Fitness Journal - Take It To The Park

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

09 Jul 2007 08:30 AM

It's back to the park today and for good reason. The park is a great place for the kids to go and play - they need the outdoor time and to be honest - this hasn't been the summer for outdoor playtime. There's been so much rain (11 inches in June) and 44 days of consecutive rain showers. The rain comes in waves, we may get a couple of hours of sunshine in between and while we are grateful that after more than 2 years of drought that we are once again the recipient of rain - it's great, but it's made it a very damp summer with much lower than expected temperatures, few trips to the swimming pool and even less time outdoors.

We broke out the bikes this morning and rode those to the park. The ride is only about a quarter of a mile, but that's a good ride for a six year old. Once we got to the park, I started my walking circuits, intending to do 20 minutes of hard walking while she played. The pedometer tracked the steps for me and on my last circuit, I completed 1,500 steps - that's roughly a mile and a half - give or take.

Exercising in the Park

Once I was done with the walking, we played a playful game of tag that hard her climbing all over the equipment as I attempted to tag her from below. My heart was racing and so was hers. It was hilarious good fun and when we were done, we were both reaching for the water bottles.

Part of the reason I am sharing these types of details in my fitness journal is to demonstrate that exercise and physical activity can be found in a multitude of ways and not just in the standard routine workouts (although truthfully - I do my standard workouts as well).

After our sojourn at the park, we rode our bikes home once more - and I think next time we'll wear our swimsuits under our clothes so we can hit the pool instead because that will be a great way to cool down.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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