I had a few days last week where the weather kept me indoors and limited to the gym. Now I am not knocking the gym- it serves its purpose. However, I prefer to run outside in the fresh air with the blacktop under my feet.
I started running about 6 months after the birth of my son when I was working through a Tony Robbins book over six years ago. I had hit the part in the book where you make all these goals (don’t all motivation books do this?) and then Tony says, pick one you can start on tomorrow. Yikes! The only one I felt like I could even attempt tomorrow was the (then) pie-in-the-sky run a 5K. It seemed like a stretch goal for me, since I had birthed two children in the past 3 years and seemed sadly out of shape. I am also seriously flat footed, and had worn corrective shoes as a child. On top of that, I was nursing my son, so I was a bit heavier up top than I had been in my pre-baby life.
With all of that in mind, my husband had suggested the Couch to 5K plan a year prior, and I had encouraged him…but not looked at it myself. I remember thinking, “I can at least get the Couch to 5K plan for free on the Internet & we have a treadmill. And I can do a training session tomorrow.” As it turned out, I ran a 5K, then did an 8K, and then did my first half marathon six months later. I trained for the half marathon because I figured, “When will I ever be this fit again?”
It wasn’t until after the half marathon that I really began to enjoy running. Yep, I said it. I. Enjoy. Running. I do not always like getting started (Will the first 1-2 miles every seem ‘easy’?)…but I love the feeling of my body working in the ‘pain free zone’ as I call it. I love feeling like my body is a well oiled machine. But most of all I love how much better I think after running. Sound crazy? Well, it turns out it is not as crazy as it sounds!
There is a now a lot of scientific evidence that shows that exercise increases creativity and brain power . There is also evidence that running, specifically, helps the body process out some of the chemicals that are linked to depression. Cognitive improvements+better attitude = better thinking!
Recently I discovered there is an organization that is using running as a way to help kids deal with depression. Reading that article brought me back to when I ran just to say I did something towards a goal ‘for me’ in those challenging baby years. I used to joke that I ran to ‘run away’ from my babies. The truth was, I was really running towards myself. I was racing back to the woman who was fearless in her pursuit of career goals. I was running back to my feelings of confidence and focus. If running helps me stay sane and centered in my crazy-busy-mommy world; I can only imagine how helpful it can be to a kid that is dealing with school stress, parent stress, and ‘who am I gonna be’ stresses. On their website they say they have the kids make a note about how they are feeling before they run and a note about how they feel after their run. They do this to help the kids track how running is helping them manage their feelings. I didn’t do this when I started running, nor do I make notes about how my run goes today. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even call myself a ‘runner’ to people out loud until about a year ago. But now it is part of who I am…and for those kids who run I hope it becomes part of who they are too. After all, on average, only 16 % of the population exercises at all. Furthermore, only about 2% of the population completed a 5K in 2012 (estimated based on State of the sport report and population estimates). Every kid in the group should be proud of their mileage- no matter how great or how small. We all start at zero in the beginning.
My kids and I talk about doing triathlons together and running together when they are a bit older (a 5K still seems really long to my 6 and 8 year olds). Don’t think I’m an alpha-mom pushing them to do it, I am not. It’s just a natural extension of wanting to do what Mom and Dad do. My husband plays golf, so the kids talk about wanting to play golf.
My point is, I am grateful I chose to get up off the couch and start running. I never dreamed when I started that my kids and my husband would still be cheering for me at the finish line 6 years later. Truthfully, I am even more excited about cheering for them. If you have ideas or suggestions about how to make running more manageable for my 6 and 8 year old, please post your comments below.
We hope to see you out there pounding the pavement with us!
Momformation 