Sink or swim ...Diary of a Newbie.

It seems that the only time (in my life) that I've ever taken up swimming is while pregnant.  Although I was born and raised in sunny South Florida, my definition of swimming in that lifetime meant swimming from the beach to the boat that was anchored offshore or around the boat while we were either deep sea fishing or while my stepfather and his friends were out scuba diving.  Yes, I DID swim with barracudas in waters of 100+ ft of ocean depth.  It didn't seem adventurous at the time...just a way to keep from getting seasick in a rocking boat while I waited for the adults to come back from their fun.  How times have changed.  I can't even fathom leaving my kid ALONE. On a small vessel.  In the middle of open rough waters. At 12?  Insanity.  Anyway, total tangent, sorry...my point is that having had that experience and growing up that way did not a lap swimmer make.

I had never swam a full length of a pool until I got pregnant with baby #3 a couple of years ago.  I was trying diligently to stay in shape and I knew I had to find a way to continue working out that was not going to be such a hard strain on my body like running or as potentially dangerous as riding a bike.  It is well documented that swimming is a fantastc form of exercise. The benefits are overwhelming and I knew that that was the best choice for me. However,  I also knew I had to start early in the pregnancy  because if I didn't get over the fear of it then, I'd likely give up on working out all together after running and cycling stopped being an option. I wish I could have started doing it when I was a kid. But c'est la vie, a swimming pool was a luxury that not many people I even knew had when I was kid. A boat, yes...a swimming pool, no way.  Go figure.

When I first started, my biggest issue with swimming was...well, everything.  I went across the pool (which I had even a stage fright type of fear to even do) while a friend, who is an amazing swimmer, watched.  I was so nervous, I felt like I was flopping around all over the place, gasping for breath...a total hot mess in the lap pool.  She was nice though.  She gave me a few pointers and said it wasn't so bad. She was encouraging and said that it would get better and easier.  The hardest part from that point forward was getting to the pool, jumping in and GOING across.  Each time, I went by myself hoping no one was there.  I didn't want anyone to watch the disaster that I was.  Each time, I hoped it would magically just click and it would be easier already.  Each time, I left defeated and frustrated.

Until that is...the fateful day that I showed up to the pool when there was a Masters Swim class going on.  Talk about intimidation!  Everyone had swim caps and they were just racing across the pool back and forth, back and forth...and that's when I decided that maybe I could just join the spin class or...run on the treadmill...or go home and put in a P90X video! ANYTHING sounded better than getting in that pool.  But alas, Coach Stephanie was there.  Sweet Coach Steph...she warmingly, invited me to jump in.  There just happened to be a lane open too.  I explained my situation: "I don't know how to swim very well...and I'm pregnant." You'd think these two pieces of information would just make her back off and let me leave.  But no, with much enthusiasm she told me to jump in and show her what I got.  UGH!! I got nothing, I thought.  But not one to argue with authority (she's a teacher after all), I did just that.  She, too, was so sweet.  "It wasn't so bad!" she said in her perky fun voice. "But I feel like I am going to drown!", I said. She helped me and showed me when I was supposed to come up for breaths and how.  However, because of the pregnancy, I was already short of breath so holding it for even two arm strokes was nearly impossible.  I tried and tried but I was getting so frustrated.  I told her I just didn't feel like I was getting a good workout because I was so consumed with breathing and taking in water.  ...and my situation was only going to get worse the further along I got into the pregnancy.  We ended that session with her advice: get a swim snorkel and nose clip and a maternity swimsuit.

