Atlanta Kick CrossFit

I was on the road again this week (and leaving again tomorrow!) so I got to check out another CrossFit box. I did a quick 2.5-day trip to Atlanta for some meetings at a conference and to hang out with my old roommate from Purdue, Grace. After a year of living together and watching me do CrossFit, I finally convinced her to start after she graduated from Purdue. She's 8 months into the program and has really changed her body through both fitness and better eating. Grace loves the community of CrossFit and is now addicted like me!

Grace took me to her box, AK CrossFit, on Monday morning. The workout was pretty hard with 3 7-minute AMRAPs including front squats, push-ups, shoulder to overhead (push-press/jerk), air squats, squat-cleans, and double-unders. I'm definitely sore today!

AK (Atlanta Kick) CrossFit is in the Buckhead area on the north side of Atlanta. They have a full facility and great community, as experienced by Grace. She said she feels comfortable there as a beginner and that the trainers  push her to work hard. The coaches are knowledgeable and excited about expanding the gym physically and in membership. Drop-in rate for existing CrossFit members is free for your first class and then $20 after that. Free is awesome! (All boxes should do that.) Check them out if you're in the area!

Grace and I at AK CrossFit

What's you're biggest fear about starting a CrossFit program?

Lauren Conrad's book signing!

When Lauren Conrad announced her book tour for Infamous I was really excited that she chose to come to Chicago! Well actually, Naperville, which is closer to where I work anyway. I've been a fan of Lauren ever since her entertainment debut on MTV's Laguna Beach circa 2004. I followed her through her journey into the fashion industry on The Hills and I would say that I'm even a bigger fan now that she has a fantastic website/blog and an affordable fashion line at Kohl's. Lauren has been my fashion icon for a long time because of her feminine and classic style. I love wearing dresses and own nearly every single one from her Kohl's collection. Lauren's website also has great advice on fashion, beauty, health, fitness, careers, and everything in between. I'm often inspired by her website for content on this blog. This cauliflower pizza crust recipe is from her website.

Most importantly, I'm a huge fan of Lauren because of her success as an entrepreneur. Of course her reality TV fame boosted her career but I think she is a great role model for young women like me that want to make something of themselves. I look up to her even though we're the same age and I can only hope to be as successful as her one day.

I don't meet famous people very often so I was starstruck when I finally got through the line to meet Lauren! The picture is blurry but they weren't letting us pose for photos. Lauren really is so beautiful in person! She was also really nice and asked me how I was doing. And I got a chance to tell her about my blog and her assistant even took my business card! So cool!

Here's my new Infamous book and Lauren's signature inside :)

Have you ever met one of your favorite role models?

Sprout salad and how to grow sprouts

Ever since Karyn's raw detox back in March I've been trying to eat sprout salads for lunch as much as possible. Instead of the usual base of baby spinach or romaine, the salads are actually based on sprouts. Sprouts are seeds (including beans) that have been germinated and begun the growing process. The benefit of eating raw sprouted seeds versus the seeds themselves is that all of the nutrients in the seeds become bioavailable and digestible during the germination process. The seed contains all of the nutrients required to grow a plant but the nutrients are dormant until water is introduced to start the growth process. Once the seed starts to grow, all of the vitamins, minerals, proteins, amino acids, enzymes, etc. are activated. It is in this form that our body can best derive all of the great nutrients from the seed. Besides seaweed, sprouts are the best food to eat in terms of nutrient density (including high digestible protein content). I definitely feel more energized and satiated after eating a sprout salad than I do after eating a regular salad. Learn more about digestive enzymes and sprouting on the Thrive Forward website.

You can buy sprouts at the grocery store but it is best to grow them yourself. It doesn't take much work but does take planning. You can sprout buckwheat, amaranth, beans (all kinds), sunflower seeds, lentils, quinoa, chickpeas, and more. My favorites are sunflower seeds and chickpeas.

Chickpea sprouts that I grew myself

Steps to Sprout

1. First, make sure that you have the seeds/beans in  their raw dry form (bulk section at Whole Foods).
2. Place about 1/2-3/4 cup of the seeds in a jar and fill the rest with purified water.
3. Let soak for 8-12 hours or overnight.
4. Rinse the seeds with water and place back in jar.
5. Cover jar with cheesecloth or mason jar sprouting lid.
6. Place upside down in a bowl or sink to allow extra water to flow out of jar.
7. Every morning and night for a couple of days, fill the jar with water and spill it back out right away just to keep the seeds moist.
8. You should see sprouting within 24 hours, but let sit until you reach the desired length of sprouts or until all of the seeds have sprouted. 
9. Rinse your seeds/sprouts one more time before eating.
10. Sprouts will keep for up to a week (uncovered) in the fridge.

