The 13th Minute

I have had several people through the years refer to me as a 'runner.' I always quickly correct people explaining that indeed I run for exercise but I am NOT a runner. To me a runner is someone who actually enjoys it! I simply run so I can eat! I've been approached by friends through the years to train for a marathon with them and it is amazingly one of the few things I can easily say NO to...no thank you! Run for hours on end...no way Jose! A question I get a lot is how far do you run...my answer is 30 minutes. Whatever distance that is, if I've run 30 minutes I can mark it off my list for the day. I feel like to be a true runner you must actually somewhat enjoy the activity...not count down the minutes until your run is over. Enter Jana...my dear, dear friend from college. Jana actually asked me years ago if I wanted to train for a marathon with her...I politely said no! But that doesn't really have anything to do with this session... Jana has three kids very close in age like my own. Similar to my last post but instead two steps behind me in age. She has three girls ages 5, almost 4 and close to two. Precious little girls! But let's face it, wrangling three children that close in age for a photo session in a wide open church is just challenging. Not necessarily for me but for the mom! I watched Jana throughout the session as her frustration level rose...I clearly recognized it as that is how I feel as I am photographing my own children. Ugh, if it weren't for the priceless portraits that I got out of the session, I as a mother would NOT go through the stress! So, after the session I was on one of my obligatory runs. I was thinking about Jana and the stage of life she was in. I was remembering that when my kids were that age I actually told Mark that I thought I'd bit off more than I could chew. Someone was ALWAYS crying, I was perpetually tired, and Mark and I just co-habitated handing off children from dinner to bath to bed. It was a tough season in life. But now my youngest is almost three and a half, all out of diapers, all out of cribs, all somewhat manageable (I say that loosely!) It isn't easy but it IS easier. Back to the run, when I am exercising I sort of play mindgames with myself to pass the time. I cover up the time on the tredmill and try to wait as long as I can before I check it to see how close I am till the end. My goal is to not look at the time until after the 17th minute mark...and usually I can do that. But sometimes on those particularly hard days, I fold and look earlier. The worst number I can see ticking by on that timer is 13! UGH, that 13th minute just stinks! When I look down and see 13 minutes that says, "You are hurting girl and you aren't even half way there...you aren't even close to half way!" Of course the runs that hurt the most are usually the most needed and the ones that result in the best sense of accomplishment at the end. As I go through motherhood I am reminded of this...there are times in parenthood that are just hard. There are days that are worse than others. There are seasons that just seem to drag on. But the time is ticking by and before you know it your time with little ones is up. You'll look back and realize it WAS worth it...it hurt at times going through it, but the lifelong benefits of sticking it out is priceless. Jana, you're in your 13th minute of motherhood... it IS hard, but you're doing a great job, and before long you'll see that magical halfway mark and an end will be distantly in sight. Then the endorphins will kick in and you'll be running through life at a record pace. Knowing all that doesn't make the 13th minute perfectly enjoyable but it does sort of help to ease the pain a bit. We all have those 13th minutes throughout life but hopefully seeing it in this light will help. Hang in there- soon you'll be saying adios to the diaper aisle and believe it or not, there will be a small part of you that misses it!