So, when I was running on Saturday I met a woman who is also a mother (like me!).  She has 2 little kiddos and knows what it is like to balance your time (and energy for that matter!).  This tough lady will be running a half marathon with Team in Training this weekend and what I loved about her purple TNT shirt was the fact that she had the phrase”Run like a mother!” embossed on the front.  I thought about that phrase today as I made the 45 minute journey to downtown Jacksonville in order to join the team for our Tuesday evening run.  I thought to myself “Wow, I am really doing this.  I am doing this even though I have a 3-month old, 2-year old and 6-year old at home.”  I must give my husband due credit for the fact that he is very supportive of my efforts and never complains when he comes home from a long day of work just so I can pack up and head out the door right away (and it is often a whirlwind of chaos).  Thanks honey 🙂

In all honesty, having 3 kids is A LOT of work.  I often feel overworked, sleep deprived, unappreciated, stressed, shaky (when I forget to feed myself), sore (hey, you try lugging around a car seat with one arm) and just plain crabby (the result of all of the above occurring at one time).  But, okay, it is a JOY to have kids… so they say.  No, seriously, it is.  Anyway, my point is that we all need balance in our lives.  Imagine all of these things in a cask on one side of a long wooden pole.  Just picture how water might be carried in China:  one cask on each side hanging from a long wooden pole that is resting across your shoulders.  Now, this weight is making me lopsided because the other cask is empty.  I can’t walk around like that.  No, I need to add something to the empty cask.  I need to add things that say more about who I am as an individual.  In other words, one cask is me as a mother and a wife, the other cask is me as me.  It is all about the balance!

So, what I am trying to say?  I really don’t know.  I guess what I am trying to say is that we all have the ability to push ourselves to the limit, whatever that limit might be for each of us and we need to!  I enjoy meeting moms like me who love to run and aren’t afraid to do it!  Lets run like a mother!

By the way, tonight’s run wasn’t too bad but it did feel like it took a really long time to run 4 miles even though my running buddy was speed racer.  Boy, I sure can’t wait to run a half-marathon on Saturday.  Oh, did I forget to mention that?  Yeah, I am skipping my training with the team so I can run the Marine Corps half-marathon with my husband (well, I won’t actually be running it WITH him… I can’t keep up).  I must be crazy…