So 2016...what will it bring?!?! I started training for my third marathon last Monday...so today marked the start of week two. I am taking a different approach to this race, using a different training plan to try to increase my speed and reach that goal of a Boston Qualifying time in May 2016. My hubby will be training for his fourth Ironman which will be the World Championship in Kona in October 2016. We are two very crazy people and I look forward to getting back to the pool and bike in 2017.
What is going to inspire me to keep my focus, drive and determination to increase my strength and hit my mileage goal of 2,016 for the year?? It is so freaking exhausting every day without the worry of what I am eating, prepping, exercising....all the chores and errands just continue to pile up....my minivan is a big to do list with bags to return and things to drop off at people's homes...my brain is so tired. And I am generally late for everything!
So I think of my friend...we'll call her Sarah....she is a working mom to two awesome, early rising, high energy kiddos. She is a loving wife to her hubby. She gets up every morning and gets her workout started by 5am so she can be ready to head out the door to work by 7am while her husband gets the kids to the bus and school. She puts on her makeup, cute outfit and drives a more than likely not ideal commute to a long stressful day at work. She does this all while dealing with the constant battle that working mothers and stay at home mothers deal with...what am I missing out on...what am I not doing for my kids, my spouse, myself?? There is NO easy answer to that one. She picks up the kiddos and heads home to make dinner and do the night routine with everyone...piano lessons, choir at church, swim lessons, soccer practices, laundry...the list is long and one you have written yourself many times.
Sarah sees me coming home from my morning runs during the week as she heads out to work and gives me a honk...she makes my day with that wave and smile...we both need each other in that moment...a sense of normal and routine removed from the chaos. She has watched me log my miles over the year in a FaceBook group that I post to...I maxed out at 1600 miles for 2015...short of my goal but still a great accomplishment. She asked me what a 5k loop was in our hood a few months back...she gives me updates when she has run the loop without stopping...she still hates the same hill I do...but we both still run it. This year Sarah has joined the FaceBook challenge group to track her miles. She has set a goal for something she is not in love with doing but is looking for a change for her. No clue if this will change her the way it has changed many people...running can be a wonderful outlet for our crazy spinning minds. If nothing changes, then nothing changes...so proud and excited for her to set a goal and look forward to her running towards it!
Did I mention that Sarah sat at my kitchen counter in April of 2014 and told me she had breast cancer. Neither of us have any family nearby...we are each other's family...we are there when it's needed and even when it's not. She battled that beast of cancer and kicked it's butt. She is strong and healthy and has a new outlook on life. She was an amazing woman before but stands even stronger now. So Sarah battles our day to day crap that all parents do and manages to have done that while barely taking any time away from her job when she was receiving treatment....she was there to hug her kiddos and hubby good night when she could and has found a new strength.
So Sarah was hit by a truck(figuratively, don't want you to worry ;))...a big yucky horrible truck with the letter C written all over it...and she has risen from that and inspired me and many others to keep on going. She is my inspiration in 2016...the person I will be thinking of as she continues to strive towards uncovering this new found person. She is a person that is continuing to make changes in her world after it all was really crappy for a while. The thoughts that have raced through her head scare me to death and they are not in my head...I cannot even imagine. I am so proud of her for adding one more thing to her long list of things she has to tackle day in and day out.
Embrace the suck...choose you...kick butt and always look for an inspiration...Sarah is mine.
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