Strong!

I had a great workout last Sunday and another on Tuesday evening. Both times I ran three miles on a climbing machine at different levels of resistance. I also focused on my abs using a fitness ball and did more work with free weights.

Instead of doing isolated exercises again last night, I decided to try something that would work several areas of my body at once. I rode a rowing machine. It was a completely engaging workout, and the weirdo kid in me kept pretending I was rowing crew against a bunch of yuppies or trying to race upstream to save otters or something. My one problem is that my butt hurt pretty badly after my 20 minute rowing stint. I had to get up a couple of times during the workout to give my posterior a reprieve. I also got a nasty blister on my left palm. Totally worth it though. Rowing worked my arms, legs, shoulders, back, and abs--yes, I feel it in all of these zones today. It also got my heart rate up something fierce. As soon as the soreness wanes I'll definitely jump into the invisible/robot boat again.

I now want to take a moment to discuss something that I feel is really key to a good workout session: music.

I obsess about music in all areas of my life, so when I go to the gym I usually have a carefully selected playlist in tow. I've found that I work out best to hip hop. Jay-Z's Blueprint 3 is absolute perfection for a workout, as is Big Boi's brilliant Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, is one of my old standbys as well. The pace is perfect, and the entire album clocks in at just under 40 minutes, making it perfect for a treadmill/elliptical session. When I'm in the middle of a run and need something to keep me motivated, it always has to be Wilco's "Spiders (Kidsmoke)". The steady and gradual build of that song and the sporadic and frantic guitar work are great motivators. It's close to eleven minutes long, so if you're looking for a final push near the end of a stair climb or something, boom. Here it is. Britpop can be a good impetus for your heartrate. And I find that my tolerance for godawful pop music is highest when I'm working out. I learned that last time I went to the gym when I had just upgraded the OS for my iPhone, lost my playlists, and had to rely on Pandora's pop station since all of my custom stations are pretty weepy, rootsy, and shoegaze-y. I can't say that I would willingly listen to Jay Sean, Will.I.Am, or the Pussycat Dolls outside of the gym, and I still had to skip Train on principle (people really like them?), but they kept my gams kicking for an hour or so, so we're cool.

I think for my next entry I'm going to post a workout playlist. Get ready.

Right now I want to share this awesome vegetarian chili recipe I whipped up last night.

Three-Bean Chili:

1 can drained black beans
1 can drained white beans
1 can drained red kidney beans
1.5 cups of an IPA of your choice (or you can use vegetable stock, but beer will give you a ton of flavor--the more hops the better, since you'll need it to stand up to the spices)
5 cloves garlic
1 cup sliced crimini mushrooms (or white mushrooms)
1 cup sliced carrots
1 whole onion, minced
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 medium to large poblano pepper, minced
a generous sprinkle of kosher salt
a generous sprinkle of black pepper
2 tbsp ancho chili powder
1 tbsp cumin

I also added two tablespoons of homemade sofrito, which is basically Mexian pesto. This is totally optional. To make sofrito:

3 small bunches of fresh cilantro
5 cloves garlic
1 poblano pepper, seeded
1 bunch scallions
1 shallot
Juice from a lime
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper

This will make about a cup. I basically halved Chef Eric Williams' recipe. Sofrito makes an awesome marinade.

So anyway, throw all of your ingredients into a slow cooker and cook everything on low for about six hours. It's really easy and really healthy, especially if you don't top it with sour cream, sharp cheddar, and corn chips. Which I did, but hey, I work out a lot.

Slacking

All right, all right.  I admit it.  The reason I haven't posted in so long is not because I've been so busy exercising that I don't have time.  It's because I've been slacking.  I've really been slacking. 

In fact, the closest I've come to exercising all week has been the leaf-raking I did on Saturday.  We raked the lawns of some of the older people in the church I'm working at.  It was fun, but I'd rather get back into intentional exercise.

This is a process, right?