Friday, August 13, 2010

Nature Beats Any Gym

For a while now, one of my exercise goals has been to hike more again. I love to hike. It’s my favorite form of exercise. Not only is it a great cardiovascular workout, but I also get to enjoy nature and nothing beats a gorgeous view at the top. To me, exercising outdoors feels like that’s the way I’m supposed to exercise. While my gym is great, it feels “unnatural” at times…

Since the toddler’s arrival, I haven’t hiked much. It just takes too much time to drive to a trail, hike for a few hours, and get back home. Plus, on hot days hikes are only possible if you start very, very early so that you finish before the heat of the day. Lately, I have however made a point to hike more (it was one of my goals for the year after all…).

Earlier in the week, we took the toddler on his first "real" hike. The hike was a little less than two miles and quite steep at times. The toddler had a great time but wasn’t that happy on some of the uphill parts… To make it more fun for the toddler, we allowed plenty of time for exploring… :-)
 Hike 05
  Hike 02
  Hike 03
  Hike 01
Hike 04

Questions: What’s your favorite form of exercise? Do you get to do it as much as you would like to? If not, why not? Are there any workouts you should incorporate into your routine to “balance out” your workouts? I would like to swim more. In fact, it was one of my other goals… Unfortunately, I haven’t swum nearly as much as I wanted to this summer…

Be well,
Andrea