Run Like a Mother.

I sat on my bed staring with disdain at the first part of today’s running challenge. The cruelly-tiny workout clothing selection next to me looked like an impossibility. At three months postpartum, I was basically living in pajamas, and it seemed like a stretch to imagine myself getting this itty bitty little sports bra not only over my head, but around my arms, and eventually, if the stars all aligned, securely around my ribcage. I sighed, and eventually worked up the courage to give it a go. Several minutes later, and after nearly dislocating my left shoulder (no seriously, it was sore for days), I got that thing where it was supposed to be. (mostly).

I planned to wear a tank top. I had just pumped in preparation for this first running adventure, but after putting it on, it became quickly very clear that this breastfeeding mom would have to stick to tees for a while. That, or risk gym expulsion. Or invest in a whole new set of sports bras. None of which I was cool with, sooooo….tees it is. Correction: maternity tees.

Finally dressed and ready, I piled my three tiny people into the car and made the journey to the gym. Yes, yes. An outdoor run would be preferable, but 1. I have not been alerted to a stroller good for carrying 3 kids while running, and 2. I don’t have three kids who would tolerate a stroller run longer than 7 minutes, and 3. I am a semi-crazy person with an intense fear of abduction while running outside. Soooo…gym it is.

After wrangling my children into the gym (NO SMALL FEAT), I checked them in to the kid section, and I was off. I turned on one of my favorite podcasts (oh, BTW I love podcasts…here are my favorite in TRUE CRIME, and here are my favs about the BACHELOR/BACHELORETTE). I disappeared into the alternate reality of treadmill running. (Okay, admittedly run/walking because, HELLO, this was my first post-partum “run”). 16 minutes into what was going to be a mere 30-minute adventure, the sweet worker at the child-care center spotted me from across the gym. I pointed to myself, mouthing “me?” She nodded. Welp. That was fun. I departed my beloved treadmill, and after dealing with the impressive blowout situation at hand, I had 6 minutes left to workout. 6.  I just decided to call it a day. My older kids were tantruming, LIKE FULL-ON crazy eyes melting down, running in circles, so it was clearly time to head out. I was carrying the baby in the car seat and realizing that getting these three small children under the age of 4 to the car was a new kind of challenge. My oldest started dangerously walking the edge of a raised flower bed. While I tried to get her down, the middle gal made a friend and started walking with him down the sidewalk the opposite direction. After my redirection attempts, they both literally laid down on the sidewalk, now screaming. We would have to cross a busy intersection to get back to the car, and I needed about 4 more hands to accomplish this. I kid you not, after several minutes of trying to get them to stand up at the same time, I nearly started sobbing on the sidewalk. How would I get them safely to the car?

Enter: kind stranger.

An older lady, my little angel, came up to me and said, “Can I carry your baby for you?” “YES! I exasperatedly said. “You can. You can.” She will never know how much that simple gesture meant to me. She picked up the car seat while I lifted my two older children into firm football holds, and headed to the car with them, still kicking and screaming. When they were all inside the car, I closed the door behind them and breathed a sigh of relief that they were safe. I thanked my angel stranger. Then I immediately purchased a leash backpack on Amazon before we even left the parking lot.

Getting back into running was not going to be as simple as I thought.

______________________

I persisted in my running journey. The threat alone of that leash backpack was enough to get the bigs safely in and out of the gym most days. I signed up for a 12k and completed it (ever so slowwwwly). Then I signed up for a half marathon and found the perfect training plan. I went after it. But. BUT. After months of drama-less treadmill running, I had the scariest mommy running moment I’ve EVER HAD.

It was a Sunday morning, and I had made it to church with my family. Once we all arrived, we noticed the baby was wheezing. Man, does that stuff just sneak up on you, or what? I decided not to leave her in her church class in order to avoid potential illness exposure for the other babies. So, I took her home and planned to go back and pick up my husband and the other two girls when church was over. I really needed to sneak in a run, and thought the baby could use some fresh air, so we got home, I grabbed the stroller and headed out. I had planned to do several loops around this little pond in an adjacent neighborhood (about a .5 mile loop). Nice and safe.

Confession: you’re not reallllly supposed to be there unless you have a home in the neighborhood, but I figured I was close enoooough (don’t hate me).

About halfway around my first loop, I noticed this incredibly delightful little family of geese. One mama, like 9 babies…so cute. But then, just beyond the geese, I spotted angry eyes. VERY ANGRY EYES. They were clearly staring at me from the weeds. I stopped dead in my tracks. A COYOTE was hunched over, bearing his teeth, seemingly ready to attack. The geese had distracted me. This potential threat was now only about 20 feet away, and I was certain that it would make my baby his next meal unless I thought quickly. In a complete, utter panic, I grabbed my mace, and turned the stroller around so that I was between my baby and the coyote. Then, I ran out of the coyote’s view as quickly as possible. Milk bottles and snacks flew from from the stroller. I didn’t care. I was protecting my young. I was nearly hyperventilating as I pushed my stroller up a steep, grassy hill (the quickest path to escape).

Honestly, I am terrible in a crisis. Seriously. When there is imminent danger, you can usually find me hiding in a corner with my eyes closed, plugging my ears.