I didn't even know snorkels existed that werent attached to a mask. For this purpose! I followed one of those two pieces of advice she gave me and I rushed to Sports Authority the next day and bought the snorkel and nose clip and eagerly went back to join the Masters class.  Already, can you tell the improvement in my attitude about this?  EAGER to join Master's?!  The idea that I could get across AND be able to breathe was incredibly exciting.  I could focus on getting the workout I wanted and not need to have a lifeguard sit by in case I swallow up half the pool?  Sweet!  Once I got to the pool, a different type of anxiety kicked in..."OMG, this thing is big, bulky and SO embarrassing!" "Everyone is going to be looking at me like I'm an alien". I assumed there was a stigma for using this and I tried to hunker down in my lane to put on my gear...swim cap (which I needed instructions on doing this too, by the way), goggles, snorkel, nose clip. I focused on what I was there to do.  Everyone has there own situation and ultimately, no one really cares about the girl in the far lane anyway, they want to get their workout done.  And...I could be sitting on the couch, right?  I am HERE! I don't care what people think.  Okay, now that the pep talk was out of the way, go! My mind was blown.  I have LOTS of experience with a snorkel and mask (see first paragraph above) and it felt right at home.  I got not only across the pool but back too!  I felt amazing!

Coach Steph was excited to see my excitement as well.  She said "ok, NOW let me see what you got".  So I went. She observed my technique (or lack thereof) and when I returned from my lap she told me what to do with my arms. I did several laps and my mind just kept working on moving my arms this way, that way, getting the timing right, stretching long, swiveling my hips and I lost track of how many laps I'd swam.  She gave me a kick board and showed me how to use it.  She told me what to do with my legs.  There are SO many things that can improve that short 25M distance travel across the pool and I wanted to learn it all RIGHT THEN. But the class was over and I'd have to wait two whole days to come back and try again.

I continued to come to class two and sometimes three times a week.  I got better and better and before I knew it, I felt like a swimmer! And then, I had a baby.  That pretty much kept me out of the pool for a good couple of months.  And just like running, when you stay away for even that short a time period, when you do  come back, you feel like you are starting at zero. The fear and anxiety came back.  I wanted to ditch the snorkel and give it a go.  I think I made it to the pool only for a handful of workouts postpartum after I got my doctor's clearance and never went back.  Going back to work, a new baby and the crazy spring schedule (the same reason I stopped all other workouts, really) just made it too hard to get out to the pool again.

Sad story, huh?  Well, leave it to getting pregnant again to bring me back.  Baby #4 on the way and here I am!

This time, I can cut to the chase and swim.  No stage fright, no anxiety of looking foolish or embarrassment about my snorkel.  It is a training tool, after all!  People wear fins to the pool too! (I use to wear those when I went snorkeling. In the ATLANTIC OCEAN.)  So, see, I was right to not give a hoot about what others think.  These things have purpose and my new goal is to work on my stroke and my endurance throughout the pregnancy and actually keep at it after baby arrives too.

I will say that there is some work involved in using the snorkel.  It is not a slam dunk by any means, after all you are breathing hard and your heart is pounding when you exerting that much energy going to and fro in the pool.  Water gets in there and you have to manage your breaths without sucking it in AND blowing out the excess water while you're at it too.  These are skills I didn't realize I would need that I learned as a kid  many years ago.  Who knew that while I was frolicking in the deep blue ocean, checking out coral and the eels hidden in their crevices and all the pretty fishes and a occasional sand shark, I was blowing out excess water from my snorkel and picking up on something I'd use again as an ol' lady trying to swim laps? Who knew.

Where I picked up my snorkeling skills. Eliot Key - photo credit: National Park Service 
http://www.smartertravel.com/photo-galleries/editorial/10-great-uninhabited-island-getaways.html?id=198&photo=25974

All this ocean talk makes me want to take a vacation.  But again, I digress. The snorkel, ah yes.  My goal is to ditch it and use it ONLY when I am looking at wild ocean life.  I've been trying to get to triathlon for a few years but duathlon is a close as I ever got.  This swimming thing has been my Achilles heel for much too long. My buddy Mario, who just finished a Half Ironman in Galveston recently and who chatted with me daily about his training, insists that I could do a tri with a snorkel; that he's seen people do it.  Um.  HELLLL NO.  I'll be damned.  He's also the same guy who thinks that I can easily do (and WILL do) an IM or Half IM with him next year given the shape that I am in.  I appreciate his enthusiasm and confidence in me but I don't have the kind of time that IM's require for training.  I'll shoot for a sprint because I KNOW I can handle all the components separately.  That is first, after I get that darn swim part down.

