The indoor/outdoor dilema

This has to be one of my favorite times of year to run outdoors. The leaves, the air, everything. It's cool enough to call for some layers but you don't finish your run assessing yourself for frostbite. Here's my problem, running outdoors interrupts nap time. I really didn't think I would be one of those people who would care about naps and we were not going to follow any kind of schedule. That was until I fell in love with naps, it's a sacred time of day that allows me to regain any sanity lost throughout the day. So I've been sacrificing outdoor runs in favor of nap time, meaning I've spend a considerable amount of time on the treadmill. Perfect? Nope, but I'll say it again...I love nap time. As a result I'm flying though the movies on HBO GO and have a new found interest in making my basement a bit more welcoming. Ah well, at least I'm still running in the end it doesn't matter how I'm getting the miles in.

Miles run today: 4

stop assuming

I had the chance to hear 2009 Kona winner, Jason Fowler, speak last night and to say his story is inspiring just doesn't do it justice. This guy is out of this world with what he's accomplished and the way he tells his story. If you have the chance to listen to him, do it. I've been meaning to be more focused in my workouts and it's been coming along but he gave me a new fire. One thing he mentioned was stop making excuses and assumptions for why you can't do something and this is a pitfall I know too well. With the kid, as much as I love him, he comes with a solid list of excuses why I won't get a workout in and often these are valid reasons. What it comes down to is if I want to cross that finish line the excuses need to stop as well as the reasons why I won't be able to reach the finish. It's funny how quickly you can fall into old habits. As fired up as I was when I got home last night that all seemed to fade when the alarm went off at 5:45 for a pool workout. Do I want this or not? And yes it sucked this morning, get up and pump then hit the pool only to come home finish breakfast and play time with the kid, once he's down for a nap it was a mad dash onto the treadmill to get my run in. But each workout is one workout closer to the end goal and each workout is a victory over the excuses and assumptions.

Miles run today: 3

You really don't want to run?!?

When Joe decided he wanted to stay home with the kid this morning while I went for a run I had to contain my enthusiasm so he wouldn't feel badly. Finally a run completely alone. Not with the jogger, not with him trailing behind with the jogger, just me alone. I lived on the edge and ran an old route that isn't jogger friendly and enjoyed every moment. I ran with my music on full volume and didn't care where the sun was or how hard the wind was blowing. Don't get me wrong it would have been nice to have Joe there but I certainly didn't miss the jogger, it's unwieldy and when the kid is around it's too distracting. The cross training is paying off as this run felt very smooth, it was a confidence booster after a few rocky runs this week. I'm still having trouble with a side stitch that seems to have come out of the blue, I wonder if it has anything to do with the colder air. It was better today so I'm less concerned.

Miles run today: 6

A very long 3 miles

Daylight Savings Time is ruining my life, the guaranteed naps we had established have suddenly vanished into thin air this week. The bigger deal about this is the guaranteed times I had to run/bike are gone as well and won't return until the naps do. I knew I should run but was having a hard time finding the motivation. It wasn't until late in the afternoon I finally decided to chance it. This was after the kid had been down for a half hour, if I had only run right away I would have been in the clear. I was less than a mile in when the lights started to flash on the baby monitor and in a matter of minutes it was clear that he wasn't going to cut me some slack and let me run an additional 2 miles. Fast forward 45 minutes and kid is settled and muffins are out of the oven; I have 2o mins before my scheduled "get ready for work hour begins" and I decide to go for it. Off we went on a rare late afternoon run. Lesson learned, don't procrastinate the week following day light savings. And just for the record, if things don't improve quickly we are relocating to AZ to escape any future meaningless time changes.

Miles run today: 3

Time to get serious

Alright enough fooling around. The kid is out of the newborn phase and it's time for me to take running seriously again. I have some goals for next year and not unlike high school math my goals will build upon each other. I had 2 good weeks then we had a week of no sleeping followed by a week of illness now things are getting back on track. I'm hoping the kid reads this, NO MORE SLEEP PROBLEMS PLEASE! First up is the Hyannis Half Feb of 2012. To get there I'm planning on 4 runs a week, 3 with Miles and one on the weekend. Weekly runs will likely not get longer than 4 miles each and the weekend run will peak at 10. If I can run 10, I can run 13.1. If successful in Hyannis I'll start to look at summer races and events. We brought the kid out with us this morning for an easy 5 with the running club, when we left our house it was 34 degrees and that is likely as cold as he can tolerate. I'm on the lookout for a portable heater we can hook up to the jogger because as the temps drop this is going to be harder to run in shifts.

Miles run today: 5

Another reason to appreciate sleep

After last week I'm reminded why I won't trade in my kid for a new model, he's a pretty good sleeper, most of the time. You don't appreciate things until they are gone and the same goes for sleep. With him sleeping I had been able to amp up my workouts with little problem. Sure there were adjustments (the jogger, the blvd, dealing with naps) but for the most part I was still getting out there. Until last week that is. He stopped sleeping and almost instantly I stopped running. It was all I could do in the mornings to open my eyes never mind go outdoors. It wasn't even a conscious decision I had no choice in the matter, my body wasn't going to have it. After a few days I wondered if I would ever workout again. I know that working out is supposed to provide one with energy but that's bullshit to someone whose not sleeping. Slowly the kid I've grown accustomed too returned and his evil twin left and we all got some sleep. And after an unexpected recovery week I'm back at it again. I have a new found respect for any parent who can maintain fitness sleep deprived, I wasn't up to the task.

Miles run today: 3