Vida. Risa. Amor.

So summer break has already passed the halfway mark and it's hard to believe how fast it's going!  We've really gotten good use out of our gym membership and it's been great for me to be able to have time for myself and get a good work out in and then after just hang out with my boys around the pool there.  While we're gone, my girls prefer to sleep in and have the house to themselves for a few hours so it has really worked out for all of us to have a little space from each other throughout the day. 

Exercise has always been a big part of my life.  Since the first pair of Zips running shoes I had it in my mind to run fast.  I'll never forget from 5th grade, the field-day when I won against David Zeitz and Brent Wenberg in the 50 yard dash.  Soccer was my all-time favorite game to play, but I stopped playing when I went in to Jr. High...(a decision I sometimes wish I could go back and change).  And though my Jr. high days were a little awkward, my parents made me try every sport the school had to offer.  I basically discovered I was unable to figure out how to spike a volleyball, was too nervous to play basketball in front of boys, and tennis just gets your teeth chipped.  I also remember skipping track practice to go to Dairy Queen with my friends instead...and getting caught.  But if I am most thankful for anything I learned from my high-school days, (besides learning to type), it is for the training I went through on my track team.  Being on a team taught me so many things...but the two things I'll remember the most are discipline and learning how to push myself harder.

(What can I say, lycra leggings aren't coming back any time soon, but atleast they made up for the really short shorts!!)  And Asics, in my opinion, are still the best running shoes.  Next to Zips.

So I actually can't remember the last time I went longer than a week without working out....(well, except for a "few weeks" in college and maybe when I had each of my kids).  Of course I sometimes go through seasons where I basically run the same distance and work out the same routines and so I kind of know my body doesn't get super challenged...but atleast I have the satisfaction of knowing I'm making the effort.  I've been bored of doing my usual "treadmill at the gym/weights at home workout" so I decided today to take the gym's total body conditioning class...and I'm trying to remember how I used to take that class 3 times a week last summer.  Oh. My. Gosh.  My body will be screaming at me in the morning.  I don't care though because I love this class.  It is fun to be in a class setting and be around a bunch of other women close to my age sweating and burning our booties off...(while secretly trying to lunge, squat, and lift faster than they all are!)  This class kind of reminds me of the same torture of the days of racing miles of circles around a track competing with a bunch of high-school girls....except that I guess we're about 18 years older.  Sigh.

When it comes to exercise, age is just a number, but the reality is I know I'm not getting any younger!...which is one reason why I'll always keep myself moving.  Another reason is because I'm in a "Biggest Loser" competition with my family, and I'd like to see if I can actually lose 15 pounds.  I like a good challenge, so bring it on!