About Me

My photo
Alabama
I am a fitness loving, home schooling, fan fic writing, online gaming, weight lifting, running when and where I can kind of mom...I love my kids and husband, and wouldn't trade my life for anything!

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Of splash pads, sharks, stars, and sunburns.

         It's been a couple of weeks since our vacation, and I'm still enjoying the stress relief it brought me!  Our five days at the lake side cabin proved to be everything I had hoped, and more, and I have come back to the daily grind refreshed and ready to get back to business.  
       We spent most of the time chilling out at the splash pad and pool, trying to help the kids gain more confidence in the water.  Both Ayden and Kathryne made some really good progress, but Ayden really surprised me.  He'll be swimming in no time! We, unfortunately, didn't get much time at the beach due to a few unfortunate circumstances.  On the first day we planned to go, swarms of sharks had appeared all along the waters of Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, which led officials to close many of the beaches, and warn people on other stretches of sand to stay out of the water, just in case.  By the time the sharks had scurried away, and the beaches opened again, red flags went right back up.  There were some very strong currents and rip tides,  which makes swimming dangerous even for strong swimmers.  We finally managed to squeeze in some beach time on our last day along a stretch of water that is not as prone to strong waves, but we still had to stay in very shallow waters.  Even then, it made for some good fun and photos!

     Our adventures weren't just limited to water, though.  We spent an afternoon walking around the Gulf Shores Zoo, which was fun at first, but it got hot quickly, and I think the kids may be growing out of their zoo phase.  They enjoyed more our trip to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola.  We arrived in time to see the line forming to go watch the Blue Angels practice over the air strip!  Granted it was a long wait, very hot, and ended up giving Ben and I a nice bit of sun burn (the kids were, thankfully, spared), but it was amazing!  I'd never actually had the chance to see them before, so this was a wonderful experience for all of us.  Well, at least until Kathryne started fussing.  I think it was less to do with the noise (I DO have video proof that she was enjoying herself at first) and more to do with the fact that she was hot, tired, and hungry.  Ayden lasted the entire show though, and spent the whole museum trip talking about how he was going to be a Blue Angel pilot one day.  He is now the proud owner of a large, die cast blue angel model airplane that has fueled many hours of imaginative play.

      In addition to some much needed R and R, I also made sure to keep up the work outs.  Yep, you read that right.  I did not use vacation as an excuse to slack off!  While I was only able to get in one run, I still did my weights every other night, and spent a great deal of time doing other physical activities.  I made sure to swim laps in the pool, did an impressive amount of walking, and basically did what I could to stay active.  I must have done something right, because by nine or ten most nights I was crawling into bed, and falling asleep the moment I made contact with the pillows.  If you know me, you know that this is a very unusual thing for me to do.

     The one run I was able to manage was short, but still a big achievement.  I have never had the chance to do a run on the beach.  It's something I've always wanted to do, but I have always been too afraid to give it a try, because I knew it would be one of the hardest things I've done yet. After doing the mud run, I finally had the courage to push myself to do it.  I set what I believed was a reasonable goal of one mile. We would start at the pier, and go from there.

   Let me just say this.  I cussed more in that one mile, than I did the entire mud run.

    Barely a quarter mile in, I was already wanting to give up.  My legs burned, my chest hurt, and my pinkie toe was throbbing.  No really, it was!  Luckily Ben was not about to let me give in.  At half a mile, I was determined.  I stopped to catch my breath, and was feeling all smug about how far I'd come until I saw how "not far" we had come from the pier.  I believe I said the "F bomb" a few times.  Still, I kept going.  I had a good flow of music, and after coming half way, I was sure as hell not going to give up.  Three quarters of a mile in, I had a come to Jesus moment because I thought I was dying.  Then finally we came up on that last stretch.  I wanted to give in, but my destination was just ahead.  You see, the thing about running on that beach is that it lacked the twists and turns that my usual routes take.  This meant I could clearly see what I had accomplished, which made a much bigger impact than seeing it mapped out on my GPS.  Sure, I cussed a little more, yelled at Ben, shed a tear or two, and doubted my sanity, but I finished that mile.   And you know what?  I want to do it again.  Knowing now that I can do it, I am going to go back one day and challenge myself to go beyond a mile.
   

     After that, we sat down on the beach and just watched the waves roll in for a while.  This was mostly a chance to let me catch my breath again, and reassure myself that I was indeed still alive, but to also just enjoy the quiet of the ocean, and the stars above.  I so rarely get a chance to run at night in Mobile, and when I do, you really can't see the stars like you could that night at the beach. I was so busy fussing about how hard the run was, that I didn't notice the beauty all around me.  I was glad for that break because I made sure to look up to the skies on the return run, which made it much more enjoyable. Our break finished, we hiked it up to the road, which ran through the national park, and back to the pier.  In the end, I had only run two and a quarter miles, but I was okay with that. After starting out not even believing I would make even one mile, I am very pleased with what I achieved.  Thank you, Ben, for running with me and pushing me to do something I didn't think I could do.

     The vacation also proved to be a good chance to learn some new work outs to help me build up my arms.  Most of my lifts focused on my biceps, chest, and shoulders but nothing really for my triceps.  Dad showed me some new workouts that I am going to incorporate into my weekly routine to help build up those muscles now, though I am considering having a day specifically focusing on my triceps and abs.  Knowing myself, and my current strength, it will likely be the best option for me.

     I've also set for myself a new goal.  I enjoyed wearing my two piece, and proudly showed off my mum-tum, but I want to look even better next year. There will never really be any sort of perfection, unless I go for plastic surgery, but I'm going to do what I can to make myself look better in a bathing suit. I discovered a new confidence that I never knew I had during those days at the pool side, so with continued work, I know that my confidence will only go up from here. And, upon reaching my goal (because I WILL reach it), I am going to reward myself with a new bikini next year. That is DEFINITELY something I look forward to.

Hope everyone enjoys the rest of summer. Stay safe and wear sunscreen!
Kristina

 









     

No comments:

Post a Comment