Baby Steps

Although I tried to start my run as stealthily as possible, I was spotted the moment I walked out the door this morning. A phalanx(1) of mosquitos immediately started dive-bombing at my legs. A bit further on, I was attacked by dozens(2) of abseiling caterpillars - they launched themselves off of the tree canopy, descending toward my head on their silken strings. Obviously, last week's spider has called in reinforcements. But I will not be deterred. I am now in Week 3 of C25k. I am going strong, and I have allies: My sister Sharon has mentioned that she may start C25k. And even my son, Griffin, has started. He's only 14 months old, but his progress so far has been remarkable. Last month, he was completely sedentary - not even walking at all. Then, in Week 2 of his Crawl to 5K program, he started taking a step or two, here and there. Last week, he took six steps in a row! He is doing awesome. Soon he will accompany me on my runs. First, though, we are working through the challenge of getting him to sleep through the night. Stacy and I are "ferberizing" him - a difficult and heart-breaking process that essentially involves teaching him that he cannot rely upon us to assist him during the night. When he cries in the night, we now let him cry. He's supposed to learn to put himself back to sleep. So far this has only really worked with Zoe, our oldest.(3) But we are holding out hope that Griffin may learn to sleep on his own at some point in the next few years.

Apart from the Great Bug Wars, today's run was fine. I love weekend runs through the park, because I always feel very empowered when I run by other park-goers out for morning exercise. They move slowly down the park paths, shuffling their feet. Blowing passed them makes me feel like a young lion, muscles flexing and sweat glistening. The fact that most of them are in their 70's and 80's is irrelevant.


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1. A phalanx of mosquitos is comprised of one, maybe as many as two, mosquitos.
2. I'm assuming it was dozens. I saw only one, but they're pretty sneaky.
3. It's also worked with Stacy - she, too, has learned that she cannot rely on my assistance during the night.