Oh no!!!!

I'm becoming the person I always laughed at. You know, the kind of person who shakes if they don't get a daily run in. The one who HAS to go to the gym, no matter how little sleep they got, how much is on their calendar for the day, or that the gym is only open for another twenty minutes. You have to go. You have to get that run or weight lifting session in for the day for you to be a "complete" person. Yeah, I am officially that person. [Sigh] Where did I go wrong???

As you can image, getting the gym while trying to raise two small children is not as easy as one might think. The gym here that *does* offer child care---well, lets just say I'm too cheap. The childcare fee is $3 per hour per child, and the monthly membership fee is around $15. Not bad, but when you previously have lived somewhere where the childcare AND gym were free....well, old habits are hard to break. So to get a good "timed" run in, I wait for Joel to come home, and sprint out the door as soon as his boots hit the tile floor. Some days I strap Nathan into the stroller while Miles is in school, and hit the pavement, running around the various neighborhoods close to the house. But these are not my favorite runs for several reasons: 1) Nathan usually falls asleep, and if he takes a nap, bedtime is a pure nightmare, and 2) pushing a 30-pound child is hard work in itself, so running while pushing is even harder. I usually end up doing a brisk walk as compared to jogging, which kills my time. But I look at this workout as just that---a workout. I logged my cardio for the day, and that's all I can do, right?

Thursday of this week I took the day off. Pushing Nathan the day before just wore me out, and since I had a meeting that night, there would be no time at the end of the day to hit the gym before it closed. On Friday, I think Joel only saw a blur of color when he walked through the door---I was OUT OF THERE! Treadmill, wait! I hear you calling my name! I'm on my way! I felt human again getting out of the house and lacing up my sneakers for a run. I know understand it when people say it's a great way to clear your head. Especailly on the treadmill, you're not headed anywhere, so you don't have to think about which street to turn down that will lead you back to your house or car. So I logged my miles for the day, felt a little more human while sweating off this morning's coffee, and headed home a little less stressed and a lot more winded. But feeling better about my self and my health.