By Heather Cabot, The Well Mom
I started running on the cross country team in high school and never stopped. Though I’ve never been speedy and my goals tend to focus on finishing the race as opposed to winning it, I consider myself a runner. It’s part of my mental health maintenance routine and has become even more essential since I joined the mom club 4 years ago. There is nothing better to clear my head than a quick loop and my running tunes.
So I was intrigued, to say the least, when I picked up the new book, Run Like A Mother: How to Get Moving - and Not Lose Your Family, Job or Sanity (2010 Andrews McMeel Publishing). The book, written by two longtime friends, Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea as they trained for a marathon, made me smile. I was immediately drawn into their casual tone and discussion of how hard it is to make the time to run once you are caring for a family. In other words, “finding motivation to get out there when you were up all night with a sick kid,” as they touch on in the book. From trail runs to running skirts, they cover the ins and outs of lacing up and getting out the door (the hardest part for most of us).
With the demands of 4-year-old twins, running a household, and working, I feel like I need my exercise time now more than ever. And McDowell and Shea make the point that there are many creative ways to fit in running and that there are thousands of other like minded moms doing just the same thing.
How do you make time to run? Or exercise in general? When do you go?
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I signed up for a 5K on May 30th. I didn’t run as a child, I started running a year ago at the age of 42. It has been challenging, but in a good way. To do something I never thought I could do has increased my view of myself, and decreased the size of my behind
It is tough to find the time and stay motivated, but I do the best I can. This is the longest I’ve been active. I think because I’m not trying to get in shape, I’m just trying to live the second half of my life in a healthy and happy way. And exercise (when I’m done) makes me happy!