Summer is here, my daughter is out of school and my run streak has come to a screeching halt. I gave it a shot; I did log more miles than I expected, but the fact of the matter is, it’s nearly impossible for me to run everyday while my little one is out of school and camp has yet to start.
There is about a three-week lag time between school ending and camp starting for my daughter. This isn’t much of a logistical problem because myself, her father and his wife are all able to work from home and we share the days among each other so she is taken care of. So what If I have to skip a run, right? I love that I have the flexibility to be with her these days of her childhood. Far too soon she will be begging to be anywhere but with her mom.
Last week, I read an article about how busy moms can stick to their training regimens while the kids are out of school. It had some good ideas – run before the kids are up, after they go to bed or before dinner as soon as your husband gets home from work. Whoa, did this article suggest I have to have a husband to be able to keep running during the summer? I don’t think so! While I do agree having another adult around in the morning would be great for getting up and running before my daughter is out of bed, I’m not about to go out and get hitched just to avoid breaking a run streak!
So what did she and I do? We thought up some ways that will work for us in the next few weeks (months even) so that we can both get our exercise without having to sell the cow.
Early morning is the best time of day for us to get outside and moving. The high heat of the day is no good for an 8 year old. So we will pick up her bike from her dad’s on days she is with me and she can ride along side as I run in the morning.
We agreed that hiking is another option and there are tons of parks and trails near our house, so we will be getting out there hiking and enjoying nature. This is one we could even do mid-day seeing as we’ll be shaded by the trees.
The park down the block is a good place get on the swings and climb the monkey bars. As adults, I think we tend to forget how active (and tiring) playing really is. I learned this last week while we were stuck inside because of the heat wave and were finding things to do to keep her little hands out of trouble.
My daughter’s favorite of the suggestions is to dance. Put music on any time of day and she is dancing and usually shouting, “Mommy come dance with me!” All too often I say “I can’t right now, in a minute,” but last week each time she asked I jumped up and we danced and laughed – laughing is also good for your core!
None of this is much by way of keeping with a run streak but each of these will do something greater. I’m teaching my daughter the importance of staying active, I’m not making excuses for why I can’t exercise, and, most importantly, I’m making memories with my favorite person in this whole world.
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