Run, Baby, Run!

Today I ran my first mile since before my pregnancy with Gabriel (now I'm making up for it with a bowl of ice cream, but let's just ignore that small fact)! Back in the day my first mile was just a warm up, a mandatory step before miles 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Today it was a feat.

Aaron and I had promised Aiden a trip to Montreat park after his nap and decided we'd get a work out while we were at it and stop at the Montreat gate so we could run to and from the park. Well, actually I decided that and didn't really give Aaron a choice. I told him he'd be happy in the end. He just gave me a look that said "Right." He knew he'd be the one pushing the double stroller. When we got to the gate, loaded the boys in the stroller, and started to walk in that muggy heat, I suddenly realized there was no way I was going to make it a whole mile up hill to the park. I decided instead that we should walk up and run back. Baby steps. Aaron didn't complain. He was, after all, the one pushing the double stroller.

After an hour at the park, playing in the creek and swinging on the swings ("Daddy, you swing with me? Mommy, you go sit down.") it was time to run. Ok, so ever since I took an interest in running 8 years ago, I always imagined that once I got married I would also be gaining a life long running partner. A two-in-one type deal. Well, it appeared quite early on with Aaron that that was not going to be the case. I tried running with him once in college and the guy could not keep a pace. He'd bolt forward, jumping off rocks and small walls along the path (I imagine he was probably yelling "Par-core!" in his mind), then he'd slow down to my pace and make some smart-aleck comment about my speed before racing ahead again. I tried to get him to run with me again once we were married, but despite the fact that he could run for hours in a soccer game or ride his bike for 10+ miles on mountainous trails, he could not stand the thought of running simply to run. I almost forgot about all this until we started to run today. "Let's keep a slow pace," I said as we started to jog. But it wasn't more than 30 seconds before he was racing down ahead of me. He did have the weight of the stroller pulling him forward and Aiden yelling, "Faster! Faster!" but I could tell even that was not completely to blame. I could barely keep up with him and then he'd stop abruptly to look at something. I'd pass him and then he'd zoom right past me again, lifting the stroller's back tires to avoid rocks and curbs (although if Gabriel was older I am sure he would have tried to do ollies off them). At first I tried to keep pace with him, but after awhile of his stop-go routine, I decided to keep my own. Oh, by the way, my pace? S-l-o-w. I actually almost felt like I was moving in slow motion. Even so I felt like I was dying. To be fair, I did just have a baby not even three months ago, and it's awfully hard to run with next to no abdominal muscles. At first I thought perhaps my organs were going to fall out, but then I got those horrible side cramps and I no longer noticed my organs bouncing around my loose stomach.

All in all I'd say it was a successful first run. Oh and I beat Aaron to the gate despite his speed, all that stopping to stare at random things gave my slow but consistent pace an advantage. However, in his defense, he was pushing the double stroller.