Good morning everyone – welcome to a brand new week! 
Dinner last night was great and dessert was even BETTER. We had a Dairy Queen Tagalong Girl Scout Cookie Ice Cream Cake!!!
Can you say rich cake, layered with gooey chocolate fudge crunch, peanut-buttery Tagalong cookies and creamy vanilla ice cream? Oh…my…this was divine! What’s your favorite Girl Scout Cookies? Mine are frozen Thin Mints, followed closely by Tagalongs. But, lets be real, I love ALL GS cookies!
![banner_blizzardcakes[1]](http://iowagirleats.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/banner_blizzardcakes1.jpg "banner_blizzardcakes[1]")
This morning my Mom and I headed out on freezing cold walk. Really? It’s July…really? Eh, it’s cool, we warmed up soon enough!
After our 1.5 mile loop, I said goodbye and continued on to run another two loops. As I was finishing up the first one, I did a mental check-in and asked myself two questions:
- Could you be breathing harder?
- Could you be running faster?
The answer to both questions was – YES! I realized that I was exercising at about 60% of my ability. I then realized that I am not doing myself any favors by getting up at 5:30 on a Monday morning to exercise and only giving 60%. I geared up and steamrolled that last loop – and I.felt.great.!!!
I think too often, I kind of la-di-da my way through workouts. I don’t do it consciously, but sometimes I’m out there you know, running, ellipticaling, etc. and not really concentrating on giving all of my effort to what I’m doing. Really – if I’m going to be taking the time out of my busy day to get sweaty, work out and spend some time on ME, then I should really be giving it 100%. You know what I mean? Go big or go home?! This is something that I’m going to be more aware of in the future and continue to push myself past the limits I may subconsciously be setting for myself. To success!
At any rate, after my run I made a deeelightful breakfast 
A Toasted English Muffin with Almond Butter, Sugar-Free Raspberry Jelly and a Sliced Peach.
This peach smelled so peachy. Don’t you just love that smell?
Trader Joe’s Almond Butter – so THICK! I love to put peanut/almond butter on hot english muffins/toast/bagels, because it gets so melty and perfect
Sugar-Free raspberry jam is just the right amount of sweet and such a fab contrast to the almond butter. Did you eat a lot of PB&Js growing up? I ate a lot of PBs – not a lot of J present
Since I didn’t get to drink my spinach with a Green Monster this morning, I decided to chew it for once! For lunch I packed a Spinach, Cucumber, Strawberry & Feta salad.
In the mix:
- 2 big handfuls spinach
- ~8 strawberries, sliced
- 1 medium cucumber, seeded & sliced
- sprinkle of feta cheese
I had a chunk of this cucumber as I was slicing it up – it’s from the garden of one of my Mom’s friends and is soooo sweet and crunchy. I just love produce from small vegetable gardens, I can totally taste the difference!
I also packed a Lemon Chiffon Yogurt. Sweet.
Alrighty friends – I hope you had a fabulous weekend and are ready to face the week ahead. I’ve got a four-day work week to look forward to – wheeeee!!
Have a great day!
~~~~~
Do you push yourself 100% when you’re working out? Do you see room for improvement in that department?
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I could push myself harder…definitely! Thanks for bringing that to my attention!
Most of the time I do push myself 100% when working out. There are some days, though, like today when I took it a little easier (I just ran a 10K on Saturday).
Your breakfast looks so good!
great point about pushing yourself. It’s really hard to push myself to 100% on a normal workout just because running around my neighborhood is SO different than a race where your adrenaline is pumping, etc.
I totally know what you mean about doing the “la-di-da” during my workouts, especially running. I have the mentality that I’ll always be a slow runner, so it’s OK if I’m going slow. Well, that attitude will never get me faster.
Thanks for the reminder of this. Sounds like a good goal to shoot for throughout my weekly workouts.
Hey, love your blog! I have totally been there where I thought “I am not giving 100%” and usually those days, where I go on and push myself to run faster, further, etc. I end up getting such a better workout than normal! Your spinach/strawberry salad looks super yum, that is one of my favorite salad combos.
Ooh, I just saw a commercial for the Tagalong blizzards and it made me really want one!! The power of advertising works I guess!!
I can’t believe you asked this question about giving your all during a work out, because now I’ll really have to think about how much effort I’m giving! I would probably have to say I can do better. Seems to me it’s mostly a mind game. If I say I’m going to run 3 miles, I tucker out at three. If I set my sights on 6 miles, I tucker out at 6! So, my question is, how do you set a goal without selling yourself short?
I plan to give 100% tomorrow! We’ll see!
http://funkylady21.blogspot.com/
It can be really challenging to push yourself harder, but it is crucial to improving your physical ability. A lot of the time I tell myself, you only need to do this for 20 minutes just put your absolute all into it that seems to push me!
I admire the fact that you’re a morning person and can actually get out of bed at 5-something-am and workout. I need to learn to be a better (not-cranky) morning person and save myself time in the evenings. Working out after work, sucks!
