Happy Monday and happy day after Mother’s Day! I hope you all had a great weekend.
It was a little chilly and rainy in NYC this weekend. In fact, we took the girls for a run on Saturday and got stuck in a downpour. They managed to nap through it while we hid under the RFK Bridge on Randall’s Island. Rock and I were soaked, but the girls were perfectly content in their stroller.
On Sunday Rock rearranged his work schedule to gift me an hour to run by myself. I saw on the Today Show that most moms would like the day off from parenting, but I wanted to spend the day with my girls. However, after pushing the girls in the BOB Dualie for the past two weeks, it felt awesome to run on my own. It feels so effortless when you ditch pushing 60 pounds up and down the hills around here. I was cruising!
It was also a really great time for me to reflect. I use my running in a variety of ways. Sometimes it is about testing the limits of my body, or my mind. Other times, running is a way for me to clear my head or work through different situations. Running is my therapy. I almost always come back with a clearer head and ready to be a better person, regardless of whether a run goes well or not.
On yesterdays run, I was reflecting on being a mom. It certainly hasn’t gone the way I had prepared for most days, and it certainly didn’t start out the way I had planned.
Like many women, I had hoped to get married and start our family. But as life often does, things took a little longer than planned. At the time, it was very difficult for me emotionally. I spent a lot of time dealing with those emotions on my runs. It was cathartic.
Once I was pregnant, the miracle of what was to come was appreciated in a completely new way, perhaps more than I would have realized had things happened faster.
I ran through both my pregnancies and felt like it was a special time that I got to spend with that little peanut growing with me. I hoped that perhaps my being healthy and active might be passed along to our little ones.
These days, I run with the girls in the stroller and I enjoy my times with them, even when I repeatedly hear, “Can we go back home now?” I like our adventures to new places or playing “I Spy” as we go along. I love having the girls see me enjoy running and exercising. It is something we get to do together as a family.
Things have definitely changed. I don’t get to sleep in on weekends anymore because some people think 6am is a perfect time to jump up and get going. I don’t have the luxury of sitting around and drinking coffee until I feel ready to go on a run. We have nap schedules and bottle times. You either get your run in during the allotted time, or you are out of luck for the day.
There isn’t always as much time for workouts or for prepping the best meals. I haven’t done a workout besides running in several weeks now, because it just hasn’t fit into my day. And you know what? That’s okay.

The night before Lucy was born!
These girls….they’ve made me stronger in ways I never could have imagined. My two year old knows how to test the limits in ways that drive me nuts and also secretly crack me up. The way she can ask the same question repeatedly for 15 minutes makes me think she has a future with the CIA.
The love they have showed me and the things they are teaching me makes my heart want to burst full of joy. Just thinking about them and what they have brought into my life brings tears to my eyes. They have made us a family!
Being a mother runner isn’t easy. Running itself will never be easy. But I certainly believe that being a mother runner can actually make you stronger than you could ever possibly imagine.
Somehow I have less time to run and less time to work out. But in the months after having Mary, I PR’ed in my return marathon. A few weeks ago I won a race as Lucy ran along with her dad. Being a mom, and the act of becoming a mom, gives you the strength to do endless things.
The greatest gift I’ve ever received has been these two little girls. I’m forever grateful for the strength they have given me and for their patience as I continually learn to be their mom.
I also want to send love to any woman who has hopes to be a mom. There was a time when reading Mother’s Day posts was difficult for me. A friend perfectly said yesterday, “Be patient. God may not be done writing your story just yet.”
Happy Mother’s Day. How was your weekend? Anyone else love running with their kids or fur kids?