Tough Love

The tears started at 8:15 this morning.

“Please, Mom, I want to come with you.”
“No, it’s cold and it looks like it could be icy. You need to stay home. We’ll go out together tomorrow when it’s warmer.”

After a fall of on and off-running (thanks to pneumonia in October and a brief calf injury in November), I vowed to get some base mileage back under my belt during December. But I forgot how hectic December can be for the family. #1 sings in a well-respected children’s choir and has several rehearsals and performances during the first half of the month. The boys are both very involved with things going on at Church at this time of year. And, being the first year that #2 is at school, we have, not 1, but 2 school concerts to attend! During the first half of the month, I got in a few runs, but that was far better than I had been doing previously.

The Christmas Break was what I was really looking forward to so that I could get back on track. I’ve run 4 times in the past 10 days. I have registered for a half-marathon in the beginning of March (and am still miffed that the 8K I wanted to do in January is sold out). And, last weekend, I bought a hat (complete with the ponytail hole) to wear during my winter runs.

Now, my current mileage is nothing to get excited about but I’m being slow and careful. I figure that I’ll also really have to work at cross-training on a stationary bike to support my cardio. #1 is determined to be there with me for all of my training – quite doable unless there is ice on the roads. So, when I told him this morning that he needed to stay home, he was terribly disappointed. I was glad that I played the role of “tough Mom” though; with the wind chill, it was 10 below and he just couldn’t have handled it, and that would have made us both miserable.

Tomorrow is another cold day; Wednesday will be warmer. Who knows? Maybe, we’ll even pull out the baby jogger for #2 (and a really warm blanket).