off road running

Happy Thanksgiving! 

As usual, I have a lot to be thankful for - number one being my outstanding family (especially my little baby girl!), but I am also thankful to have the gift of running in my life. While I have been struggling to regain my pre-baby fitness level, I am still enjoying most of my runs, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to just get out there and run!

This Thanksgiving, we were signed up to run a Turkey Trot...but, it just wasn't in the cards. Baby has been at war with her teeth - it seems they are growing in, though we have yet to see a pearly white. But it is obvious from her recent behavior that she is bothered by their journey through her sensitive baby gums :( This has basically meant a lot of extra TLC from her mama (typically provided during the middle of the night) and a couple doses of baby tylenol. The night before our scheduled Turkey Trot was a particularly bad night; perhaps being at a family member's home instead of her own bed was part of it, but we were up A LOT and she was an absolute mess in the morning. I knew right away we'd be skipping the race, and though I was disappointed, I was not about to put my tired and suffering little baby in a chilly jogging stroller to have her "run" a race with me. So we scrapped the race and napped while Baby napped. She was in much better spirits later that morning, so I knew we made the right decision. 

Even though we missed out on the 5K, I still wanted to get in a T-Day run, so I headed out on a loop in the neighborhood that I struggled with this summer. It's about seven miles and I just wasn't at that point three months ago. The heat (and my out-of-shape-ness) stifled my attempts to make it around the loop, and I had to raise my white flag on several occasions. But yesterday, as soon as I headed out the door, I knew I was going to settle the score. And I did. I got myself all the way around and the early miles were sub-nines. Though I slowed a little at the end (see above paragraph re: sleepless night), I finished strong and felt pretty good. That's about all you can ask for before sitting down to a fabulous home-cooked turkey dinner. 

Today, we had our sights set on a nature-y trail run followed by a beer/burger at a local tavern near the entrance to the trail. We had a packed day and a limited amount of time to fit it in, but we bargained with Baby and she agreed to let us go. She held up her end of the bargain and took her nap in her stroller while we headed into the woods. It was her first "off road" run, and it was a huge success. Just to be clear, it was a gravel path through the trees and a smidge bumpier than regular asphalt - so not at all dangerous, but definitely different (read: more challenging) than road running. We did a three mile loop and then parked ourselves at the tavern for a rewarding lunch. 

off road running

smooth ride

the trail going uphill

fam pic post run

happy baby at the tavern

Even though things didn't exactly go as planned (when do they with kids?), I'm very pleased with these runs and am happy to have shared it with my family. Bring on the holiday season!