Triple jogging strollers might as well come with a disclaimer. A little golden sheet that reads: "Thou who runs with this stroller will automatically be granted magic powers." These magic powers may not show up on your first run, nor in your first month with the stroller, but I guarantee that at some point they will show up.
Dorothy, over at http://www.mile-posts.com/, inspired me to jump in and buy a triple stroller. She talks about the magic of running while pushing three kids, of running a faster timed mile with the kids than solo. This morning I discovered that magic.
I meticulously planned out my training schedule with intervals on Fridays so that I could do them alone with Isaac while the girls were at school. Running for fun with the triple is great, but speedwork with three is a completely different issue. Or so I thought.
Alan had to set his alarm for 3:45am this morning to get into work for an 8am East Coast conference call. Crazy, right? Setting your alarm before 4am is not an early-morning wake-up. We are early risers, but that is not considered morning in my book. Without his extra hands to help this morning, I had to perform double-duty. Isaac woke up to nurse twice during the night, Adara woke around 1am with a nightmare (for the third time this week) and climbed in my bed to squirm for the next couple of hours and Cesia was up and ready to tackle the day (and anyone who got in her way) by 4:45am. My eyes and legs did not want to move. I was irritable, annoyed and frustrated that no one would just sleep. On top of that, Isaac's 2-3 hr naps have disappeared this week to be replaced with these little 20 min "rests." It seriously takes longer to get him to sleep (diaper change, read 1 book, nurse, you know, the whole sleep-time routine) than he actually stays asleep. After 1 hr of feeling sorry for myself + 1 cup of coffee, the sun finally started to rise and I knew I had to run. Running is my anti-anxiety, anti-irritability, ready-to-tackle-the-day-like-Cesia panacea.
By 7am Isaac was down for his first nap. Perfect, I thought, he'll wake right around 8:30, we'll run to school with the triple, drop off the girls, then I'll borrow my friend's single Bob that she was bringing to school for me and take Isaac for 800 meter repeats on a flat-ish road near the preschool. When you have kids, however, plans become just that - plans. The more you try to plan and schedule, the more disappointed you become. Somehow the kids never seem to get the memo. Of course, Isaac was awake by 7:20am (hello, cat nap) and my frustration was mounting. We just had to get out. NOW, or spontaneous combustion might occur. As quickly as possible, I got the girls cleaned up and dressed for school. Grabbed their packed lunches from the fridge, pulled Isaac from his crib and loaded all three safely into the triple. We were on our way by 8am and I was now going to do 5x800 meter repeats each at 3:37 (7:14/mi pace) while pushing all three. This was either going to break me, send me over the edge, or re-charge our day. Only time would tell.
On the mile and a half warm-up, Cesia dropped her stuffed Zebra twice, threw three fits about god-knows-what and complained that the sun was in her eyes no matter how I configured her shade. The cards did not appear to be in my favor.
We made it to our starting point, I explained to the girls that I really needed them to "cheer me on" so that we could run fast today, and with Cesia's "Get ready, get set, GO MAMA!" we were rolling. We hit that first 800m repeat in 3:15. And it felt good, really good! 400 m jog and we were on to the next one. 3:45, bang. The way out was slightly down-hill and way back slightly up-hill, explaining the 30 second difference. I would take it. The next three followed suit with 3:15, 3:45 and finishing with a 3:05. Adara cheered, "Go Mama, Go, Go Mama, Go" for nearly the entire length of the workout. Cesia stayed mostly quiet though she apparently dropped Zebra once more and a woman in a silver Lexus SUV slowed to ask if it was ours and graciously handed it back. Isaac was happy as a clam chewing on his stroller strap.
We did it! I thanked the girls for helping me get through a hard run and said, "That was fun!" to which Adara replied, "Yes, it was. It was fun, Mama!" Thus, I have experienced the superpowers of the triple stroller, the magical feeling of being able to accomplish anything when we are all together. If I could push this beast through the streets, fast (fast for me, at least), then surely I could get through this day. When we stop limiting ourselves, stop thinking about what we can not do, the superpowers take over and our incredible strength comes out. How powerful, strong and capable we are, when we quiet those voices in our heads and just.. run.
Have a great weekend, all! Definitely looking forward to some family time and 5am wake-ups with Alan at home, because together is always better.
Sorry, no pictures to show from today.. this mama was too tired post-run to have enough mental capacity to remember to take some photos!
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