But this time, it was all me. And I was going to FIGHT for my baby’s life. Adrenaline pumping, I ran faster than I’d ever run before. With mace in hand, looking back every 3-5 seconds to see if we were being stalked, I ran. Once I was approximately half a mile away, I knew I needed to alert someone, but who?! I decided first to call the local police station. No answer. Then I called Animal Control. No answer. Then Fish & Wildlife. No answer. Out of options, what do I do?! I CALL 9-1-1, like any reasonable person fearing that a coyote is about to steal small, innocent children out of an unsuspecting neighborhood. I’m a crying, disheveled mess on the phone with the operator: “There’s this coyote beside a walking path and it looks ready to attack. Please send help. I’m sorry, I didn’t know who else to call!” The operator connected me again to Fish & Wildlife, who didn’t answer (again). But don’t worry, I left them a stellar message that I would pay big bucks to listen to.

I was getting cold. My sweat was starting to dry and my adrenaline was wearing off. With the phone calls behind me, I started running again, my happy baby oblivious to my crazed response to the threat. I frantically checked every side street that I ran past, hoping not to see that mangy coyote headed my direction. I warned the several walkers I encountered not to head in the direction from which I had come.

Finally, FINALLY, I looked down at my watch and saw that I had hit my mileage goal (definitely NOT my time goal, but I had bigger issues than that today). As I approached my home, I told my story one last time to my neighbor who was out working in his lawn. He seemed genuinely disturbed and promised to keep and eye on our neighborhood. I was putting the stroller away in the garage when his wife came down to my house, into my driveway.

“Ann Marie, I thought you should know that the coyote you saw…well…it’s fake.”

Ummmm…come again?!

“Yes,” she continued,” I walk there in the mornings, and one of the residents warned me one day that they had put out a very real looking fake coyote as a way to scare off the ‘real’ coyotes in order to protect the pond wildlife.”

Ohhh. Emmm. Geeeeee….

I stared blankly in disbelief.

Processing this truth, I was stunned and embarrassed (mostly embarrassed). (Punishment for running where I wasn’t supposed to be? – haha).This possibility had not even CROSSED my mind, as this “coyote” was con-vin-cing. (See for yourself in my stories this week: Facebook or Instagram!)

So now, it’s been a couple of weeks, and I find the story quite hilarious, BUT I still get super anxious and slightly tachycardic just thinking about that darn coyote. I’m going to be overcoming PTSD from this situation for a while yet.

Can I puh-leeese just stick with the treadmill?

_______________________________

Running is great, but family is greater. My kids take priority. And they always will.

So, you know, running looks different these days. I have to admit, it was easier when I could check the weather, map myself a little run on my computer, then head out into the wild for a carefree jog. If I was feeling good and wanted to tag on a couple of extra miles, no big deal. If I did I long run and felt like actual death for the rest of the day, it would be FINE. If I was sore and able only to take baths repeatedly and potentially stumble, stiff-legged, into a movie theater, nobody would care.

But now, I run as a mother.

And it’s better. It’s harder, but better. With each step, my body bounces a little differently than it did before I had kids. My knees ache a bit from the stress of all the bodies I have carried and squatted with over the last four years. I look at my watch incessantly while running now, and I pick up my pace, knowing that someone else is carrying the weight of watching my kids while I’m out. The biggest potential threats to meeting all of my training goals are no longer rain or sore muscles, but childhood sickness, tantrums, and potty incidents.

But now, I have three more fans. I have three little people that are watching me, their mom, set goals and push myself to accomplish them. They watch me get faster, stronger, healthier and they are learning that they, too, have all the skills they need to do the same. They can set their mind on a goal and work to achieve it. And they will. They’ve seen me turn 16 minutes of walk/running into half marathon distance.

I stay at home with them. But it’s important to me that even though they don’t see me dressed up leaving the house each day, that they know I can, and am, accomplishing amazing things, and so can they.

And you, well, you can do it, too. Maybe running isn’t your thing. Maybe it’s cycling, or dancing, or sewing, or cooking, or writing, or selling stuff…but whatever you love, you can be great at it. You can set goals and dominate them, too. And hey…tell your kids about it, okay? Let them see your efforts. Let them cheer you on.

Tomorrow, Sunday, June 9th, I am running my half marathon at 6:30am PST. This race will be my 20th half marathon, but my first half marathon since the third baby was born. Oh, and HEY, if you want to follow my progress, Twitter tells me that it will post updates: (https://twitter.com/surgeonwifelife) Or you can download this app and search for me! Rock n’ Roll Marathon Series app!

When I cross that finish line, my three will definitely be cheering me on, and I can’t wait for that. (It’ll be via FaceTime, because let’s be honest, it’ll be way too early for them to be all the way in Seattle).

If you aren’t following me on Facebook or Instagram yet, THIS IS THE TIME, friends! I’m making a ridiculous video about the 10 reasons I love treadmill running, and I’m also going to face my fears and head back to that horrific fake coyote, so you won’t want to miss my stories on that. Hahaha!

Thanks for joining me today and supporting not only my blogging journey, but my running journey as well! What kind of goals are you tackling these days?! I’d love to know. ❤️

With all the love to you.

Honestly,

AM ❤️

More About Me: Hi! I’m Ann Marie, a blogging mama of 3 tiny gals, and a wife to a busy Orthopedic Surgeon. You can find me right here for a weekly smattering of inspiration for your motherhood journey, home, marriage (I see you other medical wives!), style, and beauty. You’ll find me most active on Instagram or Facebook for life between blog posts. And I truly can’t wait to see you there, friend. ❤️💋

To connect, shoot me an email at honestlyannmarie@gmail.com ❤️