Mum in Training

I’m Back!!!

Still running in heels! Laptop, iPad, iPhone, washing machine, cooker and fridge all still surgically attached and two constantly bored, hungry and erstwhile snappy kids still vying for my constant attention (I’m not even going to mention himself or the Runaway Rottweiler that we affectionately call Poochie).

So it’s been a while, soz! In the lead up to Christmas work and home life was just manic. I still managed to get out for my runs but writing about them just went out the window what with all the preparation and excitement for the arrival of the big man in the red suit.

Well we left off here, I had just got my new budget runners the Asics Gel Zone and I was really feeling it. Managing 5k’s with no problems and I was actually really starting to enjoy it. My times were between 33-35 mins for the 5k, any faster than that and I honestly found it tough but I wasn’t overly concerned with times or PB’s (Meseret Defar’s world record is perfectly safe) as I was just glad to be going the distance.

I couldn’t believe myself how much I was actually enjoying it and how much I looked forward to it. I was the quintessential woman of a thousand excuses and as every parent knows, when you have kids you will always find one (more like five million). Like “aw by the time I get them to bed and get myself sorted it will be time to go to bed myself”, “I need to get this washing done”, “the house is bogging”, “I need to batch cook at least twenty dinners”, “the beds need changed”, “there’s not a bite in the house (even though I could feed the starving masses)”, “no I’ve just too much to do, maybe tomorrow night”. Sounding familiar so far??? So I have discovered that once you get into the right frame of mind then you should act on it and you start to think “sure what’s 30-40 mins out of a day? Well when you break it down it’s approximately 1/48th of your time. Once it’s done and you get that wee all addictive Adrenalin rush, the excuses are forgotten and you start planning your next run.

We all know January is the perfect month for new beginnings and for taking on new challenges but to be honest the “New Year, New Me” hippy dippy craic doesn’t really wash with me. For 2018 I’m going for a “New Year and look after the Old Me” type resolution. When you have kids, you just spend so, so much time concentrating on them and what is good for them that you forget to concentrate a wee bit of time on yourself and you end up neglecting your own body and mind. Thirty to forty minutes out of your day for you-just you. Sound selfish?? Au contraire, it’s one of the best things you can do for your family. As the saying goes, “happy mother, happy family”. Now, who is with me? It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me, ooooooooh. And I’m feelin’ good. Cue Nina!