How I Mix Workouts with Fun on Vacation

If you know me at all, you know that I like to workout.

Not everyone is into fitness, so I try to find things to do that others will enjoy but that will give me my often much-needed workout.

There are plenty of fun activities to do in Falmouth. Believe me, I have a list of favorites that gets longer every time I'm here. But I love to try new things, too.

Last year I tried SUP Yoga for the first time with my friend Danielle and loved it. She's working on her Masters Degree this summer, so she put me in touch with her friend Amy of Peace Love SUP. I was thrilled that the whole family wanted to join me. Our group of six met Amy at Great Pond for a fun afternoon session on the water.

The girls and I had a challenging SUP Yoga workout. I'd love to say that I conquered crow pose on the board, but this is really just Amy catching my one second hold. She did not catch when I fell off the board trying to do side angle pose.

The boys kept to SUP even though we tried to talk then into joining us for some yoga.



W had a great experience with Amy on the SUP boards and several of us were even a little sore the next day.

A new activity for us this year was Bottom Fishing with Patriot Party Boats. Bottom Fishing pretty much guarantees that everyone will catch a fish because they park the boat on top of schools of fish.

Even though I just went along to watch and cheer on the group, I ended up giving fishing a try. It's a lot of work bringing a fish to the surface! I'm pretty sure you can call it a workout, especially if you catch a lot of fish. I think littleC caught eight!

My new found enjoyment of hiking led me to The Knob on Quissett Bay Harbor near Woods Hole. The Knob is really a sanctuary that was donated to the people by Cornelia Carey. She wanted people to enjoy the woods, the birds, and the sea.

There are two walking trails to get to the area known as The Knob lookout. The main trail is well maintained, wide, and takes you straight to the end. We took the Harbor Cliff trail which overlooks the inner harbor in spots but is narrow and not as maintained.

Off the main trail is also access to Crescent Beach on Buzzards Bay. Many people were making a day of it, but we just enjoyed a quick dip to cool off.

One of our favorite activities in Falmouth is the Shining Sea Bike Trail. The trail extends just over 10.5 miles from North Falmouth to Woods Hole. There are several trail heads so you can jump on and off at different places.

Of course there is always swimming at Old Silver Beach. We like to walk the .50 mile there and then spend a couple of hours in and out of the water. There's also a water sports rental shop right on the beach.

Do you like to workout when you're on vacation?
How do you get others to workout with you?

A Little Yoga, Biking, and Family Fun

Being the first one up has its perks. I can sneak out to the yard and create my own little yoga space. with just an ordinary beach towel.

I was feeling a little stiff today, so I found a Yoga with Adrienne video to play on my iPad. Her videos are some of my favorites because she makes it so easy to follow the flow.

The girls and mrC went on a three mile run. I wanted to join them so badly (stupid knee), but instead I jumped on the bike. I love my Priority bike. I feel 100% like it just shouts I'M A PERSON ON VACATION! 

Then I enjoyed a post workout smoothie.

We spent the afternoon staying cozy inside waiting and hoping for the gray, rainy clouds to pass because we had a family beach photo session scheduled. Everything worked out perfectly and we had so much fun with Stacey from Stacey Hedman | Photography. I can't wait to see the photos!

Afterwards we headed to downtown Falmouth for some dinner and walking around. 

Red sky at night, sailer's delight.

The weather is already looking fabulous for our adventures today!

Things I love About Monday

Do you love being given gifts first thing in the morning? Me too! Today mrC and I received our birthday gifts from the kids. In addition to some dry shampoo and lip gloss, I love my bracelet from Kiel James Patrick.

After running some errands with the girls, mrC, oldestC and I went on a bike ride. We had to get out and enjoy the blue sky. I love being active together.

We explored the area of New Silver Beach. I love riding through Cape neighborhoods and looking at all the beautiful homes. They have some prime swimming areas with great views.

We rode all the way to the end of Bay Shore Drive and enjoyed the view of Wild Harbor. I love capturing moments like this.

