Back to our roots

We went to the gym as a family this morning, which is one of the things I love most about Saturday mornings.  Also topping the list was the fact that I was able to sleep until 7:30 a.m. - thanks to my loving husband and cooperative little children.

But really, the gym was a close second.  

I normally do a full body workout on Saturday and it hasn't worked out since Caleb was born that Scott and I were on the same schedule to do one together.  So I was thrilled when he suggested we give it a go as a duo today.

After dropping the kids off, we sat in the sauna for 5 minutes and then warmed up with a mile on the treadmill.  HGTV and I did it in 10 minutes flat... booo...

Then, we headed upstairs to the indoor track and I proceeded to do my first, full scale Crossfit workout.

Let me tell you, I never thought I could do it.

It was 4 reps of:

500 meter run

20 Kettlebell swings

15 handstand pushups (I did regular pushups, Scott did the wall)

10 situps

I think we finished in about 9:30.

Then we did 3 rounds of 100 jump rope jumps followed by 10 wall ball's (which I had never done before).   With these, you pick a spot on the wall about 3 feet over your head and squat down with the medicine ball, exploding up while throwing the ball up to hit the spot.  As the ball comes down, you time your squat to catch it as you bend your knees.

I'm sure I looked graceful as all get out. 

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I know I've said it before, but it's worth repeating that I truly advocate working out with your partner.  There is just something about putting in that physical time together that is powerful.  I've always thought it would be interesting to stage one of these dating reality shows in a gym...Biggest Loser meets The Bachelor.  For Scott and me, working out goes back to the roots of our relationship. 

He could have very easily left me in the dust during this workout, but he didn't.  During the first lap around the track, he took to my pace (which I didn't think was horrible, 9 weeks post-partum) and pushed me the whole time. 

Years ago, this was how our relationship started.  Being too poor to do much else, instead of dates, we went to the gym and enjoyed working out together, turning up the radio on the way home with the windows down and later crashing on the couch.

I had lifted in college and spent my fair time in the weight room, but Scott taught me so much more about technique and form and different machines and lifts.  And there was never a trace of impatience or irritation on his part in my lack of knowledge or questions.  

Looking back now, I learned a lot about the man I was choosing to spend the rest of my life with by how he interacted as a workout partner.  He was always encouraging and supportive, knowing when to say something or when to be quiet. When things got hard, he was never hateful or snapped.  And he demonstrated his trust in me by asking me to spot him or support him on heavy lifts.

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As we walked a lap after the last wall ball Saturday, my mind drifted back there - to the beginning of us.  And how fulfilling to know that almost five years of marriage and three little kids later, he's still right beside me, supporting and building me up.

We "cooled down" by sitting in the sauna for ten excruciating minutes, daydreaming about future plans and talking about swim lessons for the girls, and then picked up our three little darlings to come back home and go through the rest of the weekend.  

I would tell you that the best part was the calories I know I burned or the fact that I plowed through a hard workout that day...and don't get me wrong, that was pretty high up there.  But being able to workout with my husband again was my greatest joy.

Life gets so busy sometimes and it's easy to get caught up in the dirty diapers and tantrums and frustration over not looking like I want fast enough...but I remain so grateful that God sends me reminders at just the right time to be thankful for this partner in life He's assigned to me.

Hug your love tonight and have a great one.