That's Fit

I'm not so sure that I would call it a vacation, per se, but I did recently take a ten day road trip with my husband and new baby to see both our families. We rented a car and went from Brooklyn, New York to Cleveland, Ohio, down to Louisville, Kentucky (my home town), back up to Delphi, Indiana, on to somewhere in Pennsylvania and then back to New York City.

The entire event was mind-boggling. Trying to juggle dealing with an infant, spotty directions, managing an SUV (and gas) and seeing all our friends and family really put a damper on our efforts to exercise.

That said, I did get a few runs in, all of them in Louisville. There is a one mile track all the way around my parents' neighborhood that I ran around over and over and over. It was so repetitive that at one point I forget where I was and thought I'd gone a lot farther than I had; turned out I had just decided to go the other way for a bit of variety. Sheesh.

I knew going into it that it would be difficult to find time--and places--to run on this trip. Since we were spending so much time in a car, which we're not used to doing, we got less time in walking as well. We sat and sat and sat and sat some more. We tried not to eat too poorly but there were times when we had to eat something and the only thing around was fast food joints.

The old, pre-baby us would've run in every city we hit. After all, running around town is still the best way to see things, in my opinion anyway. We'd get in out exercise and a little sightseeing to boot. I would've given just about anything to run around downtown Cleveland. We were there to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Cleveland looks to be a lot of fun from the car, and I'd assume even more so on foot. It's a real city, meaning that there are plenty of things to do and see within walking distance. Those kinds of cities, like New Orleans and perhaps Chicago (I've never been so I am assuming here) are perfect for runners.

Perfect for runners without babies, I guess I should say. I mean, feasibly, we could've taken turns watching the baby and running around town, but we were also on a time line. On the way down, the family was waiting to see us. On the way back, we had to return the rental car. There was always something.

And that's just it: there will always be something. Something will always come up to keep you from your exercise. The key is to determine what the priority is and stick with it if at all possible. For us running was important but tending to our family was at the top of the list.

We also knew we'd get in at least a few runs in Louisville. The pre-baby us might've even hit my father's gym to visit the pool and linger in the sauna instead of hitting the pavement. Not so anymore. Now I have a very specific time line dictated by when the baby eats and sleeps. In a way, that's actually better because it forces me to stick with my workout schedule even when I don't necessarily want to.

The only issue with running in Louisville is that the baby and I get up earlier than the sun. It stays light out in Louisville (and that part of the country) until nearly 10:00 PM, but as a result doesn't get light in the morning until sometime around 6:00 AM.

Meanwhile I've been up since around 4:00 AM and, after feeding the baby and pumping need to get a run in right then unless I want my breasts to refill. Seriously--these are the kinds of things you contend with when you have two loves, a baby and running.

Inevitably we both went back to sleep. Then the sun rose and so did I. I was sleeping in my workout clothes so I'd hop up, join my dad on the back porch and chew the fat with him while warming up. After that I hit the quiet, empty street of our neighborhood, where I might be lucky enough to pass the same person three or four times, depending on how much time I had, but not anyone else.

For a town with so many running events, gyms and yoga enthusiasts, I just don't see that many people working out outdoors. They must think I'm crazy to run in the heat and humidity. I'd tell them, if they asked me, that those things in Louisville are simply no match for the weather in New York, which is volatile at best.

I ran three times that week, a 2-miler with my husband (yay!) while grandpa watched the baby, a 3-miler and a 4-miler. And that was all the running we did on our entire trip. Not that we're complaining--we were happy to have that time to ourselves.

Once we hit Indiana we were so tired we couldn't even think of running. After pumping one early morning I told my also exhausted husband that if I didn't get twenty minutes of sleep I was going to throw myself into traffic. Needless to say neither of us ran that morning.

We did take a walk later to meet some of my in-laws' neighbors who own many acres of property on the nearby river. Once down there we were informed there was a three mile loop around this giant cornfield that we were welcome to if we wanted it.

Believe me, we wanted it, badly, but were due to leave the following morning and couldn't push ourselves back the three or four hours the entire process would take. It would've been something, though, I tell you, something else.

Thankfully--er, hopefully, I should say, as you never know--that cornfield will always be there. And we'll be taking many trips to visit the in-laws with the baby. So, next time we'll get a piece of that cornfield. For now, though, we'll have to content ourselves with having run in Louisville on the flat, flat, flat ground in the sweltering heat.

Reminded me of old times, actually, when I used to run around the neighborhood in high school and on breaks from college. I am also reminded how hard it was for me to get around that one mile loop. It was such a simple goal. And then I finally reached it, only to surpass it many times over and then move away.

It felt good to take a few laps around the old 'hood, to see how the houses had changed, which ones were for sale, and who had or had not taken care of their lawn. I pointed out houses where I'd baby sat, or those that I'd been in for yard sales/estate sales to my husband as we rolled through the streets.

So we got to do a little running and sightseeing after all. Certainly it wasn't like I imagine running around downtown Cleveland to be, but it was still pretty fun.

This week I'm back in New York and have bitten off even more to chew. Not only do I have a new baby to take care of, but also I've gotten a new job in a different industry about which I know virtually nothing. So, I have some things to contend with while I attempt to train for the marathon.

The truth is I don't really think the NYC Marathon is a possibility for me this year. It was going to be tough with a new baby but now seems virtually impossible with the new job. I'll have to run and think about it...and then let you know!