The last few days have been filled with frenzied activity as I work to put our house back together now that the kitchen cabinets are complete. I'm still without a working kitchen but at least I don't have pots and pans strewn all across the house! By week's end my kitchen should have a working stove, microwave and most importantly, running water.
Here's how Friday, Saturday and Sunday's fitness routines played out:
On Friday, I woke up, donned by workout clothes and waited for the arrival of a workman to measure the cabinets for our countertop. He wasn't finished until 10am. At that point I looked around the devastation that once was my living room and decided that it was time to clean. So I cleaned and exercised at the same time. I squatted, pushed and pulled. I got into every nook and cranny. Furniture was moved and bookshelves were dusted. My body was working hard. Beads of sweat dripped from my scalp. If I only I had worn my heart rate monitor - I must have had my HR up pretty high. This lasted for a good 2 hours when I decided to call it quits, take a shower and work on organizing the kitchen.
Saturday consisted of more organizing and cleaning. Lucy and I decided to ride over to the local Whole Foods so she hopped into the bike trailer and we rode down the street for some lunch. Pulling a 5 year-old is a bit more challenging than just riding on my own, trust me. We talked and sang songs on our short trip, ate lunch, rode back home and got back to work in the kitchen. The day was gorgeous so at 3pm we headed over to a park. We drove and Mitch jogged.
Going to a playground used to be one of my dreaded parental duties. Not that I don't love watching Lucy play - I just never knew what to do with myself so I often emailed or talked on the phone. But that's kinda lame. Children are so full of joy when they're on a jungle gym. They jump, hop, swing and laugh. Why can't I do that too? So this time around, that's what I did, sort of. I did push-ups, jumping pull-ups, squats and lunges all while Lucy swung from bar to bar and slid down the curvy slide. Lucy and I went on the swings and pumped our bodies as high as we could until we got that free fall sensation. We laughed, squealed and giggled. Then we jumped. Have you ever watched a child jump out of a swing? It's awesome. Lucy had both the look of fear and excitement on her face. Her hair flew behind her as her body was propelled forward. Then she landed, stood up, shook off any dirt from the landing and got right back on that swing. My jump was not as graceful as hers but it was still an freeing feeling. I found myself thinking "Do it again" and so I did until I felt a bit queasy.
And then we found a nice spot on the grass and watched the clouds. I saw dogs and hearts, Lucy saw the same. We laughed. She rolled down the hill gathering grass as she went. Then we picked buttercups until Mitch arrived. We watched some more clouds, did a few more rounds of swinging jumps then hopped back in the car to grab some dinner and head home. It was marvelous.
Today we all woke up late but I had committed myself to riding my bike in the morning. Mitch took Lucy to religious school while I rode over there. I usually don't ride on the road with cars that much, I stick to office parks. But today I clipped in and made my way over to Mitch and Lucy. It was short - just over 6 miles so it took me 30 minutes. The air was a bit cooler than I had expected and there was a breeze. My legs worked hard to get me up hills and across intersections. I felt confident and strong like my body knew what to do. And I ate a couple of bugs - I keep forgetting to keep my mouth closed!
When I arrived, I found our car, changed into my pink birks and hoisted the bike up onto the rack. Once inside I changed into a pair of pants and joined Mitch at the adult class where I drank coffee, ate bagels and learned. We walked outside until Lucy was finished. I did a few push-ups and stretches while Mitch read the paper.
Fitness isn't just about getting 1 hour of activity each day. It's a whole change in mental attitude. The last couple of weeks have presented me with all sorts of reasons not to exercise but my body and mind have other ideas. They need to be moved, stretched and challenged. I just have to listen and obey. In the end, I worked a little, played a little and learned a little. In the midst of chaos, I was able to make room for peace. For me, that's what this fitness journey is all about. Making peace with my body and enjoying all that this life has to offer.
I like this.
ReplyDeleteIt gets to the point of why we should exercise; some people may want to look like a bodybuilder, but most of us want to be able to do everyday things with more energy.
I also like that many of your routines get to the heart of what exercising should be about and for. The typical weightlifting workouts focus on static movements, but when was the last time you curled your child or bench-pressed a bag of groceries?
Being with a kid like Lucy makes you realize that you have to be able to do explosive movements, like jumping, sprinting, twisting, most of it off-balance.
My only question is: How do you find time to write such long, eloquent posts???