The 15 Minute Workout

For the first time in months, I started lifting weights again, which as a distance runner has always been a conundrum for me: how much is too much? How much is not enough? To help tackle this dilemma, I've started doing "15 Minute Workouts" three times a week, which is just enough to lightly work out each major muscle group. Part of the reason for this gingerly approach is that I've never run and lifted as a sleep-deprived parent before. But should all go well, I'll kick it up a few notches as the weeks progress.

There's also a more pragmatic reason why I've started lifting again: my kids are getting heavier. When I compare picking up my newborn with my 20-month old, I sometimes think of the ancient Greek wrestler, Milo of Croton. As the legend goes, when Milo was a child he developed superhuman strength by lifting a newborn calf every day for four years, at which point it became a full grown bovine. I doubt my son will weigh the same as a cow when he turns four, plus having the strength to carry around a toddler really isn't that impressive. Nonetheless, I still want to carry him with ease as he gets older, at least before he gets to the age when hoisting him on my shoulders becomes weird, like thirty.