Week 4 and The Summer Effect

I'm on week 4 of the C25K program and while I'm not quite where I want to be, or where I should be, I have definitely seen progress. I can run for five minutes now, not just two and I'm covering more ground. I am transforming myself into a runner-- both my body and my mind. Even though I played soccer for years, I never considered myself a runner because I couldn't run a 5 (or 6 or 7 or even 8) minute mile. I put up this mental block against running; I couldn't do it because of my ankles or knees, because at my weight, it would put too much pressure on them. I couldn't run because I just didn't have the endurance and would wheeze the whole way through. And while those things are true, they really aren't excuses. In fact, they're reasons for me to run. I *need* to be in better shape; I want to feel healthy and strong again, for my husband, for my kids, and mostly for me. This is surely a slow process, but five minutes is better than 2 (and secretly, I look forward to my runs!)

It's July, which is crazy because I've technically been off from work* for two and a half weeks and I just now feel like I'm getting into the groove. At 3, E$ is more energetic than ever and gone are the unplanned days where activities just spring up organically. We need to have a schedule, a plan and this is how I am reminded that full-time stay-at-home moms work so very hard. It is seriously exhausting and we have definitely spent too much time and money out eating lunch. I'm hoping to do better in July and then we have our big vacation in August, with just a few weeks after that until E$ starts school. It is nice, though, to not have a set bedtime or to wake up to an alarm clock. To not pack lunches or set out clothes the night before; to be flexible with whatever comes up and to encourage E's curiousity. It's like the signs we always see at Topsail Island on our annual W-Family vacation: it's summer and we're on island time.


*Teachers are never really off. Even in the summer, we are planning and thinking ahead and working on the next school year. We just have a different schedule.