Adventures in Running

I have always been active.  For the majority of my life I have been a dancer, a gymnast or a cheerleader.   I have a degree in Physical Education and was a PE and Dance teacher for several years.  I know how to be fit.  I understand the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.  I just have never really cared about how it applied to me.  I have been blessed by a super high metabolism and weight has just never really been an issue.  I like to workout, I just had not made it a priority in my day to day activities.  I have either been too busy, too tired or really just around exercise all the time that I felt like I did work out all the time :)

When we  moved to Columbus our apartment complex had an awesome gym onsite and so, in my effort to get out and meet ew people, I started going. I basically just ran on the treadmill for 30-40 min.  Then I got pregnant and exercising went out the window.  I was soooooo sick all the time that sweating was not high on my agenda for the day.  When J was about 9 months old and we lived in Rochester, NY, I started attending Stroller Strides classes and this was perfect for me.  While the focus clearly is on working out, for me the social hour was a lifeline to other people and that is why I went to class 3-4 days a week.  When I was pregnant with CB I attended classes until the day before my c-section, and I am positive that this is the reason I did not have gestational diabetes or pre-clampasia with her pregnancy.

We moved to Jacksonville about 2 months ago.  I looked for something similar to Stroller Strides and while I did find Stroller Strides, it just wasn't working out for me here, so I kept searching.  I came across an amazing group of ladies called Stroller Warriors.  It is basically a running club of military Moms pushing strollers.  I never thought I would be a runner, but these ladies are super encouraging and again, I find myself going to meetings purely for the social aspect of the club...hey, whatever works right!!  One thing these ladies do is run races together, so I am signed up for my 3rd ever 5k (the first one was a year ago so see if I could do it, the second was on MADE with Vanessa) tomorrow.  I'm excited about it.

So, this brings me to today's deals.  Jogging Strollers...there are many, many, many kinds and they range from the super expensive to the relatively cheap.  The "best of the best" is considered to be BOB, but they are on the super pricey end.  Right now Jogger Mom is running the best BOB sale there has been in a while (15% off with free shipping and no sales tax).  BOB does not usually go on sale so if you are in the market for one, jump on this now!  If you are looking for a jogger that gets the same ratings as the BOB, but is actually lighter and cheaper I encourage you to look at the Kelty Speedster Swivel.  This is what I use and I love it.  The double does not have duel canopies and there is not infant seat adapter so keep this in mind.  I also run with my Baby Jogger City Select (as a single, I don't run with it as a double because it makes me feel a little out of control), however Baby Jogger does not endorse running with any of their strollers that are not specifically made for "running."  As always when looking for a new stroller, make sure you Google the name of the stroller with the words "on sale" after it to find the best deals out there.  When you find a store you want to purchase from, Google the store name and the words "coupon code," to see if there is anything available.  I also encourage you to look for last years stroller model.  This summer Babies R Us had some great deals on 2010 BOB Revolution strollers.  You can always score good deals online you just need to spend a little time to do some research, but the rewards are soooooo worth it.

I also want to throw out there to you to search craigslist and other "garage sale" (Lejeune Yard Sales) type websites for the stroller you are searching for.  Many times you can post that you are searching for a particular stroller and people may respond to you.  I will caution you though, sometimes you can find a better deal online than you can from craigslist.  I found numerous Jogging strollers for sale in my area, but the sellers wanted more for them than I was willing to pay for a 3 or 4 year old stroller.  Keep this in mind, if you are planning to use your jogger everyday it might be worth the extra $50-100 you might spend to have a new one vs buying a used one without a warrenty. 

No matter how you do it or why you do it, as a Mom exercising is an important part of daily life.  Keeping up with toddlers is exhausting and the more fit you are the easier it is, not to mention the example that you are setting for your little one.  I started attending Stroller Warriors at the same time with a couple of other ladies and we have become fast running friends, running on days other than the set Stroller Warrior workouts.  We have a goal of an 8K in November, a 10K in Feb/March and then a 1/2 marathon in May.  That is a whole lot for this non-runner, but running with friends every day is a fantastic outlet and I often forget that we are "running."  At then end of each run as I am sweaty, gulping down water, and breathing really hard, J always asks "Are you ok, Mommy?" Yeah J, I'm ok...especially today :)...........Happy running!