Run, Baby, Run….and bring your friends and family

I’d call my “tush” something else, but I have fears of my son saying “ass.” He already likes to say “oh my god.” Not good.

I’ve noticed that in the last couple of weeks, my weight has been creeping up to the top of my comfort zone. Now, I don’t have any strange delusions, I’m by no means overweight, but my pants are a touch tight and I can tell. “Hmmm…., I’ve been at the gym, I don’t get it.” Then I realized that I’ve gone from running 25 mile weeks to oh, say, 5 mile weeks. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist….also, it’s winter, so I think there’s a little bit of that hibernation thing going on. Anyway, to rectify the situation (and because I got to the gym too late for the bosu/cycle class) I ran intervals today. Yeah, running’s harder than anything else. Here’s the real breakdown:

1 mile at 9:30 pace
3 min at 16:00 pace, 10% grade
3 min at 9:10 pace
6 min at 16:00 pace, 10% grade
1.2 miles at 9:10 pace
2 min at 16:00 pace, 10% grade
2 min at 9:10 pace
2 min at 16:00 pace

Felt good, but tiring. Back to running outside on Sunday, unless it snows again….aiming for 5 miles (hear that Kim?)

Logbook Activity

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/31/2008
• Time: 09:40:00
• Total Time: 00:40:00.00
• Distance: 3.56 miles
• Average Pace: 11:14.16/mile

Logbook Activity

• Type: General Cardio
• Date: 01/30/2008
• Time: 09:30:00
• Total Time: 00:50:00.00

After Kim and my “run” this morning (see the previous post), Kirk and I took the kids sledding. There’s a great sno-park about 25 minutes from our house that has a beginner sledding hill and an advanced one, I guess you’d call it. We bundled the kids up in their snow suits and boots, bundled the adults the same and started on the baby hill. After one run with me, my daughter demanded to “do it myself.” Keep in mind, she’s 2, so she wants to do everything “myself”. Off she went. On her tummy. Head first. In the snow. Laughing, laughing, laughing. She was a sledding champ. Once my son saw it, he was off as well. A few runs on the little hill and we moved up to the advanced spot. Now, this hill, while not huge, is a good ride and takes a couple minutes to hike back up. It’s covered in lanes and teenagers attempting to snowboard on their sleds, parents racing their kids and general tom-foolery. After one run with me, little miss independent wanted to “do it myself.” Off she went. On her tummy. Head first. Though the hoards. I ran down to meet her at the bottom to hear, “wow, nice run” from somebody. She was a two year old rocket on a sled. My son never got that brave, but he did take a bunch of rides with us.

So, how does this count as exercise for a fitness blog, you ask? We have 2 sleds, one that basically sucks, and one that holds an adult and child together, or one independent 2 year old. The kids walked the hill (we’re those mean parents who make our kids walk up instead of carrying them) but they took forever. There were stops for snow angels, treasure hunts and snow-cicles. My job was to run the sled up the hill to the other waiting child or parent. And, as I missed the run this morning, I really did run about 2/3 of them, until I was tired.

It was a blast of a day! We all had a ton of fun making snow angel families and snow men, sledding and running around. My husband and two kids are currently napping after the busy morning and I’m off to a baby shower. In a dress…

Logbook Activity

• Type: Other
• Date: 01/27/2008
• Time: 10:00:00
• Total Time: 1:15:00.00

Kim and my attempt at running today was thwarted by snow and ice. We got out there and gave it a good try, but the sidewalks were slick, the streets were slick and the neighborhood is all hills. Our time is decieving. We went up the hills (with decent footing) quickly, but going down was an attempt at comedy. To make things better or worse, we brought my dogs along. Sometimes they helped us stay up, sometimes, well….not so much. It was pretty to be out in the snow and mountains, though.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Walk
• Date: 01/27/2008
• Time: 07:45:00
• Total Time: 1:00:00.00
• Distance: 2.5 miles
• Average Pace: 24:00/mile

Logbook Activity

• Type: General Cardio
• Date: 01/26/2008
• Time: 11:00:00
• Total Time: 00:50:00.00

Logbook Activity

• Type: Walk
• Date: 01/25/2008
• Time: 17:00:00
• Total Time: 00:15:00.00
• Distance: 1 miles
• Average Pace: 15:00/mile

Logbook Activity

• Type: Strength Training
• Date: 01/24/2008
• Time: 10:05:00
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00

Logbook Activity

• Type: General Cardio
• Date: 01/24/2008
• Time: 09:30:00
• Total Time: 00:35:00.00

Logbook Activity

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/24/2008
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 00:20:00.00
• Distance: 2 miles
• Average Pace: 10:00/mile

We took crazy pups back to obedience school last night for a “refresher” course. Boy, did she need it! She was nuts for the first 30 minutes, then settled in a little and started listening. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but it seems like she’s behaving a little better already. She lay down nicely in with the kids this morning without begging or pawing for food and sat (rather than jumped around) while we got ready to go for the second run. (Truly, we had to try that a few times. We didn’t go until she sat nicely, so it took us about 10 minutes to get out the door.) I think she’s probably behaving better b/c I’m paying more attention to making her behave, and therefore more attention to her in general.

The second part of this equation is that I believe in parenting through exhaustion, kids or dogs. Tired dogs=calmer dogs. Kids who get to run around and get their ya-yas out=happy kids who listen and sit quietly when needed. (and hopefully, kids who grow up to be active, healthy adults) Plus, I can’t sit still unless I exercise, so why would they? There are some genetics involved here.

So, fluffy pups got to go on the second run with me. It was so pretty that I wanted to stay out longer, but…5 miles of hilly hills, even in 2 bouts, and my legs are tired. Loki is crashed in her quiet corner, so I think she’s done for a while too. Too bad for Ellie, she had to stay home, as she can barely make two miles, let alone 2 plus 3.

Logbook Activity

• Type: Run
• Date: 01/23/2008
• Time: 09:30:00
• Total Time: 00:27:00.00
• Distance: 2.8 miles
• Average Pace: 9:38.78/mile