Archives for posts with tag: jogger

Tips for Running with a Jogging Stroller

April 16, 2015 //
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Recently I was asked how I managed to run so much with my oldest in our jogger. It has got me thinking over the past couple of days. I figured I would share my tips for success here. I successfully ran with Jackson in the jogger for several years. Up until I got pregnant with my second. I am about to start jogging more often with the new baby as well. He is almost 7 months old and the weather is starting to be nice enough. We went once, with Jackson on his scooter. I am looking forward to getting them out there more often! For now, here are my tips on getting in runs with your kiddos and a jogger.

  • Use it as strength training. Do not use the run as a speed run. Joggers are heavy. Kids get heavy. Don’t expect to set a speed PR when pushing them. If you can, well my hat is off to you! But most likely slow and steady will win this race. You are building up endurance. I always compare it to a baseball player swinging a bat with weights on it. When he goes to swing for real, that bat will be so much lighter. When you DO get to run alone you will feel like you are flying!
  • Snacks, toys, drinks, iPhone. Some or all of the above. I always went with the whole shebang. When he would get particularly restless, handing over my phone would give me lots of running time. His personal favorite, Angry Birds videos on YouTube, did the trick. But whatever floats your kid’s boat, use it. And run until your legs are jelly!
  • Be prepared to stop. It is inevitable. You may have to stop to check on something with the little one. They may fuss or ask questions once they can talk. You will most likely have to stop to attend to something. And that is ok. Remember the first point!
  • Talk. Sometimes I would talk to him while running. Hearing momma’s voice is reassuring. You can point out cool things you see. Clouds, birds, etc.
  • Take your time on hills. They can be brutal on an alone run. Add in that heavy stroller and kid we talked about, and they are straight up torture. So, slow down. Shorten your stride a bit. Pull that belly in and up (use your core muscles!) Squeeze your glutes. And never be ashamed to take a walk break up that hill if need be.
  • Try one handed. Sometimes I would alternate hands that pushed the stroller. Letting the opposite hand move back and forth as if I were running without the stroller. I found it helped me stop from hunching over. When I keep both hands on sometimes my shoulders creep up into my ears. This is bad form and posture. Switching hands helps me stay a bit more balanced.
  • Stretch. Be sure to take time after your run to stretch it out. Since it is nice enough to run outside, it is nice enough to stretch outside! Take the little one out of the stroller and have them join you in your stretching. When Jackson got older I even had him stretch me.
  • Bad runs happen. Don’t be discouraged if you have a bad run. If the baby/toddler cries during a run and you end up having to carry them home while pushing an empty stroller. Been there done that. Like us, kids have bad days and moments. It happens. Take it in stride. (see what I did there?) Hopefully the next run will be better. Use your walk home as clocked miles. Heck, you’re still moving. While carrying a squirming kiddo and pushing a stroller. That is a workout too! Shrug it off and don’t give up!

Here are some photos from over the years! I do love my BoB

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Jackson was about 6 months old here

Single handed

Single handed. Notice extra snacks on hand! Not for me. HA!

Pre run selfie with the big guy!

Pre run selfie with the big guy!

Jackson helping stretch me after a run

Jackson helping stretch me after a run

We didn't run together in this race, but he was there in the BoB to cheer me on!

We didn’t run together in this race, but he was there in the BoB to cheer me on! Look how big he was!

The BoB lives on for round 2 kid 2

The BoB lives on for round 2 kid 2

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Categories Running

Getting back to normal

October 19, 2011 //
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I have been up to my elbows in all things “sickness.” It started with Jack and then Jason got it. A day or two after that I got sick. This was all last week. I recovered quickly. The boys are both still not feeling well. Jack just has a cold. Jason has bronchitis and an ear infection. Thankfully the baby is just trying to get rid of the leftovers of sickness. I am hoping tomorrow we are going to be back to normal activities. This is the second week of activities we are missing. We are not going to swim today. The Dr. said on Monday that I need to keep him from activities for at least 2 more days.

I registered for my first 10K. It was a last minute decision. It is this Sunday! I am excited and nervous. I know I can do it but well you know, your first race is always nerve wrecking. I don’t think I slept before my first 5k I was so excited and nervous. I am guessing that I will sleep Saturday night because the little man wears me out during the day. I wanted to go for at least a 5 mile run this morning but it is raining. I have my weather guard for the jogger, but with him being a bit sick still, I just think it would be more responsible of me to skip it. If he were not trying to get rid of the last of this sickness I think we would head out.

He is crawling everywhere! He is quick too. He has started taking interest in standing with the help of furniture and playing. He is all over the place and I am trying to keep up. It is so fun and very exhausting! Which is good. I have been saying if we could have a baby that is born around 6 months of age I would have 10 kids! The newborn days are hard. I am loving everything right now though. He is 8 1/2 months now. Time really goes by quickly.

