Running Like a Mother

After I decided on the title of my blog, it occurred to me (while running last night) that maybe I should think about what exactly it means to "run like a mother". I chose the title based on the fact that "mother" is the role in my life that I seem to be the most connected to... you ask me to tell you alittle bit about myself and the very first thing you are going to hear is "I am a mother of three". Somewhere during the speech I will mention briefly that I am a lawyer, but won't dwell on it for long! But how is it that a mother runs?

In my case, I think the answer is both "sporadically" and "as though my life depends on it". That may sound a little drastic, but let me explain. I was talking to another mommy runner yesterday and it occurred to me that I felt like a total fraud because I am not a real runnr- I hadn't run in three consecutive days. How dare I talk about running as though it is actually something I do?! But as the conversation went on, I realized that her running was every bit as sporadic as my own. I asked her if she was going to do the local 5K this weekend and she began telling me about the State Cross Country meet on Saturday that would be hopefully nearby the state soccer meet that another of her 4 children has to go to, and between soccer practices of the three younger kids (her oldest is a senior and one of my oldest's best friends0 she didn't feel very ready anyway. So this conversation ultimately lead me to a three mile run that began at 8:45 last night.

While I was running, I realized that although I SHOULD have been at home checking homework, bathing the 4 year old and getting everything ready to go this morning, the world wasn't going to spin backwards if just this once my husband did those things. I may always be a mother, but I am not always going to be a mother with kids in the house, and I need to identify myself in another way when the time comes. I think the identity of "runner" will fill the void nicely. And in the meantime, I owe it to those little people (and not so little people) that I love so much to be the best example that I can be and to keep myself in the best shape that I can to ensure that I am around to be their mother for a long, long time.