Back on the Horse

We recently returned from a whirlwind trip to the Midwest. Here’s the thing about the Midwest. It’s at a very low elevation. Although this made running fairly easy while I was there, running back at 8,000 feet is just painful. To be honest, I didn’t run that much on vacation. Mostly, vacations to the Midwest involve eating lots of delicious food, none of which is on the post baby eating plan, playing board games, visiting, and this trip, hanging out with Owen. Running was not really part of the program.

Turns out, that was just fine. Yesterday, out of what I can only assume was reaching critical mass, I fed Owen, then, taking advantage of Jon having a few days off work, took Sam out for a jog. Finally, at ten weeks post partum, it was pretty much pain free. Win! And I was so inspired, I ran the 350 vertical feet uphill to Canyon Lodge. Three hundred and fifty feet doesn’t seem like that much, but having just spent two weeks at sea level and still recovering from growing and birthing a human, it was monumental. But I wanted to die. Poor little Sam was pulling as hard as he could up the hill. I was so stoked when he needed to poo. I could breathe while picking it up. But aside from ridding the world of dog waste, we didn’t stop. We pushed, slowly, up the hill. I was feeling good until my stupid MapMyRun app told me how far I’d gone and how long it had taken me. This is apparently a new feature since I last used it in November. It was a little demoralizing. Only because I was fairly certain I could have walked up that hill faster than I jogged it. But at the end of the run, I’d gone 2.8 miles and felt like if I hadn’t left Owen home with Jon without any food, I could have gone further. As long as I didn’t have to go back up the hill to Canyon. I’m still not too concerned about time or distance as much as I am just getting back on the horse. Hopefully in a few weeks I’ll start timing and increasing mileage. A girl can dream.