POTW

Product of the Week (POTW)

Under Armour

Most Running shirts share similar features no matter which company they are from.  One of those features is the "Keep Dry" material that pulls moisture away from the body.  Each company calls it by a different trademarked name.  Saucony calls it "DryLete" while Puma calls it "Coolfresh".  The general idea behind the material is to keep sweat off of the body which controls oder.  (Makes you less stinky when you run :p)  Another feature that many  companies add is a form of reflective protection.  Not all running happens during the day, so it's important to run in some form of reflective material (i.e. reflective logos or piping on the shirt).

Nike

Shirts come in a variety of styles that can include short sleeves, long sleeves, or no sleeves at all (aka sleeveless).  They also come in form-fit, semi-fit, and relaxed-fit styles.  And of course...they come in a variety of lovely colors.  Most shirts are also multipurpose.  Just because you buy a shirt and intend to use it for running doesn't mean you can't use it for weight training or aerobics as well!

As a lot of people already know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  What better way to support a great cause than to get a tee shirt!  There are sooo many cute ones available at Road Runner Sports.  A percentage of the proceeds from the breast cancer shirts goes to support the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  Every year more than 192,000 women and about 2,000 men are diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States.  Keep that in mind when you go shopping.

*These are all athletic shirts!

I advise checking out Road Runner Sports.  They carry a wide variety of brands for different activities!

FRCS

Favorite Restaurants Cheat Sheet

Applebee's

*Here's to you Kris!*

 

Salads

• Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad (Reg w/o Dressing)--370 Cals, 10g Fat, 5g Fiber, 52g Protein
• Oriental Grilled Chicken Salad (Reg w/o Dressing)--570 Cals, 19g Fat, 9g Fiber, 53g Protein
• Asain Crunch Salad--490 Cals, 9g Fat, 7g Fiber, 51g Protein
• Applebee's House Salad--230 Cals, 15g Fat, 2g Fiber, 13g Protein
• Small Caesar Salad--90 Cals, 3.5g Fat, 3f Fiber, 5g Protein
• Grilled Shrimp & Spinach Salad--270 Cals, 16g Fat, 3g Fiber, 14g Protein

 Soups

• French Onion Soup (Bowl)--280 Cals, 16g Fat, 2g Fiber, 17g Protein
• Tomato Basil Soup (Bowl)--250 Cals, 14g Fat, 3g Fiber, 5g Protein
• Chicken Tortilla Soup (Bowl)--180 Cals, 8g Fat, 2g Fiber, 10g Protein
• Chicken Noodle Soup (Bowl)--160 Cals, 4g Fat, 1g Fiber, 13g Protein

Dinners

*including sides*

• Asiago Peppercorn Steak--390 Cals, 14g Fat, 5g Fiber, 43g Protein
• Spicy Shrimp Diavolo--500 Cals, 10g Fat, 12g Fiber, 32g Protein
• Grilled Dijon Chicken & Portobellos--450 Cals, 16g Fat, 6g Fat, 54g Protein
• Grilled Shrimp & Island Rice--380 Cals, 4.5g Fat, 6g Fiber, 29g Protein
• Sizzling Chicken w/ Spicy Queso Blanco--550 Cals, 22g Fat, 6g Fiber, 53g Protein

Sides

• Seasonal Vegetables--35-50 Cals, 0g Fat, 2-3g Fiber, 1-3g Protein
• Fresh Fruit--70 Cals, 0g Fat, 3g Fiber, 1g Protein
• Fried Red Potatoes--150 Cals, 5g Fat, 3g Fiber, 4g Protein

Weight Watchers

• Weight Watchers Cajun Lime Tilapia--310 Cals, 6g Fat, 9g Fiber, 36g Protein
• Weight Watchers Steak & Portobellos--330 Cals 10g Fat, 8g Fiber, 31g Protein
• Weight Watchers Garlic Herb Chicken--370 Cals, 6g Fat, 7g Fiber, 49g Protein
• Weight Watchers Paradise Chicken Salad--340 Cals, 4.5 g Fat, 6g Fiber, 45g Protein
• Weight Watchers Italian Chicken & Portobello Sandwich w/ Fresh Fruit--320 Cals, 4.5g Fat, 8g Fiber, 29g Protein