I'm fairly certain I'm almost there but in the mean time, I'll continue to join Masters Swim at least twice a week, try to keep up with the workouts and watch my baby bump grow over my bikini. :)

"Just keep swimming" ~ Dori

Happy weekend all and keep movin'!

~V

What week is this again?

Ah yes, week 25 and back to work and home from vacation.  Going to a new job is a funny thing.  All those routines we get comfortable in like driving to work on autopilot or parking in the same spot (so you don't lose your car every day) or even being so accustomed to the crappy coffee in the snack bar or walking distance to the copy machine and the bathroom are things we take for granted.   All of these new things to get used to makes this week hardly routine.  I've been trying a new route each day so when I hop in the car first thing, it requires a plan. The same goes for parking & the route home. Getting workouts in have been an adjustment as well.  I've managed to pack a workout bag every day, just in case I can get a workout in at the office gym over lunch (complete with showers, fancy new equipment and a view, thank you very much!) I still haven't quite got the day figured out to even remember to eat lunch much less get some exercise out of the way.  Thank goodness for evenings!

That's when all the workouts this week took place. Take a look, I'm feeling pretty accomplished!

M - Masters Swim 1250M - lots of friends were there so it was a total blast. Since we were caught up, we did the Yoga challenge for Tues. I had to find an alternative to the Bow pose with my belly bump so I did Half Bow.
T - 4.5M run - waited until sunset to enjoy a few degree cooler weather. The breeze and colors in the sky made it so enjoyable!
W - Masters Swim 1250M - thanks to my pal for watching baby girl since hubby had a late work night so I can get this one in. Friends there again, hopefully a sign of the summer...I like this! 

Yoga Challenge x 2 to stay on top of it,  post-swim.

Day 19 Upward Plank Variation

Day 20 Heron Pose
Th - AerialTone w my big girl - love the full body conditioning in this class. My body was tired & fatigued which made it that much tougher but pushed through. Still managed to do the Yoga Challenge for Friday - Grasshopper! So excited to have done this one...I never dreamed of being capable! :)
F - 16m bike - my new job affords me half days off EVERY Friday. I am so excited about this, I had to make good use of my first. Sidebar - GREAT first full week at work. Happy, happy, happy. Change does a body (and mind, heart & soul) good! :)
S - Off - Mommy & me swim & looooong day watching dodgeball tournament games & hanging by the pool. 

S - 2 days of tough Yoga Challenges to catch up on. Forearm Handstand (Pincha Mayusarana) for Saturday (day 22) & Forearm Backbend variation (Day 23) for Sunday. I have forgotten completely about the ab stuff because those guys are in the hundreds now.  I did the plank for 1:30 after the yoga challenges so that's something I can definitely hang my hat on. 

I won't lie, these two were the most terrifying of poses thus far.  The bottom half of my body is way heavier than my top so the idea of lifting that into the air, sight unseen, is scary.  My daughter was doubtful of her ability as well which gave me a little comfort.  That is until..."mom, I was testing the poses out, THEY ARE EASY!!"  Uh oh.  Her friend was over and the three of us all joined around to watch her, take her picture and then give me a pep talk about doing it.  Ugh. 

Nik Walenda was in the process of crossing the Grand Canyon on a tight rope and my nerves couldn't stand to watch that wholeheartedly.  I decided to warm up, stretch and practice while I listened a few feet away. The baby finds yoga practice time to be hilarious.  She loves climbing all over me like a jungle gym and actually getting "in" to the poses proves difficult at times without her getting upset. (someone has to peel her off me and hold her)  After playing with her some, and getting the girls to help/watch/snap pics during commercial breaks, I went for the handstand first.  Ooof.  I got real close to a door because the idea of flipping all the way back and landing ON my back was not at all pleasant. 