It depends. Sometimes I go all out, other days I let myself “just do it.” But at least I plan it.
Ooh the cake looks delicious! I love the girl scout samoas. Soooo good. Your salad looks so amazing with the strawberries!
When I’m working out I give it 100% for whatever workout I have in mind for that day. So if it’s a tempo run, I do my best to stay on plan. Or if it’s speedwork, I go as fast as I can and try to hit the intervals. BUT if it’s an easy recovery run, I try 100% to stay at that slower heart-rate level, you know? If you’re always giving EVERYTHING you got ALL the time, you’ll burn out. That said, it is important to push yourself and strive for improvement!
Good question!! I definitely don’t always push myself 100% but I am not always set on achieving that kind of goal either. Some days, I have a “gentle run” scheduled specifically to let my body and mind relax and not worry about my pace and how much effort I’m making.
When I take a class I am definitely better at pushing myself to the max – I think it’s competitive spirit in a group atmosphere that does it!
Running is when I ease off but sometimes I have those moments like you did today – in fact, I had one this morning too! Crazy. I was out for a gentle run but I felt so full of energy and just wanted to go fast, so I thought, you know what, go for it – push it when you want to
Hi! I love your blog and just made my first Green Monster. My husband was so skeptical and rolling his eyes at me… but honestly, it is so delicious! Spinach has such a mild flavor!
I love all your salads! I’m definitely going to make the strawberry one. Do you put any dressing on it?
Have a great day!
Hi there, Kristin! A friend of mine pointed me in your direction, knowing how much I enjoy cooking, and I love your blog – for your recipes, but especially your love of Iowa (born and raised, now living in St. Paul, MN).
I have a question that may seem a bit odd, but I’m dying to know…..how do you pick out peaches? Yours look so perfect! Mine always end up bruised and overripe – not fun to eat, let me tell you. So, I would seriously welcome any tips.
Thanks!
That cake looks delicious!! My favorite GS cookie is definitely the samoas!! Love those!! The salad looks delish, I am making a side salad pretty similar to that for dinner tonight!!
As for the 100% question, I think sometimes I find myself not giving 100%. But when I realize this I do tend to try to push it harder especially if I am running!! I find that I have a harder time giving 100% in other workouts besides running because it’s so much easier to go easy biking, ellipticalling, etc than it is for me to go easy in running. Don’t know if this makes sense or not! Ha!
I totally ‘la-di-da’ my way through workouts! It’s not intentional, I start thinking about other things and get distracted. I did bootcamp earlier this year and I found it really beneficial, I think because I was pushed the whole time! I got a lot out of it.
Thats awesome that you felt the urge to go a little harder today. It’s so cool when you can recognize that your body is capable of more and then actually finishing strong.
I try to recognize these ques as much as I can. When I run, I always try to push the last mile as hard as I can. I running my little heart out because I love the feeling of finishing a run all sweaty, heart pumping, and completeing exhilerated!
Your breakfast looks perfect and lunch looks beee-uuu-tiful! Does this really fill your tummy all day at work? I am ravenous during the day after my runs.
Yeah, I definitely need to give it more effort on my runs. But slow long runs are so much relaxing! LOL. I understand though that speed work is a must so have to work on it.
Fave GS cookie is definitely Samoas! A few months ago I had a GS Oatmeal challenge for myself, where I made a bowl of oatmeal for each flavor Girl Scout cookie…and the Samoas was by far the best!
Kool kake…he he! Looks yum-o!
http://www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com
One of the best things to do to make sure you are working out at your full capacity is to get a heart rate monitor. I got one a few years and ago and am so addicted! I have Polar F9 and it tracks your heart rate and calories you burned during your workout. At the end of the week, it gives you totals for the week; # days, length of time, and total calories burned. It’s a great way to set goals for yourself and track them.
Ah – a fellow Iowan! So glad you are reading! Hmmm – I pick peaches that smell “peachy” and that are just slightly soft to the touch. If they end up being too hard when I get home, I leave them on the counter for a few days to ripen. If I don’t want them to get any riper, I put them in the fruit drawer of my fridge. This slows down the ripening process. Hope that helps!
Kristin @ Iowa Girl Eats http://iowagirleats.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/iowagirleats
Fabulous – I’m so glad you liked it!! I do put dressing on my salads – right now I use a Kraft roasted garlic dressing. When that’s all used up, I pick a new one to try!
Kristin @ Iowa Girl Eats http://iowagirleats.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/iowagirleats
Absolutely!! If I tell myself, ok – I’m ONLY running 4 miles today – then I can feel my body start to crap out at 3.5 miles. This is why I’m totally convinced that running is 90% mental and 10% ability. The mind is a funny thing!!
Kristin @ Iowa Girl Eats http://iowagirleats.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/iowagirleats
It actually did! I was pretty hungry when I got home from work around 4:15, so I had a Clif bar to tide me over until dinner!
Kristin @ Iowa Girl Eats http://iowagirleats.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/iowagirleats