New Home For The Parvus Challenge

The Parvus Challenge is moving to http://www.chadparvus.com

Using iWeb on my Mac to publish the blog is infinitely easier than using Blogger, so come to the new site and click on the tab at the top of the page!

:)

Chad

Day 41 - Study Study Study

Although I only have one class on Thursdays, today was FULL of work; my physics class has our first exam on Monday, so we reviewed it this morning in class, and I basically spent the rest of the day either on my laptop or in my books getting ready for it (b/c all the homework assignments are on the internet). I'll be doing the same for the bulk of tomorrow too... this is the NOT so fun part of being back in school!

Day 40 - Student Body

So today I decided to take advantage of one of the great parts about being back in school: the University Fitness Center (here at FIU it's called the Rec Center). It's a really big, ultra-modern facility with all the usual: cardio equipment, weight room, fitness classes, and even a full-sized basketball court. I used the opportunity to do some weight lifting (b/c it seems all I've been able to do for the past 2 weeks was run) and overall, had a great experience there. I just wonder how crazy it's gonna get in the fall w/ all the students back...

Day 39 - Finally Back!!!

So I've finally moved into my place in Miami and am back to blogging... I have made sure to keep up my running the past few weeks, and have averaged 3 days a week running, and have been going to the gym on the in-between days (at least last week and the week before). I had a great run today for about 25 minutes around the perimeter of the Biscayne Bay campus; it was really pretty and I was running right along the bay.

As you can see above, I have also been ingraciating myself with the local nightlife :) That picture was from last Thursday night at Buck 15 in South Beach, when I went out to celebrate my first week of classes being over (and finishing ALL of my homework!).

On The Move

Sorry for not being able to update this blog for the past week, but between finishing at work, living out of a suitcase, and having some kinds of plans/dinner/drinks/etc every night, this week had to be a "dark week." Fret not, because I am now en route to Florida (stopping in Philadelphia this weekend to see friends and family) but I will be back up and going starting next week!

Day 9 - Monsoon in NYC

Rather than just letting the residents of the Northeastern United States ease into a warm, pleasant springtime, the weather gods have decided to beat the hell out of us with a Nor'easter. Basically, strong arctic winds hit the Northeast and result in strong winds, blizzards, and torrential downpours. (NOTE: Yeah, that's an actual Accuweather map of Sunday into Monday - and NYC is SMACK in the middle, right under that huge "L")

Considering I couldn't even walk one block to the market (with an umbrella no less) without getting drenched, I decided to acquiesce to the will of God and remain couch-bound ALL afternoon... I got to catch up on Season 2 of Weeds and come pretty close to reading the whole Sunday New York Times (so it wasn't a completely wasted day!)

Day 8 - Shop Till You Drop

Today was originally supposed to be a day of light shopping and a nice long run... but considering I won't have the incredible city of NYC at my fingertips anymore, I decided that walking from store to store to store in SOHO would count as cardio :) Plus, since I spent most of the time searching for presents for my sisters (for belated bdays) and for my family over in SA, I figured no one would really give me grief about that...
I enjoy shopping in SOHO way more than any other area in NYC because it has all of my favorite stores w/in a few-block-radius: Ben Sherman, ESPRIT, H&M... to name just a few. One store I'll definitely miss is UniQlo, a Japanese shop that last year opened its Flagship store on Broadway b/w Prince and Spring. I find that its pricing is on par w/ H&M, but the quality is way better. Plus, everything is really simple and plain, w/o unnecessary logos and random "flair" that makes it look cheap. If you're ever shopping in NYC, check it out; you won't be disappointed!

Day 7 - 6-Pack, Here I Come...

A few months ago, I bought myself "The Abs Diet" by the editor of Men's Health; the title's a bit misleading, since it's not so much a "Diet" as it is a "lifestyle" - ultimately, nothing's "off-limits" though there are the "Abs Diet 12 Power Foods," with which you're supposed to concentrate most of your meals around (things like whole grains, lean meats, spinach, nuts, olive oil, etc). You're also supposed to try and eat 6 times a day; 3 meals and 3 "snacks" (like the walnuts & dried cherries mentioned before).

It's an awesome way to eat, and I have found myself basically never hungry, and feeling healthier, lighter, and more energized. I HIGHLY recommend reading it, b/c it's full of really useful, helpful information.

The book also has a workout program that I have found to be MUCH more enjoyable, faster, and more effective than traditional lifting. Basically, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are days to lift; you do an exercise for each major muscle broup, both upper and lower body, in a circuit. So basically, I do one set of squats, then move right on to one set of bench press, then right to one set of lat pulldowns, etc. At first, I thought this method would be really difficult in a gym b/c you're moving from machine to machine, and so often you have to wait till someone's done.

