July 15th & 17th, 2011 - Swim & Hike

The continued prayer is, “Lord keep me focused. Keep my mind stayed on You. Help me to bring You praise. I know You believe in me. Please help me in my unbelief. Amen.”

This was truly a “If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em” situation.

My workout schedule has taken a beating lately because the kids have swim lessons right in the middle of my running time allotment.

I would love to be one of those disciplined creatures who get up at the crack of dawn to get a workout in but I’m just not that girl. Never have been.

I’ll bounce outta bed at 4am to make it to a Start Line with no trouble at all, but in my everyday living, the morning just comes way too early.

I believe in the power of prayer and I believe that if GOD can raise the dead, He can raise my bones outta bed in the wee hours of the morn. I’ve prayed about it (half-heartedly), but so far, it doesn’t seem to be His will that I be one of your early risers.


July 15th, 2011 – 1 Hour Swim
So I decided to dress out and do some laps at the pool after the kids’ swim lesson. Jordan stayed with me and we got to swim for an hour before the life guard put on his soccer flops (clearly the “Get Out!” sign).

I was hoping to swim a mile and a half and possibly get private lessons from my boy on how to do a proper breast stroke, which I never learned how to do. Turned out he was more interested in doing aquatic hand-stands and riding on my back like I was the main attraction at Sea World.

Ah, well….. at least I got a pretty decent workout and some quality time with my boy.

Moving on....




July 17th, 2011 – 2 Hour Trail Walk
This may not seem like a great workout but it was a win in so many ways.

After church, Chris asked me what I wanted to do. I told him I wanted to take the whole family for a hike. I offered to go to a trail that was closer to our home, but he wanted to see some water, so we actually got to take a drive out to Malibu Canyon.

We didn’t have luck with the first site we went to because we had Sarah and they didn’t allow dogs. That was a bummer because they had a cool pond that we could swim in. So we loaded up the SUV (Beverly Hillbillies-style) and headed to another trail that did allow dogs.

It had some very cool old movie sets and trails that were smooth and flat so the kids had an easy time.



After a short time, we found a pond and there were no signs that said not to, so I told Jordan he could kick off his sox and shoes and jump in!



Turned out Jordan was not as adventurous as I thought he was. He was a little unsure about the bugs and the goop. Scared to death would be a more accurate term.

I knew that he would regret it if we left without at least giving it a try, so I did what any good Mom would do: I thought, “White, Banana Republic weekend shorts and leather Brighton belt be damned! My boy needs someone at his side for this epic rite of passage into young manhood!” So I kicked off my sox and shoes and walked right in… because I think every boy should know what it’s like to swim in a creek!

Once we got in and he saw that there was nothing to be afraid of, we splashed around and had a great time!



Sure, I could have said, “Get a long run in” when my hubby asked me what I wanted to do today, but this is what memories are made of. Bonding with my boy and showing him that he can face anything with someone who loves him by his side is worth a million 10-mile runs.



Well, maybe not a *million*... If I don’t get a long run in this week, I may have to hurt someone.