Weekly Rundown- Texas Style
Howdy! Yes, I had to say that. We’ve been in Austin, Texas since Tuesday on a fun family vacation. That didn’t stop me from exercising, of course! I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for this weekly rundown- here’s how it went! Monday Always a day off…. BUT WAIT! Not this week! I’m currently on a running build-up schedule where I run every other day, so this week it worked out that Monday was a “running” day. This was the official start of my return to running, and it looked like this: 30 minutes total of activity- one minute of running, nine minutes of walking, one minute of running, nine minutes of walking, one minute of running, nine minutes of walking. Sounds pretty tedious, doesn’t it? As you’ll see, the running increases pretty quickly. PT exercises in the evening. Tuesday Travel to Austin! Did some of my PT exercises in the evening. I now divide them up, and I did the floor exercises- clam shells, glute bridges, side lying leg lifts, all with a band. They’re sooooooooooo boring, but the good part is I can do them while doing other things, like watching TV. Wednesday Progressed to two minutes of running, eight minutes of walking, two minutes of running, eight minutes of walking, two minute of running, eight minutes of walking. No pain at all from my hip, hooray! After the run I did more PT exercises- squats (with a band around my thighs) and side planks. This was the day we did our scavenger hunt in Downtown Austin, and my son’s Apple watch reported that we walked seven miles! That was good, because I feel like we’re in some sort of contest where we have to eat all the vegan food in this entire city- and there’s a lot of it! Fun day. Thursday In the morning I did ALL my PT exercises- the floor ones, the side planks, squats, abs, and some balance exercises. Then we drove to Waco, which is about 90 minutes away, to visit Baylor University where my son will be a freshman in the fall! We got to meet his new trumpet teacher and have a tour of the music building. We did some walking around the campus, but overall it was a lower-activity day. But very exciting for us- because of Covid, the entire application/audition process was done over Zoom, so this was our first visit to my son’s future home! Friday Another run- we’re getting there! Three minutes of running, seven of walking, three running, seven walking, three running, seven walking. The place we’re staying is about a 15 minute drive from downtown Austin, so because I’m doing such a small amount of running we decided to just run in the neighborhood here- I know there’s an amazing hike-and-bike trail around the lake downtown, but I’ll run there on another visit. This was the day of our “infamous” hike. At least that’s the way we’ll remember it. We hiked to two waterfalls, and it was beautiful. And muddy. My daughter fell in the mud, and then fell into the creek while trying to wash off the mud. We had to go to Target to get her new clothes before continuing with our day. While at Target, I had a flashback to another vacation a few years ago where no one remembered to pack underwear for my son. We had to go to Target on the first day of our trip to buy underwear. What would our family do without Target? Side planks after the run and then the floor PT exercises at night. Saturday I broke my “every other day rule” and ran again, because Sunday we leave very early in the morning. This time it was four minutes of running, six of walking, etc. I’ve done this progression before, and it’s interesting how it gradually shifts from walking with running breaks, to running with walking breaks. Next time I’ll be doing 50/50 run-walk! Squats with the band after this “run.” Sunday Travel back to Florida! The good thing about leaving early is that we’ll be home by mid-day. PT exercises planned for evening! Anyone ever have a vacation with kids that went smoothly?- Things always go wrong for us, but I’ve learned to take it in stride.