My 2013 Streak and My First Run with BOB

So I've been reading about all of this streaking going on with my friends and fellow bloggers.  Some run every day at least a mile or at least a 5k, etc.  Some do planks every day for various amounts of time.  But the goal is to do it EVERY day and that makes a "streak."  While I was pregnant I thought that sounded really fun and so when the New Year rolled around and I was no longer pregnant I started thinking about what sort of streak I would like to do.

Running every day sounds fun and perfect for me, and yes, I could probably etch out enough time every single day for at least 1 mile, but since I'm half-marathon training and my body is a lot like that of a new runner again, I want to be able to take rest days as needed.  I can't say that one day I won't want to do a running streak to see if I can run every single day of the year, but this is not that year.

Especially since I decided on and started my streak on January 7.  A little random I know but I hadn't yet decided when January 1st showed up.

So what is my streak?  Well, I decided it would be a core exercises streak.  This mainly consists of pushups and crunches. I have several opportunities each day to do these, it doesn't take very long - 10 to 20 minutes max (for now), and I don't even have to break a sweat to get a good workout from it (for now).

I begin with some pelvic tilts where I tighten up everything in that region for a second and then release.  I do about 30-40 of these.  It is sort of a warm-up, sort of a postnatal activity.  Then I do some regular ole crunches followed by some bicycle crunches.  I have always loved those.  Then I move to two sets of 10 pushups (the girly kind for now).  After the pushups I do the pelvic tilts, crunches, and bicycle crunches again.

For now that is a workout for me although I haven't really made my abs sore yet.  Whattoexpect.com still sends me these articles and tips for raising a baby and whatnot, and last week it sent one about working on one's tummy after having a baby.  The article said I might be able to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight all right, but if I wanted my tummy to be firm I would have to work at it.  Then it threatened that my tummy would be even worse after a second baby so... I decided I would do a little something about it.  I've never had a 6 pack or anything close.  My tummy has been flat-ish because of all the running, but it has never been what I would call firm.  And now... well it is down right mushy.  Eloise likes to sink her feet into it to climb. I haven't yet figured out where she is trying to go, but it is a little sad that she can sink her feet into my belly as a foothold.

SO!  On with the streak!  Jason is going to help me by asking me each night if I have done my exercises.  I told him he had to ask even if I got snarky and he told me I wasn't allowed to get snarky.  Ha!  I will try.  That's all I can promise.

In other news I took Eloise on her very first mommy/daughter run with the BOB the other day.  The weather had warmed up (still is) and the sun was shining (is no longer).  I wasn't looking forward to the treadmill when Jason got home from work and I was already hungry so I decided to try out my BOB. Mom got it for me shortly after Eloise was born, but I didn't want to use it until she could sit up and by then it was winter.

The tires were flat and I was using the pump incorrectly so I couldn't get them inflated, but I went anyway.  It pulls slightly to the left so that will have to be fixed.  Pumping up the tires may help and if not I will google how to fix that.  If it isn't fixable I'm sending that baby back!  Those things are too expensive to not stroll like a dream.  I have the bright yellow Ironman BOB and I feel like when I run with it I should look really athletic and run really fast because it says "Ironman" on the front.

I don't run fast with it, however.  I did 3 miles with Eloise and my splits were 10:18, 10:51, 10:34.  And I was breathing HARD!  My arms were aching and I would have been able to use one arm but the pulling to the left made that too difficult.  It was a fun sort of challenging, though, and Eloise seemed to enjoy it. She didn't fuss at all.  I think she enjoyed seeing the world around her.  She is so observant and curious about everything that a stroller ride probably provided plenty to see. 

Winters here in the south can be really mild and so far this one is turning out to be.  So I'm hoping for many more miles with Eloise and BOB.  If half-marathon training doesn't whip me into shape, running with the BOB will!

This was actually from today - her second trip in the BOB.

Obviously it stresses her out.