* As you can see there are alot of choices that are all very delicious.  There's even a Weight Watchers menu.  The only thing I would advise is if you are planning a night at Applebee's...please watch your sodium intake during the day.  Try to keep it low.  Many of the dishes at the restaurant are high in sodium.  Unfortunately, I can't condone the deserts.  That is, unless you're sharing it with someone else!  Although the deserts are delicious, they are very high calorie.

I Learned a HARSH Lesson...

Similar Model

Oh, I did...wanna know what it was?  It's simply this...stairs...are a beast.  No joke.  I thought I was going to die after 5 minutes on the stair machine at the gym today...but I think I'm in love...weird right?  Yeah.  I know.  

So what happened is this...I decided that today wasn't a good day for running.  The lower part of the back of my left calf is hurting.  I think I over extended myself Saturday running the 10k.  No biggie.  It's just a bit sore.  Bryan wanted to run 6 miles today so I told him I would walk until he stopped running.  Incline walk, that is.  After 30 minutes of that I started to get bored.  Partially because my headphones didn't fit and I gave Bryan his back so I had no iPod to listen to...and I had to watch Veggie Tales with the kids.  The kids love it, but there's only so many times an adult can watch the SAME show before they start to get annoyed.  So anyway, I had been checking this stair master type machine out for a while.  It's pretty cool looking.  It actually has stairs that rotate similar to an escalator.  I figured I would try it out.  Oye, was I asking for it.  My legs don't like the stairs much in my own house, but walking up stairs for 5 minutes straight was a burn in my thighs and chest like no other.  75 stairs per minute was what I was doing.  I was huffing and puffing and half dying when I hopped off.  But my legs feel good.  I think it's just what I need to incorporate a couple days a week.  It'll help shape my legs and hopefully improve my breathing.  That'll help me when I do longer runs!  In 5 minutes I burned 50+ calories.  Awesome! 

Greensboro Run for Autism

Bryan and I participated in this run on Saturday.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day for running!  There was no humidity and it wasn't hot.  That was great for my breathing.  I did use my inhaler before the race, but I always do that.  I made it to mile 3 before I even stopped to walk.  That's a big deal for me.  normally I'll make it about a mile to a mile and a half.  Outside running on the road normally takes a pretty big toll on my breathing.  Especially if I don't have something to distract me.  I am SO thankful that iPods were allowed for this race.  I needed the distraction. 

Did I mention that the run in Greensboro was supposed to be a 10k?  It was actually a little longer.  Just a smidge...like a quarter of a mile more, lol.  It turned out to be 6.5 miles.  I had never run that far before.  I did manage to finish it though.  I shaved another 30 seconds per mile off of my run time (which was awesome!) and finished in an hour and 21 minutes.  That was a little less than 12.5 minutes a mile.  I'm improving!

So anyway.  I have to share this funny moment.  Bryan and I were probably getting close to mile 4 running down the road.  *Remember, we're running the back roads of Greensboro.  It's all farmland out there.*  I just happened to look down and noticed I almost stepped on this monstrous sized spider.  Oh...no...Jackie does NOT do spiders.  Not big ones, not medium sized ones, not small ones...not even ones you can barely see moving.  No way...nuh uh...no sir.  I freaked out and practically started dancing while I was running.  Bryan looked at me like I was nuts because he couldn't really hear me (iPod).   Even the cops thought I was crazy.  I didn't know at the time, but Bryan explained to me later that one of them was pointing at me and giving me a weird look.  I think he was trying to figure out if I was okay.  NO I'M NOT OKAY!!!  Stupid spider.  Gave me the heebie jeebies.  Eww...

At the end of the race everyone got a tshirt and a medal!  Yay!  More to add to my scrap book!  Woohoo!  I don't have a picture in my shirt yet, but I'll add it later when Bryan can take it for me.