So remember when I thought that it was realistic for me to try to train for a marathon?  Guess what?  It’s not.  (You aren’t surprised, I know.  Me either.)

While my spirit is certainly there, and I hope to do another one at some point this year, I’m also finally ready to be realistic about what I am capable of both mentally and physically right now.  As soon as I let go of the pressure to do another marathon so quickly, I felt like a big weight came off my shoulders.

I am not a very good self-motivated runner.  I have a really hard time just deciding “I will go for a run today!” without a training plan and something to work toward.  I need the validation of checking off a box on a training calendar.  So for me, it’s still important to have goals and plans, rather than just casually trying to get back into regular exercise.

My desire to run is much more about my love for the sport than it is about getting back into shape.  I really miss running.  It’s strange to think that I am essentially starting over at something that used to be a huge part of my life.  For the past few years, that outlet has always been through marathons, so it felt natural to me to make that my goal again.  But just as my body is different and my life and time are so different now, I realize that my goals need to be different too. 

I have a hard enough time juggling being a mom with my work and writing projects, along with finding time to cook and exercise, and do all the other things that keep households afloat.  I also want to make sure that I let my body adjust to training slowly.  I don’t want to do anything that interferes with my milk supply or continued healing.

Now that I have new goals and new races picked out, I’m excited to get started on this new phase of running.  The first race I’m training for is the 500 Festival Mini Marathon in Indianapolis!

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I have always wanted to do this race, but every year it falls on the same weekend of the Flying Pig (which I ran in 2008, 2009, and 2010).  I thought it would feel weird to run the half-marathon at the Pig since I’m used to the full course, so it works out perfectly to do this race instead.  It is a Saturday half-marathon, and Casey will be running the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati the next day.  We’ll be able to turn it into a mini vacation to visit both of our families in Indianapolis and Cincinnati, and we can cheer for each other on the sidelines with Cullen!

When I was trying to just get back into running on my own, I found that trying to do 3 and 4 mile treadmill runs felt like torture.  In order to build up a good base for training, I downloaded the Couch to the 10K app on my iPad.  It combines running and walking, and gives voice prompts and countdowns until your next walk or run segment.  Since I’m not totally starting from scratch, I decided to start on week 4, with intervals of running 2 minutes, and walking 3 minutes for 62 minutes.

I did my first run/walk with the app this weekend, and felt great afterward!  It was my longest postpartum run to date, finishing out at 4.5 miles.  I zoned out and watched Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix (I’m only on season six – no spoilers!), and the run went by quickly and easily.  Once you finish your run you get a very validating checkmark at the end, which I love.  I think starting with this run/walk approach is definitely the best way for me to get back into shape.

The other race I am signed up for is the Rock N Roll Seattle Half Marathon in June! 

This will be my first race in our new city, and I’m so excited to finally get to do some running here now that we have lived here almost a year.  Casey will be running the full marathon too, and it’s fun for us to plan and train together.

I’m happy to have new, much more realistic goals in place now, and rather than pressure I now feel hopeful.  Run number two starts now!

In addition to running, I’m also doing as many at-home strength workouts as I can.  Today on Babble – Five (More!) Exercises for Mommies and Babies!

Even though I have the best of intentions and plenty of motivation, I’ve been finding it hard to fit in as many workouts and runs as I’d like to be doing.  My goal is to squeeze in a run every Saturday and Sunday, since Casey is at home and can hang with Cullen.

I woke up this Saturday excited to get moving again, and was even more motivated once I saw that the sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day.  I haven’t run outside since last February in Alexandria, so trying to figure out what to wear was a challenge.

Even though it’s December here, the high was still around 45 degrees for the day, and the sunshine made it feel even warmer.  I dug out my old winter running gear, leashed up Indy, fired up the Garmin for the first time in Seattle, and hit the trail with my favorite running partner. 

I love the weekends when I have a little more time for me, and Casey gets to spend a few extra hours with this guy.

After feeling really rusty on the treadmill for my first few runs, I was excited to test out my legs on the sidewalk and see if it felt any different.  After only doing walks together for the past year, Indy seemed shocked (and thrilled!) that we were running.  I headed down to the trail near my house, started my Garmin, and started jogging.

I found that my comfortable pace seemed to be hovering around the 10:00 minute mile mark – much faster than it was on the treadmill.  I ran and huffed and puffed.  Since I have never actually run in Seattle I had no idea how long the trail distance was from my house, and wasn’t sure how far it would be until I hit the one mile mark.

Having not run in a long time, I felt like I was really moving as I ran along the waterfront.  Assuming I was probably getting close to a mile, I looked down at my Garmin to see I had covered…0.37 miles.  HA!  Looks like I have a ways to go on getting my distance endurance back…

The sun was out, the water was sparkling, and it felt so good to be running outside again in my new city.  We ran to Gasworks Park and up the steeeeeep hill!  My motivation for making the climb?  The view at the top.

We stopped for a minute and caught our breath, and took in the amazing view of downtown Seattle from the park.  Just as we had approached the hill, my watch beeped with the one mile alert.  It sounds so small but it felt so big to me – my first full mile of postpartum running!

As we headed home, I did a few walk/run intervals before deciding to try to run another full mile home.  For my final mile, I found myself hitting between a 9:00 and 9:30 pace for about half of it – much faster than I expected!  I credit my Beyoncé and JayZ Pandora playlist for the extra kick in my step.

We looped home in just under three miles, two of which I ran, and the other I ran/walked.  A short distance, but a HUGE accomplishment, and I felt incredible afterwards.

Being able to run outside made such a huge difference in both my pace and my confidence.  I’m going to do my best to get out as much as possible when the weather is nice, since dry days here tend to be few and far between.

For as good as I felt during my run, I was sore within an hour afterward.  OUCH!  I think my body was definitely feeling the extra impact of the hard sidewalk versus the cushioned treadmill.  I was happy to be taking it easy on Saturday night (as if I don’t do that every Saturday night…). 

We had an extra special evening of babysitting planned!  The only thing more fun than one sleeping baby on the couch is TWO sleeping babies on the couch!  Cullen’s first sleepover!  Both boys were on their best behavior, and it was so fun to get to play with another new baby.

The rest of our weekend was spent working on Recipage, as we prepared to launch our exciting announcement this morning!  (For background on how/when we started Recipage, here’s the story.)  As of today, Recipage is totally FREE!  You can read more about it here!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!