Monday Motivation

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ok, so I love a little Monday motivation, unfortunately it usually comes to me in the late morning while I am at work or in the evening right before dinner. Many people are "morning" people and get their workouts in before their day consumes them. I on the other hand need to be in the mood for a good workout. Ideally I would be someone who worked out roughly around 10am or 6pm. I am not an early bird and certainly not a night owl either. In fact I am only up right now because my 6 month old refuses to stay asleep. So why not run at my ideal times? Well let me give you my excuses:

Daily routine

• Up around 5:00am or 6:00am pump for about 1/2 hr (I am a nursing mom with a full time job)
• Get ready for work and either go to work or drop of kids at sitters then go to work. I try and trade off with Super Husband, but he usually picks up all the slack
• Work 8-10 hours depending on the day
• Come home and pump or pick up kids, then go home and pump depending on the day
• 6:00 make dinner or help Super Husband by occupying the rug rats while he makes dinner
• 7:30 start the bed time routine
• Duder is down by about 8:30pm with the Bug following at about 9:30pm
• There was a time when I would hit the gym at 10pm, but I find myself coveting sleep these days instead

Ok, so you are wondering, Where Is The Monday Motivation? Well this weeks selection is "make the most of yourself." To make the most of myself means I may have to sacrifice some sleep and/or family time to be a better wife and mother. I do this 1x per month each for my: congregational board meetings, book club, wine club and Tri club. Super Husband does it for his weekly softball games. But is it enough? Nope, sorry, I need more time for me. So to make the most of myself I need to be committed to carving out time. When can I do this? Pumping only takes 1/2 hour each morning, so I can get up earlier to run. I can ride my bike to work on days that I do not have to drop off kids and stick to my 8 hour shift so that I can ride home, get the car and go pick up the kids. Very doable as I only work 5 miles from home. I can take the kids on a run in my fancy shmancy double jogging stroller as a means of occupying them while Super Hubby is making dinner. I cannot discount that a 1/2 run is better than no run at all.

Yes I know I'm repeating myself, I am sure there is another blog post about how I need to workout more. Shoot maybe all of them say this?! Yes all of these "work arounds" for a busy schedule aren't new and all the seasoned mommy bloggers out there know this stuff well. Though doing this stuff is harder than it seems. Between the wake ups in the middle of the night, on the night before I PLAN to wake up early and run, to the random tantrums about wanting to "run too" and not ride in the jogging stroller. They are all daily hurdles, but it is up to me to decide that I need to "make the most of me." Plus the whole overweight with a million excuses identity is getting old and this is not "all there is of me."

My half marathon a couple weeks ago left me feeling amazingly empowered. My Nike Women's Marathon bid for October has me excited to start training mid-June, but this in between time is making me feel funky. So I pledge this week to make the most of me. Stay tuned because I am about to completely Rock this week.

Good night bloggy bloggers, if you have ideas on how to squeeze in a work out I am all ears.

Thankful Three

1. For getting time to shop yesterday for my tall socks for the Racing With Babes virtual 10k this weekend (by getting time, I mean Target guests had to endure a rambunctious 2 year old running around and a crying/teething 6 month old....Good Times.
2. That Monday's are pasta nights and we don't have to think about dinner
3. That I am feeling motivated about running tomorrow, motivation feels good right before bed