Training with Stephen...

Last week, I finally committed to doing something that I have wanted to do for a long time. I registered to walk in the Susan G. Komen 3-day in November. Basically, it is a 60-mile walk (20 miles a day for 3 days) to raise money for Breast Cancer Research. More on all that later... But since I registered and November is not that far away, I have started a crazy new fitness regimen... not that it is really that crazy, but compared to the original plan (not exercising at all), it seems a little extreme. So at 5:10 Monday morning, the games began....55 minutes of cardio, 6 days a week. I was sleepy, but committed.

It is now Thursday. And I overslept this morning. So I drove home from work brainstorming ways to cram 55 minutes of exercise into our usual evening routine. I decided that after dinner, I would take Stephen (the 2-year old) with me on a nice walk, while Sam got some one-on-one Daddy time. I could spend some quality time with Stephen and unwind from the stresses of the day. Sounded good to me...

So we ate dinner and off we went...we made it about a half mile when Stephen decided the stroller was no longer for him. So he used his Houdini moves to shimmy out of the straps. At this point, I thought, "GREAT! He will run beside the stroller and tire himself out. Bedtime should be a breeze."

Four houses farther down the road, I was having such a good time watching him dance around that I didn't even see the Rottweiler come out of the house...in seconds, the dog was running our way and barking like mad. Stephen screamed and sought shelter in the under-the-stroller storage basket. No kidding...he scrambled right in. "Chloe" (a sweet name for an otherwise gnarly dog) was barking her head off about a foot from the front of the stroller. Her owner kept yelling at her to get back and assuring me that she is "completely harmless." I was not at all convinced. But I decided the best plan was to forge ahead and not engage the dog. As the barks grew quieter, whimpers began to emerge from under the stroller. I stopped and consoled my sweet child.

We made it safely down the block and Stephen decided that everything must be okay. By now, he is hanging his head out of the stroller basket like a dog and scraping his fingernails on the pavement and the tires. I just kept praying that he didn't smash his fingers. But I didn't complain too much because he was entertained for at least another block or so.

That didn't last long. Without warning, he ejected himself out on to the pavement. So a few minutes later, when he recovered from that bright idea, he was ready to run a little more. That only lasted about 2 houses...then he wanted to jump....then he wanted to push the stroller...then he wanted to collapse the stroller....and on and on it went. This all culminated with a temper tantrum in the neighbor's front yard... followed by me wrestling him into the stroller and pushing him three blocks home while he wailed and I prayed that no one called Child Protective Services.

Thirty minutes after we left the house, Stephen and I returned home...both of us were clearly worse for the wear. We will try again on Saturday. I'll keep you posted.