Exercise?

Whew! I just got back from run/walking 1.5 miles. I woke up early so I could get exercise time in before DH left for work. Otherwise, I'd be stuck running this afternoon with Em and/or the dog. And though I love them both, anyone out there who has ever tried to exercise accompanied by a young child who isn't in a stroller, knows what a hassle it is...

I've tried walking with Emma. The difficulty is, she stops every 2 steps 10 feet to look at the flowers, or the pretty leaves, or to notice the fire ants storming out of their ant mound. While I love that my child likes to "stop and smell the roses," her turtle-like speed doesn't allow the "workout" pace I was hoping for.

Sometimes I try to take walks escorted by Em on her tricycle. If we do this, we use her "trike" that has a pushing handle, so I can help move her along once her little legs poop out. This also leads to difficulties. Steering the tricycle is a pain in the neck, as it is a tug-of-war between Em and I. Though I really like the model of tricycle, the blasted handlebars for the child are connected to the push-handle for the grown-up. Thus, if she jerks the handlebars one way, I'm forced to realign so that she doesn't crash into neighbor's mailboxes, etc. And while this might sound like a good upper body workout, it is more frustrating than it is worth.

I should win the Mother of the Year Award receive special honors for the times I've walked with Em on her tricycle AND taken our dog with us at the same time. Picture me trying to balance the leash without having my arm pulled out of socket (remember, our dog is a large 100-pound mutt.) Along with maintaining the leash, I have to help steer/guide Emma's tricycle so that she doesn't dismount her tricycle to sight see the neighbor's flowers, thereby slowing down my already snail-like workout wreck and scar herself for life.

Also fun, is trying to take Em on a wagon ride, escorted by our dog. There I am trying to shed some pounds speed-walk. Meanwhile, with one arm, I'm towing the wagon precariously behind me, (it has nearly severed my ankles as we neared the bottom of hills in our neighborhood on several occasions) while our dog is tugging my other arm forward to lead the way. I'm like a walking wind-mill with one arm forward and the other arm back the entire walk. Though I do have to say that I am certain that this IS a good upper arm workout, as the times I've tried it, I've felt the results in my biceps for days afterward.

I wouldn't trade my Em or our dog for anything...but I learned long ago if I "walk" with them, it won't be for exercise, it will be for the adventure. And as our summer is already going to consist of many mommy-and-Emma adventures, I figure I'm entitled to a solo workout walk/run now and then.

Thus, this summer I plan to rise early in order to exercise before Em wakes up. This way I can exercise at my own pace, have some ME time, beat the mid-day summer heat, and return home before DH has to leave for work.

According to my N.ike mini i.Pod monitor thingamajig, as of this morning, I've run/walked 4 workouts, totaling 6.77 miles run/walked, with an average pace of 24 minutes per mile.

While totally stoked about this, as the first "goal" I set for myself was to go 12 miles in 4 weeks, I'm also a little bummed. I have 3 workouts that for some reason did not register at all. Thus, my "tracked" mileage should actually be higher than it is indicating. Bummer!

Em just woke up and told me I'm "too stinky" to give a good morning hug to. Guess it's time to hit the shower. If only I had the strength to get out of the computer chair...