Cancel that breakup, please.

Before today’s run I was thinking about breaking up with my treadmill. Miles and I were going back to running outdoors; Tuesday was great so today should have been as well. After his nap we headed out to Lincoln Woods. Now before the judging starts, it was 40 degrees which is our cut off for running with the stroller. He was beyond bundled up and there was no wind. I did have a new weather shield for the stroller I was going to try out but got a bit overwhelmed with all the instructions that fell out of the packing with me. I fiddled with it for a few mins before tossing it in the undercarriage; I’ll need a bit of practice before using it for real. We got through the first loop no problem so I doubled back for a second loop, a mistake I’ll live to regret. For those who aren’t familiar with Lincoln Woods, it’s a closed 2.5 mile loop with a pond in the middle, there are no short cuts. Sure enough once I hit the 3 mile mark he started to make some noise. I checked on him and there was nothing going on that I could fix. Unfortunately for me he didn’t stop there. Every step I took the volume got louder. I stopped a few times to see if I could help but he wanted out of the stroller. Having no alternatives I continued to run with my child screaming bloody murder in the stroller. I tried to sing to him but Lincoln Woods is hilly and with trying to get to my car quickly and lugging both of us up and down the hills I was barely able to get through the ABC’s. Then the looks started, I can’t blame the others, I’d probably stare as well. I tried to ignore them and focused on getting to the car. Finally I snapped. Some old guy was sucking his teeth and shaking his head, I finally turned around and asked him if he felt he could get to my car faster than I and if he wanted the baby and my keys. I turned around and picked up the pace as much as I could without waiting for a response. He’s probably the same kind of person who parks in the parking for those with babies at Stop and Shop when he doesn’t have a baby. Just when I thought maybe I wasn’t going to make it, the kid had finally won, he got quiet. I didn’t dare stop as we had a mile left to go and didn’t want to risk a repeat of his lung performance. Of course when we reached the car and I peaked over at him he was happily playing with Doug (the drama lamb) like nothing had happened. I don’t think myself or that stupid old guy will forget this run for a while. I’m also not sure I’ll break up with my treadmill either.

Miles run today: 5