7.02.2008

20 Quick Spins in the Gravel...Piece of Cake! Whatever.

I'm such a dork. No, really. I have begun a quest to start exercising again. First, let me tell you that I don't hate exercising...really...I just can't do it conveniently. It isn't as wussy as it sounds. We live 20 minutes out of town, so going to the gym with my kids is out of the question. I could run or walk on our country roads, but my kids aren't old enough to stay by themselves, so that means I have to take them with me. Uh...not going to happen in a million years. We can't afford a treadmill, and even if we could we don't have anywhere to put it. So, I've resorted to cheesy aerobic DVDs with overly-hyper women wearing horrible outfits screaming at me to be excited and telling me that they know I can do it. Whatever "it" is. So, needless to say, I lose interest very quickly, and it is easier for me to curl up in the recliner with a book and a Snickers bar. A place where I'm very happy!

But, for whatever reason (although I think it is mostly the very skinny women--who are my age or older...yuck!--that I see prancing around in their cute little swimsuits at the water park) I have decided to get back on the exercise wagon. I did an aerobics DVD yesterday. I'm already bored with that. So, today I got the ingenious idea to run -- AROUND MY DRIVEWAY. I'm not kidding. If I can't run on the roads (b/c of my kids), then I will run around my driveway and the kids can play in the yard. I'm brilliant.

So, I laced up my new Nike's (which I had to buy to hike the mountains in Colorado last week), got a bottle of water, and headed out. I drove around our circle-drive first so that I could clock the mileage. I figured out that if I ran around my drive 20 times, that was a little more than a mile. This was going to be a piece of cake. 20 times. Ha! Did I mention I was brilliant? I was envisioning myself trotting out every morning from here on out, taking my 20 quick spins in the gravel.
What was I thinking?!?
My driveway looks short enough...when I'm in the car. Oh my goodness. I made it about halfway and was quickly reminded not only of the Snickers bars that I have been snuggling up to for the last few months, but of how much I hate running. I remember that now. I came back inside the house with my mind made up that even though I hate to run, it was better than the twinkie in the leotard telling me that she is proud of me through the screen of my TV. So, now I have a challenge. I'm going to make the 20 times around the driveway. Only because you should be able to run around a driveway. It seems weird to not be able to do that. And if I still hate running after I reach my goal, then I'll probably resort to the DVD thing again...or maybe a Snickers!! :)
Oh, one bright side of the Driveway Workout. My sunflowers bloomed. I've been waiting and waiting. And today...they are here! There are at least a dozen blooming. This is the largest one. Isn't it beautiful? Can you see the bee in the center? I may just hang out in the driveway to stare at my flowers!

2 comments:

mer@lifeat7000feet said...

Hi Amber...I'm your blog stalker.

Actually, I came to see the picture you posted, and it is BEAUTIFUL!

I'm laughing at this post because I have the same issues as you do. I do try to hike on the weekends, but during the week, I'm stuck trying to find ways to exercise with the kids.

We've resorted to games of family freeze tag in the backyard in the evenings. Seriously, chasing your kids will get your heart rate up! And it's not nearly as boring as running circles in your driveway! Last night, in an attempt to wear our children out before bed, John timed them running laps in the backyard...a game of sorts...see how many laps you can run in five minutes. I did it with them and I was WIPED OUT! So were they, they fell asleep within minutes.

Mich said...

Amb,
Next time you do your laps, could you video tape it for me. It might actually motivate me to get on my treadmill!!!:)Mich