Fitness Travels

As you can tell, skipped last week's blog post as we were on the road for Thanksgiving vacation.  The primary goal of our trip was to visit some of the Northern California colleges that our daughter is interested in applying to next fall.  The secondary goal was a brief getaway to one of our favorite places on the planet: Monterey Bay.  However, a third, and very important goal, was to maintain...or at least not stray to far from...our fitness plan.  We knew that eating on the road can be a challenge, and, frankly, I did not worry too much about sticking to my normal, strict Paleo diet.  I still avoided wheat grains, but I enjoyed rice and potatoes, and even some dark chocolate covered almonds, taffy, and five-nut brittle (how can you resist five-nut brittle?).  Since diet was not at the heart of the fitness plan, we made sure exercise was.  How?  We brought our bikes along:

Our Thule bike rack was one of the best investments we've ever made.  We love having our bikes, and this hitch-mounted rack enables us to take them easily and keep them secure (though the best approach to security was learned the hard way after having my mountain bike stolen from the rack last fall). 

The best thing about bringing bikes on vacation is that you get to explore your destination, often along interesting bike trails, at a slower pace that enables you to truly "see" the area, while getting great exercise.

We were able to get in two great rides along the bike trails and bike lanes around the Monterey Peninsula.  Here are some pics from the first ride that will give you an idea of why we love exploring this way--I did a total of 20 miles while Michelle did 13 and ran for four (she was doing a "brick" in preparation for her upcoming triathlon):

 We also got to take a nice break along the way at a coffee shop with tables looking out across the bay.

Our second ride was equally fun but extremely challenging.  We not only rode a longer distance, we got caught in a rain storm that had us riding into a strong headwind with rain blowing hard into our faces as we made our way around the peninsula, past Asilomar State Beach, and up to the start of the 17-mile drive to Pebble Beach:

Not a lot of pictures from this ride as we were literally soaked and I needed to keep my iPhone dry.  Though it was a tough, cold ride, we enjoyed the novelty of the experience--a great memory to take home with us.

Here are the planned workouts and meals for the week--you'll note a different approach to the workouts this week which I'll explain in next week's post:

Workouts

Tuesday, 11/27

Warm Up (2 rounds):

• 15 min walk
• Samson stretch
• 15 sit ups

Workout (2 rounds):

• Air squats (max reps)
• Push ups (max reps)
• Planks (max time)
• Pull ups, chair assisted (max reps)

Thursday, 11/29

Warm Up (2 rounds):

• 15 min walk
• Samson stretch
• 15 rolling v-sits
• 10 twist lunges

Workout (2 rounds):

• Air squats (max reps)
• Push ups (max reps)
• Planks (max time)
• Pull ups, chair assisted (max reps)

 Saturday, 12/1

Warm Up (2 rounds):

• 15 min walk
• Samson stretch
• 15 sit ups

Workout (2 rounds):

• Air squats (max reps)
• Push ups (max reps)
• Planks (max time)
• Pull ups, chair assisted (max reps)

Meals

Monday, 11/26

 

Meatballs & Italian Sausage with Red Sauce over Spaghetti Squash

Tuesday, 11/27

 

Carne asada lettuce wraps

Wednesday, 11/28

Blue cheese bacon burgers on a bed of lettuce

Thursday, 11/29

 

Yakitori lettuce wraps with grilled asparugus

Friday, 11/30

 

Smoky Bacon Chili

Saturday, 12/1

 

Chili burgers

Sunday, 12/2

 

Grilled steaks with brussel sprouts