Sprouting takes some planning because it will be about 2.5 days before you have some good sprouts. I'm not good at planning my food so I tend to buy sprouts sometimes, especially when I'm traveling a lot. 

Sunflower sprouts (purchased from Karyn's Raw in Chicago)

Sprout Salad

Making a sprout salad is easy once you have the sprouts...just add fresh chopped vegetables and good dressing. I always add dulse flakes, red bell pepper, and cherry or chopped tomatoes. Pine nuts, chopped cucumber, green onion, and baby spinach are good too. For dressing, I use a mix of apple-cider vinegar, olive oil, and lemon juice.

Sprouts with lots of tomatoes

 

Preparing my sprout salads for the week

Have you tried sprouts?

What are your favorite salad ingredients?

California beach, Crossfit Monterey, and oyster shucking

Hey friends! I apologize for my blogging absence in the past week or so, I was in California for work and then spent a long weekend in San Francisco with my best friend. I was having too much fun to think about blogging! So, here are some highlights from my travels (which you may have already seen on instagram):

When I landed in San Francisco last Sunday, I drove down to Monterey via the coastal highway (US 1). The slightly longer trip was definitely worth it. I'm used to the Florida coast and love the cliffs and unkempt beaches of California. The 3-hour drive was beautiful.

My friend Grace happened to be in Monterey the same time I was so we checked out CrossFit Monterey! The box was very welcoming and it seems like they have a great 6:00 am crew. Check them out if you're in the area! Drop in rate is $15 for 1 class or 3 classes for $36.

Sunset over Monterey Bay!

Bonfire on the beach with some new and old friends from the class in Monterey.

I ended my trip in San Francisco visiting my best friend Antonella. We spent Saturday oyster shucking with a big group of people for another friend's birthday. We drove north of San Fran to Tamales Bay and went to a picnic area on the bay where the oyster farm is and then bought a big bag of the fresh oysters. I've never shucked (opened) oysters myself before so it was a little tricky at first but then I got the hang of it. These were the best oysters I've ever had, obviously because they were straight out of the bay. There was a grill but I ate them most of them raw with some lemon and hot sauce...so good! We spent all day there in sun with friends and wine, it was perfect!

Have you ever been oyster shucking?

Do you check out other gyms/boxes while you travel?

FFC Chicago Marathon Training Program

I posted earlier this month that I'm running the Chicago Marathon with Team Bright Pink and I couldn't be more excited! Read more about the Bright Pink organization and why I'm running with them to raise money in my post here. You can also help me reach my fundraising goal by donating! Just click here or on the banner at the top of the page.

One of the great things about running with Team Bright Pink is that we get to participate in the FFC Chicago Marathon Training Program. This is free for all Team Bright Pink members and we still have post-close spots so contact me if you're interested!! You can also join the training program on your own for $299 for FFC members or $575 for non-members, and you get full access to the FFC gyms.

I did my first and only marathon in 2010 (also Chicago) and while I finished just shy of 5 hours, it was painful and I really need to train properly this time. The group runs on Saturdays will really get me motivated to get the mileage in and the speed workouts are also going to be great for me trying to reach my goal of 4:00 for the marathon. The training program starts June 10 and includes:

Short Weekday Runs
 - Mondays at 6pm at FFC Union Station
 - Wednesdays at 6pm at FFC East Lakeview

Weekly Speed Track Workouts
 - Thursdays at 6pm at the Lake Shore Park Track

Weekend Long Runs
 - Saturdays at 7am (6am as weather gets warmer) at FFC Gold Coast

I definitely can't make the weekday runs at FFC East Lakeview because I work in the suburbs but I'm going to try to make the Monday runs and especially the Thursday track workouts. I'm going to have to get to work early those days to make it back into the city in time which means I won't be able to do crossfit in the morning. Working 9 hours a day with an hour commute each day doesn't really allow me to do two workouts a day, which would be nice for marathon training. So, sadly, I'm going to have to ramp down crossfit and just pay per class instead of do a membership. I also haven't decided if I'm going to continue spinning classes this summer. I do value cross-training but I really have to put the mileage in!

One last thing, I went to the Chase Corporate Challenge race last Thursday to cheer on my boyfriend Ryan (on the right) and his co-worker as they represented Sears in the 3.5-mile run. Ryan did awesome as usual with a time of 21:37 (6:10/mile pace!) and he came in place 201 over all. Unfortunately, I had to miss the Chicago Blogger Network 500th member celebration party to cheer on Ryan but hopefully there will be plenty more events this summer!

How much cross-training do you do while training for a long race?

Have you done a marathon training program before?