[Guest Post] A Running Mom

Yup, that’s me.  I am a runner and I always have been . . .well, maybe not so much in University . . . and maybe not so much for a good 6 months while pregnant and recovering from baby #1 . . .and maybe not so much again for baby #2 . . . and then there was that baby #3 while having a 2 yr old and a 3 yr old also . . . yeah, those weren’t good running years!  But I am still a runner, and now I am a Running Mom!

It’s not always easy to get out that door.  Sometimes (OK, ALL the time)I have to drag myself out of bed, force my shoes on and literally shove myself out that door,  or I run to soccer while everyone else drives, or I drop a kid at a birthday party and run around the block 17 times until I can pick her up again, or I run on my lunch hour and sit at my desk  sweaty all afternoon . . . .but I fit it in, and I am always glad I did (when the run is over !!).  I have always known the importance of exercise for my health, but as a mom I realized the older I got how necessary exercise was if I was going to enjoy being a fit and active mom to my 3 girls.

Easier said then done!  When we have our children everything changes.  We have no idea how to get groceries some days never mind continue with a running schedule! I have no secret to share, just my journey on how I fit in running while being a working stay at home wife and mother!  Its all about making time and reaping the rewards.  Three of my proudest achievements after the birth of my 3 daughters, is crossing a ½ marathon finish line with each of my daughters in a jogging stroller when they were just 8 months old!! 

I am not the new mom that walks out of the hospital in her size 8 jeans, I am the one who takes 9 months to put on 50lbs with each pregnancy, and takes another 12 months to get it off . . . while running 30KM every week!!  Its true that some moms can just run after a toddler and their weight falls off, but for the majority of us, we have to work at it.  And knowing I would need to work at it, I set a goal !!  Hey, maybe that is my secret after all – SET A GOAL !!! 

My husband and I signed up for the Virginia Beach Rock N Roll ½ Marathon happening just 8 months after the birth of my first daughter.  It was an amazing journey to fit in my training runs – sometimes with my baby in the jogger, but most times without – those joggers are hard to push and oh the bliss of long silent runs . . . no crying babies!!  But I had a goal and was going to drive 7 hours to this race with my husband and baby so I was going to be ready!  I did whatever I had to to get in those runs. I started with the run/walk for 3km and once I could run 3km without stopping, I added 5 minutes every weekend.  I would run 40 mins twice a week and a “long” run every weekend – first 40 minutes, then 45 minutes, then 50 minutes . . . always adding just 5 minutes a week.  That was it, my big running strategy.  Add 5 minutes every weekend.  Within a few months I was running 2hrs and ready to go.  We ran that race in 2hrs and36mins of pouring rain with an 8 month old in a hot jogging stroller, but we did it and my baby has a finish line photo and a medal to prove it on display in our house.

12 months later I had my 2^nd baby girl and my elaborate training program started again !!!  Walk/run for 3km and then add in 5 minutes every weekend.  Eight months later my husband and I crossed the finish line at the Ottawa ½ marathon with our 2^nd daughter on a beautiful sunny day.  She too has a finish line photo and a medal hanging in our house.   

Then we decided to have baby #3.  I was going to be 38 and the mother of 3 babies and when the heck would I ever run again !!!  But we signed up for the Quebec ½ marathon just 8 months after her birth so what ever it took, I was going to make it happen.  I started again.  I got up early, I ran in the rain, I ran in the cold, I ran when I was tired and I ran when I would have rather sat and had coffee with my family.  I took my babies to the local YMCA and put them in programs and babysitting so I could run on treadmills or use the elliptical . . . I put aside all the reasons why I didn’t want to do it, and I just got out there and made it happened.  We crossed that finish line in our best time yet with our 3^rd daughter - she too has a medal and a finish line photo.  I hope these photos help set them on a path of a lifetime of health and exercise and shows them that setting a goal and following through, can bring you great rewards . . and a nice shinny medal !!

So set yourself a goal, be your own motivator and tie up those shoes and get out there.  You can never regret a nice run – even if you walk half of it . . .you will be so grateful that you did it !!

You can follow Deb on Twitter @KidsGummyMum and her blog here