I’ll Bri honest with y’all: I didn’t like last week’s BriRun Blog to the point where I considered emailing Don a passage from my bag of bull$hit excuses as to why I wouldn’t have an entry for his September 8 GRM newsletter. After completing two significant runs that filtered a lot of doubt I had over if I’d be able to run a marathon distance, I expected I would finally provide some useful insights and tips about marathon training postpartum instead of my usual witty, yet at times, astray ramblings.
However, when I re-read last week’s blog before writing this entry, I was relieved to see it really wasn’t as despicable as I thought. Even though I couldn’t comprehend teachable moments at the time due to the stupidity that sets in after a freakishly long run, I was happy to see that it was authentic—which, at this age, is more important to me than telling you how the plot of Rambo V should have played out (if you’re interested, I’ll tell you during the marathon).
Crazy enough, this is the time I should be tapering my miles; not blasting off to see what my legs can take. But parenthood has cemented the lesson that even the best-laid plans are nothing more than pie-in-the-sky dreams that need to be voided when you have kids who need your love more than they need your ability to run mega far. What I “should be doing” in marathon training is far less important than what I need to be doing for my kid.
This chapter of marathon training is an entirely new experience and through the seemingly unrelated challenges of marathon training and baby raising, I found an empowering sameness.
Even though there are times when:
You don’t want to be here...
Your body feels so broken and debilitated, and every ounce of your focus has to go toward keeping yourself vertical...
You are 100% doubtful that you can actually do this...
...You get up, haul a$$, and do it anyway.
For the times I can’t get out for a training run, I’m counting on the endurance I build through the challenges I face as a new parent: those times I break through fatigue to show up for Baby and my dog work the same metaphorical muscle I’ll flex when we’re all tromping along the most tiring parts of the marathon (Indian Mounds).
One foot in front of the other. One day at a time.
That’s running a marathon. That’s parenthood.
And it’s all so rewarding...
...Later.
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