On the first day of April, I ran three miles for the first time in seven months. Ever since my doctor gave me the ok to begin running again back in January, I’ve been slowly building up the miles starting at the half mile distance. After running two miles with no issues, two Fridays ago I went for three miles and although it wasn’t the greatest pace or time, it felt glorious to have three miles logged again. Forward is a pace!

A week later, I ran another three miles for a second time and I shaved five minutes off my time. How amazing is that?! I’m a mom on the run again!

I even fit in a run during my daughters horse riding lesson.

And then last week, the kids and I met Jessica at the trail for her “One Last Run Before Boston”. Liam ride alongside me for three miles and Jessica shared some bling with us.

For the time being, I’m staying at three miles because I’m happy to just be logging three miles at a time PAIN FREE. For each run, I will push myself to run faster, permitting I remain pain free. In fact, due to my running progress, I did not defer my Dark Side Stars Wars Race Entry and I ran my first official 5K since the Race for the Cure last October. (A full race recap is on the way! Promise!)

All of my runs are being logged at Garmin Connect and MyFitnessPal. Connect with me there and keep up with this mom on the run!

With regards to my obvious weight gain, I went to the doctor about a two months ago to see if there was anything medically wrong with me. Why can I not lose weight? Is it my thyroid? Have I destroyed my thyroid due to overtraining? Is it hormones?

Nope. There is nothing physiologically wrong with me. Honestly, I was a little disappointed to learn that a magical medically necessary pill couldn’t fix what was wrong with me.

Then when I tested out a FitBit Charge HR a few weeks ago, I faced the cold hard facts that I’m not moving enough and I’m not sleeping properly. Therefore, I’m committed to fitting in fitness in wherever I can given my crazy work schedule, my mom duties (chaperoning, volunteering at school, etc) and my husband’s crazy travel schedule. Hopefully, kicking up the cardio will help me sleep better. BUT, I’m not going to overdo it. This is strictly cardio for health and weight loss sake, NOT training for anything.

With that in mind, my fitness goal is to move more (and sleeping better) by  …

• Running three days a week
• Adding Body Pump or some form of strength training two days a week.
• Cycling at least once week
• Giving myself 1-2 floating rest (depending on my work week or my husband’s travel week)

I’m hoping sticking to a reasonable workout routine will help shed some pounds. I’m ignoring the scale and using my clothes as a guide. Did I mention it’s swimsuit season here? I don’t feel swimsuit ready yet, but getting my body back into a bikini is a good motivator.

Although I’m kicking up the cardio, I refuse to follow any boring, bland diet plan, given in to meal replacements, limiting my calories or even tracking my calories. I’m over that and logging food. I feel like I’ve been caught a crazy cycle of a MyFitnessPal obsession and I’m over it. I’m over logging everything I eat and not losing weight. I love food too much to give up anything or restrict myself but I will most certainly watch my portion sizes.  Plus, I will also make sure I’m eating enough in a day.

So there it is. I’m running again and hoping to burn a few pounds. Running was my magical weight loss when I first began my life as a mother runner. Here’s to finding the my love of running again while burning my love handles.