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Wake Up Work Out
5:45am – alarm goes off.
5:57am – Out the door for leisure bike ride
My body has come a long way from just 3 weeks ago when my “physical activity” amounted to 5 minute walks around our hotel courtyard. While I am in no running shape, I have built up my walks to around 2 miles each morning and each evening. Occasionally I’ll go on an easy bike ride next to my mom while she jogs or do some light stretching and balance exercises. So this morning I decided to do them all back-to-back for a true workout! You gotta work with what you’ve got. Because my mom jogs before work, we started at 6am. Once you lace up your shoes and get outside, it really gets easier to be awake at the crack of dawn (during summer vacation I might add!).
Well….not according to my “walking partner” Missy…..
She would not be accompanying me on my early morning route.
My mom jogged two miles this morning (Sadly, this is more than I have run in a month. I’m going through withdrawals of endorphins). It was beautiful out, even though it’s supposed to be ugly and in the 100’s by this afternoon. And I got to wake my legs up with a cruise on my bike.
Next I ditched my bike (and my mom), turned on my Garmin GPS watch and headed out to the neighborhoods. At just 6:30am, it was silent. I finished my two miles in under 40 minutes (not impressive, I know. Right now, walking is more to get my body moving than to get some serious cardio exercise. It’s a slow process.) Meanwhile, Missy snoozed away!
Leg 3 of Wake Up Work Out was in the comfort of my own living room with some mellow morning music playing. I stretched my entire body, starting with my neck and ending with my calves. Next, a series of balance exercises like Tree Pose, Dancer’s Pose, and other things I made up as I went along. 85 minutes total, and while I wasn’t sweating or breathing heavily I felt like I had worked my whole body and EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS! All of this should help when I start my training again in just 2 weeks. “Real” workouts are coming!
My music selection, odd as it may be, was a ‘blast from the past’ type of thing. All CD’s that I had and forgot about. It’s funny how years later I can still remember the lyrics, yet I couldn’t tell you what I wrote my English 205 persuasive essay on last semester.
Missy was not forgotten! She went on a mini-walk with me after she fully woke up. Rough life…
Time for breakfast: Oatmeal with Cinnamon and Craisons!
Vacation & Exercise
Most people look at vacation as just that: a time away from responsibilities which includes daily workouts. It’s usually a time of relaxation, where the calories don’t count and you stay far far away from any treadmills. But you pay for it the day you come home, unhappy with the number on the scale and a little rusty the first time back in the gym. I think exercise should be a part of any vacation and it really can be a fun point of the trip! If you are anywhere in nature, all you have to do is seek out a trail and explore with a hike. You don’t even have to think of it as “working out” – it’s sightseeing on foot which will benefit you more than just keep calories at bay. You might end up seeing some pretty great views you would otherwise have missed out on.
But if you are going somewhere less natural (say… New York City) you’ll have to get a bit more creative. We were in the city for 17 days this July. My surgical procedures did not begin until Day 5, so we had a few “play days” and you bet we hit up Central Park. The place is AMAZING! It goes for blocks and blocks with a ton of paths leading in different directions. There are baseball fields and bike paths and fitness classes on the lawns. It’s an impressive place to totally take advantage on for getting active.
My family rented bikes and made a lap around the park which has some incline. Then I found a running path around a gorgeous lake, about 1.75 miles, and got in a few laps with the locals. It was actually a highlight of the trip, and I really enjoyed getting to work out in such a new and unfamiliar but fabulous place. Vacation isn’t really an excuse to be completely lazy; it should inspire you to get creative with a workout and find a new way to be active. I’m lucky enough to have my Photographer/Mom to capture the moments.
