Gymboree

No, not the store (although I suppose that could logically be a baby-themed blog entry, too. Maybe if I ever get out to a real mall again in this lifetime, that will happen!) I’m talking about the gym. I've been a Goodlife member for three years or so. Before I got pregnant I was a pretty active class attendee. I went to Bodypump and Bodyflow religiously, three times a week each. The classes run back to back two nights a week, which made it convenient. Then, when I was pregnant, I was pretty lucky – I had a really easy pregnancy and didn’t change a thing – kept up all my usual activities right until the end, going out for my last run the day before I woke up with labour contractions. And I kind of psyched myself up, thinking if I could still go run a few miles or lift weights while toting around a basketball for a belly then I should easily be able to keep it up after the baby came.

Of course, I cut myself a little slack. My new goal was to hit each class twice a week, and fit some running into the schedule somewhere. I knew I wouldn’t be able to piggyback the classes anymore (easily, anyway) if I was breastfeeding and had to be available to Liam every three hours. This should be doable, right?

I was back at the gym six days after Liam was born and went for a run a couple of days later. I felt good. I had my doctor’s blessing. Maybe I was high on the sense of accomplishment (I have to admit I got a perverse satisfaction from walking into that first class at the gym after Liam was born, and seeing the instructor’s jaw hit the floor, and having her ask had she blanked out and missed a few weeks - when the heck had I dropped that kid???)

Unfortunately, the routine quickly became, well, routine again. Boooooooring. And although getting to six classes a week had been easy, getting to four was now a struggle. I don’t mean because of baby issues. Yes, in the early weeks I missed several because Liam needed me at the wrong times, or because I wasn’t sure what to expect from him and didn’t want to leave him just in case. But then I started skipping one here… skipping one there… gee, I’m tired today… this despite the fact too that Megan was now attending all the classes that I used to… and you know how they say that knowing someone else will be there is incentive enough to get yourself out the door… well, not always. I am really trying these days to get out of my gym funk. (As you can see from today's picture... Liam uses his gym now... he's setting a good example for me!)

Now I’m also training for a half marathon that is less than three months away. Yegads – what am I thinking???? Chad wrote me up a schedule and it’s posted on the kitchen wall where I see it multiple times a day and can’t ignore it. This past weekend I ran an 8 miler and it was pretty easy and comfortable. Felt good. Chad is training for a full marathon, and despite the number of miles we’re trying to log between us on a weekend morning, we are both doing well. He has a training partner and they go out together early, like 6:30 a.m. – they are back after a couple of hours and then I can still get out before the heat of the day really kicks in – and we can nap in the afternoon if need be. It’s working out OK thus far. During the week, my scheduled runs are shorter, and I can usually crank them out on the treadmill now when Liam is sleeping. Sometimes he wakes up unexpectedly and cuts me short, but that’s OK, I’m not letting it get to me. I miss going outside (I really dislike the treadmill) but making sacrifices is what motherhood is all about, right???

Lately I’ve been thinking about what it will be like trying to do all this once I go back to work. (Once a planner, always a planner…) If I think things are tight now, just wait til I layer in a 40 hour work week and schlepping a baby back and forth to daycare. If we drop Liam off in the morning and don’t see him again til 5 p.m., and he’s in bed by 7 or 8 p.m., I’m not going to be making it to a 6 p.m. class – I’m going to want to spend that time with him. Will I make it to the 6 a.m. classes instead? I’m not sure – right now, despite my tiredness, early morning is totally my favourite time to be with him. Thinking about this just frustrates me (and makes me think, why bother getting back into the swing of the class thing now if I’ll just have to give it up down the road? A lazy cop-out to excuse myself from the next 9 months of classes, no doubt.) Up until 2 years ago I had never attended a class. Now I think they’re the greatest thing going and if I can’t go to one, the idea of going to the gym at all seems like a waste.

A new Goodlife is scheduled to open in town in September. Maybe that’s what I need – a change of scenery to perk me up. The bad news is that’s opening in the new Loblaw’s store. So every time I think I’m going to work out, I’ll have to muster up the strength to pass the snack aisle en route and go hit the gym.