workouts to last a lifetime

Over the past week I have found myself working out EVERY single day. This isn't really that uncommon, especially during the week. I normally workout every morning, during the week, with boot camp. However, this past week was an exception to the norm. I of course had my normal workouts Monday through Wednesday, but all the fun began with two very tough workouts on Thursday. We started out by running 4.5 miles in the morning, with a workout we call long run (45 minutes of straight running). The next workout was sprints on Thursday night. (My lead instructor, Hollis, and I have a one day per week 'mini camp' that we run at Quintiles). The sprints were tough, but combine that with the long run from that morning and we were beat! Little did I know, that was only the beginning...

Friday morning all the instructors dressed up in camo garb for our 'Wingman' workout (aka Top Gun). It was an awesome dress up and workout, but it was TOUGH!!! Check out my camo face, I won the instructor dress up contest, GO ME!!!! Each Saturday morning there are at least two or three boot camp parks that are running free Saturday workouts, we do these as a preview to people interested in our program, as a makeup for campers enrolled in the program who may have missed a workout or for anyone just looking for a great kickstart for thier weekend. Well, Saturday morning was our first 'Saturday workout' at Terrell Mill Park (the park where I instruct). We had a great turn out (about 21 campers) and a really good workout. After we finished the workout I went and helped out with Cobb County Habitat for Humanity. I mostly painted for the rest of the day. The houses we were working on are in the final stages of completion, so it was mostly cosmetic work. Definitely not the fun part, I like having a hammer in my hand ;0) however, it was still totally worth it to give my time to such an important cause.

The weekend ended on Sunday with a 10 mile hike down into Tallulah Gorge. The weather was COLD (the high was 52) but it was beautiful. We took a moderately difficult trail 4.75 miles down to Tugaloo Lake where we stopped to have lunch. Once we all finished our lunch we hiked the same 4.75 mile trail back out. The way back up was more difficult because we were going up hill and I had managed to rub a blister on the ball of my foot on the way down. This was my first hike with the Atlanta Outdoor Club (AOC) and it was incredible. I will definitely be investing into some good hiking equipment (small backpack, camelbak, good shoes, etc). I am looking forward to many more hikes with the AOC and also will hopefully be able to try a little backpacking, camping, canoeing, rafting, overnight backpacking and ***hopefully*** some skydiving!!! I can hardly wait for all these adventures! I will try and post some pics of the hike later in the week.

With all the excitement this weekend, I took a much needed rest from working out today! I will be back in full swing tomorrow morning. That swing will carry me into the weekend and into my drive to Tampa on Saturday morning! I cannot wait to see all of my family and friends whom I have not seen since my birthday in August! I miss you all and can't wait to see you!!!