On running with a full-time child.
I’ve registered for the full-length Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in Las Vegas, December 6.
My training is flagging a little bit due to the exhaustion of being with Sami all day, every day, but also for other reasons. First, it’s hard to find the time to run, since any time she’s strapped into the stroller she is the opposite of burning off her daily energy stockpile. Thus making napping dubious. This is a problem for me.
The bigger problem is that running with 50+ lbs of stroller is just unpredictably hard. It changes my posture to place more strain on my lower back. Only one arm can be swinging at a time, which throws my balance slightly off. It’s harder, and so I get less speed payoff for my perceived exertion. I overheat faster.
As I’m learning with just about everything one does at home full time with a kid, it’s JUST HARDER. I’m making strides at taking it easy, not worrying too much about mileage on my short-run days and just getting my 45 minutes in, but darn is it hard. So hard that when I stopped for a few moments yesterday, I experienced firsthand why you’re not supposed to go from high exertion to no exertion. I got lightheaded and a little nauseated, had to lie down and kick my legs to raise my heart rate a little, and once recovered I noted that I shall never do that again.
When Sami goes back to school, I’ll have 3 months in which I can actually focus on my training, and I plan to make excellent use of them. Maybe all this stroller-pushing cardio will give me added strength which I can parlay into speed and stamina later. Here’s hoping.
Tomorrow we’re going to a hilly place, where I very likely won’t be able to maintain a run even half the time because of the weight of the stroller. The workout should be worth it, and it’ll be a 5-miler, so a worthy endeavor. And we shall just not speak of my speed, until such time as I can get back to running solo.
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At the beginning, it’s not all about speed!!
.-= noelle´s last blog ..Musica! =-.
Cheryl, dear, the only advice I have is to network. Fern and I met when we were pregnant with Ben(jie) and Becca. From the time, they were toddlers, we shared their care, splitting our responsibility in half. It is really easier to care for 2 than 1 because they entertain each other. When Ben started Kindergarten, he became friendly with Jess and the Rigelhaupts helped raise him. Ask Ben about it. We definitely believed in the “It takes a village to raise a child” approach. You are trying to do it alone and that is hard. A better idea is to just bring her up here for a week. I have a large group of Grandma’s eager to play with Sami.