That's Fit

Fitting exercise in when you are a parent can be challenging enough. When you are a parent on vacation, you can almost forget it. Unless a trip to an amusement park, as they are called, happens to be on your itinerary.

I should have worn a pedometer when we went to Sea World in San Diego last week. Even without measuring, though, I'm pretty sure we cleared at least five miles. We're talking brisk. No strolling. Not even close. With a show schedule and a 3-year-old, you simply cannot be leisurely. Remember, though, if you want to count a walk in this kind of park a workout, you must bypass the junk food around every bend.

Of course, I'll need a vacation from my vacation when I return home. The good news is that going to the gym will feel like one.

• Plyometrics: These moves might make you feel a little silly at first, but you'll be the one laughing when that belly felt melts off. Add moves like bounding, jumping, and skipping to your walking workout.
• Hills: This is easy if you live in a hilly neighborhood. Substitute about 25% of your usual flat walking route with a hilly one. If you live in a flat area, you can program a hilly workout into a treadmill instead.
• Intervals: Intervals are surprisingly fun. Just keep up your normal moderate pace for ten minutes, then speed up for one minute. Return to your former pace for three minutes, then speed up again for a minute. Repeat this three or four times, then go back to your moderate pace.
  
  

If you live in running shoes, there are a number of rules you need to know.

Running on the beach
calves burn, sand churns, and heart pumps
I yearn for the shore