Thursday, February 23, 2006

Fartlek-ing

Anything that contains the word "fart" automatically makes kids laugh.

This is a fact of life that every parent is completely aware of. And, like it or not when a kid says "fart", even when it's at the dinner table, your attempt to discipline them inevitably leaves you choking back your own giggles, which the kids pick up on immediately, which totally defeats your attempt at discipline. At that point everything dissolves into unabandoned laughter. This happens to us a lot - my wife will say something to the kids in complete seriousness, it will strike me as funny, and before I can hide my face the kids see it. Game over. Sometimes things just gets in your head, strikes you funny, and then you just can't stop thinking about it until finally you give up and laugh. You know it's wrong. But you just can't help it. Ok I'm immature. I admit this freely and without shame.

So this is why thinking about "Fart"lek workouts makes me smile. And this is exactly the point - laugh, have fun, do whatever you feel like doing (don't slack off of course!). Go faster than you planned, tone it down if you're energy is low. Speed up, slow down, go with the music. This has definitely helped with the drudgery treadmill workouts as well as lap after lap after lap after lap in the pool. I'm also finding that on some of the days when I feel like crap and mentally I'm just not in the mood, if I let my body just do what it wants I end up having a great workout. I always end up working out harder than I thought I could that day.

So Thursdays are now Fartlek days. I can't wait to tell the family this tonight at the dinner table.

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