"Baby" Steps

During my last post several weeks ago I signed off by committing to expect great things this year other than just winning races. I would like to share with you a big part of what I was alluding to … Jason and I are expecting a baby on August 25th!!!

So what does this mean for my blog? I would love to say that it will stay all running related, but that is just silly. The new person that I am preparing for is such a large part of every moment of my day that I cannot possibly separate running as and independent activity. Running is actually tied to how I found out that we are expecting! Here’s the story …

The third weekend of December was coming up and we were planning to see both of our families for some pre-Christmas festivities. I had just taken a pregnancy test the weekend before with a negative result, but couldn’t shake the urge to test again “just in case.” I felt silly testing twice in a row like that, so I did not tell Jason my plan to test the Friday morning before we left. At the crack of dawn … actually … much before that … at 5:20 the alarm clock went off and I began preparing to meet up with Tyler for a run. I took the test then set it on the counter and continued getting ready. I almost forgot it was there before heading downstairs to grab my shoes! You would forget too, remember it was 5:25 in the morning! As I walked past the bathroom the test caught my eye, and there it was, the 2^nd pink line I had been waiting to see. My heart skipped a beat and for a moment I just stared at it. It is funny really, the thing I had wanted to see so badly was right in front of me and I didn’t know what to feel. Excitement, panic, shock and disbelief are just of the few of the emotions that were running through me simultaneously, and that is a lot to experience before my daily cup of coffee! As I was standing there attempting to take it all in reality called, well, buzzed. Tyler texted saying she was heading out in 5 minutes to meet me. So there I am, standing in the bathroom, holding a plastic stick with two pink lines, torn between meeting my friend to run and waking up Jason to share with him our wonderful news. So what do you think I did?

I went running of course! I know not everyone would have made that decision, but I am glad I made the choice I did. For a full hour I got to soak in the fact that I knew a beautiful secret. Also, I figured I could spend my time trying to figure out a neat way to tell Jason. Since Christmas was right around the corner I imagined putting the test in his stocking, or maybe preparing bread dough and putting a “bun in the oven.” So many good ideas formed secretly in my head while Tyler and I jogged along the moon-lit Charlotte streets. By the time I got home I had resolved to keep my secret until I had the perfect means of divulging it to Jason. The instant I got upstairs I jumped in the shower while he slept trying to buy myself more time before I had to face him and try not to show my joy. Then the moment came, it was time to wake him up. I walked over, poked him on the shoulder, and as soon as his eyes started to flutter open I grabbed him by both shoulders and blurted out, “You’re going to be a dad!” … just call me slick …

Jason was so excited that he did not seem to mind my lack of creativity in telling him our wonderful news, and he was not at all upset (nor surprised) that I went running first. Yes, I married the perfect man for me!

We have had much more success since then in coming up with creative ways to tell our family and friends, one of them is so good I might post it another time if the running world gets slow … which it inevitably will for the next 6 months. I am still planning on entering some spring races including the Austin 10/20 mentioned in a previous post, but it will all be with “baby” steps. I will have an ever changing body to learn how to run with, new eating and sleeping habits, and a whole new world of goal setting that will involve running slower than a certain pace! The focus on running, racing, and life in general will be on enjoying the experience with Jason, family, and friends. It looks like our new little person in the making will hold me to my promise not to overdo the racing (and life) this year after all!

Happy Running … and Living!