Training, interval and otherwise

You know the theory, right? Bouts of hard work interspersed with rest allows a greater buildup of cardiac capacity (leading to longer life, more sparkly eyes, and hair that curls nicely, presumably). So this morning, I didn't run, since I'd done a long, slow 4+ miles yesterday. And I didn't feel like doing yoga -- not centered enough, or something.

Instead, I grabbed Thing 2's jump rope, put on my togs, and went out front and jumped and jumped. Even though I now have a watch attached to my wrist after weeks of driving it around in my car to get the $3.50 part to fix it, I didn't time myself. I counted.

"One, two, three. . . seventeen, oops." I keep tripping myself. Instead of getting annoyed, I figured I'd just keep going every time. After 225 -- restarting many times, I thought I might throw up, so instead I came inside and took my pulse. 120. Is that healthy? I don't know, but after a bit of rest it was back to 76, so I guess I'm not dying today. I'm also annoyed that I'm feeling the strain so acutely since I've been diligently exercising for a while now. I guess it's hard work, no matter how you slice it. I'll just have to add jump days in between run days.

However, that's not really interval training. That's cross training, where you do a different activity in order to shake things up. So maybe later today I'll go out with the jump rope and let Thing 3 time me for two minutes on, two minutes off for 15 minutes -- if I can. And I also added another bout of cross training -- I mowed the edges of the lawn. There's something going on with our irrigation system (a work of the devil, I firmly believe) and the edges get more water, leading to more grass length, leading to the grass blocking the sprinkler, leading to more water getting to the edges, and on and on. Running the reel mower over those long patches was a full-body workout indeed.

Cross training also seems an appropriate way to think about my household right now. Things 1 & 2 got on an airplane yesterday and flew across the country to visit my parents and their cousins, but that didn't stop me from buying lug of strawberries at the farmers' market yesterday. I'm still on "full house" mode. This morning, even with diligent eating efforts, there were enough left over to make the chickens happy with the moldy ones.

I'm starting to wonder if I bought too many peaches, also. And I don't want to make peach hand pies, unless I give them away (because I'm completely capable of eating only peach pies all day long). Maybe I can borrow some children.

I must do something, because 20 or so grammar exercises await my grading, and I can't expect the remaining kids to completely entertain themselves while I struggle with that. Art supplies? Maybe. Maybe an outing followed by a video or something. And you know, I'd like to knit something too. Or spin. Or something with my hands which doesn't involve a computer keyboard. We'll see. Cross training seems good for the soul as well as the body.