This year I hope to cross a big item off my life's to do list. Run a marathon. Or perhaps I should say, complete a marathon. Having never been athletic, this is one heck of a big goal. But following my very first official race - a half marathon - that I completed in April, I figured I might as well try. I'm not a fast runner by any means, just slow and steady. And committed to my goal. There are many days when I do not want to run, but there are many more when I really look forward to running. It's my escape from my chaotic home.
I like to run at my local park, appropriately named the Field of Dreams. It's usually an early morning run for me, before the summer heat moves in for the day. I'd often see three bunnies, always in the same spot on the track. I'd wish them a good morning as they scampered away and I'd continue on with a smile on my face. My eldest son Corbin would always ask if I'd seen the bunnies, and they soon came to be the founding members of my Fan Club.
Yep, I have a running Fan Club. And I'm continuously adding members as I encounter them on my runs. Though they may not know it yet - or ever. Along with the three bunnies, I have a doe and her two fawns, a wild turkey, four ground hogs, 17 horses - including the HUGE one that came out of the bushes with a rider attached that scared the daylights out of me. There are some humans in there as well - the two ladies that walk seven dogs between them every morning, the guy flying his remote control plane who likes to give the "thumbs up" as I pass by, and even a nun in her habit saying the rosary. I did a double take on her, thinking I'd been in the heat too long, but when I saw her the next day again, I figured she was really there. And of course there's my mobile fan club - our mini van with hubby, three boys and puppy following me from time to time on the road bringing me Gatorade and offering the occasional air conditioned ride home.
(There is also a four foot long black rat snake, but I'm not sure if I want that on the club's roster.)
As a mom of three young boys, I have a lot of noise in my home. Noise that never seems to cease. Ever. Running has become my escape. And it gives me some time to think. Even if Eminem or Katy Perry or Will Smith are blaring away in my headphones, I still think. It dawned on me one day that running a marathon is very much like being a mother - a journey of exhilaration, pain, emotion, fatigue, distress, happiness, solitude and togetherness. And I've decided to write a book about this - the marathon of motherhood. I'll be trying out some chapters from time to time in my blog and would love some input. And I would also love to grow my fan club! Add some people that I know and don't know.
So please join the fan club for this muffin top marathon mom! Follow and/or subscribe to my blog. If you have a fan club or would like to start one, let me know and I'll be happy to join yours! We can all use fans - support and encouragement can get us through the rough times and make the good ones even better.
Thanks, fans! Welcome to the club!
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I'm training for a 60 mile walk in the fall and am registering for two 5K's in the first couple months of the new year. I STILL have muffin top and alas, I think I always will. Good luck with your fan club!
ReplyDeleteStephanie :)
www.simplicitymom.blogspot.com
I used to run and then I got sick. Really sick. I have since tried to start the 5km training at least 4x since March. I have promised my husband to run the 5km with him in October in Ottawa for breast cancer research. As I procrastinate, my muffin top grows and so I contemplate my training over dark chocolate and salty chips.
ReplyDeleteI will start because you have started. All the best!
GO GIRL! I have just become a follower so you can count me into your fan club. You can do it! I, too, walk or run as 'me time' out of my busy household, or at noon at my office. Have gotten as far as running an 8k and it was a great accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteI ran a half marathon two years before I had my baby, and I don't know if I could ever do it again. I really want to get back into running, but my body just feels so different now!! I think one leg is longer than the other, my knees crack and ache, and when I started running three months after birth, my uterus felt like it was going to fall out. But if your posts motivate me, I may try to get back into it again!
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