Friday Five: Five Things in My Day

Sometimes there is so much to do that we go about our day without much consciousness of what we are doing. Most of us have very busy schedules and there is not much time for reflection. Thinking about the parts of my day that I enjoy on a regular basis was a good exercise for me to reflect on whether the things I do are in line with my goals and priorities. So without further ado, here are my Friday Five: Five Things in My Day.

1) Morning swims: I forget sometimes just how good it is to start off the day with a swim until I jump in the water and start my warm up. Those first 10 minutes underwater melt all my cares and stress away and I just have fun. Better yet is an outdoor swim under the sunrise. I’ve written about it before but I just love watching the sky change colors on every breath.

2) Juice Plus shake: I started incorporating Juice Plus shakes into my diet at the beginning of February and now it’s a regular part of my daily routine in the morning. The protein powder for the shakes are make with a plant based protein and allow me to get a lot of my daily intake of all those good things I am supposed to be eating all at once. I use almond milk and add in tons of frozen fruit so its a win win as far as I am concerned. Also a plus, if you have issues with being regular, this will help a ton! (hope that’s not TMI)

3) My favorite lunch date: I have always been an advocate of folks leaving the office at lunch and physically going somewhere. I think it helps to give perspective and prevent burnout among other things. I am lucky enough to work only a couple miles from my home, so most of the time my dog Annie is my lunch date. Sometimes we play in the yard, other times we sneak in a run but there are always lots of tail wags and kisses. She loves to lie in the sun on the sidewalk while I eat my lunch on the front step. I think she looks forward to our lunch dates as much as I do.

4) Dog Park Time:It it’s a nice day and I don’t have an afternoon workout, I try to get home as fast as possible so Annie and I can go play at the dog park. We are lucky enough to have several dog parks to choose from, but out favorite by far is the retrieving lake. It’s a fenced in lake that has two small islands in them and was designed to be used to train dogs. Since Annie hasn’t gotten the hang of retrieving, we typically use it for running in circles around the lake, hunting fish or ducks or other creatures along the bank and general shenanigans. What I love about the time we spend here is that it is Annie’s happy place. She has a smile on her face as wide as it can possibly be the entire time we are there! We both get so dirty, but I love every moment of it and so does she.

5) Looking at the stars: I took an astronomy class in college and ever since I have had a curiosity about the moon and the stars. I don’t know many of the constellations by sight, but I can always spot Orion’s Belt which seems to hang right over my house most of the year. I am always fascinated by creation when I look up and after a full day of work, training and play, it is great to take a moment to just be, under the stars.

What are five regular moments in your day that you enjoy or look forward to? ***Again this week I am trying something new and linking up with other running bloggers writing about their Friday Five hosted by Cynthia from You Signed Up for What, Courtney from Eat Pray Run, DC and Mar from Mar on the Run.