A Run in the Woods

(Jack resting on "Snack Rock" on April 9, 2009.)

I took a luxurious run in the woods near my house. It was great because I kept a slow pace, only saw a few people on the trail, and did the entire round trip with hardly a huff or a puff! It's about 5 1/2 miles, or a little more, so I'm actually quite proud of myself.

There was a time, not so long ago, that Jack would accompany my on my runs, sitting comfortably in the jogging stroller. I think we stopped doing that about a year ago, when he got too darn big. He has since come with me on a 2-mile run around the neighborhood, keeping up with me on his bike, sans training wheels! That was a lot of fun for us both and I know he'll be joining me on the trail with his bike in the very near future. As I think back to those stroller days, I realize that not only was I getting way more of a workout (hello, pushing a 45-pound child and a stroller!), but I was not able to zone out and relax the way I can do when I'm by myself. Here is a recap, to the best of my knowledge, of the last stroller run that we took last summer. I miss having a little boy to push around. In a stroller that is. Ha ha.

me: Hop in!
Jack: Do you have my snack and drink?
me: Yes I do. Plus I have Stripey, tissues and my water bottle and cell phone.
Jack: That's a lot of stuff!
me: Now we don't have to worry about anything and we can just go have some fun.
Jack: Can you run faster Mommy?
me: (huff puff) Sorry, this is as fast as I can go. Boy you are heavy today!
Jack: Mom, I have to pee!
me: (groan) Okay, hop out and go behind that tree. Watch out for those leaves! That might be poison ivy!
Jack: All done. I can clip myself back in!
me: Here we go! (I start jogging again)
Jack: Can you pick up that stick we just ran over?
me: Oy. Sure, here you go. Please don't wave it at me like that. Hold it in front of you please.
Jack: It's my magic stick. I can make us go faster! Whoosh!
me: (whew!) It's a hot day out, huh?
Jack: Yeah. I'm thirsty Mommy. Oh there's snack rock! We have to stop and have snacks!

This rock was dubbed Snack Rock by Jack about 2 1/2 years ago. It's the first big rock that you see on the trail, and we always stop to have a quick drink or snack. Unfortunately it's only 7 minutes from the trail head, so I didn't really get much of a workout yet.

me: Okay Jack, finish up and let's go!
Jack: I want to go to the playground now.
me: I haven't even done my run yet, so we have to go a little further and then turn around.
Jack: Well hurry up because I don't want to ride any longer!
me: (crap) Okay, let me just go up to the waterfall (Which is 7 minutes further along the trail. I try to distract Jack with talk of birds, etc)
Jack: I want to run too Mommy! Let me out!
me: Sigh. Okay, here you go. Run up to that fence over there and then I'll put you back in the stroller.
Jack: (trips and falls) Wahhhhh!
me: See? Good thing I brought tissues. You're okay. Climb back in.
Jack: Can you hold my stick for me? I don't want to drop it but I don't want to hold it anymore.
me: (now running with a giant stick across the back of the stroller roof) Okay, let me get going here.
Jack: Can't you go any faster?
me: (huffing hard again) Sorry Jack, but no.
Jack: Are we all done? I want to go to the park!
me: Yep, we are so done. I'm turning back right now. (Mentally had already given up)

Back at the car, Jack jumps out and stretches with me.

Jack: Whew! That was a good workout right Mommy? Let's do our stretching. (leans way over and grunts)
me: Wow, we were only gone for 28 minutes, with 15 stops. Not bad. (um, can you say sarcastic?)
Jack: You're a good runner! Are you glad you got your exercise?
me: I guess it's better than nothing, right? Now let's go to the park.

When I think back on all that, I can't even believe I had the patience to go through with it. Yet we went through that same scenario about once a week or so. There's something to be said for Mom-tolerance. It's never ending.

Oh, and one more note about why Jack was so hard to push that day. When we got back to the car, I noticed that both back tires were just about flat. I just remembered that little tidbit. :)