Airport Bound: Travel=Workout

I've been fortunate enough to visit Alaska twice, with Larry. He goes for work and I tag along, because, well....its ALASKA! Those visits were great, but limited in where we could go because he had time constraints. This year we did the trip we've always wanted to do; the land and sea trip.

The first leg of the trip was on the Holland America Cruise ship MS Oosterdam and we visited Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway and Glacier Bay, before heading to Seward. Once on the mainland we rented a car and made our way north through Anchorage, to Denali National Park and ending up in Fairbanks.

On the first leg we flew from Atlanta to Vancouver, via Seattle. For all the sitting one does on cross country flights, I also found ways to get a little exercise in.

First I got an abs, glutes, and core workout in the shuttle that took us to the airport. As it careened out of the hotel parking lot, Larry grabbed the back of the seat in front of him. My legs were tucked under the seat and as I clutched my purse to my chest I squeezed the seat cushion with my legs. There wasn't much room in the seat so to keep myself from falling into my husband, (and subsequently pushing him onto the floor), I remembered the words of my pilates instructor and sucked my belly button back to my spine and held myself upright. At the traffic light, I relaxed and took a breath until the light turned green and we took off. It may have only been 15 minutes, but it was a great Tabata Interval workout.

Once we got to the airport, there was a discussion as to whether we needed the domestic or international terminal. We started to walk towards the international shuttle. Larry saw the domestic terminal nearby so while I kept our bags safely corralled so they couldn't run away, he headed for the door. Ten minutes later, he reappeared to say we wanted the domestic terminal, and off we headed. I'm pretty sure, he got at least half of his 10,000 steps just making those two trips.

I know by the end of the day, I had 10,000 steps in for the day, and I spent most of it 7 miles in the air, reading.

I did manage to avoid the Body Pump Weight Lifting exercise. This time I had my husband along to hoist the carry-on bag into the overhead compartment. And I was glad! That bag was heavy!!

Stay tuned for tales about the actual cruise!