Run baby run

I'm running a half marathon on Mother's Day. It will be my first b i g run since Hood To Coast in 2004. I did run a quarter marathon on Mother's Day in 2006, five months after Anna was born. But that's pretty much it for b i g runs. I've been really happy to run 3ish miles several times a week with some hot mamas in the neighborhood, but we really haven't been running together much for a month or so.

so anyway... I'm nervous about today.

According to our training schedule, I should have run about 10 miles, broken out into three runs throughout the week. I ran three miles. One time. That's it.
Today we run eight. 8 miles. 8 miles when I haven't been keeping up on my training for two weeks.
I know I'll be fine if I warm up sufficiently and take it slow. I know I can get through it – that's not the issue. I don't want to cause an injury that I have to live with the rest of my life! Ok, now I'm being dramatic.

After my three miler earlier this week, Girlchild says, "Mama, why is exercise only for grown-ups?"
«cue sound of tires screeching to a halt»
Obviously, I need to do more to incorporate "exercise" into our daily lives.

Sure, they get a lot through their regular activities. Just yesterday, Brian had them playing at the park —running, climbing, jumping— for 2.5 hours. But I think there's something more important than just doing the activity. If my kids are to grow up fit and strong with a commitment to healthy living, then they need to realize that exercise is important and know that it's just something you HAVE TO DO every day.

Like brushing their teeth and reading books. That doesn't mean it can't be fun. But we need to call it exercise, so it becomes habitual and normal. Wouldn't that be so much easier than trying insert "exercise" when they start going to the (oft-dreaded) PE classes in school? I'm heading over to Disney's Magic of Healthy Living site to see what they say about it. Disney has committed to providing families with healthy living resources, which we learned about at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration.*

I'd be interested in knowing how other parents handle this, though. Do you set aside "exercise" time, or sneak it in with everyday activities?


*I attended the 2011 Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at Walt Disney World. Although we paid for our own trip to Disney World, the conference fee included 3 nights at the Grand Floridian, the conference and meals for me, several amazing meals for our entire family, park hopper passes for each of us, and some pretty incredible swag items to take home. Disney did not ask me to write about this event, and all opinions are my own.