Xercise365

I must confess, it is getting more difficult to do the X-plan. First there are the shorter days, Then there were some health issues. I’ve been having x-rays, sonograms, etc to determine what’s going on with the my gall bladder.  Plus, I have been keeping a pretty hectic schedule (often in the office at 6 am or before). However the X-time is keeping me sane. Here’s the week in review:

- Sunday - family hike in the woods. It was great and having a little one on my back helped get my heart pumping).

- Monday - Skiing! My favorite form of exercise lately. We had the lake almost to ourselves and the water was like glass. I told my friend’s the Leslies that I am about my happiest when slicing through the water. We watched the sun set on the lake and it was glorious. I wrote on my other blog this summer about how we were playing catch up and trying to milk the ski season for all we could.

- Tuesday - Biking  through the trails at the Maryville College woods. I am very fortunate to have such quick and easy access. I can be in the woods in less than two minutes from my house on some fun single track and some wide open trails.

- Wednesday - Skiing. Twice in one week! I was in heaven.

- Thursday was crunches and floor exercise day. Not much but better than nothing.

- Friday and Saturday - Biking.  Nuff said.

Today we were at the lake again…ahhhhh Life is Good!

We’ll the X-tivity wasn’t as varied as last week.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I biked through Maryville the college woods near my house. With the leaves starting to change and the sun peaking through the leaves, it was a different sight each day (some days I rode in the am others late day). Thursday was light (crunches) and Friday swimming and little biking. Saturday I biked with my son and worked in the yard and today, a short ride and a family walk in the woods. Thursday night I attended the first board meeting of the Jeff Roth Cycling Foundation for which I am now Vice President. I am happy to serve particularly since Kathy (Jeff’s widow) is so passionate about helping save the lives of cyclist through education and increaded awareness. There are LOTS of cyclist on the road and people need to know the 3 foot rule. One morning this week, some knucklehead (which is really being kind), yelled at my daughter and me as we crossed the road safely. I looked at him as he rode by and he gave the universal sign for #1 one. Then slowed, turned and came back. He used his CB radio to say additional unintelligent things that fortunately neither of us could hear. Lots of work to do to educate the uneducated.

When I started this plan to exercise everyday for one year, I thought it would be pretty easy. I forgot about hectic travel, busy lives, not feeling well, etc. Somehow I have managed to exercise at bit each day. Most days I have done pretty well but a few times I sat up in bed close to midnight and did 25 stomach crunches or walked the stairs in my house multiple times. This week while traveling I achieved a goal I set in this blog - to do a totally different kind of exercise every day for one week (and I almost did it in a difference city). Here’s the run down:

Sunday - Water skiing in Vonore, TN

Monday - Power walking in San Francisco

Tuesday - Jumping rope in San Francisco

Wednesday - Lap swimming in Las Vegas

Thursday - Weights in Lansing, MI

Friday - Mountain biking in Maryville, TN

Saturday - Stairs on the Riverwalk in San Antonio

Today - kickball with my kids (plus biking). Fun but exhausting week.

Our the Labor Day weekend, my family and I rented a cabin in the beautiful western Carolina mountains. My exercise over the weekend was run/walking up a very steep incline. It felt good to breath in that mountain air. It was delightful. After surving a stomach virus taht didn’t want to go away, I am going to pick up the X-plan a bit. There were some days, it was all I could do to do some sit-ups.

While I’ve been absent from writing here, I have still been at it. It’s been difficult to enjoy the outdoors with the heat index and now add fires in this part of the country. I did enjoy a wonderful ski ride on Saturday evening which of late is my favorite X-tivity. It was dusk, the water was smooth, and the moon was coming up over the mountains. It truly was a fantastic evening!

 How are you dealing with the dog days of summer and heat like an oven?

Lately, my Saturday exercise routine has revolved around chores. Today I did some painting with the fine help of my eight year old daughter. I took three of my girls swimming and walked around my yard and garden a lot to make sure that the many dry areas of my yard were well watered. In between all this, I got in a few situps. I am as tired as if I had run five miles or biked twenty five. Still going…

Saturday was quite the exercise day. My friend Eric (who can fix anything) agreed to help tune the boat while my son and I helped him at his house. My son mowed his yard while we worked on the boat. Then we worked around his house cleaning up from a recent remodel on his home (I could have stopped there and had plenty of exercise for the day). About 5:30, we headed down to the lake with his son. Then the four of us headed out on the boat swiming and skiing until the sun set. It was a beautiful evening. Eric said it was almost surreal being out in the boat with the sky putting on a show of brilliant colors. I got lots of exercise Saturday…not only exercising my body but also my mind and spirit. My son said it was one of his favorite days ever. Indeed, it was a day to remember. So much so that I repeated the day with my family on Sunday. Almost a carbon copy. I LOVE summer!

One day soon, I am gong to do a completely different exercise  everyday for a week. Five miles biking on the greenway tonight plus 100 crunches…

It’s probably pretty obvious, I LOVE to bike. I love the feeling of pedaling
as fast as I can. I love hearing the tires on the pavement. I love flying
down a hill. I love being surrounded by summer engulfed in green. I love
feeling the wind blow through my hair even if most of it is tucked in under
a helmet.

Tonight, I biked in Madison, WI. They have an awesome Greenway Trail that
backs up to some quaint neighborhoods with wonderful gardens and flowers. I
rode the bike from the Arbor House Bed and Breakfast where I am staying to a
funky little restaurant where I had a delightful dinner. My client had a
suggested a Courtyard by Marriott but I found this quaint inn that had
bikes. I thought it would be a great way experience the local flavor of
Madison. I like the flavor here and it looks like it would be a cool place
to live (make that COLD place to leave in a few short months).

I may not blog tomorrow but I plan to be up on the trail with the sun.

Last Sunday, I wrote about riding with my son early in the morning. One of the reasons we did that was to prepare for a 51 mile bike ride today on the Virginia Creeper Trail. It was incredible! A beautiful clear and crisp day with low humidity and I am so proud of my son who with very little training rode a mountain bike a LONG way. I’ll likely write more about this and post a picture. I just wanted to reassure the one person who is following this that I am still committed to my X-plan. I swam laps Thursday and had hoped to do a short ride last night in Damascus but had to settle for a push-up and sit-up workout.  I ate enough over the weekend that everything problem just balanced out.