The Crestwood Challenge

It's been 15 weeks and four days since we moved into our current (old) house. Yay for the happy day!!! About one month before (and until) we moved, I was so busy with packing up our rental house that there was no need to go workout somewhere else. I call it "The Moving Workout"! It was truly such a great workout, simply because the second after I awoke and got the kids off to school, I was dejunking/decluttering or packing up a bajillion boxes for our move. I packed and worked and worked and packed until my body couldn't move anymore! I would fall into bed every night and not budge until my alarm went off the next morning.

Below is a picture I took of myself to chronicle the exhaustion, five days before we moved. Below that is a picture I took, and smiled in, because I couldn't believe how awfully tired I looked in the first picture! I wanted to at least say, "Hey, even though I'm tired, I'm moving to my home! Life is so great!!!"

I'm SO TIRED!

But life is GREAT! :)

My moving workout continued for about six weeks after we moved-in. I was in great shape. My biceps were awesome from endlessly lifting all of those heavy boxes. I was seriously a tough girl! Ha ha.

*And just so you know, I wasn't the only one packing up stuff. Yes, I organized and packed up the house, but Greg moved everything I had packed from the house onto the moving truck. Greg also packed many of his own boxes. Our darling children even helped a smidgen by bringing Greg some of the small plastic totes and boxes! When we arrived at our house, Greg unloaded the moving truck and I unpacked the boxes/arranged the house. Yes, we make a great moving company all by ourselves! :)

Sadly, since about the end of July, my moving workout is no longer enough of a workout. My house is mostly put together. Well...I still have a bunch I can do with our house, but I can take my time. (Isn't that the way with all houses? There is always something to be done!) I have the major stuff totally taken care of. It's a nice feeling. :) But with our move mostly complete, I realized that it was time to get crackin' with a new exercise plan. Because I've not been working out regularly (I've gone walking a few times in the past couple of months), I knew I needed to start small and work my way back to my prior exercising habits. But I'm not depressed in the least (!) with my exercise regression, for I know that I can absolutely work back up to the level I had been exercising at before our big move. :)

Thus, I happily started walking for real this week! The first day, I went with a friend in my neighborhood. It felt wonderful and the conversation was great, but I knew I was craving more of a workout challenge. So yesterday, I decided to really push myself. Yet I knew that I couldn't push too hard, because I wasn't sure if my body would really be okay with the high altitude. Still, I was excited for the exhausted feeling that comes from a good workout! :)

I decided to just head uphill and go until I couldn't continue any farther! I started out small, but kept pushing myself as I went. Along the way, I decided to take some pictures of the glorious scenery around me.

After walking for quite a while, I realized that my body was adjusted to the high altitude. YAY! I thought, "I can push as much as I want!" It helped that I had oodles of happy music on my iPod to help me along my way. There are times I like to walk/run/exercise in quiet, but most times I love being motivated by beautiful music! It seems that the second I hear a happy or beautiful song, my body can do more than I expected. :)

I had pushed myself for a while when I came upon the most beautiful sight: open fields, trees and mountains. So I decided to quit pushing and take some more photos! It was a most incredible view, and my heart was swelling with a joy that is indescribable!

*You must know that as I began taking photos the song, "Oh, What A Beautiful Morning", performed by The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, started playing on my iPod! I quietly laughed out loud and thought, "This is craziness! What a fun, awesome, happy, fortuitous moment!"

What a beautiful morning!

My photos don't do the views justice, but hopefully you can grasp my happiness. I am so grateful for this beautiful earth! As I was taking the photos, I thought, "France has nothing on us! Ha ha. Okay, except maybe we're a little drier than France." ;) Also, I took the photos in three different spots as I continued toward the mountains.

As I neared the top of the road, I was feeling quite fatigued. Thus, I laughed again when No Doubt's, "I'm Just a Girl" came on my iPod! It gave me all the motivation I needed to continue! :) Yes, I totally took a picture of the end of the road because I was proud of myself for making it to the top! (In the non-prideful way, of course!)

On my way back down the road, I decided to walk/run on the curb. I know it sounds a little nutty, but I love trying to keep my balance on street curbs. It's an odd little trait I've had ever since I was a little girl. I think it's my love of gymnastics shining through. Don't knock curb walking/running, it's a great addition to any workout!

Round trip, I think my walk/run/curb-balancing-act was only about 3.25 miles. That said, I think part of my excursion counts for more because half of my trek was continuously uphill!

As I finished my adventure, I decided that one day I would love to be able to run continuously up Crestwood Road without stopping. I think it will take me many weeks (if not months!) to get to that point, but I'm totally up for The Crestwood Challenge!