It was hardly perfect but I got those heavy legs up in the air and was able to hold the position long enough for a picture.  The practice in this usually comes after the fact, however.  Reviewing the photo and realizing something is out of alignment or there's a weird angle or gasp! it's blurry!!  The redo has always proved to be better which also proves...practice makes perfect!  I did the handstand a few times, my fear easing up with each push up of the legs.  The more I did it, the less heavy they felt.  The second pose, which starts off in a wheel position I thought was going to be easier.  Ha!  I guess in my head, I knew that I wasn't going to fully put my legs on the wall so all I *really had to accomplish was wheel.  I've done that million times...how hard could it be?  Well...um.  My shoulders and back are SO tight that I could barely come down from the wheel pose onto my forearms.  In fact, I kept thinking..."how in the world does this work?  My arms can't move in that direction!"  The swimming and arm work from Aerial has had me sore (which I didn't notice) until I had to push my shoulders way back.  It was incredibly tight which made staying in that position really hard.  BUT!  While I was there, I was willing to give the leg up a shot.  I put one leg up and when I came out of the pose I was glad I could just check the box that it was DONE. 

I literally broke a sweat and was out of breath...I rested and looked at the pictures while Mr. Walenda continued his historic walk.  That's when I REALLY saw how bad my arms looked.  Ugh.  "That's all wrong!...we have to do it again!"  I showed my daughter and her friend what I meant by examining the instruction photo and my lame-o one.  She agreed to go back with her ol mom and redo the whole thing.  Here we go again...climbing baby and all, starting over with a mental picture of what I wanted.

I tried it again but those shoulders didn't loosen up enough over a commercial break.  I managed to pull up some and tighten the core enough to get BOTH feet up!!  I was so excited to see the picture and that it looked better than it felt.  I will have to try this again when I am not so tight and see if I can pull those arms back.  In the mean time, that sucker is done!!  Woohoo!! (and my daughter's friend decided to try it and totally nailed it!...I am so proud of her!)

TGIF it's the 1st day of Summer and I'm All caught up! Here's week 24 update!

A week on vacation can go two ways.  A relaxing vacation lends itself to open times to run, ride a bike, go to the hotel gym or even take a class at a local gym or at the resort. A family, big city vacation is more the workout itself with nonstop walking, climbing stairs in and out of subways, lugging backpacks and strollers and always on high alert (count the kids, one, two, three, one, two....oh, there he is, three!).  This vacation was the latter.  Although I managed to squeeze a run in on the tail end of last week, my desire to run in the big apple fell flat.  I did run the gamut of the city on foot, nonetheless, walking everywhere from Battery Park, Tribeca, Soho, Midtown, Times Square and up near Central Park by the museum district.  I even set out my running clothes and gear every night (even after midnight at times) in hopes that a surge of energy would come at dawn to get me out there.  I was just TOO tired.  My legs were pooped.  I felt it especially on that last day when we climbed two flights of stairs out of the subway station to rush to meet our car at the hotel. I was completely out of breath!  What?!

In any event, my "official" workouts were scarce but if you've ever travelled with kids, three no less and one under the age of 2, you would agree that the word "vacation" is anything but and a  whole lotta work!

I'll make the wrap up a pictorial just to fill the space. :)

M Yoga Challenge - Frog at Manchester by the Sea, North Shore Boston

T Yoga Challenge - Twisted Root Side Crow in the hotel hallway (did NOT think I could do this)

W Yoga Challenge - Hollowback Handstand in hotel hallway after getting in trouble with security for trying to do in the ballroom hallway (hey, I wanted a different background for our pics)

Not much of a Hollowback - afraid to fall!

TH Yoga Challenge - Standing Backbend with NYC as a backdrop (breaking my kid of public shyness) & AntiGravity class! (also walking forever and a day).





F Yoga Challenge - Standing Pyramid on hotel room window ledge, not to mention walking a gazillion miles.



