Longer run with the jogger

I have done a few more runs with Logan in the jogging stroller than usual. Actually three just this week. I usually head to a local park that has a 2.2 mile loop with a 1.2 mile out and back that was just added on. The park is pretty nice with a dog area, a children's garden, a ton of playing fields and two playgrounds. 

Ok if you are a mom you got the fact that I push my 2 year old past two play grounds every single lap. So to combat the almost instant "we play now?" that Logan says the very second he sees one of the playgrounds I have to get creative. We start out talking about everything we see, from colors and letters (stop sign) to what things do and how they work (soccer net) to existential questions like "why is the sky different blue, mommy?" This type of stuff usually lasts for almost one lap. 

Next I pull out the snacks and sippy. Usually I will bring both his normal sippy and one of my water bottles because that will sometimes entertain him for a bit. This usually buys another lap.  

Then come the books. I hide a couple of his favorites every few weeks to pull back out when needed and I also have a stash of new books that I can pull from for really crucial times, like long runs and long family dinners at a restaurant. If the sunshade isn't up, I can even read to him while running, or at least talk to him about what is going on on each page. He asks a lot of "what that mommy" questions, so this is handy. Depending on his mood, books can buy me another lap or two if I'm really lucky. 

And then I resort to my most successful tool - watching movies on my phone. I hate to resort to it, but it always works. Usually I only take Logan for a couple of miles and we never get to this point anyway unless he is in meltdown mode. But on a day like today when I couldn't leave him with anyone while I ran my 11 miles, we definitely got to that point. (If you have an iPhone, google guided access. It's awesome to have if you let your kids use your phone.) 

So today we went through all of the above and I managed to get 11.25 miles done before we went to both playgrounds and the children's garden. But I still felt a lot of mom guilt for letting him watch movies on my phone. We were outside and it was a perfect day, so I assumed I was being judged, despite everything that came before and after. Anyway, it was a successful venture and actually Logan's longest run to date in the stroller. 

And I kicked butt. I averaged 8:30 min/mile pace for the run! There was a decent wind and you can see that in my splits because every other mile is slower when I was running into the wind.