I gave the details of this week's exercises on the twit2fit Ning page.
Sunday jogged slowly 5 miles and walked 2.5 miles
Monday upper body weight lifting.
Tuesday jogged very slowly 2.5 miles.
Friday lower body and mostly leg weight lifting.
Saturday another test day with Operation Boot Camp.
Flour Topping
1 c. flour
1 egg
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
Fruit Filling
3 c. peeled, sliced peaches
2 c. fresh blueberries
1 Tbs butter
Pecan Topping
1 c. chopped pecans
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. melted butter
Preheat oven 350.
For the flour topping: Combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar, and cinnamon. Beat egg with a fork. Mix egg into flour with fork until crumbly.
For fruit filling: Melt 1 Tbs butter in a sauce pan. Place blueberries and peaches in the sauce pan. Warm slowly on low heat. Stir frequently. After the juices form, Stir in 1 Tbs of Flour. Stir frequently and cook until the juices thicken. Pour fruit and juices into a 2 to 2 1/2 quart buttered baking dish.
Sprinkle flour topping over fruit filling.
For pecan topping: Combine chopped pecan, sugar, flour, brown sugar and melted butter. Crumble over flour topping.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve with ice cream. Serves 6 to 7.
Many of my 300 Twitter followers do not live in Auburn and do not personally know me so they maybe getting tired of the Dixie Youth softball tournament updates. An example:
In district softball tourney, Auburn beat E Montgomery 10-4. Will play Montgomery Gray at 6 pm Tues at Felton Little.Must win 2 games to adv
One reason that I use Twitter to update about softball is to keep my friends who are interested in-the-know. Also, it is also sort of a record.
A third reason is that girls' sports do not get the same publicity and recognition from the press. Observing both girls' and boys' recreation and high school sports for several years, I have noticed that boys' sports are reported more often and in more detail than girls' sports. If you doubt me, count the number of articles written in local papers on girls' high school basketball and boys' high school basketball during the regular seasons. Then, do the same for boys' high school baseball and girls' high school softball; and the same for girls' golf and boys' golf. Also, if you don't believe me, pick up your local paper--particularly if you live in a small town--and read the articles on the current Little League and Dixie Youth regional ball games.
While I can give numerous examples, I will point out today's issue of the Opelika-Auburn News. The picture is taken of an Auburn boys (from the 11-12 league) at the District tournament in Opelika.
The Dixie Youth Ponytail District (11-12 league) tournament in Auburn has been played since Thursday of last week. Two games went into 10 innings (6 innings make the game). Dadeville and Montgomery Gray played consistently good ball for 10 innings with Montgomery Gray pulling out the win in the 10th inning. Auburn and Montgomery Gray went 9 innings with no score, until Montgomery Gray scored 2 runs in the top of the 10th inning. Two of Auburn's pitchers struck 16 batters out in 8 innings. The game was nail biting in that Auburn could never capitalize on the hits. I think Auburn left 12 runners on base throughout the game, but could never get a run around the field.
Scoring Auburn's 4th run of the 1st inning of last night's game, the delayed steal home was perfectly executed--classic and exciting. Most all of this tournament's games have been exciting, great ball playing and solid strategy. Yet, we have not seen a reporter or a staff photographer at any of these games. But, they have been available for the boys' games.
It's not all about equality. Also, I really want to know. I want to know how the Opelika Dixie Belles (13-15 year olds) play in their upcoming district tournament. I not only want to know if they win or lose, I also want to know who pitched, who hit, and who scored.
One advantage of living in a small town is that we get to know most everyone. I watched several girls on the Opelika team grow into good athletes and accomplished pitchers and batter. I want to know about their playing and their successes.
Another advantage of living in a small town is that we expect that our local paper report local events. We buy the local paper for the local news--we get state, national and international news from other sources.
We are glad that Opelika-Auburn News printed an article on the Auburn and East Montgomery Dixie Youth Ponytail game, even if we had to write it ourselves. If we must, we will write an article for each our games.
As far as for my Twitter followers, there are more Twitter messages to come. If the paper will not give credit where credit is due, then we must do it ourselves.
I cooked pizza soup today and one of my daughter's friends wanted the recipe. I might as well share it this way. Pizza soup may not sound very appetizing, but I must admit all three kids really like it.
This is my recipe I created after having pizza soup that was on the food bar at a Shoney's restaurant in Orlando, FL years ago. We stayed at the Disney parks all day. Exhausted, we ate late at night at the Shoney's.
Every time I make it, it is a little different because I often change the ingredients. I also often cook pasta and pour the soup over the pasta for those who don't like spicy foods.
Pizza Soup
1 pound ground beef or ground sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
3 potatoes, chopped
1 carrot, sliced
3 to 4 cups of water
1 large can of tomatoes
1 can of garbanzo beans.
