For All Of The Runners Out There

I am planning on running the Chase corporate challenge this year, thanks to my team captain at work. He found this great site to track your running distances. It seems to work great, and it sure beats having to drive around in your car trying to figure out the mileage. http://www.mapmyrun.com/

Attention All Smoothie Junkies

So, I'm a smoothie (protein shake) junky. I love the taste of a fresh fruit protein shake or a delicious chocolate/vanilla monkey (Peanut Butter and Banana). But until recently I used to get fed up with blending these things in my $30 Hamilton Beach stirrer ( I can't call the thing a blender, no matter what the label says). So I was doing some research on Consumer Reports and I found the Braun MX2050, and I was lucky enough to have "Santa" leave one under my tree ;-) . I love this thing!!!! It chews through ice for a perfect smoothie every time, while my old blender would leave large chunks ( or cubes with the edges rounded off ) of ice.

Protein shakes are a great way to supplement a meal, or replace calorie rich nutritionally void junk food snacks. Here are a couple of recipes to satisfy the sweet tooth.

Vanilla/Chocolate Monkey (This is at all the smoothie bars)
1 Scoop Whey Protein Vanilla or Chocolate ( your choice on brand of whey )
1/2 Banana
1 Tbsp Peanut Butter
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Ice

Graham Apple Pie ( my original )
1 Low Fat Graham Cracker Crumbled
1 Scoop Vanilla Whey protein
1 Cup Apple Juice ( go for the real apple juice, not the artificial/high sugar stuff)
1 Cup Ice

Black Forest
1 Scoop Chocolate Whey Protein
1 Cup of Frozen Cherries or Raspberries
1 Cup Water
1 Cup Ice

Keep in mind adding a Tablespoon of ground flax is a nice way to add some Omega 3 - Fatty Acids ( the good fat ), or oatmeal adds some good complex carbs to you shake.

Forecast: Possible Best Of Volume 3

Well, it looks like I might be well enough to teach class today. I'm battling a cold, so hopefully I'm over the hump. If I'm feeling good by than we will celebrate with the first half of the class today with Best Of Volume 3 - Throwdown. This is one of my favorite because it is truly the best moves and music of Rounds 17 to 21. I'm hoping to make it through the first Turbo through recovery. Best of Volume 3 A.K.A. BOV3 is unique in that it offers 3 turbos. So be ready for a killer workout when we round it out to completion next week. It's also a special round for me because I made an appearance in the instructional DVD for it.

3/6 Update Number 2

Well, if you did attend class last night you probably noticed that Darlene covered for me. Things kind of came together last minute, so I hope you all enjoyed a little change of pace.

It looks like the surgery went well for my mother, so as of right now I expect to be back on Wednesday possibly with some new/old material. It all depends on how things go today. I look forward to getting back into the gym, because sitting around in a waiting room all day makes you kind of stir crazy.

Mark's Sub Notice 3/6

Here is my sub schedule for Monday March 6th. I will be in Utica, because my mother is having surgery for Spinal Stenosis . It's quite an extensive surgery, so there isn't really any chance of me making it back into town, much sooner than Wednesday. I' m hoping to have a chance to review my notes for "The best of Turbo Kick volume 3" while i'm in the waiting room. It will at least keep me occupied while we are waiting.

Monday 3-MAR-2006 5:30pm - Turbo Kick - Deb
Monday 3-MAR-2006 6:30pm - Total Body Express - TBD