Holiday Blahs: We Cut 'Em Off at the Pass

Early on in this crazy life of working out I learned to cut the holiday blahs off at the pass. Five years ago shortly after we moved to this little community, a friend and I started hanging out at our local Community Center. We discovered contests the fitness director created. One in November particularly whet our appetites for fun: Holiday Survivor.

Basically, the contest went as such: all contestants received a list of tasks to complete over two weeks. We completed the tasks, signed off on them, and handed our sheet of torturous activities in. Then at the beginning of the next cycle, we'd receive another set of tasks. Every cycle, the tasks increased in difficulty. We went from "walk or run three miles" to "swim 50 laps in the pool with no assistance (no pull buoys or fins)."  The once-benevolent trainer who ran the contest turned a little invasive and Nazi-like on us when he began to toy with our nutrition. He started throwing things in like, "No sweets." What?! And "no snacks after 8pm except low-fat yogurt or veggies." If we did not complete the tasks, we were "kicked off the island" so to speak and went back to life as we knew it. The contest persisted until only one "survivor" remained.

This little exercise (which incidentally lasted until February) taught me a really important lesson: use holiday time wisely. It isn't just about sipping eggnog by the fire (though we do that at our house too), but it's about using the extra time to keep moving and "get after it" as my role model Carrie Tollefson would say.

So that's what this long weekend looked like for us. We had the following activities in the midst of the typical turkey/dressing/pie festival:

Tuesday: spin with the spin group in the basement
Wednesday: JT's regular 9pm swim; Nikki strength training at home and swimming with the kids (yes, this was a workout)
Thursday: Nikki's solo 5K trot in the early AM; couples spin with some friends at 8:30pm
Friday: 8am swim for Nikki; Jingle-Bell 5K for Nikki with friends in the evening
Saturday: 9am swim for Nikki; long-run for Jason with friends
Sunday: spin for both in the basement

All of this either took place or will take place in the midst of enjoying a holiday family gathering on Thursday, attending a parade of lights with friends on Friday, spending time with family on Saturday afternoon, and going to church and Christmas program practice on Sunday.

There's one more thing to note: we did NONE of these workouts alone (except Nikki's 5K on Thanksgiving morning, but that was to retain some sanity after potty-training all week). As they should be in the off season, every single workout was a social workout. I seriously don't know what we'd do without our friends and each other. Working out would be a sad, solo affair.

I'm excited to see what the next four weeks of holiday fun will bring us. We have our own busy-ness with work, church, and family obligations. And furthermore, we plan on some pretty purposeful family time. It should be a fun, FUN season. Happy Thanksgiving, all!