Today I ran in a circle 48 times! As grateful as I am to the little 6 laps to a mile track in the basement of the Orem Sports Center for saving me from having to run on the dreaded treadmill during the dreary months of winter, I'm ready to kiss it goodbye and say hello to some fresh air, sunshine, trees, and outdoor running paths! I was definitely dragging my feet out the door today knowing that I had an eight mile run ahead of me on that little indoor track. I'm in the middle of my fourth week of the marathon training, and I'm determined to do everything that little program hanging on my fridge tells me to do.
Oh how I wish I had a running buddy to meet me everyday with their familiar smiling face, even if they only ran one mile with me. (Mornings don't work for Sherstin with her busy school schedule, and nights don't work for me, but I do enjoy her company on the long Saturday runs when we can make our schedules match.) The only familiar faces I see are the senior citizens walking by who like to smile and wave to Boston. Actually, there are a few younger moms that run there just about everyday too, and I was trying to get up the nerve to talk to one of them today, but I chickened out! There is one mom in particular that I would have thought was a sixteen year old girl had I not seen her with two of her kids, one looking like he was at least ten years old. She's about 5 foot nothing and 95 pounds. In the summer when Boston was just a little guy napping in his stroller, and I was still trying to get back in shape, I would watch her in awe as she cruised by me and lapped me over and over and over during my runs. I've finally gotten to the point where I think I could keep up with her, but I'm way too scared to go talk to her. How do you suddenly strike up a conversation with someone you have been seeing almost every day for months and never even once said hi to? Not to mention she has headphones in. But how cool would that be if we could be buddies? She's there at the same time as me EVERYDAY! And I would love the extra motivation to run better because she is faster than me. I'm not going to lie though, I'm intimidated by her. She seems pretty down to business when she's running. Maybe someday I'll get up the guts to talk to her....
Anyway, looks like Boston is my only running buddy for now. I miss the days when he would peacefully sleep in his stroller for up to two hours easily while I ran. Some days it is so frustrating and hard to take him running with me that I actually contemplate getting up at 5:00 in the morning so I can get my run done before Scott goes to school, but I'm not that crazy yet. I'll take the fussy one-year-old over 5:00 am for now. Some days are definitely better than others, and so far I have been able to get done what I needed to get done at the track. It DEFINITELY requires some extra effort bringing him along, but I like sleeping in until 7:00 or 8:00. The usual routine consists of me getting the first couple miles done while he happily snacks on his breakfast and milk. Then it gets a little tricky once his food is gone and I start to hand him a myriad of toys and such to keep him entertained which lasts for a few minutes per toy until he gets bored and throws it out if the stroller. I usually have to make quite a few quick stops to pick up the various objects Boston chucks with his little one-year-old get me out of this stupid stroller attitude. Sometimes it drives me absolutely crazy, then I take a step back and realize that Boston just sat in his stroller for 90 minutes which is probably unheard of for most kids his age. Then I think he deserves a huge lollipop and I want to hug him for being such a good baby. I can't expect him to peacefully sit there for that long, and I'm dang lucky he will sit there for that long at all. After a few miles of toys and chucking toys and yelling a little bit, he usually gives up and realizes he's not getting out until we get home, so he relaxes and looks around with a bored sleepy look on his face. That's usually when the "he deserves a huge lollipop" thought comes in to my mind. By that time I'm usually about done with my run and I skip all stretching and cool down because that would just be way too much to ask of the little guy. Then we go home and Boston takes a nap while I shower and eat lunch. Who knows how much longer this routine will last, but it's working for now and I really like it. However, I won't be sad at all if the sun suddenly decides to show it's pretty face, and I get the guts to make some friends under the age of 65 at the the gym!
2 comments:
That is one descriptive post about your running. I could picture it all and sorry, but it made me laugh. You are AMAZING to take Boston with you on your runs. The extra bending over and retrieving of toys has got to give you extra points on your training schedule. You are doing fantastic! Way to go wonder woman.
Do you put Boston in his carseat and then stroller? I remember Jack used to get bored of that, but once I turned him around and actually strapped him into the stroller itself he was much happier because he could see around him instead of just staring at me. That helped a lot.
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