Running Mothers

There is lots of stuff about mothers running.  It is a sport that particularly well suits mothers.  It gives you awesome fitness levels needed for keeping up with (especially young) children.  It gives you time out needed to recharge.  It gives you a nice figure so that you don't feel quite so turned inside out by what pregnancy does to your body.  It makes you feel powerful.  A nice counterweight to the feeling of powerlessness that is often the accompaniment to parenting.  Particularly when parenting young children where life seems to careen so quickly from chaos into totally out of control.  When you run you feel powerful, strong, in control and so so good about yourself and your life.  Exercise of course also increases your energy level (something I admit to not really understanding - how does burning energy make you more energetic?).  All things that immensely help a mother cope with life. At least this mother who juggles quite a few balls at once.  It is also excellent as a de-stresser and can justify lovely luxuries like massage.

It is also so easy to take up.  You just need good shoes, clothes that are comfortable to run in, and a really really good sports bra (motherhood often blesses you with great breasts but they need support or they become great coin-filled socks attached to your chest).  A few things are helpful but not critical are a music system like a MP3 player with headphones (buy the ones that have a bit that curls behind the ears to hold them in place); runners clothes (as opposed to just clothes that you can run in) and dare I say it, a treadmill. Although the latter is expensive and takes up a lot of room for something used only a couple of hours a week it really really is a worthwhile investment for mothers who run.  I can run in the evening (or morning but I hate mornings) when either my kids have gone to bed or my husband is at least home and not fear for my life or worry that I will step in a crack and break my mother back.    I can run on hot days in the relative coolness of my garage (I have a fan too) and I can run in winter and rain (probably snow and sleet but that doesn't happen where I live.  So my routine is not messed up by stupid weather conditions.  And now for the total utter luxury that a treadmill gives you - I set up a TV with DVD player in front of my treadmill.  Sometimes my husband gets on his bike trainer and I get on my treadmill and we ride/run and watch a TV show together.  Quite companionable.  In an average TV show I can burn on average 350-400 calories.  That is equivalent to a light meal.  I also watch my own TV shows that my husband isn't that interested in (on DVD in case you are wondering).  So it really is me time in the best sense.

Now if someone could just explain to me why exercising and watching what you eat makes you feel better than sitting around eating chocolate and drinking wine I would be very grateful.  And I would be even more grateful if the Universe would reverse that reality... actually on second thoughts I don't.  I love running and I love how it makes me feel.

Got to keep on moving!