running deflated

We have three strollers for Genevieve...a travel system stroller, an umbrella stroller and a jogger. And to be completely honest, the only one I've been excited about from before she was born is the jogger. A little over a week ago, I decided it was finally time to use it.

I was so excited at the prospect. I called my wife on my way home from work and asked her to prepare the baby for her first run. I came home, changed really quickly and took the freshly sun-screened baby and headed for the door. But I had forgotten one minor detail...the tires didn't have any air in them.

Back when I assembled the jogger, I knew it would be quite some time before I would actually use it. With that knowledge in mind, I knew it would be better for me to wait to add the air, as it would deflate from sitting idle anyway. What I hadn't accounted for was that I would forgot by the time I was ready to use it.

I looked for our hand pump. It was nowhere to be found. That's right! It broke last time I inflated the tires on my bike. No big deal...our friends have one! This was true, but one slight problem, it wouldn't fit the jogger's tire. With no other solutions in mind and Genevieve's nap time creeping up on her, I decided just to go without filling the tires. We were ready to go.

I was only planning a 2.2 mile run, so no big deal anyway, right? Boy, don't I wish that were true. The reality: running with the jogger was tough. I was 2 minutes off the pace I have been running as of late. It was a challenging run (especially up the hills) that I definitely underestimated.

The other day, I took Genevieve out for her second run in the jogger. Only this time, the tires were inflated. I discovered two things: 1. running with inflated tires makes a huge difference (lowered my pace by just about a whole minute) and 2. running with a jogger is still challenging.

Regardless the challenge, I will keep running with my daughter. We have a 10k together in September, so there's not much choice anyway. But training for the 10k aside, I still want to run with Genevieve. One reason is that the added challenge will only make me stronger. The more important (and less selfish) reason, however, is that she really seems to enjoy it. She doesn't complain at all and just looks all around. I will guarantee one thing though...I'll be sure to ensure the tires are always inflated before we go.