While I am not yet throwing in the proverbial towel on my plans to run this race in October, I think part of being a good Mom (human?) is knowing when to say when.
I'm sure it's a surprise to no one when I say that I am having a hard time fitting in workouts and running. Not much has changed since my last post. I remember when I had a less demanding job and was newly married, I would wonder how people couldn't find time to workout. I thought to myself that I would never be that person and would always make time if it's important. Of course I could have never known I would that life would change dramatically in the course of a year and a half.
A typical weekday for the past couple weeks....(because I know how much people love these kind of posts):
4:45am - Up for the day. Baby boy starts squawking and then starts crying as he is OMG SO HUNGRY. The kid is an eater.
5:00-5:30am feed baby boy, try to put him back to sleep, or pass him off to Mr. BKL to get him back to sleep, or pick up a crying baby girl if she is now awake.
5:30-6:30am - make coffee, shower, start to get ready for work, pump. Finish getting ready and find something to bring for lunch.
6:30am - try to get out the door.
7:00am-4:00pm - work
4:30-6pm - arrive home, get some smiles from the babies, get changed, give Mr. BKL a break. On Mondays, he leaves for one of his summer jobs. If neither of us have somewhere to be (which has only happened a handful of times since I have been back at work) we may take a family walk or one or both of us will go running. Things like grocery shopping and Target trips have to happen at this time, too.
6:00-7pm - feed the babies, give baths if it's bath night
7:00-7:30pm - play with babies, then attempt to get them to nap
7:30-8:30pm - clean, laundry, pick up house, assemble* dinner, eat dinner (in shifts if one or both babies isn't sleeping)
8:30-9:30pm - feed babies, swaddle them, get them to sleep for the night
9:30pm - 10:30pm - wash dishes and bottles/load dishwasher, make lunch for the next day, get clothes ready for the next day. Possibly sit with Mr. BKL for a minute or watch something on TV.
10:30 - hopefully sleeping
So, the way I see it is I either get up before 4am to run on the treadmill or I start trying to do it at 9:30pm. Either way, I am losing sleep. The above does not factor in the possibility of one or either baby waking up in the night or earlier than 4am. Which has happened often.
I am not posting this to be all look how busy I am! But merely as a mea culpa of my former self who said she would always find time. I wanted to run a 1/2 mostly for the weight loss factor and wanting to get back into shape. Not to mention having some "me" time. I can accomplish those things without the time commitment that training for a 1/2 entails.
Enter: the new goal.
I recently joined a local faction of a Mom's of Multiples Group, and
they set up an August Miles challenge. My new goal is to simply run 50
miles for the month. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but I think it
will be a happy medium between training for a 1/2 and getting some
distances over 3 miles in.
As I said, I am not giving up my goal of the Monster Dash 1/2 quite yet, but I already looked ahead to see what early spring 1/2's are out there. Among my options:
-Get in Gear 1/2 4/27
-Get Lucky 1/2 3/16
-Goldy's Run 10 mile Late April
Then of course there are the two I ran in 2011 - Earth Day and Fargo. I really want to do Fargo again, but logistics with the wee babes is a bit more challenging. Earth Day would be easy because I can stay with my parents, and while I really liked it, it would be fun to try something new.
I think it will come down to timing. Earth Day is in late April, which would give me more time to train outside. If I did the Get Lucky 1/2, there is the potential for more severe winter conditions and the majority of training being done on the treadmill. Yawn.
So that's my stream of consciousness post on my future racing plans. As with everything related to having babies, things change in an instant!
*assemble, because it's things like sandwiches, cereal, or leftovers from the weekend. On that note...one of the best gifts you can give to families with newborns is a freezer meal!
As I said, I am not giving up my goal of the Monster Dash 1/2 quite yet, but I already looked ahead to see what early spring 1/2's are out there. Among my options:
-Get in Gear 1/2 4/27
-Get Lucky 1/2 3/16
-Goldy's Run 10 mile Late April
Then of course there are the two I ran in 2011 - Earth Day and Fargo. I really want to do Fargo again, but logistics with the wee babes is a bit more challenging. Earth Day would be easy because I can stay with my parents, and while I really liked it, it would be fun to try something new.
I think it will come down to timing. Earth Day is in late April, which would give me more time to train outside. If I did the Get Lucky 1/2, there is the potential for more severe winter conditions and the majority of training being done on the treadmill. Yawn.
So that's my stream of consciousness post on my future racing plans. As with everything related to having babies, things change in an instant!
*assemble, because it's things like sandwiches, cereal, or leftovers from the weekend. On that note...one of the best gifts you can give to families with newborns is a freezer meal!
