Not everyone is cut out to be a runner. I actually used to think that I fell into that category. The good news is that I love a good challenge. When I wanted to start running again when Eden was just a baby - before she turned 1, actually - I decided to join some friends in their running routines. We started a group in Florida and there were runners/walkers of all capacities. Runners, joggers, jog/walkers, and walkers. We met at the playground and we split up into groups from there. We all started together, and we all let our kids play together. The route we ran was just over 1.5 miles and there was no way I could have ever run it in its entirety. No...way! I started running .1 miles and then walking .1 miles and did that the whole way around. I thought I was dying! I worked up to be able to run .2 miles, walk .1 and each week I increased my running distance by just a little bit. I'll never forget the day I went out to run on my own and decided to do it twice thinking I'd have run just 3 miles. Well, remember? The route is just OVER 1.5 miles, so when I thought I was doing 3 miles {and only 3 miles} of run/walking...I was wrong. But I felt so good when I got done with it. I did it. And if I had done it once then I could do it again.
Fast forward to Texas. The worse place to try to keep up with running possible. Luckily, I had a friend who ran {she was part of the group in Florida too} and we ran together once or twice a week. Anyways, the wind there was awful, the temperatures were hotter than the underworld, and adding a stroller that made it feel like running with an open umbrella didn't make anything easy! I knew my paths, I knew where my milestones {literally} were and I wanted nothing more than to hit those. Well...I got pregnant. I knew I should be able to run while I was pregnant because I had been, but then the doctor said I should stop for my first trimester for various reasons. Yeah, let me start back up after taking 10-12 weeks off. Ha ha, nice try!
So I didn't start running again until a year ago. I looked back and I ran my first 3.2 mile distance run at a 48 minute mile {in April}. Since then I've run {official races} 3, 5K races {Phillip Rivers 5k in June 2012, the Color Run in November 2012, and the Neon Run - though it was a mile short - in April 2013} 1, 10k race {Flight Line Dash in January 2013} and 2 half marathons {Carlsbad Half Marathon and the La Jolla Half Marathon}.
My kids have either been with me or on the sidelines/finish line cheering me on in all but one race, and most of my training runs. It is not a secret to Eden {who understands} that the reason I run is so that I can stay healthy, and she enjoyed imitating me with her dolls in her stroller as she runs in the yard or throughout the house. She knows that to be active is to be healthy. I'm glad that I can impart that bit of wisdom in her at an early age. Both kids also associate running with fun. I listen to music while we run, and then when I'm done she gets to play with her friends. Hunter and Eden both enjoy playing by just running around at the lake when I run at the lake, but also playing on the playground if we run at the park close by. If we stick to a home running course, Eden likes to look for bunnies as we run, or look for lizards.
I enjoy being able to be a healthy role model for my kids, and I love that they have fun with it too!
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