The Anderson's Garden
A salad a day….my training mantra for these past weeks. This has required effort on my part. As much as I love to order a good salad in a restaurant, it’s not what I crave at home. My husband planted this fabulous mesclun lettuce mix in our garden (photo) and it is making my daily quest for a salad actually tolerable. It is truly amazing how lettuce fresh from a garden can taste so much better! My 13 year son and I sometimes have what we call “power salads”- – just eat it raw and get it over with! But I have also found some really fabulous dressings that have helped me make it through these salad days:
- Trader Joe’s Champagne Pear Vinaigrette (This is my favorite on a salad with a sliced pear, walnuts and a handful of gorgonzola cheese).
- Trader Joe’s Cranberry, Gorgonzola and Walnut Dressing (I like to add a handful of their Omega Trek Mix)
- Organic extra virgin Olive Oil and Seasoned Rice Vinegar (my daughter Isadora’s favorite — a combination her Grandma Luanne taught her).
Cross-training has taken on new meaning as I nurse yet another foot injury. This time on the top (same foot), the result of a shoe tied to tight? Frustrating to say the least, but it’s been getting better every day. One day running, then two or more days off. Cross-training on off days and one full day of rest. This has been working so far to keep me fit with less running.
I received my Resistance Stretching with Dara Torres DVD (Dara’s’ secret weapon for training over 40) and I am into a few days of trying it out. So far so good and will review after a few weeks of keeping up. I think all of us forty somethings will find this one really helpful for all those tight parts. My husband and I went to see the film The Hurt Locker last night (an excellent account of the war in Iraq from the point of view of a few men…staggeringly eye opening) and when I got up my legs were SO tight from sitting there after a 14 mile run that morning. So I came home and did some of what I now call the “Dara stretches”.