S Travel day but not before walking another gazillion miles and coming home to Yoga Challenge - Both Big Toe boat.  Baby wanted a piece of this action so I couldn't help but include her in the pics. :)



 S Father's Day! Spent a better part of the day working out the congestion that flooded the family from allergies (welcome back to HTown!), unpacking and laundry.  Also got a little family time in for Father's Day which the kids always enjoy (although it was miserable hot!) - Got the Yoga Challenge in too - Chaturanga.

So there you have it.  Not a great work out week, but quite an active one nonetheless.

Happy Friday and first day of summer!!  Hope everyone gets to go out and enjoy it and keep moving!

~V

23 week wrap up, challenges, kids and vacation included.

Week 23 looked like this:
*Ab & Yoga are in reference to the challenges I mention here.

M - Ab (25 sit ups, 10 crunches, 10 leg raises & 15s plank) & Yoga

Wild Thing with my girls

T - Ab rest day, Yoga

Warrior II with bonus baby squatter

W - Abs( 30 SU, 12C, 12LR & 20s plank), Yoga  + 4.5m run

Upavistha Konasana (I have to really work on this one)

Th - Abs (35 SU, 15C, 15LR & 25s plank), Yoga + AerialTone class

Crow - I mean, Crow!!! I did it!!

Aerial Tone - Awesome back stretch

F - Abs (40SU, 20C, 20LR & 30s plank), Yoga + 1250M Swim

One legged, one handed headstand

Gorgeous day for a swim!

S - (Travel day) Ab rest day, Yoga

Forearm Sideplank

Dancer at the Boston Common

S - 5mi run, Boston city walk (countless miles) plus yoga. Ab halt.

Cambridge side of Charles River overlooking Boston

A fun, challenging, full week complete with the start of a new job!  Still feeling great at week 23, full of energy and ready to take on a week of an active vacation.  More on that week coming up next.

~V 

Challenging Yourself on the Daily

I'm behind on my weekly updates but when I started writing them up, I realized most of my focus was on the challenges that we've taken up.  So...I'm pushing the update again (what week is this again?) to describe what has been a fun twist to keep things interesting in the way of workouts.

About the challenges: There are two in the month of June (ab & yoga) that in some shape or form have gone from a mere exercise challenge and turned into all out family adventure too.

The ab challenge is one that we are participating in amongst a group of friends.  It's a 30 day challenge that progressively grows with repetitions. We all keep tabs with each others progress (translation: send that "Reply All" email to say "I'm done!, How about you?") which is great motivation to get you to drop down, do the ab work and Reply All again "ME TOO!!". Can't leave your friends hanging after all, right?!

If you have ever done P90X's AbRipper (and survived and gone back to do it again and AGAIN) this challenge should be fairly simple, but by no means easy.  My husband and I were doing it at first and by day 3, the kids were joining in too.  That can a both be a blessing and a curse because they will NOT. LET. YOU. SLEEP. unless you get the challenge done.  You have to love the kid's motivation and enthusiasm and you can't let them down, either! (So get out of bed!!)

I had no issues whatsoever with this challenge but I knew from the get go that I would no way come near doing 100+ situps on any given day during pregnancy.  I went to day 7 doing the full workout with no issues and I found it relatively easy (don't tell my husband) but I have heard and read mixed schools of thought with regard to working out abdominals during pregnancy.  I feel fairly strong and felt pretty good doing them throughout that week, however, the sit ups in particular create a bit of a tightness in the lower abdominals that I am not comfortable pushing without further research.  Given that I haven't been able to post this in 2 weeks, you would have to imagine that I haven't had much time for research either.  So...rather than take a chance, I decided to throw in the towel.  After day 8's rest I split a couple of the days by only doing half the reps required but in this last week have continued strictly with the plank portion of the challenge only.  I can live with that...and I can relish in the enjoyment of having the kids get on my husband every night to get his ab work done before he snoozes off (it's actually quite fun!) Haha!

