The Fashion of Sweat | How to Prep for a Run with Baby

Picking out a workout/running outfit almost falls on par with picking out an outfit for a night out.  Make sure it matches the weather, make sure the colors match, make sure it’s comfortable for moving around in, that sort of stuff.  Although I have been known to go out  in the middle of the winter in a very short skirt- not the best decision of my life.  But for working out, there are a few very specific things you need to keep in mind as you decide what to put on.  The last thing you want to have to be doing is adjusting your clothing in the middle of your workout right?

FEEL THE BURN

No I am not referring to a sunburn.  One of the worst things that can happen during the middle of a workout, particularly a run when you are far away from home, is chafing!  This time around in my training, it is an unfortunate issue for me because I still am working on getting rid of that stubborn fat that built up on my arms, legs and tummy from pregnancy.  This is a particularly tricky part of my outfit decision at the moment, because you need your running pants to be tight enough to hopefully avoid that pesky chafing but if they are too tight, well then I just start to look like a sausage link.  So once I find a pair of pants that are relatively clean and fit well then I will match the color top.  Over the years I have acquired a very ridiculous amount of workout clothes so I have lots of color options to choose from.  I would say at least half of my wardrobe is working out or being active outside related, I may have a problem.

If I end up making poor choices, the inside of my arm and, well, you know, down there, are two of the most common places to chaf.  I have found two solutions for this issue, coconut oil and Honest Organic All-Purpose Balm.  I know it may sound a little silly, especially if you correlate coconut oil with the kitchen, but it is being used now for tons of beauty and skin care needs.  So I put some under my arms and down between my legs before heading out the door and it works like a charm.  I also throw a small container of it in the bottom of the jogging stroller just in case.  I have been known to be standing on the side of the road with my hand down my pants trying to avoid some serious discomfort later on!  Probably had a few people driving by wondering what the hell I was doing!  The Balm is great for a spot that may have developed without realizing it until it was too late and helps it go away pretty much overnight!

MOBILIZING AN ARMY

Once I have my outfit all situated then I have to get the stroller loaded up and my little guy ready to go! My necessities are water and one bottle mixed with my BCAAs, my phone and fitbit watch, chapstick and my Duduma Polarized Sports Sunglasses.  These are a recent purchase and I am super happy with them, even with my small face they look good and stay nice and snug on my face.  In the’ Valley of the Sun’ sunglasses are an absolute must!  For my little run buddy, he gets a bucket hat and lots of Babyganics Mineral-Based Baby Sunscreen Lotion since he is paler than the surface of the moon!  So far he hasn’t burned or even gotten a base coat, and he’s spent a decent amount of time in the sun, which is just the nature of running in a flat valley full of developments and very little shaded areas.

Now that have everything I need and we are both situated it’s time to get out the door and get my sweat on! I just completed my 8 mile mark this weekend with only 7 weeks left till the marathon!  It was a rough run but my pace is getting faster and I don’t feel like I’m trying to run through jello as much anymore!

 

Join Us on This Journey

I never saw myself as a blogger, or someone who had a whole lot to say about anything in particular.  It wasn’t until recently, during a long run that I decided maybe I didn’t have a lot to say about one thing but I definitely have a lot I can say about many different things. And as I enter into this completely new chapter in my life I have decided to document it in the hopes that I can maybe help some people or do some good, or at the very least make people feel better about themselves by sharing my screw ups.  Ha!  My very diverse repertoire of skills and interests include being a new mom, running and training for races, archaeology/anthropology, photography, the Air Force and plenty of other things in between.  If your now wondering to yourself “Why in the world should I even bother continuing to read this chick’s online ramblings?”, let me ask you this.  Have you ever been lost in an unfamiliar place and really would have loved it if there were signs or arrows or something pointing you in the direction you should go?  Well that’s exactly where I am in my life, and wouldn’t it be nice if you could figure out which direction to go by learning from other’s mistakes?  That is where this blog and the things I will be talking about come in.  I am about to navigate a brand new direction for my life, one that will most likely have lots of bumps and bruises as well as boogers and maybe a little bit of blood.  So come along for the ride, enjoy the funny stories and learn from my mistakes!  Here is an intro into some of the things I will discuss in more depth in the future.

