She's Just Doing It

You may recall that we had quite a scare back in August when we found ourselves on an isolated beach at the bottom of a cliff when that big hurricane-like storm came flying in over Lake Michigan. And you may further remember that I was a little hard on myself for not being able to single-handedly carry my almost-three-year old up a huge flight of muddy wooden stairs to safety.

I know, it's true - that would not have been an easy task for anyone - but I also know that if I were as fit as I should be, I would have made it further before handing the child over to my husband. The truth is, I didn't feel strong to begin with and that episode was simply a harsh reminder of my current limitations. And if there's one thing I am not overly fond of, it's my limitations. Because, you know, I'm human.

And so, because I have felt the need to be more fit all year but have not seemed to be able to get my groove on for more than an hour at a time, I used this as inspiration to get my ass back in gear. So I joined a gym. And, well, after two amazing weeks, the gym closed down rather dramatically. Undaunted, I found a new gym the very next day. To me, this was a better indication of my motivation than anything else so far.

It's not easy to work fitness into my life, believe me. But what I've always found when I begin this journey anew is that when I'm motivated, I make the time; I create it out of thin air.

I started to see a window of opportunity when I realized that Lyle would be going to nursery school for 2.5 hours twice a week (my days off!) this year. Aha! Gym time! So, I went ahead and joined the aforementioned gym. Since it will be a couple more weeks before he's actually at the school without me and I was motivated to start working out, I instituted a stop gap measure of going on those mornings - earlier than planned - just to get into the habit. I also go once or twice a weekend and - voila! - I'm set.

Before long, it became obvious to me that my family was able to survive the hours of 6-8 am without me twice a week. (Who knew?) This lead to the truly exciting realization that when nursery school starts, I can still go early in the morning and - get this one, folks! - have those blessed 2.5 hours twice a week..free!

Now, I am not totally unrealistic about those 5 hours. I do know that I will do grocery shopping, Target runs, meetings, and paperwork for my practice during those hours. But, still - I'll be alone. Alone, do you hear me? And if Matt's out of town and I can't go early in the morning, as happened yesterday, I can still work out during those nursery school hours, if need be. (For the record, however, I'm determined that, at least the first day of nursery school, I'll sit in a coffee shop and read a book. For fun. Or maybe read all your blogs. Either way...fun.)

For me, scheduling exercise is the only way it's going to happen. Even on our weekends, which tend to be really busy, I have to stake out my two hours in advance and stick to them even if I don't feel like getting out of the house. And the pay-off begins immediately, which keeps me going back. I wouldn't be able to make this happen without a supportive husband who is willing and able to get the kids breakfasted and dressed, and makes the school lunch while I'm gone early in the morning.

So I'm on a roll, and intend to stay on it. All encouragement is welcome!

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If you would like to write about how you make fitness work in your life, pop on over to Parent Bloggers Network. You'll be entered in a contest to win some great-looking workout stuff from Ryka. All you need to do is link to Parent Bloggers Network and Ryka in your post, and then email parentbloggers@gmail.com with the link.