I distinctly remember the moment. My youngest child was finished with diapers. I realized that with having three young children in close succession, I had been changing diapers for eight years. Eight years! (Hmmm. I don't think I'm getting paid enough.) Since I was also done with breastfeeding, I was finally getting some sleep.
Not wonderful sleep. I mean, I still had three young children. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. But I could see a light at the end of the haze of sleeplessness. (For one brief crazy moment I felt nostalgic for the diaper era, but I quickly moved on.) I felt like a new woman! I felt like I had some time on my hands, and that I could finally do something just for myself. I wanted to get fit again.
Before having children, I had always tried to keep pretty active. I was never an elite athlete, but I would hike and walk, and go to aerobic classes with an occasional gym membership thrown in there. But having gained weight with each child, I knew I needed to up the ante. I wanted to start running.
You see people running down the sidewalk and it looks effortless. It's not. It's hard. But the good news is that it gets easier and easier. I started off by signing up for a 5K race. This is very helpful because it motivates you to train. I ran it and survived, and enjoyed the excitement and atmosphere. It inspired me to continue training so I could get an even better time the next year. I did the next one in under 30 minutes (I think 27 minutes). It's so great to see progress. I also started feeling better and having more energy. It's important to have energy when you need to keep up with three active children. I loved running on the trails; I found it therapeutic both emotionally and physically. I wanted to keep going.
I vividly remember when my friend said that we would want to do 7K next, and I thought, "Whoa! Let's just focus on getting the 5K feeling easy." Now I'm about to do my fourth 25K race, and I'm looking forward to a 32K trail run, and okay I'll say it, a marathon. I am the fittest now I have ever been, and at almost 41 that feels good. I'm hooked!
Not wonderful sleep. I mean, I still had three young children. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. But I could see a light at the end of the haze of sleeplessness. (For one brief crazy moment I felt nostalgic for the diaper era, but I quickly moved on.) I felt like a new woman! I felt like I had some time on my hands, and that I could finally do something just for myself. I wanted to get fit again.
Before having children, I had always tried to keep pretty active. I was never an elite athlete, but I would hike and walk, and go to aerobic classes with an occasional gym membership thrown in there. But having gained weight with each child, I knew I needed to up the ante. I wanted to start running.
You see people running down the sidewalk and it looks effortless. It's not. It's hard. But the good news is that it gets easier and easier. I started off by signing up for a 5K race. This is very helpful because it motivates you to train. I ran it and survived, and enjoyed the excitement and atmosphere. It inspired me to continue training so I could get an even better time the next year. I did the next one in under 30 minutes (I think 27 minutes). It's so great to see progress. I also started feeling better and having more energy. It's important to have energy when you need to keep up with three active children. I loved running on the trails; I found it therapeutic both emotionally and physically. I wanted to keep going.
I vividly remember when my friend said that we would want to do 7K next, and I thought, "Whoa! Let's just focus on getting the 5K feeling easy." Now I'm about to do my fourth 25K race, and I'm looking forward to a 32K trail run, and okay I'll say it, a marathon. I am the fittest now I have ever been, and at almost 41 that feels good. I'm hooked!
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