Mama Needs a Run

There are days when I wake up and can feel it in my bones that Mama needs a run.  Today is one of those days!  Hubby is recovering from ACL surgery(translation...no gym trips for Mama for now) and my Dad is on his 4th stay in the hospital in about 2 months(a post all its own)...grad students' work is piling up to be graded...and my way to deal with the wave of stress is to run it out!

The morning started out great.  I woke up at my usual 4am and scrolled through some emails before getting dressed and heading down to the basement for a run.  Sitting in my living room, a lingering smell reminded me that I needed to bag up the trash and put it outside....By the time I came back in the house after putting it out, my oldest was staring at me....at 4:40am....Mama needs a run!

I informed her that there was no way in the history of ever I was going to let her get out of bed even though she insisted that she was not even a little bit tired, and gathered every coloring book on my way from our kitchen to her bedroom and shut the door giving her the only direction of the morning...DO NOT wake up your sister because Mama needs a run!

I went directly into my bathroom, got dressed, grabbed my Yurbuds, the monitor, and my phone, and tiptoed at a rapid pace down to the basement to get on the treadmill.  Before I even get started I hear a sweet voice calling me from the top of the stairs (why she didn't come down I don't know) asking if she can go to the bathroom!  In my most patient voice (which was probably not very patient by this time) I tell her yes but then she is to go back to bed and please DO NOT wake up your sister because Mama needs a run!

I get back down and settled on the treadmill...exhale and press start only to hear a tweeting over my shoulder...our youngest is up and letting the world know!  I decide that I am going to start my run hoping that she will just go back to sleep...until she starts calling out "Mama?  Mama?"  I know what's following...if left in her crib too long she will take her clothes off...including her diaper creating more of a mess than I am ready for!  Determined to get a bead of sweat on my brow I jack up the speed and decide for the next 10 minutes I am sprinting....all out sprinting because Mama needs a run!

The rest of the morning included sisters bickering...a feisty  2 year-old throwing a cup of strawberry milk in the kitchen (I know I'm going to be finding remnants of that for weeks!!)...Mama on her hands and knees cleaning it up...and your usual circus-like moments coupled with an early morning observation at work! 

On days like this Mama needs a run...a sweaty, cleansing, lung-burning run...at least long enough for me not to want to run away!!  A run where I step into my Sauconys and feel the world fade away!  Tonight I have a date with my basement treadmill because Mama needs a run!!!