the next stroller challenge

Thanks for the comments on my last post.  It’s reassuring to know that I’m not the only one who has a baby who isn’t really excited about eating REAL food.  However, we’ve been giving her bananas and avocado in the mesh feeder the past few days and she’s been eating great!  So, I’m hopeful that we can transition from the mesh feeder to baby-led weaning with soft finger foods.

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I can’t believe I’m about to say this.  It’s something I never thought I would say…

I miss the jogging stroller.

After ruining a tire on Saturday trying to put air in it, I’ve been without the jogging stroller all week.  Instead I’ve been taking MacKenna to the gym daycare all week and doing all my runs on the treadmill.  Luckily, the gals who work at the daycare always tell me how wonderful she is and love having her there, which makes me feel better taking her there so often lately.

While I haven’t really minded running on the treadmill, I really miss the jogging stroller for 2 reasons:

1. It’s super duper challenging.  I thought running while pregnant was hard.  Running and pushing a 30+ pound stroller is about the hardest workout I can think of.  It’s helped me regain my speed (though I’m still not at my fastest yet) and toughen myself up mentally.  I absolutely love how challenging it is, mentally + physically.
2. I get to spend extra time with MacKenna.  Without the stroller, my choices are either leaving her at the babysitter’s a little longer while I get a run in or run on the treadmill.  The stroller gives me a running buddy, someone I can talk to while I run (even if she can’t talk back).  Plus, I like to think that as she becomes more aware of what we’re doing, she’ll want to run with me when she gets older.  I’m pretty sure she’s going to be the best running buddy ever (well, besides her daddy, of course).

Ah!  Old picture… she’s so tiny!  And has so much more hair than she does now!

I’ve come a long way in the 6 months I’ve been running while pushing the jogging stroller.  I started out run/walking and eventually was able to build up to running 2 miles without walking while pushing the jogging stroller.  Now, I’ve done a 10 mile run while pushing her less the 6 months postpartum – something I definitely never thought I’d be able to do.

My next big stroller feat?  Winning the stroller division in a race.  I am running my first race while pushing the stroller on June 3.  It’s a 5 mile race that includes a stroller division in addition to age group and overall winners.  While it’s still a month away, my goal is to win the stroller division.  Something I think I’m definitely capable of doing since I doubt there will be that many people pushing strollers (the last mile is all gravel, so that should be interesting).

Now, I need to start running more than 3 or 4 miles with her in the stroller and start consistently doing longer runs of 5 or 6 miles.  Which I guess mean I probably need to get that tire fixed.  That might be more challenging than actually pushing the stroller!