A Running Mom

So yes, here’s the first in a series of Top 10 Tips For A Better Running Routine. They are designed for the psycho runner who can find any reason in the world to keep her from hitting the road! So get ready! If you’re used to putting running on hold for a variety of reasons, these next few posts will challenge you to knock it off and commit to a consistent running routine!

Ready?

Tip 1: Buy New Shoes Tomorrow - Run In The Old Ones Today!
Some days I put off running just because I start to think that I need new shoes and I’ll get into a better routine once I buy those new shoes. You too? Well, here’s the challenging thought: buy the new shoes tomorrow. But get off your behind and run in the old ones today. It’s that simple. One more run in the old shoes is not going to make a big difference. Make the plan to buy the new shoes. Commit to run in the old ones until you get the new ones. May sound obvious, but if you’re like me, it may mean getting in a few more runs, and a few more days of fitness, vs. allowing yourself to languish in the days of no running and therefore lack of fitness benefits.

This morning (I’m all about running in the morning these days) I ran in my old shoes. I’m convinced I need new ones. I haven’t purchased the new shoes. But I have been tricking myself into thinking that my running routine and the new shoes are related. I had hoped to buy the new shoes this week. But factors kept me from researching the shoes I think I need, locating them and hence buying them. See how it works? Do you ever do this?

It took a bit of psycho babbling in my head to get me to simply make the list that includes all three of those time-consuming tasks and realize that I may not get those new shoes for a couple of weeks. I’m not sure which ones I want to get. I cannot afford another pair of shoes that creates discomfort in my foot or knee. I need high-arched, stabalizing running sneakers. This might take a little time on my part researching, trying on shoes and talking to friends whose feet are like mine. So fine. I may not get those shoes for another week.

But I’m still going to run. I cannot afford to wait for the new shoes.

Deal? Now get out there and get that run in! You go!

Gotchya!

May your next run be a good one.
Rebecca

happy friends make us happy

Photo Credit: www.entrepreneurthearts.files.wordpress.com

I love it when a study comes out that kinda makes you go “hmmm…” This is exactly the case with a recent study that shows that if you have sisters, you’re likely to be a happier person. How ’bout that? I think about me, as the youngest in my family, with 6 sisters, and I have to wonder, is this why I’m a happy person?

When I look back at growing up with 6 sisters, I cannot say it felt like a party. I often felt like I had 6 mothers. But according to a new study from England, growing up with sisters makes you happier and more optimistic. Professor Tony Cassidy from the University of Ulster explains:

Sisters appear to encourage more open communication and cohesion in families. However, brothers seem to have the alternative effect. Emotional expression is fundamental to good psychological health and having sisters promotes this in families.

Cassidy says that this may be because boys are taught not to discuss things the way girls are. Those who scored the lowest in terms of happiness and optimism were boys who had only brothers. Only children scored somewhere in the middle.

My sisters may have made me a happy person, but I bet there’s a study to be found to suggest that close, female friendships make you a happy person, too. I look at my life today and fully realize that I have a wonderful group of women in my life that inspire me, push me on and make me laugh on a daily basis. And isn’t that what happiness is all about?

It’s why I’m running in the morning around a little lake with hills, with a friend who makes me laugh.

Maybe she’s like a sister. Maybe I’ve been lucky enough to forge some great friendships that have become to me like a bunch of sisters who just keep making me happy.

In any case, I’m considering myself lucky. And happy. How do you find ways for emotional expression so you can enjoy “good psychological health.” Do you have sisters? Friends who are like sisters? Do you think this makes the difference for you?

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca

Photo Credit: www.volusia.k12.fl.us

And so the saga continues for my 11 year-old girl. Now she wants to quit activities to avoid a girl who continues to call names, push and make mean comments. Ugh.

I had to go for a fast, 2-miler to think this one through. What to do?

I came up with a plan. I let her bail on one activity, since it’s something she really had outgrown months ago, anyway. And then I sat her down to figure out a few things that have been going on with this girl so she could practice some responses. She and I role-played what to say if the girl pushed her, said something mean or interrupted a conversation. And I sent her off to school. I thought, there she goes. Ready to deal. She has real tools to use against the bully.

I felt good.

But then, as I went about my day, I found myself wondering why this little girl is bullying my daughter. I know that bullies need a victim — someone who seems emotionally or physically weaker, or just acts or appears different in some way — to feel more important, popular, or in control. Could this be why?

I wondered, is the girl just acting on how she’s treated at home? Is she mimicking some of the rude, thoughtless characters that seem to fill today’s tv programs? Are we, as a society, allowing more bullying in our schools today, as more and more parents seem to allow disrespectful and rude behavior?

And then I realized that this is going to take a good 10k — or a whole weekend of running — to come up with some good theories. So, to prepare, I spent a few minutes doing a little research. What I found disturbed me. Many tips include telling the child to walk away, ignore the bully, tell a teacher. I’m not sure if these are good tactics for my daughter. She can only walk away, ignore and avoid so much. She’s leaving fun conversation, avoiding activites, etc., and in my opinion, inconvenienced too much just because one little girl is rude, mean-spirited and needs help. I know. My opinion. But really, how can I keep telling my daughter to avoid this girl? 

Meanwhile, the new friends my daughter has found bring out joy and laughter in her. I’m delighted. She seems full of life and is enthusiastic about school. She even told me that maybe Bully Girl is going through something; is choosing some tough friends; just isn’t herself. I’m so proud of my daughter for coming to those conclusions on her own. 

It’s striking, though, when I look around and see what our society models for our kids. Maybe we’re not doing our job. Maybe what would help, is if we treated each other with a little more kindness, thoughtfulness, patience and understanding. On some level, we all have to admit, we’re pretty nasty to each other, when you consider many sitcoms on tv, reality tv, commercials, radio programming, and even current events stories that fill our nation with negativity.

If we agree that we’re all, each of us, whether we’re a kid, a tween, a teen or an adult, could use a little patience, caring and understanding, then isn’t the first thing we ought to do is reach out and show others these exact traits in ourselves?

Next time you feel like shouting, think about how you could approach the same comment with kindness, especially if some kid is watching. Try and say something positive. Diffuse the situation. Get the other side laughing with you! You may be helping that kid to become more compassionate, too!

May your next run be a good one.

Rebecca