Now that I have been running with the stroller for over a year now, it seems like the right time to talk about my experience. I started walking miles with the stroller 2 weeks after I had Phoebe, at the time it was very strenuous since I had a c section and was not supposed to lift anything but the baby for up to 6 weeks. I have the BOB Ironman stroller which requires a bit of a lift when turning the stroller since it has a fixed wheel. When I first got it I wondered if it was the right choice since it seemed to be more work when turning corners. As time went on I learned that the fixed wheel makes for a smoother ride and faster pace when running straight routes.

At my first race running with the stroller I was a bit disappointed as I had just started running again earlier in the week and was feeling very bad about my new slower pace. So at 7 weeks postpartum I ran the Miami Children’s Health Foundation 5k, my 3rd time running this race. My time was 32 minutes and I did walk for a small portion of the race, the first time I’ve had to walk in a race in a looooong time. I felt like I was hardly moving and the weather was so hot and humid I didn’t know if I was going to make it. I remember during the last mile Hector from iRun was cheering everyone on as he ran back through the course, gave me the boost I needed to finish the race without walking again. After I crossed the finish line I felt like I might throw up, it was at that moment that I felt like even though my time had sucked I was back to racing again.

After that 5k I took on a 4 mile race and a few months later, a 10k in the rain with the stroller. That is the farthest distance I have raced with the stroller so far but hope to run a half marathon with it sometime.

I know that everything says to not run while you are using the car seat adapter on the stroller but I didn’t listen and never had any issue. Obviously some people will fail to secure things properly and accidents can happen but I never felt my baby was in any danger. We have since moved on to not using the car seat and adapter but we used it till she was about 7 months old. Either way the stroller seems to rock her to sleep after about a mile or so, she rarely ever stays awake while we run with her in the stroller.

In the BOB we have won a couple age group awards and I have brought her up on the podium with me and her dad has done the same when he won first place in his age group for a 10k while pushing her. I like to think that we are instilling some kind of love for running and not annoyance with being strapped into a stroller for an hour or so. Lately we have been taking her for shorter runs that have a stop at the park for her to swing a bit on the swing set.