Jim likes to take the family to Cooper River when he’s home on the weekends. It’s kind of an exercise thing we can all do together. We usually leave Brighid and Eilis at the playground, and Jim and I take Granuaile in her stroller around the river. It’s a 3 mile walk from start to finish, and we just thought it would be too much for Eilis. Well, this past weekend, there was a regatta on the river, and you couldn’t park where the playground was. We had to park on the other side of the river, and if the kids wanted to go to the playground, they had to walk a mile and a half to get to it. We figured we’d try the walk, and if it became necessary, Jim would finish the walk and get the car in the event that the kids couldn’t do the whole trip.
I was SO proud of Eilis! Not only did she walk the whole 3 miles with virtually NO complaining, she is begging us to take her back with her bike so she can ride the bike for the whole 3 miles 🙂 There was the occasional run ahead so she could sit on a park bench for a few seconds while the rest of us caught up, but she really did walk effortlessly around the entire river.
I always hate the getting started part of the walk. Then I get about half way around and REALLY hate the walk – especially knowing that I still have a mile and a half to go. But when I’m done, I’m proud of myself for finishing the whole thing. And I can see an improvement from the fall, before the weather got too cold, in the time it takes me to get around. I think at some point, I’d like to jog a little and see if I can add any time at all. Of course, watching the other people jog by me, grunting, groaning, and looking as if they are two steps away from a 911 call doesn’t make the jogging thing look appealing, but it would be so nice to at some point do the walk in less than an hour.