Thursday, June 21, 2012

Fajita Thursday!

Tonight I made Chicken Fajitas. I haven't made them in a while, and was really craving them.

The (almost) end result.


 Here's how the prep and cook progressed.


First, thaw out and cook the chicken.

Almost half-way there...

Looks done now.

Slicing up the peppers, red, green and yellow.

Sauté those veggies (peppers and sliced yellow onion)!

Slicing up the cooked chicken breast.

My secret weapon.

Chicken has been fajita-sized, spice-wise...

The veggies have joined the chicken.

Heating up the refried frijoles.


Wrap it in a tortilla, with a side of beans, cheese and taco sauce.

Profile view of the plate.

And conclude dinner with a nice green salad with croutons, black pepper, and thousand island dressing.

Wow! That was good. I still have left-overs for tomorrow, even. Too bad I didn't have a dinner date for whom to cook, 'cuz she would have been totally impressed. :-)


-Lancer!!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Rockin' Monday!!

2012-06-18

CrossFit Endurance:
Got up late after about (4) hours of sleep. Chugged a protein shake (blended w/ banana, blueberries and honey), slathered on some sunscreen, then got out the door to meet my trainer at a local high school track for our CrossFit session today. I was expecting the temps to be hotter already, but there was a nice breeze to help keep it cool.

Warmed up running one (1) lap around the dirt track in (3:18)min. Then we did (10) Push-ups, (15) Sit-ups (Butterfly legs), and (20) Air Squats, followed by a (35) yd. sprint, and (35) yd. jog back.

Next up was exercises using a wooden dowel: (10) Good Mornings, (15) Push Presses, (20) Overhead Squats, followed by another (35)yd. sprint, then (35) yd. jog back. We followed this with another lap around the track completed in (3:04)min.

Back to the playground: Parallel Bars: I had a hard time just keeping myself hoisted up on the bars, and couldn't "walk" myself down the bars. Monkey Bars: Again, I had a hard time on these. Just trying to hold myself up on the bars was a challenge. Trying to swing, or even just shift hands bar to bar, was a little too much. I cheated a little and did it on tip-toes, just because I was tall enough to manage it. :-) It still made my hands hurt.

Back off the playground we did repeats of High-Knees and Butt-Kickers forward, and then in reverse for both. This was followed by another lap around the track in [Can't find another lap till the final 2 laps.] More running drills/sprints @ (40)yds., 3-4 repeats, then stretches, followed by Shot-Put exercises with a concrete cinder-block. Trying to keep the block balanced, step forward, and throw was a challenge; I haven't tried anything like it in a while, though we did do something similar with a medicine ball a few weeks back, I think.

Almost done: Run two (2) laps around the track in (6:30)min. I checked my Garmin and it was almost right on at (6:30.37)min. I alternated running the straights and walking the curves.

The last drills were:
Dumb-bell Push Presses: (15) reps. @ (15)lbs. ea.;
Dumb-bell Biceps Curls: (15) reps. alternating @ (15)lbs. ea. side.
Done!

Duration: (1:07)hrs.

Drove home and had lunch: (2) slices combo pizza, big green salad w/ sliced Roma tomatoes, black pepper, croutons, and Thousand Island Dressing. This was followed by about (4) hours of intermittent napping so I'd have enough energy for...

Combatives!!
Today was my second session in a self-defense class held at my local gym. The self-defense form is a variety of Combatives derived from methods taught by Col. Rex Applegate and Lt.Col. William Fairbairn. The methods emphasize the use of gross-motor skills over fine-motor skills, and concepts rather than techniques, which can be more adaptable in the moment.

We started out with some "combat conditioning" to get the cardio started: Push-ups, Hindu Squats (on your toes, heels off the floor), Elevators (leg lifts, then thrust legs upwards, and back down, repeat):
Push-ups: (24) on knees, kinda' sloppy;
Hindu Squats: (50), and wowzers, my legs felt that;
Elevators: (15) just barely eked out those. *woof*

Once we completed these exercises we moved onto cycling attacks: One person wears a padded glove and holds it out as a target to be struck. We had to get one hand behind the glove and use the opposite hand to strike multiple times at the padded surface, shuffling forward with each strike, then grabbing the glove with both hands and jerking the "target" towards and then past us. This was followed up by a refresher from the previous weeks defense and attack methods. Still looking forward to more in the future.

Strength Training:
And that training was followed by a quick, solo one round circuit workout:

Hammer Strength Machines:
Iso-Front Military Press: (8) reps @ (35)lbs. ea. side;

Iso-Lateral High Row: (12) reps. @ (45)lbs. ea. side;

Iso-Pulldown: (15) reps. @ (45)lbs. ea. side;
Iso-Row: (10) reps. @ (45)lbs. ea. side, horizontal grip;
               (10) reps. @ (45)lbs. ea. side, vertical grip.

LifeFitness Machines:
Leg Extension: (10) reps. @ (130)lbs.
Seated Leg Curl: (12) reps. @ (130)lbs.

Drove back home, fed the cat, then had dinner: three (3) slices cold combo pizza, big green salad w/ sliced Roma tomatoes, croutons, black pepper, and Thousand Island Dressing.

-Lancer!!