Thinking Outside the Box

Jack will be 4 months tomorrow- so it's been 4 months since my life has drastically changed (for the better :)) in many ways. I'm getting used to the loss of independence and it's not been too bad. Staying at home has been wonderful- it's much easier caring for Jack whilst taking care of the house, laundry, cooking, etc. I can't imagine how hard it would be if I were working AND doing all of this!

I'm learning how to run errands and see friends with a little one in tow. I'm learning how much time we need to spend at home and how much Jack and I can take while out of the house.

But- in these past few months, the hardest thing for me has been to find a way to work out. I'm used to going to the gym, running on the treadmill or spending some time on the elliptical, and then moving to the weights. I did this multiple times a week before Jack and loved it. I love walking, running, and just being active.

It's hard with a baby...

The gym's childwatch hours are right in the middle of naptime, which there is NO WAY I am going to interfere with. It's summer and very hot after about 10am, so our window to walk in is small. Jack gets up at 7 or 7:15 and eats, and then is ready for his morning nap an hour later. If I pop him in the stroller, which I have tried, he does well for a few minutes, then goes to sleep. Sounds great...NOT REALLY! If I try to get him out and put him in the crib, this interrupts his sleep and he won't finish his nap. He also has a built in radar to wake up when the stroller stops, so finishing the nap in the stroller is not an option. And I've learned one thing- screwing up the morning nap is terrible- you will pay for it ALL DAY. The other naps all hinge on this one, so the first one better be good.

Okay, so a morning walk, at least until Jack's waketime lengthens, is out. I have an assortment of exercise DVD's that I use while the morning nap is going on. This has been great, but I want to walk, to RUN! I only get to do this on the weekends when LeGrande is at home. He leaves for work at 6am, so getting out before he goes to work is pretty much out of the question.

Last night I had a brainstorm...

Our driveway is 1/4 mile long from the house to the mailbox. It's not paved, but it's okay. If I ran up and back one time, I'd log half a mile. Four times and I'd have two...and so on. I think I'm gonna try it. It might be kind of monotonous but it would be better than nothing. If I put the baby monitor on the porch, I won't be too far away. AND, I can put my yoga ball, some free weights, and a jump rope on the porch and do some intervals between each mile.

I'm going to try it on Monday. I'll let you know how it goes. Hopefully this will keep me in shape until the fall comes, and with it, cooler temps where I can walk or run a little later in the day, and Jack turning 6 months, which means that I can take him for a RUN in his stroller!