Park with People, Oh my!

"I don't wanna run. There's too many people," so starts mine and Evan's run today, Sunday, January 30, 2011.

While his younger brother was walking around the park introducing himself and making new friends, Evan can hardly stand to stretch to begin our run in the gorgeous weather at Bolton Park.

We used the "Cardiac Training" area to stretch and where are the people?! :)

And while the Princess could have done a fifth lap around the path, the Turtle was a bit pooped and I'm sure swimming before the run had nothing to do with being tired so soon!

Evan actually managed to go around and get behind me as we passed people walking, running and even riding some trikes. I had told his dad, brother and grandmother to be sure NOT to look at us :). I also started teaching him to "find his space/path" and run in it so he isn't digressing into my path. The park's concrete path wasn't too wide so this was good practice.

So, here are the stats - not as exciting as yesterday, but Evan was getting used to the people:

Time: 13:15
Distance: 0.53 miles
Calories: 32.5
Steps: 1,303
Pace: 2.4

Happy Running!

In the dust, baby!

What an awesome day for the Princess and the Turtle to run on Saturday, January 29, 2011. The near-60 degree temperature was so awesome that we ran the farthest we have ever run!

Notice the street sign (and the cool running shades) that we left in the dust because we ventured out of our neighborhood to the one across the "big" road, where we found some friends working in the yard. Since we were running, we just waved.

Evan also noticed lots of cracks in the road and commented that if they had an earthquake, it would crack through. At least he was observant!

Hear are the exciting results:
Time: 24:40
Distance: 1.064 miles
Calories: 65.7
Steps: 2607
Pace: 2.6


Did you notice: it was over a mile?!!
Happy Running!

Jogging, Seriously!

"You know, mom, we aren't really running, we're jogging. If we were running, we would be going faster."

But we're not doing anything right yet in this picture - our stretching:

Aren't children so literal that it is humorous sometimes? :) And please note that it is hard to laugh while running so I turned the conversation into a lesson about endurance on our run today, Sunday, January, 23.

I explained that by running (or jogging) regularly, we will build up our endurance and hopefully be able to run all the time instead of walking and running. With that, he asked if the pedometer on my iPhone tracked his steps too and when I explained that it didn't exactly, he attempted to run/walk at my pace or in-step with me and when THAT didn't work, he said: well, we can just double the steps, mom.

Kind of half-liking the idea, I asked how he would double them and he replied by adding them together. And since you are now curious, here you go:
Time: 22:25 minutes
Distance: 0.83 miles
Calories: 54.8
Steps: 2047
Pace: 0.3
And for Evan, steps doubled: 4094


Happy Running/Jogging!

Short one

Evan was hesitant to run Wednesday, January 19 since he said he had a bad day. I explained to him that running would help make him feel better which it did but there was a catch...

a wandering dog, which apparently belonged to one of the neighbors in the back part of the subdivision. While the dog seemed harmless, the dog did follow us and since we are not used to pets, we both were uncomfortable. But poor Evan kept turning his head back to see where the dog was so it made for a short run. And I never really did get out of Evan why his day was bad :(.

Stats are:
Time: 16:46 minutes
Distance: 0.65 miles
Calories: 30.2
Steps: 1,630
Pace: 2.0


And of course the stretching after the run, where Evan looks happier, and when the rest of the family arrived home:

Happy Running!

Shoes

Running is all about the shoes, right? :) Well, here Evan shows off his NEW running shoes on the left. Rich at Fleet Feet Sports measured and fitted Evan in his Ghost shoes. Evan even got to test them by running around in the parking lot. We knew they passed when he said: I can't stop from running faster! (Hence the name "Ghost"!)

And then came Sunday, January 16 when we embarked on our next run, again through the neighborhood. Perhaps it was the 20 minutes of Wii Fit Plus and another 20 minutes of solid soccer with the boys but for some reason, we didn't go too far today. In fact, Evan wasn't even out of breath!

But after a week of being snowed in, 50 degrees felt like 90 and it was a great day for the Princess and the Turtle to run together.

Here we are pre-run:

Vital stats are:
Time: 19.25 minutes
Distance: 0.86 miles
Calories: 52.5
Steps: 2,122
Pace: 1.8


Happy Running!

Jog Around the Gym

On Sunday, January 9, 2011 - Evan requested our second run! So we layered and bundled as you see here during our before stretching session:

And we were off in only 35 degrees. We warmed up quickly since we started off a little fast for me. But our results are:

Time: 23 minutes
Distance: 1.642 miles
Calories: 123.4
Steps: 3,174
Pace: 4.3

Evan "guided" the run a bit more, so hence the different results. He is still learning the idea of pacing and not sprinting! During our run though he informed me that his gym teacher has been trying to get his class to jog around the gym. And I informed him that if he can run outside in near freezing temperatures for 23 minutes, he could jog at least once around the gym.

We ended the run with a surprise sprint to the garage. Evan won, of course. His legs are nearly as long as mine :).
Happy Running!

Moon Footprints

Evan and I did our first run this evening, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011. Vital statistics, according to the All-In-One Pedometer, are:
Time: 18:35
Distance: 1.284 miles
Calories: 95.1
Steps: 2,637
Pace: 1.5
And while out of breath, I did manage to learn from Evan that footprints never change or go away on the moon, according to his informational/story book at school. And since I know you're going to ask why: it is because there is no change of atmosphere or rather no rain, snow, wind, etc.

So, here we are pre-run:

And post-stretch run (done inside since it was getting dark):

Happy Running!

Some Background

For my 40th birthday, I decided I would run/walk my first 5K. My goal was to complete it which I did and it was nice not to be last. All that happened on Dec. 4, 2010. My family - Evan, age 9; Eric, age 3; Tim, age ??; and friends were there to greet me at the finish line. That was such an awesome feeling - to know they were there supporting me.

Anyway, Evan liked being there and liked cheering and immediately said he wanted to do the Mistletoe 5K with me next year, 2011. At first I didn't think he was serious but here is proof that he really is serious... hence this blog!

My nickname is Princess and Evan's nickname while growing inside of me was Turtle since he "looked" like a turtle on the ultrasound. So this blog will chronicle our journey of training for the 2011 Mistletoe 5K.

Enjoy! And happy running!