stroller running

I took Maggie out for an easy 6 this morning as usual in some nice sunny weather. She used to sleep through all my runs but lately she's been staying up more and more, just looking around calmly at everything going by.

I run with a Bob Ironman which is an awesome stroller because it's pretty light at only 21 lbs, has nice big 16" wheels, and a really good suspension which makes it pretty comfy for Maggie but not to hard to maneuver. I've been running with her in her carseat (you can install a carseat adapter onto the stroller) but in a few weeks I can probably just put her in there normally. The pediatrician actually said at her 4 month visit that she was strong enough to go without the carseat but I wanted to wait an extra month to be safe. It'll be nice to finally do that though, because having the carseat in there makes its center of gravity higher and thus easier to tip over on uneven ground or when making a sharp turn.

So it's actually pretty easy to push the stroller on flats (or downhills) but going up inclines, however slight, is a different story. When I first started running with it I developed this horrible knife-like pain in the middle of the back from bad posture and leaning over too much. I also used to run with both hands on the handlebar at all times but after a while I realized that pushing with only one hand was a lot easier. I'm a righty so I try to push more with my left hand even though it's harder so I don't get too lopsided. I always always have the wrist strap on because the stroller can really get away from you on downhills. I also heard a story once of a stroller rolling off a subway platform which really scared the crap out of me. Not that we have subways here but still.

Anyhow as much as I love my stroller it's partly because without it I would have to schedule all my runs around someone else's schedule and therefore run a lot less. I still do a few runs a week without it though, such as my long runs and any workouts. I tried doing a tempo run with it once but it didn't turn out so great and I felt that people were looking at me like I was some crazy irresponsible woman. They probably already do that all the time anyway, since I always run in the street, but the sidewalks are just too bumpy and besides, I always watch out for traffic and can hear cars just fine even with headphones on.