If you want to give the challenge a try next month or really, start on any given Saturday and see how far you can go, I have included it here for reference.  As the month progresses, the repetitions get pretty high up there, some friends have been splitting up the workouts into sets. Say, take your 60 situps, 75 crunches and 40 leg raises and turn them into a morning set of 30, 40, 20 and a night set of 30, 35, 20.  Good luck!!

The yoga challenge I have alluded to in the past.  I follow a few yoga enthusisasts/instructors/lovers on Instagram and their posts of their beautiful poses are incredibly inspirational. In the last couple of months or so, my daughter and I would randomly pick out poses and try them, just to see if we could do them.  We were never consistent with it nor did we ever photograph each other doing them. But this month, we decided we would attempt at doing the challenges AND taking pics every day. 

I have never been that big of a yogi as my only experience was with the P90X version "YogaX" that I was introduced to a few years ago when I went through the program.  I have attended a few other yoga classes, most recently the one I did as a perk of my previous employer's.  The thing about yoga is that it is really a constant practice.  It's not necessarily taking a class every day or building up weight or reps or pace like in other exercises, but rather a fusion between body and mind withing yourself.  Sometimes, I look at a pose and immediately think "well, there goes the challenge! I can't do THAT!" But then I take a few minutes and think (just as I would ask my kids), why can't I do that? How do I know I can't if I don't even try?

I have learned in the last few short months that I can go from not even getting close to getting my feet off the ground in a crow position (which seemed SO advanced when I did Yoga X, by the way) to doing it facing forwards, the side and with a twisted root too! It has been a learning experience for me and one that I am passing down to my daughter because she is so eager to get into the poses and she is so darn flexible and nimble that for the most part, she can without skipping a beat.  Until she gets to that one pose...the one she just can't do because she can't turn that way or because her arms aren't strong enough.  That's when I can tell her to SLOW down.  Breathe. Focus. Take your time.  I will watch her go from a hurried school girl to a focused, determined young lady that wants to nail the pose.  All the while, I have my phone in hand, ready to click her picture when she says she's ready.  She'll quickly run over and say "did you get it?" and come over analyze the photo(s).  She will look long and hard and sometimes will say..."hmm, my back needs to be straighter" or "my leg is not doing the right thing on this one" and follow it with: "can I try it again?"...and there you have it, PRACTICE. :)

It has been a pure joy to share it with her and with the IG community too.  I am amazed at the poses I can get into even at this many weeks pregnant.  I hope that I can finish the month strong and will keep working on the challenges daily even after the month is over.

If you want to check out the challenge on Instagram, look for the June hashtag #YogainSpace, you'll see all the posts related to the challenge.  I doubt you will come away without being inspired and motivated to give it a try. If you want to follow the amazing yogi's hosting the challenge, follow them!  They are: @laurasykora , @masumi_g , @gypsetgoddess and @beachyogagirl.

Here are a couple of our pics from earlier this month:

As you can see, the challenges have been way fun and exciting to stick with.  If you're bored with your workouts or your routine, these challenges are great way to sprinkle in some variety particularly when you are waiting patiently for the next pose to be posted every night!!  I highly recommend it, give it a try and have fun!

~V

Blog on the road - FAIL

Nothing like thinking you're about done with something and realizing it's done with YOU. My 23 week wrap up disappeared from my mobile app...waa! (Operator error, of course, who knew that save button was so critical?) -3 days later, I was finally getting to redo it and wouldn't you know it, I get interupted and stalled again. So another few days have gone by and I'm officially a week BEHIND! Moral to this short story is that blogging while on vacation (an active busy one), with three kids and as acting as co-pilot, entertainment director, direction provider and finder of all things is well...difficult. A double week wrap up coming up soon.

