon and then to San Marcos for the Yoga Fit training.  I'm getting really excited about both of those.

Here's to progress!!!