However, I found the opposite to be true; b/c you're not doing 3 sets of each machine, you can easily walk up to a machine even if someone's on it, and ask if you can jump on for just one set. No one's gonna say "no" and so I'm able to do 2 circuits in under 40 minutes - WAY easier and less time-consuming than before.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, you're supposed to do a quick set of 5 different Ab Exercises before the lifting, one exercise for each area of the abdominals - they include easy to follow illustrations and instructions (like the picture at the top) of how to do each, and it takes about 7 minutes. You also do Abs on Saturdays. And lastly, the days in-between are meant for cardio, so those are the days that I'm doing my running for the Parvus Challenge.

Today, since I wasn't running, was a day to do some lifting, and I did a decent job (though I'm running a little ragged w/ all the running around town I have to do as I'm leaving)... I have a feeling that next week is gonna be a "slow" week for training, as Thursday is my last day of work and I'm fitting everything I can in to the next week... So I'll probably be talking more about the places I've gone than the working out I've done... ;)

Day 6 - Off The Wagon & Onto The Rocking Horse

So Wednesday night didn't end with just dinner @ Hell's Kitchen... it continued well into Thursday morning, and despite the valiant efforts of my good friend Excedrin, I was in rough shape for most of the day Thursday...

However, my training schedule doesn't have any sympathy for my lack of self-control (and soft-spot for mojitos...) and I had to drag myself to the gym to at least clock in 20 minutes of running...

Since I'm still a transient, living off the kindness of my friends in the Financial District, I have started using the New York Sports Club on Water Street - it's kind of small, completely unlike the 5-story one I'm used to at 86th & Lexington... however, unlike the absolute zoo that is the 86th St gym, the Water St gym is a veritable ghost town at 7 p.m. I love the fact that I NEVER have to wait to use the weights or any of the cardio equipment. I had my pick of treadmills, and managed to run for about 22 minutes, with a pace starting at 6.0 mph and peaking at 7.0 mph (total distance of approximately 2.3 miles). Even getting a little bit of a sweat REALLY made a difference and I felt like a new person after I showered.

I followed up my quick run with an incredible dinner at The Rocking Horse Cafe on 8th Ave in Chelsea with my good friends Ken and Jay. The Mojitos and Sangria (do you detect a pattern yet?) are phenomenal, and the Scallops were, well... when AREN'T scallops delicious!? If you're in the mood for another great upscale-Mexican experience in the Big Apple, definitely head down to Chelsea for The Rocking Horse!

Day 5 - Hell's Kitchen

Because today was an "off" day, instead of running I met my friend John for dinner at the aptly named Hell's Kitchen in, well, the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of NYC (also known as "Clinton"). This place has awesome food (and GREAT sangria); it's described as "Nouvelle Mexican" and has interesting versions of classic Mexican dishes (click on the picture above for a glimpse of the appetizer menu). The fact that it's 2 blocks from my office doesn't hurt either!

If you're ever in NYC, I highly recommend it! Here's the info:

Snack Of The Week: Walnuts & Dried Cherries

Since I'm going to be working my ass off to get in shape and ready for the races and, ultimately, the Comrades, I've also become serious about my diet. I'll try and post up any ideas, tips, tricks, and recipes I come across that I think you might find helpful. Why not have a six pack when running across the finish line?

Luckily, my Mom was ahead of her time in terms of healthy food, so many of the basics to good nutrition have been instilled in me since i was a kid; that said, I'm always open to new ways to keep myself fed and my waist from expanding.

One thing that I wasn't taught as a kid was that snacking was actually GOOD for you... let me rephrase: Snacking CAN BE good for you. To keep myself satisfied (and to avoid binging at far-apart meals) I am eating a snack 2 hours b/4 every meal (so that I shouldn't go more than 3 hours w/o any food).

Today's snack is one that I got from a Food Network show I stumbled upon last week, "Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger." Coincidentally, I'm eating it right now as my noon snack. I liked this idea b/c it was incredibly simple, taking about 5 minutes to put together a whole week's-worth of snacks.

Basically, you just buy walnuts (which you can simply toast by tossing them in a dry pan and heating on medium heat on the stove for a few minutes) and chop them up into decent-sized chunks. Then you add the dried cherries (which are AWESOME! I'm not a big fan of raisins, so these are definitely a nice alternative) - Ellie suggests a ration of 2:1, so use 2 cups of walnuts and 1 cup of dried cherries.

Now, measure out 1/3 cup portions, and put them in those little snack-sized ziplock bags, and you've got 9 snacks ready for the week!