Nothing Like a Mom!

I pulled into my mom’s place sick and tired. There is absolutely nothing like having one mom ready to swoop down and take care of everything. In my case, I have two here. My head is woozy from the concoction she made me and my skin is tingling from the combination of the Vicks VapoRub and Haitian oil. Not only am I breathing well for the first time today…and burning, but I also have no little one making demands on my frail and sickly body (totally being a drama queen here).

My little one was beyond happy to scamper off with Grandma and play with all of her newly acquired goodies. My mom is selfless. It doesn’t matter what she’s got going on, she lives to make sure her kids are happy. There are times I scoffed at this, but tonight I realize what a blessing it is. When I am feeling low, sick, tired or ready to give up my mom is there. My Aunt is right behind her offering her support and sometimes in front of her.

I realize not everyone has this support system available, and even though they are out-of-state – when I come here I can shut it down. I don’t have to be all-powerful single mom or uber-entrepreneur. I don’t even have to be that shoulder to cry on. Tonight there is no place I’d rather be than in my mother’s arms recuperating and charging my batteries for the battles that lay ahead.

Thank you Mom and Auntie. I will never be able to say it enough and you will never know how much I appreciate you.  I can’t forget to thank my Uncle who also holds it down for me when I come up to visit. There is nothing like family, if you are blessed to have one. If not… make one where you stand.

Negative Return – 6 Days & Counting

I’d like to send a special thank you out to the mad genius, Todd Lange, of Running Mate Media http://runningmatemedia.com/! I just completed Week 8/Day 1 of my 5K101 training. For the first time in my life I jogged 30 minutes without stopping. A few hours later… I’m a bit sore and feeling somewhat sleepy, but I guess that’s to be expected. What I didn’t expect were tears. I can thank Todd for those tears. His genius appears throughout the training, but for me mostly in his week 8 program.

I am an admitted softie so tears are common. Week 8′s podcast promised a surprise, and my it was worth the wait! I won’t spoil it for anyone reading that might  not be there yet, but the experience brought tears to my eyes. It conjured up a bunch of feelings about how far I had come in the last 7 weeks and it distracted me from my fear of the 30 minute interval.

Prior to today I had only jogged 12 minute intervals. I got going and settled in for the longer run. During the program I heard the term Negative Return – for me that meant that I’d gone too far to stop or turn back. The battle I wage is within me. My body is responding to the program (with a few aches here and there) so why should I doubt  that I will achieve my goal? I guess because I’m human.

In this approaching 5K and in my life, I’d be wise to invest my energy into believing I can instead of finding reasons to doubt myself.

I’m at my point of negative return.