4 Under 40

Ok so I still haven't done much running, but I did get 4 miles on the elliptical the other day, in just over 33 minutes!  I know that road running is going to be much harder than elliptical moving, but if I can hang for at least 5 - 6 on the elliptical, I'll be fairly confident in my ability to be able to run/walk and complete the half next month.  Plus I have my 6-week check-up next Monday, so hopefully, after that, I can go back to full time running without worrying.  I'd love to be able to go out on the rail trail, especially now that it's almost fall, which is generally perfect running weather.  The Bob website says that babies can ride in the seat starting at 8 weeks, so even if I can't run a ton, we can go for long walks on the rail trail.
Besides my elliptical success, I've been using resistance bands to work on my leg and back strength.  I noticed that even though I can *sort of* fit into my regular clothes, for the most part, my back and legs seem to have changed the most.  (Well, outside of the obvious places, of course.) So I'm trying to get some tone back into those places.  Like I said, I really need Title again.  I know they would be able to whip me back into shape in no time.  Unfortunately, without daycare, there are not too many gym options for us at the moment.  Eventually, I would like to leave P.F. and join a place that does baby swim lessons, like the Y.  What I would really like is to join Lifetime, but they're crazy expensive and probably not worth it right now.  Maybe in the future. 
Back to the elliptical for a minute though.  Am I the only one whose feet start feeling like they're falling asleep after a mile or two on it?  I get pins and needles going and I'm not entirely sure why.  Once I was told that going backward will alleviate that problem, but I'm not there to go backward at the moment.  My other thought was that my shoes are too small, but even when I wore my regular old running shoes, it still happened.  It's not really a problem so much as an annoyance, but I am curious if it happens to anyone else. 

Gym time

Hard to come by these days.  Sure, sometimes it's because I find a reason not to go, but mostly it's because there's a tiny human that needs constant upkeep.  Still, I get there when I can, even if it is only 2-3 times a week. If this heat would ever go away, X and I could go for a lot more walks, which would make the lack of gym time a little easier.  On that note, if X would take a nap that lasted longer than 30 minutes, I could do an at-home workout.  But he's still into being held while sleeping during the day.  It's all very cute and snuggly, but it certainly makes it a lot harder to get regular stuff done.  I mean, sure, I can sling him up in the Moby wrap, and that's nice, but he's far too little to be able to do mommy and me workouts, so that leaves me out of luck at this time.  I just can't wait until he's big enough to use the BOB so we can go out and about for run/walks. 
With all that though, I did manage to get my elliptical time back down under 30 minutes for 3 miles, something I haven't seen since last December! So, that's a great start, but I would love to be able to get back to regular running, instead of elliptical running.  After all, I have to run/walk Baystate half in October, so I would like to be able to have some conditioning back before then.  Perhaps that means not skipping the gym because it's late and I'm tired.  Because right now that's basically what I do. When X falls asleep for the night, there's no way I want to give up that sleep time for myself.  Again, once he starts sleeping longer, that will be easier to do, but when he's still waking up at midnight/1 and again at 3/4, it's not a great schedule. 
Do you notice a pattern as much as I do here?  I keep talking about what I'll do when he's a little bit older, when he sleeps a little bit longer, when it's a little bit cooler, etc.  There's no real plan for what I'm going to do now. Perhaps that's what needs to change the most.  Actually making myself do it now, instead of waiting for more convenient circumstances.  You know what though, most of all, I just still find Planet Fitness too boring to be that dedicated to getting there.  Now that it's been some time, I miss going to a place like Title.  At least that kept me accountable and I was having fun working out.  I wouldn't mind joining up again, but I'm not sure it's the best choice for us, since there's no daycare option and hourly classes might be hard to get to once I go back to work.  I would like to join a gym that has class and daycare options so that I could drop X off for a few and go workout.  Maybe someday.  For now, I guess I have to just accept PF and get myself there more often.  Now that X is a month old and our routine is starting to, sort of, come together, it might be easier for me to push myself now.  And hopefully, for my 6-week pp check-up the Dr says it's ok to resume running and HIIT.

Under 30 elliptical!!

This is 1-month pp, back to my regular workout tops, but they still don't fit the way they did before. 

Just wanted to prove a point, sucking it in makes all the difference.  Don't be fooled by those people who look amazing 1 month after giving birth, they've had a lot of help.  This is one month after, no waist trainers, no personal chefs, no hours spent at the gym.  Not even close to where I was, but that's ok.  I have no intention of getting there the easy way, but I do plan to get there.  And before you come at me about how it shouldn't be about the look, 9 months on, 9 months off, I know.  I'm not in a rush to get back to my tip-top shape of two years ago, and honestly, I'll doubt I'll ever get there again.  That was a different time.  Right now, I'm just working on being able to run a half again and maybe another full, someday. 

