August 2010 activity charts

OK, the August 2010 activity charts are ready to download and/or print.  Sorry to publish them while it's still July.  It will make them difficult to find for anyone searching my August posts, but we're going out of town for the weekend, and there's no internet connection where we're going.  It must get taken care of today.

Here's how the charts work.  Days you workout, give yourself a sticker, or fill in the date with whatever you did regarding exercise, or color in the blank, or....whatever you want.  It's simply an accountability thing.  For those of us struggling with exercise, it's a good thing to have a giant chart hanging on the fridge (or on your cubicle wall) to remind you of what you have or have not done for the day. week, month, etc.  I've gone through various cycles with my charts of the years.  I'm back to stickers again.  And I had to pick the plain jane chart for July because my printer was acting super funky when we unpacked it.  Blah!

{my July chart}

I found ADORABLE glittery, pink princess crown stickers at the grocery store.  Love them!  My chart for July looks sooooooo much better than the near-blank chart I had in June.  As a matter of fact, my June chart was depressing to look at.  I was determined to make July the best I possibly could without injuring myself. 

Bouncing back from taking so many weeks off was difficult, but the break was much needed.  Not just because we were in the middle of a cross country move (from Ohio to Washington state), but because my knee injury required some time off (per my sports med surgeons request).  That's life, right?  So my goal for July was to get back to running 4 miles without stopping.  Done!  My goal for August will be getting to a 7 or 8 mile long run by month end, and making sure to cross train on the days in between my shorter training runs.  (This is where the P90X program makes its way into the picture, but we'll have to chat about that another day.)  I feel strong enough to workout and cross train on the "in between" days now.  If you would have told me to back around July 1st that I would be back to a 4 mile base / short run multiple times a week, I would have called you crazy.  There was just no way I could have done it then.  I struggled with just 1 mile...and that mile included walk breaks throughout.  However, look how many changes and how much improvement can be made in just one month!  I hope your July chart reflects what you wanted it to.  If not, what are you going to do about it in August?  This is your opportunity to shine like a glittery, pink princess crown sticker.  So go print a chart of your own & get movin'!  :)

{flip flops on the beach}

Click here to print or download the "flip flops" chart.

 {all about the goal}

Click here to print or download the "all about the goal" chart.

{when life gets in the way}

Click here to print or download the "when life gets in the way" chart.

{i deserve a vacation!}

Click here to print or download the "i deserve a vacation" chart.

{plain jane}

Click here to print or download the "plain jane" chart.

To anyone out there with inactive kiddos....I feel your pain!  Ben and Riley are now 12 & 10.  They have officially hit the "tween" phase of life (GROAN!).  Both kids have printed activity charts for August.  They want to start running with me!  Anyway, each child has now been fitted for running shoes. That took a couple of months to accomplish because running shoes aren't cheap.  Especially considering, they're both in adult size shoes now.  Oh how I miss the days of  buying light up Velcro sneakers! lol  So I had to wait between pay periods before I could have both children fitted.  I've printed Hal Higdon's training guide for running with children.  It's such a positive, simple approach.  I wish so much schools would embrace this method of exercise for children!  I think the whole "force them to run a mile around the school yard" thing that was going on back in the early '80s when I was a kid...was the very thing that made me feel like such a failure with exercise in the first place.  I learned to totally hate it after a while.  If your kids are turning into cartoon watching / video game playing spuds this summer, print them a chart and go exercise WITH them.  Trust me....it works.  Just use baby steps along the way.  They'll do it if you do it with them.