Training for a marathon is hard, there's no doubt about that, but chuck 4 kids and a partner with a weird work pattern into the mix and it then becomes somewhat of an art!
Juggling parent meetings and football matches around long Sunday runs, all whilst making sure the laundry is done, everyone is fed and washed and the house doesn't fall into such a state that people would start to question that you do anything other than run is almost a sport of its own.
Still I love it and while I am in the throes of training for the London marathon 2017 whom I am lucky enough to be running for Mind the mental health charity, I feel a sense of pride in the fact that I'm not just a mum but I'm a mum who makes sure I also take care of myself!
Once weighing in at 18.5 stones and a size 24, running anything other than a bath seemed impossible but fast forward 9 years and minus 8.5 stone later and I'm training to run my 3rd marathon in 12 months!
The buzz that running and the running community have brought to my life is without compare. It is the one thing other than my kids I can say I have truly had a passion for, and I'm not going to lie, sometimes I like it more than my kids, running doesn't scream at me if I cut their sandwiches into triangles instead of squares!!
The release running gives me, the challenges it presents both mentally and physically and the sense of accomplishment of finishing something I quite literally worked my butt off for is frankly the best thing in the world! Some days are easier than others with my youngest child being only 3 years old I can usually only train once my partner is home which normally is after 6:30pm. By which time let's be fair after a whole day of Disney junior and a screaming wriggling toddler is either a very welcome escape both mentally and physically... or quite literally the last thing I want to do!
Having a goal in mind, something to aim for has been a brilliant motivator for me. Having that benchmark of "you have to do this, you want this!" often pushes me out the door and more often than not I'm happy I did, the hardest part is going out the door!!
I'm looking forward to writing this blog throughout my training for London. I want people to see that if I can, so can you! Cliche I know, but it's true. It's not all roses and I'll write about that too so at the very least you can bask in the fact that there is always someone else out there going through the same things or at the very least you can laugh at my misfortune... runners trots??! Me? Never... well almost never.
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Big thanks to Chelsea for sharing her story. You can follow her progress towards London Marathon on twitter @chelseasicotte. Good luck Chelsea!!
