Liz - running question

Jule'sMomInOR · #1 August 7th, 2011, 01:45 PM

Liz - I see that you are running quite a bit with Emmett. Does he seem to really enjoy it and not fuss? Juliana loses patience with my running in the stroller with her after about 15 minutes. I found a loop through my neighborhood that is 1.1 miles and I just keep doing that over and over until she starts fussing. Most of the time, I get halfway through the second lap and she goes from happy to screaming for me to pick her up. What do you do to keep Emmett happy? I thought about putting a toy in there, but she's probably throw it out of the strolling and I'd constantly have to pick it up. But I'd really like to get to run more than 2 miles without having to ask DH to babysit.

starrsgirl · #2 August 8th, 2011, 09:21 AM

Mmmmm....lets see. I always make sure he is fed....if I'm going longer, I bring crackers and we just leave a crumb trail, haha. He has a water bottle in their too (a baby camelbak).

With Emmett, as long as I'm moving, he is really good. I try to talk to him and get him to say things or ask "How big is Mr. Emmett" and he will raise his hands.

Are you going up and down a lot of curbs? I guess I'm kinda thinking, when I run, it's very rhythmic. The stroller is smooth and I don't bounce around a lot or change directions so Emmett zones out.

Is Juliana good in the car? If so, I think there's hope.

Also, I do think they have to get used to it, KWIM? I mean, I didn't start out running very far. But I went out day after day after day....so now, its just part of his routine.

I would say try to go a little farther each day. Maybe hold the snack and drink until the first time she fusses and then offer it to extend your run by a few minutes. I love graham crackers because they take E a while to eat. They are a mess, but that's a small price to pay for me.

OH! Big thing...is the sun on her/in her eyes ever? Emmett absolutely freaks if it is...sounds dumb, but it took me a while to figure that out. So I usually have the sun shade pulled almost all the way over him (he can see out a little still.)

Jule'sMomInOR · #3 August 8th, 2011, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starrsgirl

Mmmmm....lets see. I always make sure he is fed....if I'm going longer, I bring crackers and we just leave a crumb trail, haha. He has a water bottle in their too (a baby camelbak).

With Emmett, as long as I'm moving, he is really good. I try to talk to him and get him to say things or ask "How big is Mr. Emmett" and he will raise his hands.

Are you going up and down a lot of curbs? I guess I'm kinda thinking, when I run, it's very rhythmic. The stroller is smooth and I don't bounce around a lot or change directions so Emmett zones out.

Is Juliana good in the car? If so, I think there's hope.

Also, I do think they have to get used to it, KWIM? I mean, I didn't start out running very far. But I went out day after day after day....so now, its just part of his routine.

I would say try to go a little farther each day. Maybe hold the snack and drink until the first time she fusses and then offer it to extend your run by a few minutes. I love graham crackers because they take E a while to eat. They are a mess, but that's a small price to pay for me.

OH! Big thing...is the sun on her/in her eyes ever? Emmett absolutely freaks if it is...sounds dumb, but it took me a while to figure that out. So I usually have the sun shade pulled almost all the way over him (he can see out a little still.)

Well, Juliana is generally not happy in the car so maybe there is no hope. :-( But yes, we do a lot of curbs. I guess I could try another route with fewer curbs, but I purposely picked one that brings us by the house frequently so we're never too far in case of a melt-down.

I'm not sure about the sun. That's a great point. I do keep the shade thing on the stroller down all the way, but depending on the angle I think she could still be getting it in her face. That's one of the main things she hates about the car seat, I think. I'm actually taking my car in to tint the windows to see if that helps.

Oh and the snack idea is great. I can just keep some crackers in my pocket and that should buy at least 5 or 10 more minutes, if not more. Genius!

starrsgirl · #4 August 8th, 2011, 09:45 AM

Ok, try this....can you run in the street instead of up and down all the sidewalks? Our sidewalks are also very bouncy so it was like random/unpredictable bounces to Emmett.

I know you don't have a jogging stroller, but do you know anyone who has one? I would borrow it and see how it goes. The shocks on our running stroller are wonderful and it totally smooths out the ride so it lulls him into the zone, haha. When I'm at my parents house and use a regular stroller, it's super loud and clackety and shakes E a lot.

As for the sun, you can buy after market sunshades that are sort of like very small mesh. So they are completely breathable but also block the sun like magic. They come in different sizes to put on the strollers to extend your shade.

I'm still thinking over here...also maybe check midway through the run to see if she is too hot. When I first started, I tended to over dress Emmett and his back would be all kinds of sweaty during the run and that would also make him miserable.

Jule'sMomInOR · #5 August 8th, 2011, 10:16 AM

Maybe I should just buy a jogging stroller. My rationale for not getting one was that Juliana will only tolerate short spurts, so I want to make the runs more difficult to get more out of them. But if she'll go longer with a jogging stroller then it's not a bad idea.

What do you think of this one?
Kelty jogging stroller

It has the extended cover to protect from sun.

And yeah, I could try the street more but there are always obstacles with cars and such, but I could certainly make it more smooth for her.

Jule'sMomInOR · #6 August 8th, 2011, 11:05 AM

Actually I don't think I'd like that stroller because it doesn't have a cup holder or anywhere to store stuff.

starrsgirl · #7 August 8th, 2011, 02:28 PM

Check to see if there are any add on cup holders that go on the handle bars (that's what the BOBs have).

I think you might really really appreciate a running stroller. I tell people all the time that ours is probably the single best item I got for Emmett. It's been worth it's weight in gold. And you can run so much faster with a true running stroller which opens up more kinds of workouts (intervals, steady states and such).

Also, if you buy used like on Craigslist, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for a "test drive". Bring Juliana and run around the block.

The best rated running strollers are usually the BOBs and Schwinn but there are a few others that crop up in there year to year.

For me, the difference in having a running stroller, is going 6 miles versus 2 (when I get annoyed with the regular one). And again, I can get more out of a workout with a running stroller because I can stride better, with more natural form and run much much faster.

Keep me posted! I'm hoping something will do the trick and allow you to run with Juliana any time.

Jule'sMomInOR · #8 August 14th, 2011, 06:48 PM

I'm happy to report that today for the first time Juliana got through all three 1.1 miles laps with no fussing whatsoever! I'm not sure how much this played into it but it was an overcast day so there was no sun in her eyes. I also made sure to have water and mum mums for her the whole time. Now I'm going to try to build up to 4 laps and beyond.

I still haven't bought a running stroller but we have a yearly kids' stuff consignment sale here the first week of Oct. and I figure I'll just wait until then and try to get a good deal. The jogging stroller will be more important when I get to more than 4 or 5 miles at a time which will probably take me until October anyway. Yay for progress!