I’m going to tell you something quite unique about myself. I’m sure it is rare among mothers and something I alone have long struggled with. It’s actually a bit embarrassing, but here goes nothing:

I have a hard time getting motivated to exercise. :-).

On a typical boot camp morning I lay in bed for almost an hour (sadly between 5am and 5:46am) making up all kinds of reasons why I can’t go to boot camp that morning (it might be raining, maybe nodoby will show up, my heel hurts, it’s Wednesday…). After the fun of this 46 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back I roll out of bed, shuffle to the bathroom, head into the closet (clothes already prepared the night before), wrap a a ponytail holder in my hair, and head out the door. In the dark.

At the end of every bootcamp session I say to TJ and the group, “now that was worth getting out of bed for.”

Right. I am far from being unique. We all struggle to get moving. That’s why I wanted to share something with you that I will hold in my special motivation place…wherever that might be. I hope it gives you the little nudge you need some day.

This winter a neighbor of mine, an accomplished runner, got pnemeonia and ended up in the intensive care unit in an induced coma for more than six weeks. It’s not an exaggeration to say she almost didn’t make it. After she got out of the hospital she had several weeks of physical therapy to learn how to walk. While she was in therapy I sent her a package of goodies including a Run U Mother cap and shirt.

I want you to look at this picture - it was taken July 25, not a full three months since she got home, and it shows her finishing a 5K race (in thirty three minutes no less)…wearing the Run U Mother hat (her children are watching her finish on the sideline).

She wanted it, she worked for it. It probably hurt. Much more than it hurts me to get out of bed at 5:30am. I’ll keep this image of her smiling Run U Mother clad face in my mind (I actually have a print out of it on my desk). And I will try to dig deeper inside and remember to work for it. It’s well worth the effort.

I’d love to hear your stories.

My husband argues with me that it’s better to exercise late in the afternoon because your synovial fluids are flowing better and you are more limber.  OK - first of all - synovial what?  and second of all  - what about dinner?  and homework? and the school bus? and laundry? and who knows what else.  So when is it a good time to exercise? For busy moms that time just doesn’t seem to exist.    

Well - there a few of us moms who will tell you the magic hour is about 6am.   That is when we all gather (there are at least 15 of us) to do boot camp (which I am in charge of).  It is during this hour we run, jump, squat, push  and sweat (sounds like child birth) so that we feel better all day.  The beauty of that hour is that no one is usually around to demand anything of us.  And once it is off our plate - the part of our day when we have to take care of everybody and everything else can begin.  In other words……the rest of the day until we crash into bed.

Although the synovial thing may be a good argument for exercising later in the day, my argument back to my loving husband is that anytime of day is good - as long as you get it done! Who is it that said “Just Do it”? I think it was Nike   Maybe they were on to something.

My little sister, age 41, has decided to run. She’s is great shape, has been walking for a while now…but wanted to run (sadly I may have inspired her…). Last night she sent me her story and i just HAD to share it with you:

I am wondering, since really I was never a runner, if I lack proper running style or form—

Perhaps I should explain. One might think this would come naturally but we have all seen “those” runners who make us shake our head in dismay and think, “Good God man, stop before you throw your hip out” or a runner that makes us gasp and say, “Gazelle you are not, my running friend” or worse yet, “Is that man (of course it is always a man) running or having a seizure”—my apologies to all those who truly were have a seizure—I mean you no disrespect.

Still, as a first time runner I would like to have believed that I was all about the style (said like a hip hop dancer—just drawl it out—yeah I’m stylin—it’s your birthday kind of tone) and that gazelle like grace was what came to mind when my fellow runners saw me—in fact I would be the envy of the “walkers” and dare I say the inspiration for them to join in the “herd” –you know, so to speak J

However, shortly into my second week of running my gazelle like persona turned into a poor imitation of a limping struggling hunchback of Notre Dame type of stylin. You know, of course I “worked it” had my reputation to keep up.

Now three weeks into this damn running thing I am limping and wonder if I ever looked like a gazelle or if now the “walkers” are shaking their heads at me and thinking, “poor soul—look at her now” and I know I am being kind to myself—they are probably thinking, “We’re the walkers, and we’re walking—you’re the limper and your hurting–rap it out”

So, I have to wonder if I should have done a bit more research on this running thing –to determine the proper gazelle like gait. Hmmm just a thought!

Bernadette Marra

“A mantra is something that represents power, perfection and peacefulness” - motherhood at its best!

I stumbled upon a blog post a while back asking for inspired exercise mantras. Of course I quickly submitted ours - come on, what better mantra to get your legs moving a bit faster than Run U Mother. And of course that’s how Run U Mother was created. For those of you who don’t know the back story, we were trying to come up with something to put on a sign for our friend (mother of four) who was running her first marathon. We were holding up our signe at mile 23…so Go Nancy just wouldn’t cut it.

And Run U Mother was born. It inspired Nancy on that day and many other mothers (and just as many men).

So what’s your mantra? What is it that you find repeating in your brain as you run the last three miles? I’m quite sure it is something as catchy and perhaps even as irreverent as ours…I’d love t know what it is so please share.