Playing catch up on week 22

As promised, I took my transition week and made sure to get back on the wagon. More changes are coming up next week which will put the program on a "see how it goes" basis. I managed to kick the week off strong by getting a workout in on a holiday. No easy feat I assure you, but so well worth it. Here's a snapshot of how my week went: Monday - Memorial Day! A full day at the club...bowling, dodgeball, pool fun in the sun, hanging out with friends and then...my desperate plea..."can ya'll keep watch of the baby while I go swim?" Ooooh, what a party pooper mom I was! Haha. I managed a decent 1250M with only 2 interruptions of "how many more laps mom?...we are ready to go" D'oh! Talk about turning an already difficult swim into a sprint. Rush, rush, rush. Tuesday - A free day? What to do? Oh, not one to sit idle, I ran errands, had lunch with family, got some pampering mani/pedi time and then...I loaded up Blu and went out for a ride. How could I not?! It was such a fantastic opportunity! I went a little over 22 miles in honor of baby boy V and his 22 weeks of baking. It was a great ride and half way through I got caught in a rain shower that was absolutely exhilarating and refreshing! After such a great ride, I was ready to sit back and watch my 5th grader perform in the year end program. Wednesday - Another free day with more TexMex serving up at lunch so I thought I'd head out for a run in the morning. It was a tough one. I procrastinated and got about 4 loads of laundry done before heading out (I must have known how hard it was going to be). It was hot and humid and after such a long break since my last run, it was just hard to catch my breath. None the less, I got over 5 miles in...followed by chips n salsa, and a fajita taco and barely enough energy for my nephew's graduation and dinner. Pooped is an understatement for hump day. Thursday - My "baby" girl turned 11!! Another fantastic "free day" complete with a hair cut (lost about 5 lbs of hair!) and lunch at school with both my girl, my boy AND my hubby! A family affair over Subway and cake pops can't be beat. An early dinner at the restaurant of baby girl's choice meant no Aerial class. :( (two weeks without and I'm having some serious withdrawals) Friday - Volunteering for the 5th grade class at their graduating event should be workout enough right? A fun filled day at the University of Houston Recreation Center proved exhausting but I managed to get the kids to the club after school for some fun in the sun and with the intent that I could squeeze in another swim. A swim meet at the lap pool and live music and drinks at the adult pool kept me from my workout and I'm actually ok with it. I didn't leave the club feeling guilty or mad even that I didn't make it work somehow but rather...relaxed. It's pure joy to just sit and watch the kids play in the pool. Having the hubby and baby join later was icing. That kid is a water baby, I think. She dives in, holding her breath in anticipation of the cool water that will come over her head. She comes out with with her big eyes drenched and long lashes flattened against her face. I'm thinking she will be a challenge this summer since she appears to be fearless. I'll have to try to capture this on video or pictures, it is just too cute. Saturday - Off - too many errands to break away for a long workout but did start 2 different 30 day challenges. The first is an Ab challenge that a big group of friends are all doing. It starts off easy enough but the coming weeks look...well, let's just say that I may pull the "I'm pregnant" card and modify it. ;) The other is a Yoga challenge on Instagram. My daughter and I follow a group of yogi's on IG that have a monthly challenge with different poses. We attempt them from time to time but we've never tried doing (and photographing) every single day. We'll see just how far we get (it'll depend on how complex and crazy some of the poses are!) Sunday - Swimming was in sight as well as a family bike ride but more errands to run before a hectic week left me thinking that the Ab and Yoga challenge were all I was going to get in. It was late in the day when a window opened up and I laced up for a quick neighborhood run. I ran 3.5 miles and honestly, I was dreading it because the run earlier in the week was awful...the heat, humidity and the allergies I'm fighting make it so difficult to breathe that I just want to STOP. This is usually ok except it makes a quick run into a looooong drawn out one. Thankfully, this one went a whole lot better but it was still both hot and humid (and shorter too). All in all, I lost a little steam mid week but I think closing it off with a run makes me feel *a little* better. It's a big week around the household complete with new jobs, travel, graduation and the last week of school. I'm not sure how the workouts will pan out but I've got my fingers crossed that I can get creative enough to make something happen. At the very least, I have those 30 day challenges that will keep me honest and on my toes. Until next week, ~V