swimming Archives - FlashFit Trainer

This weekend was a weekend full of everything that summer weekends should be made of: outdoor picnics, live music, festivals, rides, sweet corn and fun houses.

Saturday, after getting the house cleaning done, our little family went to a benefit for our favorite long-time mechanic who just learned he is facing stage IV lung cancer. Though the circumstances are dire, the event itself was an amazing tribute to this talented man!

They had a really great cookout, a live band, lots of drinks, and a motorcycle rally. It was really quite fun! We tried to spend as much as we could on raffles and face painting and more raffles.

Hey look, we spotted a church friend doing the face painting!

After that, we snuck in our grocery shopping for the week. I am having the most delicious mother-of-a-wrap sandwich for my lunches this week. I haven’t even taken a picture of it yet because of its get-in-my-mouth urgency.

Sunday, we ran away to the county fair. We did all the summer things. Kayne and I went on all the rides. He’s 8 and tall now, so it’s so much fun to be able to ride all the big rides with him. And even some of the kiddie ones too, like the Fun House.

Another passing kid said “look, he’s a cowboy” and Kayne gave me the most “nailed it” smile. Exactly the look he was going for!

We had to stick around and watch the demolition derby at the fair too, of course. Even the baby loves stuff like this! She said “uh oh” about 1,535,654 times. Haha! Yes my dear daughter, uh oh.

Then, my most favorite summer festival thing, the sweeeeeet corn! I looooove me some sweet corn. Best part about summer! I buy it at fairs, I buy it at roadside stands, I buy it at the farmer’s markets and there’s some in my fridge right now.

We finished off Sunday evening with a good pool scrubbing and refill so we can enjoy this other novelty of summer. Meanwhile, kittens!

They’re kid-friendly

They can climb trees.

They’re good with other pets.

And they’re just too stinkin’ cute!

Anyone want one–or three? For real, we have probably 3 that aren’t spoken for yet.

What do your summer weekends typically look like?

There’s nothing like a great run to make me feel truly delicious. But sometimes, one gets burned out doing the same exercise every other day. So, once in awhile, I trade in my running kicks for bare feet and chlorine. But I am very picky about running alternatives. There are only a select few workouts that have a comparable intensity to me or leave me with that lung-expanded feeling like running does. If I don’t feel like a workout is as much of a challenge as running, I can’t justify substituting it for my passion (and hard-earned endurance level). My alternates to running include:

1. Kickboxing. Not the sissy stuff, the hardcore punching and kicking that leaves me winded.

2. Boot Camp: I found a great video at a rummage sale that kicks my butt every time. Try out The Method: Cardio Bootcamp.

3. Step aerobics: Take a trip back to the 80s. I once had a step instructor at the Y that changed the routines every single class and offered a fully modern workout that didn’t bring back memories of hot pink striped biking shorts. But Kathy Smith will do in times of need.

4. Swimming: something about the water, the buoyancy, the use of every muscle fiber to propel the body forward makes me feel like a million bucks and really does work the lungs to capacity.

5. Jump rope workouts: if you’ve tried one, you know what I mean.

6. Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred: even as a hardcore exerciser, this one still brings me to my knees every time.

Category: swimming

What Summer Weekends Are Made Of!

Running Alternatives