Well...not great, but really nice to be out running again. If you remember, I had done 4 half marathons prior to W being born and then once he was here I had limited free time and chose to ditch running and keep riding. Well, life has settled down a little and while time isn't something I have in excess there are always ways to make things work. Doing the RnT really made me realize how much I miss running and the way it makes my body feel.
Two weeks ago I took Gemmie out for a jog along the barn trails. They are really nice and mostly double wide so I am not so concerned about her stepping on me. I think the BO thought I had finally lost it fully when I went jogging passed their house in running clothes with an untacked up Gemmiw trotting along beside me on her rope.
We did the two miles of trails and I was nice to get to see Gem trotting along nicely beside and sometimes in front of me. It is a great way to condition both of us and it lets me work her from the ground. I have two main rules she is never allowed to break when jogging:
1) Never, ever step on me. Gem knows perfectly well where her feet are at all times. When she steps on me it is either her begin nasty or she is s mentally zoned out that she stops paying attention. Neither are allowed and so when we jog along, if she starts to spook or be brain dead, she gets an elbow in the ribs to remind her that I am there and to pay attention. It works really well to get her to remember to focus on me and not the world at large. I have toyed with the idea of bringing a crop along with my on runs, but I don't own one so I never do and my elbow works just fine. In line with this is that she also is not allowed to crowd my space. She can run beside me but is not allowed to push me off the trail.
2) No pulling on the rope. She can run beside me (preferred), behind me ( annoying but allowed) or slight in front of me (better than behind me) but is never allowed to pull on the rope. That means that I choose the pace and she gets to go along with it. If she lags behind and decides to try to walk while I shuffle along the trail and the rope becomes taut she gets kicked right up. If she plows ahead and starts pulling me along, she gets circles and made to go back the way we came and then turned around again.
I love jogging with her. I did decide that running on the trails was pretty hard work and that I should probably build up a little on the road first so that we can move down the trail at a decent pace for her. So I started running in the evenings around my neighborhood which is 1 mile, so I do it twice. The big problem with this is that running time means no riding time. I can't do both in the evening and every evening isn't mine. The hubs needs some evenings to run as well and we also need to cook, clean, etc...
So...my new plan which will go into effect this week is to run in the morning before work. I don't typically get up until 6:30 which gives me just enough time to shower, dress, and help get W around for the day. When we move closer to work here I will have even more time in the morning, but for now we need to leave the house by 7 am to get W to daycare and us both to work on time. If I get up at 5:45 (when the hubs does) or even 6, I should have plenty of time to get a quick 2 miles in and still get everything done I need to. It also has the bonus of being nice and cool out in the morning versus hot and sticky in the evening.
Thursday will be my first attempt at this so we will see if I drag my butt out of bed or not.
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