Day 101: The Intro to Blogging

Once upon a time, I ran with a double jogging stroller.

People looked at me like I was crazy, pushing two very bundled babies along the Lakeshore Path in Chicago. But I was determined to be fit, so we bundled up and hit the streets. Fast forward roughly two years later, and that crazy bundle has doubled in size with the addition of these sweet girls.

Twin pregnancies do a number to your body. Trust me - I have been there. So when the girls were finally a few months old and getting into a routine, I knew I needed something to motivate me to get my body and endurance back. And with too many to push in a jogging stroller now, I needed something good.

Enter: the New Year's Resolution.

Except that this one - to maintain a streak of a "mile or more" each day in 2011 - has stuck. I'm starting this blog to celebrate Day 101. Every single day since January 1st this year, I have run at least a mile. My total mileage is actually 140.63 miles. Even now, writing that, I think of people who run 10+ miles for a fun Saturday morning and how I used to be that person (or close at least) and am not anymore. My pace is still slow compared to many, and my average for the year is just over 10 miles a week - how special is that, really?

But...I'm running through the chaos - lovely and often organized, but still chaos - of four young children. And despite that stress, despite the work involved in caring for them, and despite the unexpected moments that happen with young children, I have run 101 days straight. And in the past 101 days, I have lost more than 10 pounds. My mile pace has decreased by minutes/mile, and my endurance has come up by leaps and bounds. I recently started meeting with a trainer and scored in the highest category of cardiovascular fitness on my initial assessment. This running works!

My wonderful husband has done this project with me, step-by-step along the way. He's faster and fitter and has done amazing, but I think he would agree that neither of us would still be running without the support of each other. When I run in the early morning, he feeds the twins. While I'm reading, feeding and diapering children at home, he's running on his lunch break. We ran through the stomach flu, through a serious back injury (me) and through a (likely) whooping cough infection in our twins that led to our first ER visit as parents and nearly put the girls in the hospital.

But still. We ran.

And here I plan to chronicle how I continue to do just that for the rest of this year and beyond. What do I hope to gain from writing? Inspiration and motivation to lace up my shoes and keep the streak going. I run to stay sane and healthy for four little people who count on me every single day. And I can't wait to hear about why you run, so please - introduce yourselves. :)

The workout today: 2.15 miles of hills and sprints. Day 101 is off to a great start.