Returning to Running...

Slowly but surely, we're getting there.

Here's a photo of what I've been doing:

I'm up to 70% body weight, 3 minutes of running at a time, at a 3% incline.  Not bad.  Next week, we start getting rid of the walking breaks.  Hopefully I'll be up to 20-30 minutes of continuous running by the end of the week.

X-rays the following week.  On my birthday.  My fingers are crossed that my present will be visible bone union and the clearance to run on actual land.

Now, confession time.  Our local Road Runner Sports running store sponsors a monthly Adventure Run.  Starting at 6:30pm, they reveal a map that has a bunch of checkpoints in the city of Falls Church.  You have 60 minutes to run to as many of these as you can, and the number of tickets you receive are based on the distance and difficulty to get there.  It concludes with a Sierra Nevada beer garden and raffle, where they give away a ridiculous number of awesome prizes (like new running shoes and local restaurant gift certificates.)  I figured that Jamie could run and I would walk Susanna and Jack in the jogging stroller.

Except Susanna wanted to register for the race, too.  And she is one competitive chica.  We checked the map and I noticed one was in the pub below my friend Victoria's condo, so I figured we walk there, say hello, and walk back to "participate."  But no.  Susanna took off and ran.  Fast.  Like I had to run to keep up with her.  And this was not some little track.  This was Route 7, the main road running from Alexandria to Tysons Corner, and it was rush hour.  So I took off too, screaming "STOP!" every time she reached the end of a sidewalk.  "HURRY MOMMY!  WE NEED TO GET TICKETS!  WE NEED TO GET MORE THAN DADDY!"

We met Victoria at the Mad Fox Brewery, and Susanna stopped to pat her dog while I ran in and got our tickets.  "MOMMY!  We need to get more tickets!"  So we were off to Vantage Fitness, where we each had to do 15 push-ups.  Then, on to Famous Dave's.  To get there, I had to run right pass my physical therapy office.  I was pushing Jack in the BOB and chasing after Susanna, and praying my PT wasn't in the parking lot.

It was 7:05 -- time to turn around.  I figured we could hit Mike's Ice Cream on the way back (down a MUCH quieter street, thank goodness.)  Susanna, who had already run about a mile and a half, finally decided she was tired and hopped in the stroller.  Yay, I got to walk.

Except then I realized that I still had to go a mile and a half, stop and get tickets, and get back to home base in about 20 minutes.  So it became a jog/ walk.   We got to the ice cream shop at 7:22, and had the tickets in hand by 7:25.  About a quarter mile to go.  Yeah, time to run.  Susanna wanted to run, too.  So we held hands, and ran to the finish.  We reached it at 7:28.  Phew.

I should point out that at my last doctor's appointment, he said that any exercise was okay if I didn't feel pain, and that short spurts of running would be okay to try.  I didn't feel pain.

Nevertheless, I don't think  my PT was very pleased with my impromptu run.  I know she means the best for me, and wants me to heal without any setbacks.  I did explain to her that I have really been on my best behavior for her compared to, well, anyone else...  I mean, obviously I didn't take the "no exercise for 6 weeks after childbirth" thing very seriously if I did a triathlon 8 and a half weeks after Jack was born....

Jamie scored a ton of tickets, but between the three of us, we didn't win anything.  Well, Susanna won a tube of lip gloss at one of the booths that had a prize spin wheel (and has been carrying it around like it's an Olympic medal, telling everyone she "won it at her race.")  But it was the most fun I've had in awhile.  I miss running.  I miss running in groups.  I miss races, and fun runs, and chatting with my friends as we trot along on Saturday mornings.

My fingers are crossed.