Our little one is 4.5 months old, and my postpartum running journey is still in the base-building stage. I'm trying to do about 6 miles of running each day, with a longer "long run" on the weekend. It's been a little tricky lately, as our always "high need" little guy is especially irritable from teething. Here's a snapshot of a "typical" running week for me right now.
Monday
At 11am, I took Teddy on a stroller run in the Thule Urban Glide 2 my parents very generously bought us. I clipped in a teething toy and a crinkly cloth book to keep Teddy occupied, and put on some children's music on my iPhone. It kept him entertained for a few miles, but then he started crying (and screaming) about 1 mile away from the house. I only take him on runs within a 1-mile radius of the house for this reason. Unfortunately, it still made for 10 or so minutes of screaming for the neighbors as I hustled him back as quickly as I could. Total: 4.6 miles. Later in the day I also took him on a 2-mile walk in the other stroller, in which he got a decent nap, and two 1-mile walks in the carrier. Some good "time on feet" at least.
Tuesday
At 8:45am, we had a very successful stroller run! I put on the children's music, and after a few miles, he got fussy, so I switched over to a lullaby on repeat. He fell asleep, so I kept on going until he woke up and got 7 miles. Also did two <1 mile walks with him in the carrier in the afternoon.
Wednesday
We did our stroller run at 8:24 in the morning, and used the same technique as on Tuesday. It worked again, and we got 6.2 miles done. We also took a 1-mile walk in the carrier in the afternoon. The carrier walks seem to calm him down and get him ready to take a nap, which is nice. Plus it's extra exercise for me -- like wearing a 20+ lb weight vest!
Thursday
We got a later start to our stroller run today, as Teddy took his morning naps in the bedroom. We left at 10:22, and only did 1.7 miles (with mild amounts of fussing) before Teddy started crying very loudly. I had the same toys clipped in with him, and tried the same tricks of children's music and then the lullaby on repeat, but he wasn't having it. So 10 minutes or so of screaming as I hustled us home again. I took him on a 2-mile carrier walk at 11:30 to much greater success. Then I waited until after dinner to go on a 3-mile run by myself while Joe watched the baby.
Friday
It seems to be the trend that stroller runs are more successful earlier in the morning. However, we left for a stroller run at 10:45 today, and it was just as successful as Tuesday's run. We did 7 miles again, with Teddy sleeping from miles 4.5 to 7. There were a ton of people out walking and running in the neighborhood, thanks to the "stay at home" mandate. It's kind of nice to see so many people out and about, although it also makes for a bigger audience for Teddy's crying at times.
Saturday
I wanted to get in a long run today of about 15 miles. But Teddy was pretty irritable in the morning. I was up with him 4:30-5:30am, and then got him back to bed for a while. Then Joe took him for an hour so I could get extra sleep, and I awoke to Teddy crying inconsolably, despite a healthy dose of Children's Tylenol. Poor Joe couldn't find a way to make him stop crying. After calming Teddy down by nursing him, I was skeptical that he would be okay while I went out for a run that might be almost 3 hours long. So I decided to do the run in loops (which is what I did last Saturday as well). I did 6 miles, came back and checked in, and Joe was with Teddy in the front yard. Teddy was perfectly fine, so I left for another 6 miles. When I came back, Teddy was in his swing, swaddled and supposed to be napping, but wide awake and fussing. I took him out, nursed him, and then did the last 3 miles with him in the running stroller. He fell asleep in the stroller, and I finished off my 15 miles, just in time for a Zoom call with Joe's family in Houston. I was able to keep Teddy asleep in the stroller during the 40-minute call by pushing it back and forth constantly. He seems to like motion. We also did a 1.5-mile carrier walk in the afternoon, which got him nice and sleepy for a 2-hour nap before dinner. Joe and I took him on a second carrier walk after dinner.
Sunday
In the morning, I focused on getting Teddy to take two naps, with a bath in between. Then we live-streamed a Mass with the girls. So I didn't get out for a run until the afternoon. I did 6 by myself, which is always a treat. There's a nice 6-mile loop I can do along Leon Creek (from our house), that involves a couple miles of trails. The really nice thing is I got to chat on the phone with my parents for 4.5 miles of my run. That's how we've been doing our weekly calls lately, and it makes my run much more enjoyable! I use my Aftershokz Trekz headphones, which allow me to still hear traffic, mountain bikes, etc.
Weekly Total - 63.2 miles (52 miles running, 11.2 miles walking)
(30.7 of the miles run or 59% were with the stroller, 21.3 without)
I'm blessed that all my runs felt good -- no aches or pains, so I'll keep on staying this course, maybe aiming for a 17-miler next weekend.
