R.I.P. Dear Running Shorts

This afternoon, I hatched this great plan to pack the stroller and some toys in the car, pick Aaron up from work at 5 and head down the street to the high school track so that I could get a quick speed workout in. He could entertain Beatrix while I ran repeats and then we'd all go home to celebrate the beginning of the weekend.

Since all of my running clothes were dirty, I dug into my dresser and fished out my most favorite pair of running shorts: a pair I ran in when I was in boarding school. Ahem. Yes, these shorts are more than 10 years old - do you have a problem with that??? They've logged many, many miles but I haven't kept them for sentimental reasons (not really); comfortable running shorts are hard to come by! They even helped me out when I was pregnant. Not huge pregnant (after all, I did stop at 28 weeks) but still, pregnant. I pulled on the shorts and headed out the door with Beatrix.

After the baby hand off, I started jogging down the street and by the end of the block, it became abundantly clear that I would not be running to the track, let alone around it. Had my hands not been at my hips holding my beloved shorts up, they would have been puddled at my ankles. It was quite a sight, let me tell you. When I took them off at home, I inspected the waist. No wonder they didn't fit. I should never have even put them on when I was pregnant! I've checked out the elastic and I don't even think I could replace it.

"What," you ask, "you actually considered replacing the elastic on running shorts that are over a decade old? Are you crazy??"

Yes I am.

I haven't blogged a lot about exercise but I'm still running and looking forward to some 5 and 10Ks this spring. My original plan had been to run 3-4 miles about three times a week and then run longer on the weekend. This has changed. Getting out of the house is such a huge production that I feel like I ought to at least run for an hour to make all of the preparation, timing and planning worthwhile. I hope to hit 20 miles this week but I'd like to soon be up to 25 miles/week. I'm also forcing myself to add in a few hills and hit the track for a speed workout once every 2 weeks.

The nice weather makes it so much easier to get out and I just feel like a new person after a good run. For you non-runners, there's always the painless Couch-To-5K program. It's never too late to start!!