Fit4Miracles

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I was from a small town in Southern Illinois.  I grew up in a beloved Craftsman home right next to my Dad’s funeral home and had endless games of kickball and freeze tag in its big parking lot.  We had lemonade stands, big trees, and lots of friendly neighbors.  Spring Street was certainly a great place to call home.

A few years ago my Dad retired, and he and my Mom built a house in the country.  It is spacious and warm, built with kids and grandkids in mind.  It is starting to feel like “home” away from home more and more.

We got to visit for a week in early July.  I knew ahead of time that I wouldn’t have a place to work out, and I also knew that there would be plenty of options in the “Sugar Shack” (as my Dad calls the pantry).  I realized I faced an uphill battle most of the week.  Espcially when I encoutered – Twinkies.  I hadn’t had one in years.  I tried . . .  Ok, I admit, I had one!  It was screaming at me from the Sugar Shack!

I also got to have some of my Grandma’s homemade blackberry cobbler.  How can you say “no” to your wonderful 90-year-old matriarch?!  Well, it wouldn’t be a trip home without treats so to counter balance that I ate a lot of garden-fresh veggies and cut back on carbs.  Also, I knew I had to find a way to get movin’.

My Dad suggested we walk a path around one of the lower fields that his neighbor owned.  They together try to keep a mown path all the way around for walking.  We headed out in the evening to beat the heat and hoped the bugs wouldn’t “carry us away.”  We went around three times, and I got a good workout, drenched with sweat helped by the heat and the humidity (so thick down there!).  The track proved beneficial the rest of the week; I got to walk/run it a few more times (dodging a watergun carrying go-carter at one point!).

We also got to jump hay bales-now that’s a new one to add to my fitness toolbox!  The kids love to jump from row to row with the dogs following along while waiting for their turn on the go-cart.  Can you see Izzy?  She is a hay bale champ!

Our summer trip ended up adding some new workout experiences to my story and building sweet memories of a new home away from home.

This post was originally posted on Aug. 1, 2012.