34 for 34 on the 4th of July!

Once again, somehow a month went by without a blog post. I'm not sure where the time goes, but it certainly was a productive month!

As I write this, I have just hit the exciting age of 34. Honestly, everything after 29 starts to blur together. I sometimes don't remember how old I am because it does not seem to matter. You are as old as you want yourself to be. If I take care of myself and continue making good choices, I'll continue to feel young. I'm healthier now than I was in much of my 20s.

I face a challenge having a birthday on the 4th of July. The only way to get a workout in is to either sign up for a road race or create my own workout. None of the three gyms that I belong to are open on the 4th. This year, to avoid the hassle of a race (so we could fit in a tubing trip up north), I developed a 34 for 34 workout. This consisted of the following: 34 minutes of yoga (on my awesome new Lululemon mat), 34 abs, 34 push ups, 34 sec plank, 34 jumping jacks, 34 high knees, 34 jump rope, 34 minutes of running with hill climb, and 34 sec of stretching on each leg. I was pleased with this workout as it gave a solid overall workout in a short period of time. Then, we could focus on 4th of July fun with friends! It certainly was not a glamorous or exciting workout, but it did the job. Sometimes you just have to work with what you have available. By the time my husband woke up and my friends arrived, I'd already completed a workout which took away any guilt of indulging for my birthday--that was a great way to start the day!

To date, I've now completed 125 perfect bricks and have worked up to five sets of 20 push ups for six days per week. Due to our triathlon tapering and vacations in July, I've had to postpone crossfit until August. I'm bummed about this because I have been making great progress at Crossfit Ironborn; however, I'll be back to complete the 31 Heroes workout on August 1st. In the meantime, the focus will be on preparing for the Mini Musselman triathlon (coming up on 7/11!) and our fabulous vacation to Spain right after the triathlon. July has always been my favorite month and this one looks to be an exciting one! In past years we got engaged in July, bought our house, brought home our puppy Penny, and traveled many places. I'm not sure how this always works out, but July is just that month when life-changing events seem to happen.

Stay tuned for a race recap from the Mini Mussel and our Spain trip. After this month, I'll need to set some new goals.

Laura