How to make your own adventure

As I've talked about before, not every fit adventure you'll have is a planned fitness excursion. Sometimes you have to MAKE your own adventure. Be it at a business conference, a weekend with the in-laws, or a day out with your family, the adventure begins from within. Case in point, uber-fit hubby's 100 mile bike ride from Austin to Shiner, Texas. Always up for a trip to Austin, I was chauffeur to get him to the start line, and then not counting the 2 hour drive to Shiner to pick him up and drive him and the bike home, have about 5 hours on my own in the fabulously weird city. So what's a girl to do? Well of course my first thought was to head back to the San Marcos outlets, but it's only been a few weeks since my last visit, not even time to refresh the stock since I last scoured the racks. Then I considered the Domain, Austin's new fabulous outdoor mall. But I felt the urge to do something more. Luckily my training program put me in the perfect position to handle speedy 5K, and wouldn't you know it, just 10 miles away from uber-fit hubby's start line there was a 5K to benefit underprivileged kids! I made a tag-along weekend my own adventure. I had plenty of time to get hubby to the start of his ride, get to my race and warm up, and then run my best 5K time ever (29:18, take that chronic knee pain!), then shower and check out of the hotel and do some exploring around town . The race itself was incredibly disappointing. Located on a school campus for the mentally challenged, we ran in circles around the compound. I ran the same loop twice (passing by my car in the parking lot each time). My initial hope was that running a 5K would put me in a prime location in the city and I'd have the chance to see a neat part of the city previously undiscovered. That was a major letdown, however what I didn't bank on was the deeper insight-seeing I'd be privy to, worth far more than a good view of the river. As we ran our campus circles, the mentally challenged residents who lived in the compound housing came out to watch us run. My lungs got fuller, my legs got stronger, and my resolve strengthened, because I realized just how lucky I was to be able to get out and run, lucky to have a mind that can focus on training and strengthening my body, and lucky to have the resources to travel and to enjoy these different settings. I stopped complaining about the soreness in my hip and the humidity, and I ran like I'd never run before. It wasn't quite the adventure I'd expected, but it was a great workout, and I came away with fresh insight. So keep your shoes laced, your water bottle full, and your mind open, and there's no telling where your next fit adventure will lead you.