Fit Friday - Delicious Chicken Salad and Aerobic Base Training

It is Friday once again. Ruthie from Whats Cooking With Ruthie is here to for our Fit Friday posts. She brings a delicious salad recipe to help us stay out of a rut with out healthy eating, or for some it may inspire more healthy eating. I am following up with some important info for cardio training, specifically for those of you that have started forming your race schedules for the year. Enjoy! And have a wonderful Friday!

Avocado, Tomato, Chicken Salad with Basil Vinaigrette has amazing flavor and it's good SO for you too!
  Avocado, Tomato, Chicken Salad with Basil Vinaigrette on www.cookingwithruthie.com has amazing flavor and good for you too!
 January seems to be the that time of year when we all try to focus in a little more on having healthy and balanced nutrition. I try to eat a salad every day- it's pretty simple to do, actually! Avocado, Tomato, Chicken Salad with Basil Vinaigrette on www.cookingwithruthie.com has amazing flavor and good for you too!
 On your next shopping trip to the grocery store grab a bag of mixed salad greens, a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, and a couple of different kinds of nuts- I like to have pinenuts, sliced almonds, and sunflower seeds on hand in the freeze so they stay fresher longer. OH and I'm a lover of cheese so I usually have some parmesan and chevre goat cheese in the fridge too. Avocado, Tomato, Chicken Salad with Basil Vinaigrette on www.cookingwithruthie.com has amazing flavor and good for you too! Then let your imagination run wild! Mix and match your salad ingredients to make healthy and ddelicious combinations... then you know you're helping to get your 5 a day fruits and veggies. Awesome :)
Avocado, Tomato, Chicken Salad with Basil Vinegrette
Recipe Type: Main
Author: Ruthie
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 4 cups mixed salad greens
  • 2 cups shredded chicken breast
  • 2 avocado, halved, pitted, and thinly sliced
  • 2 vine ripe tomatoes, halved and quartered
  • 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
  • 1/4 cup red onion, small diced
  • 1/4 cup chevre goat cheese
  • sea salt to garnish
  • Basil Dressing:
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh basil, thinly sliced
Instructions
  1. Basil Dressing:
  2. Combine all ingredients and whisk to combine.
  3. Allow flavors to meld while making salad plates.
  4. Salads:
  5. Place 1 cup salad greens on each serving plate.
  6. Arrange 1/2 cup chicken in a row down the center of each salad.
  7. Arranging tomato and avocado slices to each side of the chicken.
  8. Evenly distribute chevre cheese, pine nuts, and red onion over salad.
  9. Garnish with a sprinkling of sea salt.
  10. Serve with Basil Dressing.
  11. Enjoy!
  Avocado, Tomato, Chicken Salad with Basil Vinaigrette on www.cookingwithruthie.com has amazing flavor and good for you too!  

Getting a healthy salad everyday like our Avocado, Tomato, Chicken Salad with Basil Vinaigrette is sure to keep us on track for a healthy and happy new year!

Nichole here; another week has flown by and I am here once again with some quick tips. Many of my clients, along with the rest of the world, use the new year to make some race goals. Sometimes these goals are new events, new distances, renewed hopes, P.R.s, etc. Whatever the goal you need to make sure you have a solid base and a good training plan.


What do I mean by a solid base? And why do you need one? Aerobic base is the heart rate range in which you can exercise for a long period of time, 60%-80%.
What is the benefit? Aerobic base training increases VO2 max, lowers heart rate, and lead to your body being more efficient.
I realize people love interval training and HIIT style, I love interval training. It is a great way to get in a killer workout in a limited amount of time, but if you do not spend some of your training time developing that base you are more likely to get injured or at least you won't get all of the awesome benefits of interval training.
Most research recommends at least 50% of training to be done at this level. Which brings me back to the beginning, in order to train for those races of 2016, you need to develop that base. Let me explain what that means to me....a runner. This is not a normal year for me, at least not the first half of the year, but once this baby comes I am back to marathon training for the fall. Being a busy mom my goal is 4 days a week of running, if I get any more in that is just bonus. I spend 2 of those days  pushing my heart rate and 2 of those days getting some steady miles in.


Day 1: Intervals; short distances mixed in with recovery runs. For example: 400 m sprints with 200 m jogs.
Day 2: Recovery Run: Mid mileage (5-8 miles) at a steady and maintainable pace.
Day 3: Tempo Run: mid mileage distance for the overall run with a few hard miles mixed in. For example: 1 mile easy, 2 miles at race pace, 2 miles easy for a total of 5 miles.
Day 4: Long run 30-60 seconds slower than race pace.

And there you go! That is just an example of my training. There are lots of different training plans out there. You have to find the one that works for you and your goals, just remember it has to include some of that aerobic base training. Good luck!


Happy Fit Friday!! Much Love and Peace~ Nichole and Ruthie

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