Day 14: And, That’s the End

…of my first two weeks of running!

I can’t believe it’s been 14 days, and I’ve done something active on every single one of them. I have not skipped a day. Sure, sometimes I only had a walk in me, but despite being tired or hot or unmotivated, I still managed to make it out the door.

This morning got off to a slow start because of this, but not long after I wrote it, T Junior woke up. So after 15 minutes of diaper-changing, dog-pottying, baby-dressing, sippy cup-filling, cracker-stashing, key-finding, belt-buckling and shoe-tying, we were on our way.

Today, I was anxious to get on the trail for my first 3-mile run in a very long time. I don’t think I’ve done that distance since my pre-wedding workouts…in 2001-2002! Yikes.

Roundtrip was about 50 minutes. Would you believe I used to be able to run it in 21? I think that was my fastest time when I was on the cross country team. Okay, so back then I didn’t walk for the first half mile and then stop to stretch. But besides the little warm up this morning, I ran all of it, even though it was in the upper 80s and we were in the direct sunlight for the last 10 or 15 minutes.

Speaking of that last part of the run, the canopy on the BOB couldn’t completely block out the sun since it was high in the sky and directly in front of us. I wasn’t too worried about it, though, because I slathered T Junior and myself in sunscreen before we left the house. But an older man walking in the other direction, who obviously didn’t see the Coppertone glistening on my son’s skin, had something to say as he passed. “Melting, huh? Hope your not burning his legs.”

“Nope. He’s got suntan lotion on.” I tried to sound cheery through heavy breaths.

But the comment kind of bugged me. And, then a couple minutes later, I felt guilty. So, I jogged up alongside the stroller and pulled the BOB’s cover in front of T Junior, blocking his view but shading most of his legs. Just his shiny, pudgy feet were exposed.

Overall, the run was pleasant. At the end, though, I was wishing I didn’t have to push a baby. But T Junior was good the whole time, so I can’t complain. He ate his cheese stick and a Ritz cracker, drank half of his water, and leaned back and enjoyed the ride, occasionally pointing to the sky when he heard a plane or shouting “biwdie” when he saw one fly by.

When I got tired, I tried to imagine springs on the bottom of my feet and bungee cords pulling my knees. I think it helped a little. Mostly, my run today was a big confidence booster.

Can’t wait to see where the next few weeks take me and my running partner.