How far is too far to walk?

Tuesday my car needed to go to the shop, about a mile away.  Since Daddy had abandoned me with both kids for the day, I thought perhaps the three of us could go together to drop off the car and walk back the rest of the way.  The library was on the way, so we planned a stop there.

Elliott did just fine, but he wasn't walking.  Jonah walked a bit until he came down with a mysterious foot ailment that required him to be carried too.  Apparently 1000 feet was too far for a toddler.  It was a long trip back with three bodies on two legs.

By the time Daddy finally returned home, I was looking forward to leaving him with the kids and dinner to cook while I took a relaxing stroll to recover my car.  But when Daddy asked if I needed him to go get the car, it took me by surprise and I didn't know what to say.  So I told him: one of us goes and gets the car, the other cooks dinner.

Daddy said he would get the car and left with Jonah for the walk.  Apparently Jonah did a great job walking, being careful when he crossed the street, staying close to Daddy, and not taking too many detours.  He was so excited he stopped a random stranger with a torrent of words that hardly made a sentence.  Apparently a mile was not too far at all.

When they got back, I had Daddy cook dinner.  Thank you for getting the car, but you chose wrongly!

Back In Step

Jonah and I are back to our summer exercise regimen, which means we are out running instead of at the gym.  It's been nice to see how easily I've been able to pick it back up after the winter break.  After only 4 outings in 3 weeks, we're up to 6 miles!  I'm particularly proud that today we did 6 miles in 11min splits, which is a huge improvement over Tuesday's pace of 13min/mile.

It occurs to me that the music may have had something to do with it.  On our last run, I decided to try out the "Rock My Run" app, which allows you to buffer playlists for your run.  We tried three difference DJs, and all were terrible mixes.  And if I had to hear "you're rocking to DJ ____!" one more time, I was going to scream.  After that failure, I decided to invest $7.99 in an iTunes compilation called "110 Running Songs".  It is a great mix of oldies, 80s and current pop music that kept me going strong!   And it sure beats my random collection of Josh Groban and musicals... which don't always make for a very upbeat tempo.

Now that I've upgraded to a smartphone, I'm also enjoying the "Map My Run" app.  Compared with mapping my course out of curiosity of how far I ran, it is instant gratification!

A New Exercise Regimen

I almost gave up my gym membership, since it was getting so little use.  Then I was inspired by a working mom, who I ran into on Saturday at my bi-monthly yoga class.  She is a very happy new member, having switched from the Y, which she found crowded and unsafe for her toddler.

For the past several months, I had only worked out on non-busy weekends.  And I felt guilty for it.  Call it a New Year's resolution if you will, but I have finally decided that I should be allowed to do the things I enjoy and not feel guilty for imposing on Daddy's hobbies (computer gaming) while I pursue my own.  Then I reconsidered my dislike of bringing Jonah to the gym: #1 - on our first and last visit, I had only been a mother for a couple months and leaving Jonah with strangers freaked me out, and #2 - the extra fee charged by the half hour, even though tiny, was a huge dis-incentive.  Hooray!  Both of these have been fixed!  1.)  I am now a seasoned mom.  2.)  The childcare now has a low monthly rate, which is a great incentive to go more often.  And it turns out that one of the things I hated about my gym, having to reserve childcare in advance, has turned out to be a huge merit in making the trips part of our weekly schedule.

No, I don't have any guilt over leaving Jonah for 60-90min. twice a week to play with two adults and a room full of kids.  In fact, at home I would likely be over-working and leaving him to play by himself.  This saves us both from my own vices.  So most weeks I manage three workouts: swimming on Tuesday, conditioning on Friday, and yoga on Saturday.  Self-centered bliss.

The End of my Weight-Control Silver Bullet

I had discovered the magic to maintaining a high metabolism and low weight: breastfeeding!  Imagine, hundreds of food calories burned without a bit of effort.  If I could package and sell the idea on an infomercial, I'd be rich.  (Maybe an appearance on Shark Tank is in order?)  Having nearly expunged all exercise habits in the cold months, I still managed to maintain a nice size 4.  Yes, a four!  That's a full 10lbs and two sizes smaller than pre-Jonah, thank you very much!  Back in the fall I treated myself to a shopping spree when I realized how incredibly frumpy my old, worn and over-sized pants looked.

So you can imagine how resistant I was to giving up breastfeeding all together.  Not to mention how much I enjoy the quiet snuggle time with my son.  So the dates keep getting pushed back.  At first I was going to wean Jonah at 12mo (we did get rid of daytime feedings), then at 15mo (I dropped the morning feeding), then I thought we could keep the nighttime ritual through 18mo.  But tonight that all changed.  Jonah was suckling before bed, though the milk had been depleted for a good 10 minutes.  I asked if he was all done and Jonah held up a finger: "one more minute, Mommy!"  Daddy pointed out that when you are having a conversation with your child about breastfeeding, it is probably time to stop.  And so it is.

Thank you, Jonah!

I'd like to start with an apology and warning to any Moms struggling to regain their shape... but I need to brag:  Jonah was probably the best thing that's ever happened to my figure!  I was frustrated by my ill-fitting pants and took myself shopping after work to catch the end of the holiday sales.  I fit pants two full sizes smaller than I did pre-Jonah!  (...and a cup size larger.)  Yay!