We were being silly the other day and I did some fall photos with him. I thought it would be good to sit outside for 10 minutes. Get some fresh air.

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Categories Exercise, fitness, Healthy Living, Jack, Momommahood, parenthood, parenting, photography, Running, weather, weight loss, weightloss, working out

Hot dog! It’s hot!

July 19, 2011 //
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There has been an excessive heatwave going on. Living in Chicago (or well the Chicagoland area these days) I really try to not complain about weather. Chicago is not exactly known for being cooperative when it comes to its weather. We are normally all over the place, and often unseasonal weather occurs.

However, I just got this shiny new toy. My jogger. I want to go running with the baby! I have used it twice. That’s it! Not fair! It’s not just that I shouldn’t be running in this ridiculous heat, but really, I shouldn’t have Jackson outside in it either. So I have to be a good unselfish momma and hang out inside with him. I am itching to get outside though. I want to go for runs and feel great. I am starting to feel lazy. I have been trying to do some pilates inside. I have thought about getting a membership somewhere so on bad weather days I can go run inside. I am just having a hard time thinking about spending that monthly fee when really I plan to be using my jogger most days. I don’t know what to do.

I do know it is much more difficult to run over 3 miles on a treadmill. Not physically, just mentally. I can easily run 3 miles without realizing it outside. But on the machine, all you do is watch the screen in front of you, going nowhere. Every inch seems like a football field! So I don’t want to go back to doing that until it is dreadful winter time. I wanted to put that off as long as possible…

Dear Mother Nature,

Please chill out, literally. Summer is great. But summer this hot is just downright unhealthy. Not just for currently home bound runners looking out their windows, itching to get out there, but for the young, old, and sick. I did not complain to you when you went from frigid weather to hot weather. I just went with the flow. It is what it is, who needs spring anyway, right? But you are really trying my patience at this point. I can only be understanding for so long. I have a feeling I am not alone.

Love,

Me, the lady who had a baby 5 1/2 months ago and wants to go running. I have 4 pounds to lose and you’re really not helping. You already destroyed my body because that is what you do to us women for creating life. When are you going to throw me a bone???

Ha! Well, on a more serious note. Please check on those people in your life who live alone and could be at high risk in this heat. I called my grandpa yesterday. He lives alone and is very ill with emphysema. Just give them a call and see how things are going. A phone call doesn’t take that much time out of your day. It may make all the difference.

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Categories Exercise, Healthy Living, Jack, Momommahood, Running, weather

Jog baby jog!

July 12, 2011 //
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I BOUGHT A JOGGER!!!! It will arrive today! I am SO excited and proud of myself for finally taking the plunge.  Tonight we are going to go on a family evening run together. Jason and I used to do that from time to time when we lived downtown. Until our car was broken into during a run. Then Jason had little interest in going. We moved out here a few months later after finding out we were pregnant. Shortly after we moved here I stopped running because Jack man liked to hit my bladder when running. Honestly, I think we got pregnant because our car was broken into. It was an insane month and we were so busy dealing with that and some other things that for once we weren’t thinking about getting pregnant. We had been trying for 8 months!

I went on a 3 mile walk on Friday with him in the big boy stroller and he did amazing. He likes being in the stroller outside. Now, in a mall where momma is shopping for clothing, not so much. I think tonight should go well. I think we will all have a nice time.

If all goes well tomorrow morning the lil man and I can go for a run as soon as he wakes up and eats his breakfast. Instead of hanging out inside watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! HA! Not that I think it is bad that he watches this show from time to time, but a break outside of the house is nice. He enjoys being outside. I am looking forward to getting out and about with him more now that he is older. I have so much fun doing things outside with him. I am seriously so excited.

I decided to go with a BOB Revolution SE Single. I read through reviews on Amazon and I liked a lot of the points people wrote about. I obviously cannot say yet how I feel about it, but I am guessing I will be happy with it. I have never used any other jogger before, so I have nothing to bias myself. I chose the orange one because of safety. I figured we would be easier to spot with a bright orange stroller, so a vehicle would have an easy time seeing us and not hitting us accidentally. I normally have at least one piece of bright colored clothing on when I run outside for this reason as well. The last thing I want is to blend in.

I have never really spent a big chunk of money on something for my sport before. I had a hard time swallowing the price of it. I kept trying to put off the purchase, because they are pricey. Jason finally said it is smarter to buy it sooner rather than later so that you get more use out of it for the amount we are spending. He is/was right. That makes sense. I have been reading about joggers since before I even had him. There are a few conclusions I came to after all of my reading. Which led me to choose this one.

If you don’t like this stroller, please do not bother letting me know that. To each his own. I am not knocking any other strollers, this is just the one I believe is for my family and me.  (I may still be paranoid from the facebook debacle last week ha!)

