This weekend was my second weekend sticking to my new running schedule. Last night was comical trying to run 9 miles on the treadmill late at night while keeping an eye on two restless kiddos who wouldn't go to bed. I don't think the digital stopwatch on the treadmill ever got more than 8 minutes without being paused to break up a fight over a piece of jewelry in the closet or that one kid wanted to read alone and the other was invading her privacy. Two long hours later I had logged my distance (including time to ref the kids).
Sunday was my second day at the same distance and it went swimmingly. I only had one kid in my care this morning and we took advantage of the cool morning air and sunny weather to go out with our single BOB jogging stroller. One of the things I've struggled with as a running father is how much interaction is expected between me and my kids while running. Should I try and carry constant conversations with them? It can be hard to hear with the wind, sun shade, and gagging on phlegm while running up some of the overpasses and pushing 100 pounds. I foolishly tried using earbuds and my ipod a few times. Not only is this dangerous for muting passing bikers and cars, but by the time the kids are screaming for more wheat thins, they've resorted to lunging sideways in the stroller and bracing all four feet firmly against the front tire: something they know I hate. Today I may have found a solution to all of that.
We recently got a small battery powered speaker system for our ipod. It was really so my wife could hoop to her tunes when we go to the park on bike rides. Resting that on the top of the stroller, I could have my tunes and hear the kid by only the 5th time she screamed her request. Perhaps it was just today, but the music seemed to soothe her into a dreamlike state. Who knew lyrics to My Humps could pacify a high maintenance coach passenger?
So we headed east for a 9 mile clockwise loop run in south Scottsdale today and at first the southward wind was pretty strong. No problem I thought, we'll just take it slow. Then we turned south and the wind appeared a thing of the past, except that for some reason the disc golf players seemed to be standing motionless at their tee, facing north, just kind of looking into the distance like cows do when facing a windstorm. It must have been a good day to lose a disc as there was a trio of entrepreneurial guys with grappling hooks and long ropes, dredging the city ponds for the lost equipment. They had a huge pile of the round hunks of brightly colored $20 plastic. Craigslist: New Lower Price! Go Natural with our Algae Scented Golf Discs! Order today and get yours delivered with a dusting of authentic Scottsdale real estate. Supplies limited.
Having reached the southern end of the Hayden Greenbelt, we met up with Tempe Town Lake and made our way along the lake to the stables and our route back north. That's when the wind turned from friend to foe. Head on, while going uphill to rejoin the cross-cut canal, Clara, who was already bundled up in a double layer fleece blanket and full outfit screamed (for the fifth time), "It makes my throat feel yucky". Wait a minute, lemme turn down Beck.
She was a little trooper and, as a reward, we took a short side trip to the Phoenix Zoo. As members, it's a free diversion and my GPS watch indicated I might need to add some mileage to make this a 9 miler. Into the zoo we both refueled with the age-old aid station standard: kettle corn. Both feeling much better, we jogged one lap through the zoo. I think the only things we spotted were the lions, one tiger, and a family of mandrils. Oh, and a guy wearing a Cheech and Chong t-shirt that said, "Dave's not here, Dude."
Back north into the wind, we returned home in 1 hr 36 min of moving time. Total distance: 10.3 miles. Guess we didn't need that extra lap around the zoo after all.
Watched the Packers make it to the Superbowl and got rehydrated. New mileage starts tomorrow!
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