It was day 4 of my husband being in the hospital and had been 5 days since my last run. I NEEDED to run. I just can’t justify having anyone come over to keep the kids so I can run. If I have childcare right now it needs to be so I can be with John at the hospital. So… I decided when I woke up I was going to run- knowing that meant taking 4 little “sidekicks” with me.

As the kids woke up I told them they were going for a little ride in the stroller- all except Abi who would be riding her bike. I do not have a triple jogging stroller but we have a nice double that is pretty roomy. Back when I only had 3 kids there were a few times I pushed all 3 in in so I knew it could be done. FYI- loading up 4 kids, a bike and a double jogger into a van takes a few minutes. When we finally got everyone loaded, including some toys for Ashton and cups and snacks then we headed over to the bike trail which is very close to our house. My plan was to go out 1.5 miles and turn around. Could we do it? 3 miles with 4 kids?

Just 0.16 of a mile into the run Abi said she was tired and her legs hurt. This coming from a girl who has RUN in over 5 5k’s in the past year and a half. I told her she hadn’t even biked one lap around a track. I told her she could do this. Somehow Abi got with it and started to bike better. She was just a little tired and moody. Anyway, I tried to talk and ask her questions about pets to take her subject off of it. At 2.5 miles Abi switched places with Anthony and he biked the finish. He can bike faster just not as far. So all in all we did it- in 35 minutes and 45. Just under a 12 minute pace so it at least beat my pace walking. I know we could have gone farther and faster if it wasn’t for the bike issues. I was tempted to put the bike in the van and just push all 4! Not sure if that would have worked. Pushing 3 is about 85 pounds and all 4 would be 125.
We do what we have to do.
Tia