Tonight will be family fitness night. I think it will be fun for us all to go on runs together more frequently. Soon we will also buy some bikes so we can do bike rides together too. Yes, we are totally going to be that family you see working out together. Don’t worry though, we will never purposely be wearing matching “outfits” Jason would never let that occur. He hates for us all to be matching. Hates it with a passion.

Here’s to staying fit with the two most awesome boys in the entire world!

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Categories Exercise, Healthy Living, Jack, Momommahood, Running

It’s about a lifestyle

June 27, 2011 //
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This weekend was so busy! I had been trying to write a post for a while. I would get a little done, and then I would be needed or have to do something else! AHHH

Yesterday I weighed myself. 129.0! Another few ounces gone!!! I even stepped on the scale three times to make sure it wasn’t wrong. It read the same all three times. I am thrilled to be so close to 128. I was thinking about how a couple months ago I was in the low 140’s! YIKES! I have lost about 30lbs total since having this baby already. I am just 5lbs away from being back to where I was.

I attribute this to the following things:

  • Running again. My body was desperate to do this again. Or I was mentally. Either way, it makes a huge difference in my life. It works better for me than the elliptical. I will have to convince Jason to sell our elliptical this winter and buy a treadmill instead ha!
  • Pilates again. Yoga was great but for some reason my body responds better to pilates training. There is nothing quite so refreshing as an awesome core workout. When you feel those core muscles burn and you just know that you body is just a little bit stronger.
  • Carrying around a 15lb baby, whether it is in my arms or when I wear him while running errands. I generally always work up a sweat. That extra weight burns extra calories for sure.
  • Bouncing and “tossing” the aforementioned 15lb baby constantly (it happens to be one thing that can make him smile and laugh when upset) I don’t really toss him in the air, you know what I mean though. Lifting him above my head and back down again. It is a great toner for the arms and if you brace your core while doing it you get some core work in.
  • Not having ridiculous preggo cravings, like Dr. Pepper and Culver’s!(REALLY I wanted those and ate them?!?!? Like my hubby said when that started happening, “Who are you!?!?!” I am happy to be back in control of myself again. Glad the hormones are no longer in control of my brain)
  • Breastfeeding. It helps when you burn calories in the middle of the night because your almost 5 month old still doesn’t sleep through the night. Huh, I guess when I am complaining about being so tired I should remember he is helping me slim down. Yeah, that’s it. My little man knows how important it is to me to get back to my pre-preggo weight. He is just trying to help out anyway he can!
  • I always park far away in parking lots, even if I do have the baby. Extra steps always help.
  • Having the energy to cook about 99% of our meals again. It really can make a huge difference when you are controlling what you put in your meals and subsequently into your body.
  • All the general movement that comes with being a stay at home mom. Cooking, cleaning, playing etc with the baby.
  • Summertime. I actually find it easier for me to lose weight in the summer and I think it is because I am so active when the weather is nice. I really don’t LIKE cold weather. I like to snuggle up inside when it is cold out, with more comfort stews and foods (I do try to keep these healthier). I still work out regularly but I just don’t do as much extra movement as I do in the summertime.
  • Not being pregnant. That is a big one! HA. I am not gaining weight anymore. My body isn’t going bananas. Not having an ever growing human being taking up residence inside your uterus really helps with weight control.
  • Not letting myself fall into that “I am so exhausted” trap. I am usually worn out and exhausted every day. But honestly, I feel better when I do find time to workout.
  • Having a supportive husband. I will admit, having a spouse who supports your lifestyle is really key. I am able to go on 3 miles runs every night because he takes care of the baby while I do that. I get a little “me time’ and a run simultaneously. It will be a little easier come August 4th when Jackson is 6 months old and I can use a jogger.

I could likely sit here and think of a thousand other little things that have contributed to this. I won’t though. I guess the bottom line is, it has become my lifestyle. Health and fitness is such a part of me. We are intertwined. It is not something I am using as a quick fix. It isn’t a yo-yo diet or workout. This is me and how I choose to live my life. It becomes easier to maintain and achieve when you make it part of your daily lifestyle.

Oh and on all of those notes, I discovered a new Pilates studio. RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM MY HOUSE! They have just switched locations, which is why I never saw it before. I honestly thought I was going crazy for a bit. It is right next to my nail place, so I knew I would have seen it if it had been there a while. But I looked them up, they moved here a couple weeks ago. I am SO excited. I want to stop in sometime this week. Although, this week is extremely busy so it may have to be next week. I will post about why after Wednesday. We have something exciting going on! Ok, well I am off to squeeze in some pilates in my living room. The little man is STILL asleep. I am sure as soon as I roll down on to my mat he will wake up, but I can try, right?

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Categories Baby Weight, Exercise, Healthy Living, Jack, Momommahood, Running