ZWOW and gym goals

It's another beautiful Saturday morning in Colorado! We actually have some clouds for the first time in two weeks! But it would probably be too much to ask for some rain...

This morning I woke up and busted out a killer workout from Zuzana Light.

Her ZWOW #22 was intense! But I'm SO proud to say that I beat her time and got 15:35!
I felt pretty awesome after realizing I had beat her time, cause she's so fit! But I just wish my abs looked like hers... :)

I did finally cave and paid for a summer membership at the college's gym. They have strange hours and it will be a bit of a squeeze getting there after work and they aren't open on the weekends, unfortunately, but I'm glad I did it.

Right now my goals are that by the time I move to Fort Collins in late August, I would like to be able to deadlift at least 200lb, squat my body weight (140lb) and do 10 unassisted chin-ups.

Right now I can deadlift just above my body weight (145lb) and squat about 105lb. As I said before, I can do 2-3 unassisted chin-ups, but they aren't very good form, so I will need to work on that too.

I feel it's good to get my goals written down, so I can judge my progress and in the end see if I set my standards too high or too low.

I have about two months and one week to make that progression and I think with lifting at least four times a week, I will be able to gain quite a bit of strength and muscle.

Wish me luck!

Summer Spelt Pasta Salad

This weekend has been relaxing, I got to spend a lot of time cooking....I made an elk roast, whole wheat tortillas, hummus, pasta salad and that's just what I made for the upcoming week! I've been in the kitchen a lot! Which always makes me really happy :)
I've also been able to read quite a bit and I even sneaked into the gym the other day!!

It made me realize I'm a true gym rat at heart and will probably have to get a membership somewhere soon....
It just felt so good to deadlift again and I've been working on chin ups, so it was nice to actually have a real bar to do that on! I was successfully able to do four on my own and then about 16 more assisted. That's major progress for me! I'm gonna have to get a video of a couple soon, so I can prove to the world!

....And my back is still sore from it ;)

Okay, on to the yummy pasta salad.

Here's what you need:

2 cups spelt penne pasta (or whichever you prefer)
2 carrots, diced
1 medium zucchini, quartered
about 4 oz cheddar cheese (I used 2% mild), cubed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (or whichever you like best)

Dressing:
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp parsley flakes (I'm sure fresh would be amazing!)
dash of black pepper and garlic powder


Cook the pasta according to directions so that it's al dente, drain and let cool. I like to rinse mine in cold water to immediately stop the cooking process and speed up the preparation. While the pasta cools, mix together the dressing ingredients and then throw it all in a large bowl and mix until it's all covered with dressing.
Simple.
Easy. 
Delicious.

I enjoyed mine with some iced blueberry tea :)

I really liked the variety of textures, from the crunchy veggies and then the softer pasta and beans.
Spelt pasta has a bit more protein than other pasta varieties and I think tastes better than whole wheat pasta! The beans add some extra fiber, more protein and a bit of iron. All good things to have in an active body! 

The dressing was not very strong for the amount of salad that it makes (about 4 servings), but I don't like it very heavy, so increase your amounts if you want to taste it more.
You could also add some chicken breast or salami to this recipe if you wanted some more protein. I personally would have added salami or summer sausage because of the flavors.

Enjoy!


Here's a picture of beautiful Vallecito Reservoir (about 20 miles away from here) and my friend's puppy Boba Fett :)

Brutal workout

Yesterday I tackled a brutal workout. Only 16 minutes long, but I was exhausted by the end of it.
I don't know if it was actually super hard, or maybe I just worked out too close to breakfast...but I was pretty close to losing my eggs at one point.

It was an interval workout, with longer than usual intervals: 1 minute work/ 20 seconds rest
It included four rounds of four different exercises (4x4):

-jump side lunge (58, 51, 48, 50)
-forward and backward jump burpee (8, 8, 9, 8)
-alternating curtsy squat with 25lb kettlebell (22, 22, 20, 22)
-alternating single leg pike press (18, 14, 14, 14)

In the parenthesis are my scores for each round of the exercise.

I personally think it was brutal! One full minute of effort is more than I usually do and it proved to make the workout extra tough!

Here are some examples of each exercise:

Jump side lunge (Zuzana Light in the picture)


Forward and backward jump burpee
 I don't think there's a good picture for it, but it's like a regular burpee with a pushup and instead of jumping upward at the end, you take two jumps: one forward and one backward.

Alt. curtsy squat (source)


Single leg pike press (Zuzana Light in the photo)

 

If you try the workout, let me know how you did!!