Hello friends! I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been traveling. Some personal, some business, all taking me away from the comforts of my city, gym and routine for nearly three weeks. I knew these trips were coming up and was a bit anxious about keeping up with my training without trusty Trainer or my dedicated gym BFF by my side (more on her later – our gym shenanigans deserve their own post), but did my best to plan ahead and pack more active wear than real clothes for both trips so I’d be forced to be more, well, active while I was away.

The first trip was to my home town for the best reason ever – MY TWIN SISTER HAD A BABY!!! She went a little past her due date but wanted me home before she went into labor because she was kinda freaking and then, of course, I wanted to be around for a little while to help when that magical little creature finally made her appearance.

It’s good for me is that 1) my sister understands my compulsion to exercise (she is a longtime marathoner) and 2) my hometown is loaded with steep hills so you can get a lot of bang for your workout buck… quickly. I was able to sneak out for quick 30-45 minute hill runs that kicked my butt and didn’t make me miss out on too much time with my family. The hill runs are also great for counter-balancing all of the food I eat when I’m there. I’m from the South and, well, it’s where my sometimes unhealthy love of food comes from. I have at least three favorite taco joints that I have to hit when I’m home, plus all the BBQ and other delicious whatnot the South is famous for cooking up. Fortunately, my hometown rewards these demanding penance runs with stunning trails and gorgeous views so staying on the fitness track isn’t so tough.

   

The second part of my extended stay away from home was a work trip that took me to our nation’s capitol for a HUGE science festival sponsored by a client of mine. I was super pumped about the trip because, SCIENCE! and I thought I would get to log a ton of miles exploring the city in my running shoes. Running is one of the best ways to explore a new city without looking like a tourist and I hadn’t been to DC in like 15 years so, essentially, it was like going for the first time.

I was all, “I’ll be in DC for a week so I’ll get to run and play and explore and it’ll be great!” But then the realities of work travel set in and I found that the only actual running I did was for and at the event. We had the largest exhibit there (36,000 square feet to be exact) and the miles I logged that week came from running end to end of our space.

Then I became one of those “steps” people. We all did. Because we were blowing the recommended 10,000 steps per day out of the water, logging between 20,000 and 30,000 each day. And those weren’t leisurely stroll steps either. We walked/jogged with purpose and almost always pushing a dolly or carrying something heavy. The work days became our own special manual labor form of Cross Fit.

 

And the best workout I had the whole trip ended up being a very special treat I like to call VACUUMING NEARLY 20,000 SQUARE FEET OF CARPET. Yep, three hours of straight vacuuming. It started as a smaller project of vacuuming the “runway” section of the exhibit and then something took over and I was a woman possessed. By what I have no idea. I barely even vacuum my own home (hardwoods, baby, hardwoods) so I really don’t know what got into me. Perhaps it was a sense of accomplishment or some hidden OCD I have for clean floors. Either way, I had to have burned a million calories that day alone. (Seriously, I must have because I almost fainted near the end of the day and was told to leave and get some rest.)

But I have no regrets. That carpet shined like the top of the Chrysler Building and, despite my “sight-seeing” running hopes getting dashed, I managed to get a hell of a workout pulling off one of the coolest events I’ve ever had the privilege of working on. Also, much to my delight, all sight-seeing dreams were not lost. I managed to sneak in a couple leisurely walking tours of DC – one with a cute new scientist friend and the other, on our last night, with my brilliant team. What can I say? When I want to see monuments, I am going to see some damn monuments.