Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Priorities, Where are YOU.... Moms Running

Ever notice how everything is always due at once?

The way my schooling works is that every five weeks I start a new course.  Because it's an accelerated program, I am writing a 10 page, scholarly referenced, final paper almost once a month.  That's on top of the regular weekly discussion board work.  It never seems to fail that during that 5th week, every course, the shit hits the fan.

 I can guarantee that week five will always be the busiest day of the month.  Not only will I have that school work to do, but 17,000 other things pop up with the addition of the mundane household tasks.

So last night, as week 5 was just beginning, I had this moment of "Here we go..."  I began to lay out my master to do list of tasks to be completed by Saturday and wondered, "at what point will I squeeze in my short runs, my long run, my speed work, my ab work, and my leg work?"

And then I saw this on Facebook....


Those words hit me like a ton of bricksAbsolutely.
There are other people who are just as busy, if not busier than me, MAKING time to get out there and train.  The key, is, they are MAKING time.  Carving it out of their hectic schedules.

How to do this?  Create priorities.
Which of those items on my to do list might be able to wait until Sunday?
What are the obstacles in my way, preventing me from thinking that running is possible?
I may not be able to force the baby to sleep through the night, but I can certainly put 2 loads of laundry on hold til Saturday.  The children do have clothes to wear.  

And so, with some minor rearranging, I was able to make time to get in a 4 miler this (very cold) morning.  My to do list isn't shortening any, but it's not an excuse to NOT run.  Running is not a luxury.  It's not something that's always "fun".  It's not an option.  It's a necessity.

Being "busy" is not an excuse not to take care of yourself.  

That....fellow moms....is sometimes a hard pill for us all to swallow, right?

 Besides...it made her (and Elmo) happy to get out there!