OK, today I ran for an hour with my friend Lynne. I usually do a long run on Saturday mornings of 8 - 10 miles. Today we probably only ran about 7 because the roads are fairly icy and traction wasn't good. But I love winter running and have run all winter long for about 20 yrs now so I'm pretty used to these kinds of conditions.

And the inevitable finally happened: I fell on the ice. Darn it, I broke my record of never (and I mean never) falling while running in ice and snow. I'm very good at judging where the ice is and running across it in such a way that I won't fall. But I was yaking away and wham! Down i went. My friend, Lynne, fell too but not as hard as I did. Nothing was hurt except me ego. Darn it too, there were 3 cars that drove by and saw the whole thing. I'm sure they're saying something like "those stupid women out running on the ice...."

But the joke's on them as I got in 7 good miles today!

As I mentioned in the first entry, part of the reason for doing this blog is to help other women learn how to fit exercise/training into a busy schedule, esp women with small children. So, for that reason, I'll mention how I found the time to get an hour run in.

It was kind of easy today because my kids are signed up for ski lessons on Saturdays. Some friends of ours who have 5 yr olds got together with us and we set up a schedule where we all take turns taking the kids up to Eldora. Today is my day "off", whereas last Saturday it was my turn to take them up. In that situation, I planned my long run for Sunday AM.

My husband and I tag-team our exercise. That's a key factor in being able to train while raising small children. It really helps to have a supportive spouse! In our situation, my husband will watch the kids on Sat AM so that I can run and then I'll do the same for him when I get back from the run. If he's working that day (and he works a lot of Saturdays), I may ask one of my friends to watch my kids or just get a babysitter. But I love LSD on Saturday mornings (Long Slow Runs). It's relaxing and thereaputic. I look forward to it during the week because I either get to get caught up with my friends or if I run alone, I get to zone out for an hour or so. Plus, I always feel so good after a long run; it's a total high for me. Sounds crazy to non-runners, I'm sure! I just wish I could get that kind of zen from swimming....
Cindy