It feels like the best part of the last nearly 9 months has been a battle to find ways to fit exercise in (apart from the few months when I just totally gave up).
By late October, I wanted to get back into it, but was starting to feel like I was fighting a losing battle. Not only was Toby awake all night, but he was sleeping in in the mornings with his wee head resting on my arm, removing any motivation I had for a morning sweat session. I'd looked forward to walks with Toby after cutting down my work hours, but then shortly after I started looking after him again, he decided buggy sleeps were no longer for him.
THEN, I got my a into g and started post bedtime runs twice a week with a couple of women from my ante-natal group. But separation anxiety hit. All of a sudden, he not only needed me to put him to bed (not Phil), but also started waking at random intervals, screaming unless I attended to him quickly. I gave up on my evening runs after heading out after pumping, when Toby had been asleep for a wee bit, and coming home 20 minutes later to find out he'd been screaming for 19, even when Phil got him out of bed to "play". Bedtime also went from 7, give or take 10-15 minutes, as it had been for about 6 months, to 7:30-8.
I was *this* close to giving up again, but fortunately one day I was so desperate for a run I asked Phil if I could head out during Toby's dinner time. That didn't work, but I did manage to sneak out during bathtime, and my new routine was born. I'm now getting 20 minutes in most weekdays (including some with the jogging stroller, but that is very mood dependent), and I mix it up by including tempo and fartlek efforts in it to make the 20 minutes more "worthwhile". I'm getting out for slightly longer in the weekends- doing 5km on Saturdays, and a gradually increasing longer run on Sundays (I'm up to 7km now).
It's not much, but it's showing me that every bit counts. I've taken over 4 minutes off my Saturday 5k over the last few weeks, and my old tempo effort is now my easy pace. My 3k pace is slower than my marathon pace, so it's not as if I'm running well, but I feel good again, and I think I'm not too slow for a hippo on legs!
