Until Ellie. I was registered for the Marine Corps in 2010, but I decided that running a marathon pregnant wasn't for me. I am now looking a two year gap between most recent marathon and upcoming marathon, and I am a bit nervous.
My super awesome brother-in-laws (brothers-in-law?) got me a BOB for Christmas. Try to find it in the stack of gifts.
 |
| (Did you find it?) |
In order to accommodate our little peanut, we got an infant seat adapter the day before I was cleared to run. Why did I wait to buy it? Because I am not trustworthy in some areas of my life, and I would have started working out before I was cleared. For the record: I generally try to be a trustworthy person, but I hate not being able to work out.
Since Matt had already assembled the stroller, I simply had to snap the infant seat in and take off running. I dug out workout clothes and filled up my long-neglected water bottle. After checking about 4,587 times that Ellie was secure, I felt ready. I'd been warned time after time to start slow. Ellie and I headed out on a beautiful day.
 |
| (Ready to rock.) |
We walked for 10 minutes on flat terrain.
We ran 2 minutes, walked 2 minutes for 26 minutes on flat terrain.
We ran for 3 extra minutes on flat terrain.
We came inside and both crashed on the couch, exhausted. I'm not sure why she was so tired, but she woke up and didn't nap for the rest of the day.
 |
| (Hi Adrenalines. I missed you.) |
17 minutes of running total. 39 minutes of total "outside working out" time. 197 days until the marathon. I have no idea how far I went, but the distance was unimpressive. Ellie loved the BOB. Loved her ride beyond belief. She looked fascinated by the whole thing, perhaps by how tired mommy looked. Every time we hit a bump, she got excited. My dream of run time being nap time did not come true, but I'm glad she is taking after the rest of the family and enjoying the sport.
When I found out about Ellie's heart defect, I wondered if she'd be able to participate in endurance sports. Her cardiologist reassured me that Ellie's heart will be strong enough to run, and I hope Ellie will run with mom and dad. A bit later, I came across some advice for parents of children with DS. One item involved googling your hobby along with the words "Down syndrome." Searching "marathon down syndrome" led me to this article about Simon Beresford, a man with DS who has run multiple marathons.
I tried to tell Ellie about him, but she wanted to refuel after our run. She was intrigued by her elephant, and tried eating him.
 |
| (That stuffed elephant might have protein!) |
Speaking of eating... Guess who I spotted in the backyard?
 |
| (Sketchy. I don't trust him.) |
This is why:
 |
| (Not so pretty.) |
Happy weekend!
I was thinking that if it works out, you might not want workout time to be nap time, as long as it IS Ellie-happy time. That way, you can still get stuff done later in the day too, while she naps! Good luck on training. I will try to be inspired by you, but even your awesome story might not be enough to get me to go jogging even once....robin
ReplyDeleteWow!! I didn't know you were such an accomplished runner!
ReplyDeleteDo you love you BOB?? I hear they are AH-MAZING. I went on my first jog post baby (and first jog in even longer than that!) this week, and I'm not a huge fan of running with the stroller. Hopefully I adjust and adapt to it.
Keep us updated with your progress!
WOW! You ROCK! Amazing! We have BOB's too (actually, two of 'em - a single and a double - since Mikey's a bike mechanic, he gets them at cost) and they are lovely.
ReplyDeleteSo, is that how to train? Two minutes, off and on? As you know, I REALLY want to learn how to run. I don't know HOW. Would you be able to write a post sometime about HOW to learn how to run? I'd sooooooooooo appreciate it.
Marathons...I'm in awe.