My (Sort Of) Day Off From Pilates
Posted by Jennifer Popper on Sun, Jul 05, 2009 @ 05:13 PM
As I type this up, sitting out on our back porch, I'm reflecting on the fact that this was a wonderful holiday weekend. The weather finally cooperated and the sun did come out!
This 4th of July, my husband Michael and I went on a 17 mile bike ride yesterday around the Great Swamp (he has his laptop outside as well, and is now Googling info on Trek and Cannondale bikes). I'm less familiar with this part of New Jersey, but after playing around on the computer, I realized that it would be a somewhat hilly ride. And unfortunately, just as we began our journey, I learned that my gears were a bit shot. I plowed ahead, though, encouraged by Michael, and probably expended three times as much energy as necessary versus had my gears worked correctly. I felt like Fred Flinstone driving his car, legs working at a quick pace, kicking up a dust cloud, screaming, "Wilma!" However, even though I worked harder, I constantly had keep your hips forward and shoulders back and down playing over and over in my head. One more occasion where Pilates training has crossed over to everyday life. When you do Pilates on a regular basis, be it on the Reformer or the mat, you realize the importance of alignment, of creating a stronger and more flexible spine, use of the breath (good for those hilly inclines), and so much more.
We were on the last leg of our journey, and noticed a 'Pick Your Own Blueberries' sign. We decided, since the last part of the ride included a long, steady hill before the final coast back down to the car, to finish the ride and drive back. We knew if we got off the bikes, we wouldn't want to get back on, and we still had a ways to go. So we ventured on, made it to the finish line, and pointed the car towards blueberry heaven!
We parked our car, bikes now dangling on the bike rack, and made our way into Hillview Farms. We were each given our own pails, the kind children use at the beach, but our prize was going to be a lovely shade of blue vs. the usual golden sand. We made our way to the blueberry patch, and reflected upon the fact that something so simple could be so rewarding (we ate a few as we filled our pails, so yes, we knew it was rewarding... and so very tasty!). This place was a discovery we made purely by accident, but as we made our way back to the store to have our booty weighed, we knew we'd be back one day soon. That's because Lorraine, who was friendly, informative and funny, too, told us about the fresh peaches arriving in a few weeks!
Hope you enjoyed the beautiful weather and you were able to do something active and rewarding, too! Feel like sharing? We'd love to hear from you!