Change of Plans

Life is full of surprises. 

Some are good.

Some are bad.

Some include not having a job after your maternity leave. 

Say what?!

It's true. 

It's complicated. 

But it happened.

This is not a bad thing. 

I mean, what mother doesn't want to spend all day with her new baby, right?

This is not a good thing.

Um, money ring a bell?

However, it's a new twist in my life, 

and hell if I'm not going to make lemonade out of lemons.

On second thought, let's make that a Lemon Drop.

SO, one of the drawbacks to not returning to work is that I will have to complete nearly all of my training runs with my pint-sized sidekick. 

But on the upside, I can now go to the 5:45pm Boot Camp class and not wake up at 4:30am for the 5:30 class.

On the subject of training with my sidekick, 

I'm getting further into my training, 

which means that the runs are getting longer,

and she's not getting any lighter. 

I had someone comment to me the other day, "Isn't running with a stroller easier?"

The short answer is "No."

My answer is "You see that hill over there? Here is my stroller with the 30 lb carseat strapped to it, and a 10 lb baby in it. Now, go run up that hill while keeping your body upright. Then try running back down that hill at a steady pace. Oh yeah, you should do that about 10 more times. Aaaand I'm pretty sure I forgot to pump the tires. Then you tell me."

Upside to stroller training? 

My arms got pretty chubbytastic whilst pregnant. 

So this will quickly eliminate that issue.

The days also seem to not be getting any warmer. 

Now, the problem used to be that it took longer to get the babe bundled up than the actual run took. 

On what has become a "typical" 30-degree day,

my wardrobe includes running tights, long sleeve, windbreaker, scarf for breathing, two ear warmers, and gloves.

For my friend: footie flannel jammies, fleece baby bunting, hat, and four blankets strategically placed in stroller so that no wind touches skin.

Now that runs are getting longer, the time isn't much of a concern. 

HOWEVER, you have a newborn baby possibly exposed to the cold longer. 

This is where this bad boy came into play:

It has just occurred to me that I likely look like a homeless person with all that plastic,

but at least my little friend is warm and unscathed from the frosty elements.

So you see, there are some changes... but last I checked, change is good. 

Change is also challenging, and boy do I enjoy a challenge. 

So much so that I ran my 6-miler today in record stroller-pushing time. 

Nice try, world. Nothing's going to hold me back. 

BOSTON IN 82 DAYS!