Send some good vibes my way

By some miracle, the gym was not crowded last night and I was able to do my 6-mile tempo run without feeling death stares in the back of my head for being on the treadmill over the time limit. My tempo run was:

1 mile warm-up at 5.3 mph
4 mile tempo at 6.1 mph
1 mile cool-down at 5.3 mph

It got a little bit hard when I had about half a mile left of the tempo portion of the run. But lucky (and cheesy) for me, Chariots of Fire came on my ipod and I got all pumped. Whenever that song comes on, I picture myself limping through the finish line of some brutal race. I have no idea why I picture myself to be wounded, but it seems inspirational. Or something. I never said I was normal!

Run went well, but I was glad that I didn’t have to run tonight. Especially since a water main broke and my entire complex was without water. For a less sweaty workout, I did 20 minutes on the elliptical and then used The Fitnessista’s Intro to Iron Pumping Workout. Truthfully, I was getting a little bored of the New Rules of Lifting so this provided some much needed variety. I did the shoulders, chest and triceps workout. I could not do the pushups on the stability ball at all! I did them girly style instead. One of these days, or years, I’m going to be able to do a real pushup!

Dinner tonight was a reincarnation of Monday’s dinner. Basically, I used the same basic ingredients (frozen veggies, refried beans and salsa) and put them on a flat out wrap. Then I topped it with 2% Mexican cheese blend and baked it in the toaster oven for about 7 minutes.

My dinners tend to look very similar to one another. I guess I like what I like. So, those apple muffins that I mentioned yesterday? Here they are.

Apple Muffins
(adapted from this recipe)

1 cup 0% greek yogurt
1 chopped apple
1/2 cup no-sugar added berry flavored applesauce
1/4 cup egg beaters
1 cup oatbran like cereal (I don’t know what it was, some sort of 4-grain cereal thing)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat white flour
3 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tbsp. packed brown sugar
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 12 medium muffin cups with non stick cooking spray or line with paper baking cups. Mix yogurt, apple, applesauce and egg whites in large bowl until blended. Stir in remaining ingredients (except brown sugar) just until flour is moistened. Fill muffin cups 7/8 full. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan. Makes 12 muffins.

On a serious note, my father has a biopsy tomorrow morning. He underwent a 6-week chemical treatment and now they are going to see if the cancer has been eradicated. If there are no cancer cells present, he will just go on with his normal life and have to be checked every three months or so. If the cancer is still there, he will have to have his entire bladder removed. He won’t find out until sometime next week. I’m trying to be positive about the situation, but honestly, I have no idea what’s going to happen.