After dinner we walked to our beach, Old Silver Beach, to catch the sunset. It was a little cloudy, but there were still amazing colors in the sky. I love this part of being at the Cape.

Always multitasking, littleC gave me a quick lesson on using SnapChat. I love my time with the kids.

What did you love about your Monday?

Funny Things During a Workout, Carb Cycling Round 2 and GIVEAWAY ALERTS!

I've got some really great giveaway alerts for you at the end of this post that you don't want to miss out on!

But first, I woke up SUPER early this morning (5 AM!) and since I couldn't fall back to sleep I made some coffee to take out on the back deck. It was a nice until it started raining.

mrC did not have the same problem. I had to wake him up for church. We had big plans to walk there (it's only about .25 mile from the house), but the rain... Side note: I love, love my new skirt. 

After church we decided to do an indoor workout for carb cycling feast day.  I like Jillian Michaels workout videos because she takes you through a dynamic warm up and static cool down.

I'm always looking for new ways to modify cardio exercises to keep my knee happy. JM showed me that squat punches is a great option.

Three funny things commonly happen when I workout with mrC:

1) he closes his eyes during intervals  - I look over during lunges and it looks like he's sleeping!

2) he high fives after each circuit - he's a happy guy ;)

3) when he bangs into something (like today he sort of punched the drop ceiling), he never reacts - I nearly jump out of my skin at the noise, look over, and he's just jumping away. It's like he's trying to say, wasn't me. Haha.

Speaking of carb cycling, today was also the last day of round 2 which means we took measurements. Full disclosure, I was not as faithful to the eating plan as I was during round 1. I could blame all the travel, but it really came down to the fact that I let myself cheat and cheat and cheat.

THE RESULTS: My weight stayed the same but I gained (eek) 4.75 inches!

+.50 bust
+.25 hips
0 waist
+1.5 thighs
+1.5 calves
+1.5 biceps

mrC says gaining in some places (like my biceps) is a good thing. I agree, although half heartedly, because I really wanted to lose another 4 pounds and slim down my hips and thighs.

FINAL THOUGHTS: You get out what you put in. I have signed up for a 30 Day Shred and I'm making a promise to myself to stick to the plan.

The sun came out after lunchtime, so we walked to the beach to enjoy a little sun, sand and waves.  I highly recommend a beach day if you are feeling bummed.

Before I sign off, I want to share links to GIVEAWAYS going on now. There have been so many lately that I couldn't keep them to myself.

Win a Bib to the Falmouth Road Race from Carrots n Cake 

Live Free and Run Giveaway: TWO entries to a ZOOMA Run Event (for you and a friend)

Win a pair of compression socks from The Fit Fork

Lean, Clean, and Brie is hosting a Bob's Red Mill Giveaway

Win IdealFit Protein Powder from The Bikini Experiment

Sprints and Sprinting to the Cape!

Yesterday I flipped low calorie day with low carb day to make sure we did not miss our sprint workout before heading to the Cape. mrC and I were at the gym at 6:15 to do the final sprint workout of carb cycling round two.

Sprinting for 15 minutes using the 20:20 ratio equals 23 intervals! It's all fun and games when you start, but the last three (extra) are tough.

I spent the rest of the day getting ready for our trip: laundry, prepping kid "care packages" and organizing my suitcase. My SIL's dog has become my little shadow, especially when I'm enjoying some low carb day turkey breast slices.

Our landlord contacted us the night before to let us know the house was ready and invited us to go a day early. We thought, HECK YEA! We can't get there fast enough! When mrC got back from work, we loaded everything into the car and sprinted off.

We enjoyed an easy traffic-free drive. After a quick stop for some dinner, we arrived around 9PM. Waking up in the Cape House (instead of being in the Saturday morning mad dash) was fantabulous.

Here are a few pics to show you why :)

The kids arrive tomorrow (can't wait!), but this little guy must have decided I needed some company.

Happy Saturday!