Admittedly, I haven't been trying especially hard (as noted by my nightly ice cream or Halloween candy), though we still go an an occasional hour-long run.  It's hard for me to believe chasing a toddler is so much more effective than all those years of intense gym workouts.  I may be onto the next trend for all the Crossfit dropouts!  Really, I attribute the extra calories burned to breast feeding, which I'm now even more reluctant to give up.  We still enjoy our morning and bedtime snuggle snacks.  :-)

Running Injury

It's pretty early in my career, but I have already sustained a running injury, which a quick Google search refers to as "dreaded ToFP" (top of foot pain).  It's quite possibly the stupidest running injury possible.  I'd expect a sore hammie or bum knee, but why is the top of my foot complaining?  I guess 6 miles twice in the week was more than it was willing to take.  Strange that it doesn't hurt at all while we're out, but 12 hours or so later, it is quite acute and even demanded icing.
Not wanting this to turn this repetitive injury into a permanent injury, we're going to lay off for a while.  Sad.  I'm really hoping a new pair of running shoes (to replace my old cross-trainers) will be sufficient to solve the problem!

10k

A few weeks ago, while I was envying the Bob users, but unwilling to pay what would likely amount to $30/run with my infrequent use, I scored an old jogger for a whopping $9. At least I could try and see if it would improve our jogging experience. It's a InStep 10k, probably 10 years old. So far, it has been a huge improvement on my end!

1. It has large, 16" pneumatic rubber tires, so we can take cracks and bumps in the sidewalk without fearing a sudden stop (but no suspension for Jonah)
2. More stable for running and we can even ride a rough terrain or one side up on a soft curb without tipping over
3. Far less friction to push

The downsides:

1. Fixed front wheel (it pops a wheelie pretty easily, but turning is still a pain)
2. Huge size (not very easy to fold/pack)
3. The seatbelt is designed for a 7-year old rider
4. The canopy is useless in the low morning sun

I see why people end up with so many strollers! Our B-Agile is good at a lot of things (and we use it for everything else), and it seems inevitable that we will eventually get an umbrella stroller for easy trips. :-)

Jonah and I have been enjoying our run/naps in the morning on our days home from work/school. We had a cool morning this week and made a record 6-miler! It's been slow progress since April, but we have gone from 3mi of mostly walking to 6mi mostly jogging. Considering my lack of commitment (we're fair-weather runners), I'm pretty proud. I've been staring at the 10k on the stroller canopy, and feel like we've finally met the design intent!

Who says "Neigh"?

The jury is still out... or at least Jonah's brain.  Let me explain.
We decided to go out for a walk in the afternoon to take a break and enjoy the spring weather.  I'm still trying out new routes, attempting to locate more intact sidewalks for the stroller.  I thought we were on the right track, until the sidewalk ended right at a fire hydrant.  Humph.  So we turned down a side street and passed a horse farm!
I couldn't resist taking Jonah out of the stroller to watch the horses, which were out grazing the in the field.  Jonah sat on the top rail of the fence and stared rather intently for a while.  Eventually, one of the horses looked up from his snack and, noticing us, came over to investigate.  Jonah grew a little worried as the horse drew near... but then so did Mommy!  A thin, plastic fence seems little protection from a 1,000lb animal lumbering straight at you.  I wasn't entirely sure what if any danger a horse posed us, but we backed off enough that the horse couldn't reach us.
I put out a hand, and the horse seemed disappointed that we weren't offering an apple or carrot.  Instead, she waved her head side to side, rubbing her chest against the fence.  The fence buckled quite a bit and I wasn't convinced that the rail wouldn't come right out of the post - except that the horses were still there, so it's probably worked to contain them for some time now.  Eventually she wandered back with the others.
Horse #2 then came over to investigate.  Jonah cried again (briefly), Mommy backed off, and this horse, too decided we were uninteresting and left.  Finally, horse #3 came over.  He decided that there appeared to be a nice salad bar on our side of the fence and stuck his head between the rails!  Well, I reasoned that a horse with his head stuck in a fence wasn't a threat, so we approached and pet his mane.  Jonah stared intently, but wasn't so interested in touching (or eating) the horse.  Maybe next time.
Oh, and about the title: the horses were busy eating, so they weren't saying much.  Mommy was making all the "neigh" sounds!  Does anyone think this is confusing for a baby?

Walking

No, Jonah is not walking on his own two feet (yet!)  I was recently inspired by a friend, who ran a marathon while pregnant.  Coupled with the weather - which is now getting beautiful - and terrible spring fever, I decided that Jonah and I would go running together.  (By running, I mean long walks with short amounts of intermittent jogging.)  Before making heavy investments in jogging strollers, etc., I thought I should give it a "test run" and see if this is something we would both enjoy.
So far we've been out three times on different routes, but there have been a couple constants:

1. The town is a lot hillier than I ever gave it credit for.
2. Pushing a stroller is not an insignificant amount of work.  Especially with the hills.  And a stroller not intended for either rough terrain or jogging.
3. The sidewalks are poorly designed (they end randomly... and watch out for the occasional utility pole planted in the center!) and maintained (can you say "pothole rubble"?).
4. Strollers are not welcome.  The trail system is designed for foot and dog traffic only.  Even the public golf course kicked us off to spare a lawsuit should Jonah be hit with a ball (unless he was golfing, in which case it would be okay.)
5. I can still get lost within a half mile from home.  Just enough to keep it interesting.