Today I decided I wanted to get it out and give it a go. So Elliot and I unpacked it, put it together and headed down to the Newville Rails To Trails.

I must say, I was caught a little off guard with how difficult it was to push at first. It wasn’t /that/ hard, but I think I must have thought it would be easy peasy.

After the first mile I had settled into a rhythm and was cruising along fine.

It was pretty warm and I think by the end Elliot had had enough. He jumped out of the stroller and wanted to go running. So we ran about a quarter mile near the car and then headed home.

Connect

Quick Stats:
Time: 43:01
Distance: 4.00
Calories: 596

Also adjusted the watch for my correct weight which increased the calorie count.

Connect

Quick stats:
Distance: 3.00
Time: 28:05
Calories: 439

I have been running a known path that used to take me about 30 minutes. However I had no idea how long it was.

I was super surprised to learn it was almost exactly 3 miles. I was pretty happy to learn that.

Anyway, I am also super glad to have a Garmin watch again too!

Connect.

Quick stats:
Distance: 3.05
Time: 30:17
Calories: 364

The plan today was to hit the barracks and make up for it. However I ended up getting very little sleep last night and was pretty miserable this morning.

I decided to hit a 4 miler in the nearly mid day heat anyway. Wowee was it a brutal one. I did manage to finish, though I am sure it was a slow one.

I ordered a Garmin last week, and expect to get it this week. Hopefully this 4 miler was a stepping stone in the right direction. I want to get out there with the new watch.

Sleep deprivation and humidity made it difficult. But I am glad I did it.

I did see this morning on a walk that the barracks is open again (getting in and out of there for a bit was difficult) so maybe this week I can hit up a 4 miler there.

I think I will order the 305 sooner rather than later. I am getting the itch to go long.

I took about a week off when Blake was born, so this was the first run since last weekend.

In the couple of weeks leading up to Blake arriving, I had been running the same route over and over using a regular watch and so I know about how far to go for a 30 minute run. Sometime in the week before he was born, I lost my watch, so now I am just running the same route.

I am planning to pick a new 305 soon, and try to get a little more variety in the runs, but for the time being since I am pressed for time and energy, running this route 3 times a week should suffice to keep me in shape.

He was 19.75 inches, and weighed 7 pounds 3.5 ounces.

He had a full head of blond hair.

Shelly and he are doing great, and I can’t wait to bring them home tomorrow.

My running though, as of late, is a little mundane.

For about a month now, I have been running 16 miles per week, over 4 runs. Runs of 3/3/4/6.

I am enjoying it. I sometimes wish I was getting out a little more, but being close to home and available for Shelly is more important right now. Soon enough, I will be trying for another marathon and pounding myself to dust, so better to enjoy my running now.

When the baby gets here, I plan to drop back to 9 mile weeks until we start to feel a little more human. I am hoping that isn’t forever.

I hate reading blog posts that are essentially “I never update this anymore, I will start doing it more”. It’s right up there with promises to start exercising.

I do not plan to update this blog more, in fact, I currently plan to update it less.

Why? I’ll tell you why. Life is good.

Shelly and I are expecting a baby boy in about 5 weeks. We are very excited. We plan to name him Blake David Powell.

Her due date is June 16th, but she feels like it will be early (read: She would not be unhappy to be early).

But that’s not all.

I have accepted a job with American Water, as a Linux System Administrator. While I will miss my customers and coworkers with my current employer, I am really looking forward to the next chapter in my career.

I am very interested to go to work on a large installation, and I will have that opportunity now. Very happy.

Also this week, I closed on selling my house.

I never lived anywhere as long as I lived in my house, and while I will always have fond memories of that place, I am happy to be moving on.

Shelly and I are currently looking into selling her house, and buying one of our own, but honestly, the baby is taking center stage at the moment, so it’s hard to say when that will happen.

All of these changes are good, and all of them stressful.

I suppose I can’t ask for more than that.

Happy living.