Momhood

I recently became a Mom and found myself invited into this brand new club I didn’t even know existed.  It seems there are many things that come with being a parent that only other parents can understand, because only those who have brought a newborn home from the hospital exhausted and scared shitless can understand exactly what that feels like.  Just like me I assume other new Moms (and Dads) have read many a blog post discussing things like the items you need and don’t need as a new parents, what happens to a woman’s body postpartum, and what life looks like now that you are on the other side of that invisible wall.  I also assume I am not the only person who wants to call bullshit on some of the things discussed in those articles.  Sometimes I even question whether or not those articles are written by people with kids!  I plan to give you the down and dirty on some not so glamorous parts of being a mom as well as those beautiful moments you hold out for between the poopy diapers and the tantrums.

Fit-ish

After having a baby your body is definitely going to change, don’t let the articles saying “your body will never be the same after having a baby” scare you too much.  With a little hard work and some serious self-control I do believe it is possible to get back to a place you can be happy and comfortable at.  I am currently working my way back to that place after devouring sleeve after sleeve of Oreos during my pregnancy and immediately postpartum.  This attempt includes training for a trail half marathon, which for you non-runners out there, that means 13.1 miles on a winding hiking path in the White Tank Mountains in Arizona.  I know, I know this is the part where I start to lose people who say they suck at running or absolutely hate doing it.  And this is where I tell you, no matter who you are or what your fitness level is you can teach your body to do it.  We are genetically designed to be able to run long distances in order to outrun the threats we were not intended to be able to fight.  But it doesn’t have to be running, just getting out and doing something active can make the biggest difference in your mental and physical health.  I will talk a little bit more about how it has helped me in the wake of baby number one and things you can do to keep yourself active as well!  After being a competitive gymnast for 8 years, playing soccer up to the collegiate level and spending a lot of time researching I think.

To Infinity

My husband and I, along with our (then) 5 month old son, two German Shepherds and two cats made the move from the Northeast where we have lived our entire lives to the Southwest, just outside of Phoenix Arizona.  On a mild November evening in New York we piled into our F-150 pulling our newly acquired 2002 Jayco Kiwi 17 foot camper and made the trek through 10 states and almost 3,000 miles to get to our new home. (Stay tuned for a more in-depth version of that fiasco).  After growing up in the Northeast this has been an incredibly dramatic change, particularly the weather.  So far I can’t say I miss the bitter cold or the snow, and since I have been running outside so much I also have a tan, so that’s pretty awesome! Now if you look at a map of the Southwest you will see tons of National Parks, National Monuments, State Parks and all sort of cool places to visit and explore in a pretty small radius around Phoenix.  So far we have accidentally stumbled on one called Tuzigoot National Monument, an outcropping with thousand-year old ruins on it, and obviously the archaeologist in me was so stoked! Yes you may now call me a nerd in your head but only if you say it like this “neeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrddddddd”.  Anyway, that is just the first of many travels we will be exploring and each one will get a review and any new tips or tricks we may have learned about traveling with a baby.

And Beyond

Now that is just the tip (phrasing) of things I will talk about, so stay tuned for other topics.  Including but not limited to; what it is like to be a woman in the military,  how we handle being a dual military couple, my struggles to start other endeavors, my love of all things photography, binge watching Stranger Things, continuing to learn how to be a mom and pretty much anything else that comes to my mind!  So stay tuned because its going to be fun, or at least interesting (and maybe not in a good way! Ha).

And last but not least I would love to feature other moms or just people dealing with or experiencing some similar things I have talked about.  If you feel you have a good story or something you would like to share that could benefit everyone please contact me so we can coordinate.  No one is alone in this journey we call life and I want to highlight that!