1 can of kernel corn
Pepperoni slices (1/2 to 1 bag)
1 jar of Pizza Sauce
Salt
Black Pepper
Crushed red pepper
Garlic salt
Oregano
Brown ground meat with onions and peppers. Meanwhile, in a large pot, boil on medium heat, potatoes and carrots in water for at least 30 minutes. Make sure water is maintained to an acceptable level during boiling time. Potatoes should be almost cooked (almost soft when you insert a fork). Add to potatoes and carrots, tomatoes, and garbanzo beans, cook at least another 15 minutes. Add to the vegetables, the ground meat, pepperoni, and pizza sauce. Add spices to taste.
I often make pizza soup with left over spaghetti sauce.
Sometimes we have to take advantage of the time we have to exercise. I am speaking mostly to women who have school age children who are busy with various activities, like playing ball at different ball parks or practicing dance and piano on a regular basis.
Four years ago, when I became committed to losing weight and getting in better shape, I would walk around the ball field during warm-ups, rather than setting camp in my folding chair. I also decided to stand during the games. Standing is helpful because it uses more calories than sitting. Also, it becomes a stress-relieving activity. I get nervous when my kids pitch or bat or swim races. I want them to:
The more important the game or meet, the more nervous I get for them. I guess because using their skills become even more important during the games where something is at a stake--whether it is pride or a championship.
Anyway, I use the ball park as a great place to expend calories.
Today, when we first arrived in Millbrook for a tournament, I took a 50 minute jog. I know I can take time to walk or jog during the 1 hour before the game because my girl is busy warming up, she has the essentials, and she is being taken care of because my husband is the coach.
This morning I jogged down a street that turned into a county road. It made for an interesting jog. As I jogged "out" of town a bit, the shoulder at times had grass taller than me and patches of briars. Oncoming traffic required me to jump to the shoulder and sometimes straddle the briars.
It is always interesting to jog a new route, particular in a town I am unfamiliar. When I do this I learn something about the area. I also find myself not concerned with my speed or the distance, I just jog.
The most interesting part of this jog was in the outskirts of town, I found the smell of the country to bring back memories of the smells at home near the creek. Hot, humid , but fresh. It is hard to describe. I am not sure what is blooming that has a fresh and sweet smell that is not overbearing. The moisture in the air near the creek and today in Millbrook because the Alabama River is nearby has feel about that is beyond humid, but an almost refreshing feel.
This morning workout included:
The advantages of this kind of activity during warm-ups are:
The disadvantages are:
I forgot to mention two things about Operation Boot Camp.
The instructors were concerned with everyone doing the exercises, particularly squats and lunges, correctly. There were few exercises, like squatting to touch a plastic cone, this little jump step thing that George had to explain to me twice , and the plank that I had not done before so the explanations were good.
The other thing is that the workouts take place at the grass lot behind the Duck Samford football stadium. The field has patches of bald ground. My shoes were filthy when we were done. I am okay with getting dirty, but if I had known, I would not have worn my best and newest tennis shoes.
Since November, I have been struggling with being motivated to exercise. I have essentially decreased my exercise regiment from 5 or 6 days a week to 3 or 4 days a week. Interestingly, I have been able to not only to maintain my upper body strength but increase my strength. Though I am increasing the length that I jog, I am jogging less frequently. One difference is that I feel like I am not as toned and I can tell a difference in my abdomen.
I feel like I need to do something different, but I have not figured out what. I know for sure I need more motivation, and possibly a change in my routine.
When a friend invited me for a trial workout with Operation Boot Camp, I thought this would be great. Maybe I could get some motivation and direction in how I can change my workouts. The trial workout was fun--well as fun as a workout can be at 5:30 in the morning. There were lots of people there since it was bring a friend day. I knew several people including two of the instructors. They were friendly and encouraging, but not in the over-enthusiastic cheerleader kind of way. The beginning of the workout was tough--that may have been because it was so early in the morning.
We started out with a short jog to our first "station" where we did a few calisthenics and stretched. We jogged to each station. I cannot remember all of the exercises we did, but the hardest was the plank. We held this position for minutes at least twice. We also did one set of sit-ups, squats, tire kick-ups, and several side shuffles. I thought my legs, particularly my inner thighs would be sore, but it was my abs and obliques that were the sorest.
I got a great workout and I was able to do the entire workout without resting and it was very effective.
In this program, participation is expected – and monitored – for every single session. Instructors are with you the entire time. Although there were lots of people, the instructors were able to watch and gauge our abilities.
It seems that the program is a total fitness program that includes nutrition information and log book, as well as intense workouts. This may be the reason that it is so expensive--because of the individual attention.
I am going to participate in one of their workouts that is open to the public. But, I don't think I will be able to join this group anytime soon. Expensive is an issue. An even more important reason is that I will be traveling over the next few months that will prevent me from fully participating in the program. In each of the summer months, I would miss at least 8 days.
Overall, Operation Boot Camp is a good program, but someone would have to convince me why what I would get out of it that would warrant the expense. Of course, my travel schedule will be probably be an issue.
Thanks Dana for the invite! I really did enjoy it and wonder what the next workout would be like.
