I was VERY pregnant last year around this time...so I had given up running at around 6 months, when I realized it was more of a fast waddle than a jog. ;)

But after my OB cleared me for physical activity, I started running last fall again. I only made it about 3 miles those first weeks back; I used to log about 70 miles or so in college every week! Granted, I also was running marathons regularily, and was about 10 pounds thinner (oh, what 10 years does to you!), but I figured that it was time to get back in the game...

This time of year is getting to be the best time to run, in the Midwest, in my opinion! Warm days turn to cooler nights and then fall air...I love it! And its fun to just hear the whooshing of the jogger stroller tires, Liam's gleeful squeaks at the fireflys, and my feet pounding the pavement. :) I'm running in Dylan's Run/Walk for Autism on September 7th - here's hoping it isn't TOO hot that day! :)

Andrea from Wandering Through Leaves of Grass

With my 5 kids underfoot, I never get the chance. They never leave me alone for 5 minutes at any given time. Not alone alone (although I wouldn't mind that), but they are constantly asking questions, telling me things, wanting things, fighting and crying so I have to go break it up, etc. Anytime I try to exersice, they need something, the 4 month old begins to scream, or they won't move out of my way so I can move.

I keep hoping someday, someday they will give me a moment. My stroller is a double, and I can put the baby and toddler in there, but what do I do with the dawdling 4 year old? Going on walks use to be my favorite thing to do. Someday.... someday....

Ok, I was walking 2 miles every day this past spring and early summer, but have been out of it since. But this morning I was up and walked my 2 miles and plan to do it again almost everyday. When I was out, I was asking myself, why I had quit!?! But being a mama to 5 little ones it is hard!! I had to chuckle when I saw this here this morning... ~Tanya - mama to 5 :)

I exercise 4 to 5 days a week (I take those super hot humid days off since it's hard for me to breathe when it is really hot and humid. I alternate walking 2 miles and biking 4 miles I switch off as to which one I will do either alternating days or weeks between them) I grab my mp3 player, cell phone and water bottle and leave the kids with dh and off I go ALONE!!! That is one of my biggest reasons I started to exercise again is because I needed to be ALONE to think and pray and just decompress. I am a sahm and we homeschool so I have the kids 24/7/365 and dh works long hours so this is my time.

Mary in Ohio

I would like to daily but get busy taking care of the kids and forget to.

It really is hard to exercise with kids underfoot. I decided about 15 months ago that, while I didn't need to lose any weight, I wasn't in the shape I should be. I speed-walk/jog 2-3 miles at least six days a week now. This means that I rise 45 minutes earlier every morning-- I work out while my husband and children are still sleeping. There are mornings it's hard to make myself do it... but overall, I'm so much happier and healthier. I owe it to my family to take excellent care of ME too.

JessieLeigh

so it makes me able to do it more now. I can't walk as fast with my youngest to get my heartrate up, but with him in a stroller and the rest on bikes, we can really do some major exercise. I try to do exercise outside 4-5 days a week in the summer, talking a walk at least that much, if not more and then otherwise doing a exercise routine in the house on not nice days or winter.
We do all kinds of fun things for exercise, walking to the library is fun which is a 2 mile walk round trip, so when it is warm it is so easy for me to get the exercise. It is when it is cold I have to work hard at it. I developed a winter routine for myself last year that was fun. Walking or running in place, getting your heart rate up, working up to slowly 5 min warm up getting faster and faster and adding in not just walking, but walking squats, jumping jacks, knee lifts etc and then going to a 5-10 min of fast running (I would go the length of the house back and forth as fast as I could) and then 5 min of slowing down walking and then I would a 5-10 min of crunches, leg lifts that kind of stuff. It was a good workout, not too intense, but you could see the difference. It felt much better than nothing! You can listen to fun music and do it to the songs or wacthing a movie or whatever helps you get through it.

What's that?! haha. I REALLY should exercise but I don't because.. well, I don't want to. I've gained about 30lbs since I met my husband. (I was around 125 then) You'd think that would be motivation, right? Nope. It doesn't help that my husband thinks I look great. He says I was "too skinny" when I met him.

I just completed my 3rd week of 5 days each week of exercising! I got out of the habit for quite a while. My dh got us a treadmill and a new weight machine which is WAY better than the other 2 machines we had. I do the treadmill and some arm exercises and ab crunches on the weight machine. It feels GREAT to workout every day. I have my mp3 player with headphones so I don't hear anything but my Praise Music!!

God Bless,
Shannon in NC