supervising from the couch: fitness

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Runners make better friends

"Beyond the purely physical aspects, there are four elements to the running experience: competition, contemplation, conversation, companionship."

~George Sheehan

I did not warn anyone that I'd be bringing my camera this morning, and no one really wanted a photo at eight a.m. Thanks for being good sports anyway! (left to right: Lisa, Lupita, Mandy, Krisse).

Every time we move, one of the first things I do is put the word out that I'm looking for running partners. I've enjoyed running races, and sometimes I need the quiet of a solo run, but I love the conversation and companionship of running with friends. I love the added incentive to get out of bed, knowing that someone is waiting for me. I love how I push myself a little harder, and how fast the time flies. I love the variety and depth of conversation that running seems to generate. Most of all, I'm grateful for the friendships that have been formed over the miles.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Fitness challenge

Robbie's working on his Tenderfoot, and has to show improvement on several fitness indicators. Here are his scores today:

Push-ups: 5

Pull-ups: 0

Sit-ups: 19

Standing long jump: 4'6"

1/4-mile walk/run: 3:40

I've decided to join him, so I'll add my stats tomorrow after I go to the gym. This'll be a good motivator to add some high intensity interval training to my regular runs, and to be more consistent doing weights & core. We'll re-test in 30 days and hopefully this public accountability really works.

Edited—here are my stats:

Push-ups: 15 (on toes, not knees)

Pull-ups: 1/2

Sit-ups: 15 (before my back hurt too much and I called Melissa to ask for a modified version.)

Standing long-jump: 4'8"

1/4-mile run: 1:50 (I probably should have pushed a little harder on this).

It's pretty awesome to have a sports psychologist and exercise physiologist in the family—we appreciate the use of your treadmill, plus all the personal coaching and training tips, Shawn & Melis. Feel free to leave more of those in the comments, or revise this challenge. Anyone else in?

here's the story:

I was interviewed for a newpaper article about kids and sleep, and quoted as saying something like "when I'm tired, I feel like supervising from the couch." Ever since, it's been our catch phrase for slacker parenting. Ironically, I only had one child at the time and we were practically attached at the hip. Now that I have four older kids, they spend chunks of time playing without even the benefit of me watching from the couch. However, I do try to come running if it sounds like there might be blood. Somehow they have all thrived in spite of me.