My personal trainer

In addition to showing off her "yoga" skills recently, Ellie appears to have taken on the role of my personal trainer. Case in point: My 5:30 a.m. wake up call today, courtesy of one Eleanor Anne.
I had my alarm set for 6:30 a.m. with at least 95% intentions to make it to the gym... but that wasn't good enough for Ellie. She started hollering shortly after 5 a.m. and didn't give in until I got up about 30 minutes later.
Once I got Ellie fed and back to bed close to 6 a.m., it didn't make sense for me to do the same.... So I headed to the Y for an extended workout: a few quick miles on the treadmill and weight training.
I can't say I'm disappointed, though I may be dragging from the missed sleep this afternoon. My body doesn't know what to expect anymore, but I am starting to readjust from having to function on only a few hours of sleep at a time. Most nights Ellie is sleeping for 10-12 hours at a time. (But more on our adventures with sleep-training later.)
I'm hoping to keep up a good gym and running routine over the next few months. Brian and I are aiming for the half marathon in Green Bay on May 16. The race ends at Lambeau Field! It will be my first pilgrimage to the home of the Packers, and I'm very excited.
Now I just need to train for the 13.1 miles of running. I'm hoping it's a little easier to do this spring, when hopefully the weight will be dropping off. Last year I trained for and ran in the Illinois half marathon in April, while growing Ellie inside me and putting on the pounds. I'm looking forward to the scale going in the opposite direction this time around! So far I hit my goal of being able to run six miles by Valentine's Day weekend. Now we're officially 12 weeks out from the Green Bay race, so Brian and I are hoping to stick to a training program that dictates 2-3 short runs and a longer run each week. I'm looking forward to taking Ellie along with me (in the jogging stroller) as the weather warms up. Then we'll see how gung-ho she is about waking before the sun comes up...