Let's Get Physical...

Those words once were uttered by Olivia Newton John. This morning, those lyrics to the infamous song bounced around in my head during Wendy and I's morning workout. This wasn't our typical workout, which usually consists of heading to the gym for a 3-4 mile run on the treadmill. 

A few days ago we agreed to run to the park and participate in those "exercise stations," that you normally see grandma and grandpa struggle through. Or better yet, the ones you had to complete in 5th grade PE class. The tasks at hand included doing as many push ups, chin ups, standing broad jumps, and crunches you could do and then test your eye-hand coordination on the balance beam. And if you did them poorly, the gym teacher would write a note to the parents, stating that their child is not fit or worse, on the brink of obesity. 

Now, when I came up with the idea I thought, 'hey this would be a nice change of pace to our morning runs.'  So, I suggested it to Wendy, while we ate artichokes, wood-fire prawns, roasted chicken and bread pudding at Sparks Woodfire Grill during a romantic dinner date. She went along with my notion, because if there's one thing Wendy will not do, she won't say no to any type of outdoor activity. 

So this morning at the 6 a.m. we set out to the park. The distance from our apartment to the park is about 1 mile. It's a good warmup, but more importantly, it allows me ample time to mentally prepare myself for what lies ahead. First station was the pushup. Couldn't tell you the last time I did a push up, but I positioned myself parallel to the wet grass and did...7. Wendy on the other hand, did 8. From there it was chin ups. Wendy and I each did...2. By now she and Iare  laughing at our incompetence at completing a 5th grade gym class exercises. Nonetheless, we laughed at ourselves as did some fellow walkers and joggers. 

Along the 1.2 mile course, we also encountered monkey bars to test our upper body strength, which we both failed miserably. I couldn't swing my arms without falling. In addition, there were parallel bars much like you see in a gymnastics event. She pretended to be Olympian Kerry Strugg and I was Mitch Gaylord from the 1984 Olympics. We attempted to perform dips. Looks much easier than it appeared, because I could barely bend my arms on the bars. You'd think that I was Andre the Giant. Meanwhile Wendy, dipped but never really came back up from her dip. 

In all, despite the fact we didn't pass the exercise test, Wendy and I did get in more than a 3-mile run and shared a good laugh or two to start our day. Couldn't have asked for anything more. Well..maybe to do one more pushup than her. 

~Jt