Dogs vs Babies

So, X cries when he's not being held, which gets old.  But, the puppy keeps eating my sandals and won't listen to basic commands, which also gets old.  So really, at least with X, when you hold him, he stops.  The pup does not stop eating shoes, no matter how many toys you give him in place of said shoes.  My only hope is that they both outgrow this phase, the dog sooner rather than later.  Oh, and if he would stop peeing/pooping all over the house every time he gets scared, that would be great too. 
Now, having a newborn makes it hard to get to the gym, as you might imagine.  Sometimes we go for neighborhood walks, but this week especially has been extra hot.  90s - 100s the past few days, so I haven't been able to take X out.  Luckily, Ryan takes him at night so I get about an hour of baby free gym time.  Sometimes the family comes to visit and they will watch him in place too, but really, I've only gone to the gym maybe 3 - 4x.  I know, I know, it's only been 3.5 weeks since X was born, why do I even need to go to the gym that much, right?  Mostly because I do have a half-marathon to run/walk in October.  I certainly don't mind not running the whole thing, but I would like to be able to at least walk the parts I can't run.  And since I haven't really walked multiple miles since, maybe March, I need to at least get back some of that endurance.  So I go to the gym and walk 3 miles on the treadmill or elliptical.  On the treadmill I generally don't make the 3 miles in under half an hour because I'm not sure how fast I'm really supposed to be going before I get to my 6 week pp Dr. appointment.  On the elliptical, I go faster because it's easier, so I can at least make the 3 miles in just over 30 minutes.  So hey, 3 miles, only 10 more to go! Kidding.  I see no scenario where I would go 13 miles on either machine. I didn't do that when I was full on marathon training to cut down my time, no way am I doing it now.  The plus side to all this is that when X gets full head control, we can take the BOB out for longer runs, assuming everything isn't covered in snow and ice by that point.  Clearly that all depends on X, but at the very least, we'll be out running by next Spring, I hope!  Poor X doesn't know what he's in for.
I have given up on the step count for now, which might sound crazy to some people.  Here's the thing with that though.  There are a lot of activities I do that don't get recorded on my watch.  Cardio, weights, and pushing the stroller.  So even though I may have gotten my 30 - 45 minutes of activity in, my watch has only recorded 2,000 steps.  Now, I know that I've worked out and I know that I got my cardio in, so what's the point of checking the watch to have it tell me that I haven't?  Until they can make a good watch that records this activity without having to press a bunch of buttons, I'm passing o the step count.  Mostly I'm just trying to be aware of my activities and how many donuts I eat in a day. Anyways, X man is awake again, so it's time to go for now.  Enjoy these pictures of a cute baby and a doofy dog.  (Not the shoe-eater)

Bath time is the best time

I didn't think I needed a wrap, but then I bought one and found out how wrong I was. 

X's first Target trip.  He was not sure what to think about it

And a doofy dog

On the Other Side

It's been 11 days since we grew to a family of 3.  Those first few days were a little bit crazy, but, as with any change, we're learning how to adjust and making our way in this new world.  So obviously the last few weeks I haven't been doing too much working out, due to a giant belly getting in the way.  But now, he's on the outside and eventually, I have to get back into it.  Today, for example, I went to the gym and walked on the treadmill for 2 miles.  Now before you all freak out that it's too early, I took it very slow.  We're talking 20-minute miles.  Plus the Dr did say that I could walk, as long as I didn't go too hard.  So no running yet, but in a few more weeks, I'll hopefully get back up to that. 
In the meantime, it's a lot of work not doing anything but taking care of a newborn.  Obviously, babies require a lot of attention, but it's amazing how much time I spend sitting in the corner of the sofa feeding, pumping, or trying to get X to sleep.  I feel that the pumping is the most time consuming of all, but I'm not quite ready to quit trying to get him to nurse yet.  Ok, well, that's not true.  Most days, around 4/5 p.m. I am so ready to give it up, throw in the towel, and start making bottles.  But I haven't yet, because the LC at the hospital said to give it at least two weeks before giving it up, and we all know I ain't no quitter.  That being said, if we can't get a grip on this whole latching thing after our visit to the LC next Monday, then I might switch to formula. *GASP* *insert horrified mommy hating bloggers mean comments here*  Maybe I shouldn't give it up, but if this keeps up, the frustration between the two of us isn't worth the effort. 
Ryan, for his part, has done a great job as a father and a husband since X arrived.  He is everything you would want a partner to be when your entire life has suddenly changed and I am the luckiest for having him here.  That will make it a lot harder when he goes back to work full time and I'm here alone, so I guess there's a downside to that.  Hopefully, in the next couple weeks, we'll get it all figured out and him going back to work all day won't be such a problem anyways.  Until that happens though, it's nice to have a person to take the baby when he's extra upset, or when I just need a shower or a 20-minute nap.
So that's what we've been up to over here.  I'm sure working out and running is going to be completely different now, so be prepared for a much different type of blog from here on out.  Eventually, I hope to take X on longer runs in the BOB, but until he's old enough, I'm going to work on getting up to a certain amount of mileage again, and working on rebuilding leg and arm muscles.  If there's one thing I really let go during the last 3 months, it was muscle tone. 

The X man cometh

Unimpressed at 5 days old

40 weeks...he was really taking his time.

11 days post-partum.