This morning I woke up early and tried a new delicious concoction of mine for breakfast:

  • Plain Chobani Yogurt
  • Granola
  • Sliced white peaches
  • Scoop of almond butter

Mixed all together, this tastes great!

I then packed a bag and ventured toward Cleveland Circle, specifically the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.  My original intentions were to just go for a walk and then lay out a little, but I ended up doing a full blown outdoor workout.

I began with one walking loop around the reservoir (about 1.5 miles).  It was a pretty path, so I  snapped a lot of photos for you guys!

I then upped my pace and did another 1.5 mile loop, this time jogging.  No pictures from this time around.  I can’t remember the last time I went for an actual run outside, so I was proud that I could do the whole 1.5 without stopping.

Then I got all bootcampish on myself.  I did two of the superset combos I had my bootcamp class do on Thursday.  And I did some stairs in between sets.  So the workout became:

Set 1

  • 60 seconds forward lunges (using the step for a little incline)
  • 60 seconds jump squats
  • 60 seconds stair run

Set 2

  • 60 seconds plie squats
  • 60 seconds jumping jacks
  • 60 seconds stair run

Then I repeated sets 1 and 2 but lowered the time to 40 seconds each.  The stairs were really tough.

Set 3 concentrated on outer thigh and obliques:

  • Side leg lift on right side, with oblique dip at same time.  2 sets of 8, and 8 pulses.
  • 60 seconds of side to side oblique twists
  • Side leg lift combo on the left side
  • 60 seconds of side to side oblique twists

Set 4 finished up abs:

  • Sitting, heels on ground in front.  Lower and lift for 3 sets of 8.  Then lift feet off ground and do seated rotations 3 sets of 8.
  • Hold feet off ground in front, extend legs and lean back, then crunch up for 3 sets of 8.
  • Finished with regular crunches with my feet in the air.

My beach towel made a nice substitute for an ab mat.  And doing ab work with the sun shining through the trees is way cooler than being at the gym.

After my workout I was hoping to jump in the Reilly swimming pool but it was closed!  I was so bummed because I really wanted some sun time this weekend.  Instead I brought my beach chair out to the field and set up there, all sweaty, and read for a bit.  After about an hour it got really cloudy, so I headed home.  Now I’m going to make the delicious shrimp salad I had for lunch on Friday, run some errands, and head to Jeff & Jill’s BBQ.

Question of the day:  What’s your favorite outdoor workout?

Hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day weekend!