As many of you know I have started going to the gym, mostly to run off my anger. I have never been much of a runner. I can sprint for short distances (fastest kid in fourth grade thank you very much) but don't ask me to run further than a couple hundred metres. I could list a bunch of lame excuses but I'm not going to bother. Running requires discipline and controlled breathing similar to swimming. Let's just say that I am not a very disciplined person. Since I started going to the gym a few weeks ago I can now run a mile and a half before walking for a couple minutes and then starting up again. Not great I know, but not bad either. Along the way I have learned a few hard lessons about running on a treadmill especially if you are a grieving mother.
Number 1 - Letting tears fall on the treadmill is okay because nobody looks at you anyway. Sobbing on the treadmill is not good because if you're asthmatic you are one tiny step away from hyperventilating and people will notice. I only ever came close.
Number 2 - Never try to open your Sigg water bottle and take a big sip while you are actually running. This could lead to water down your shirt or worse yet the bottle slipping out of your hand and spilling all over the moving belt before shooting out behind you and hitting somebody in the leg. Yes, this actually happened to me! : )I should point out that it's not a sippy top.
Number 3 - Never try drinking water going down the stairs after a hard workout for similar reasons to above. I came close but managed to keep the bottle in my hand.
Number 4 - Always make sure that you know what time the gym is closing. You could end up in the whole place alone because the staff are too polite to tell you it's closing time.
Number 5 - Never try to walk on the treadmill backwards at a high speed especially if you are just trying to jump on off of the sides. Picture it!
Number 6 - When the sweat is pouring down your back and you can hear your heart beat in your head think of how hard a wee babe worked to breathe and keep on running for another minute. So easy!
Number 7 - Laugh at yourself! Life is still fun!
Love to you all,
Kristen
Happy 11th Birthday Emersyn
5 years ago
You truly are a gifted writer! You almost made me want to join a gym :).
ReplyDeleteDonna
(Blake's Mom)
You're so awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteIt amazes me how you manage to lift other peoples spirits and probably don't even realize you are. You are an amazing woman.
ReplyDeleteI thought of you a couple days ago (actually I think of you all every single day)but moreso because Taryn brought home a little gift from school. It was a little planting package of the Forget Me Not flowers. I remember reading in your past postings that you came upon these at the nursery and were drawn to them for obvious reasons. I will plant these in our garden with nothing but Georgia on our mind. And will continue to plant these every year in her memory.
It is amazing how someone's life (that I have never met) could have such an impact on mine. I read your postings daily and can only think about how much I look up to you. You are an amazing woman.
Love Mandi Silvari
I couldn't have said it better than Mandi, you truly are an amazing woman! Your post made Bruce and me laugh, especially picturing your water bottle spilling and then going flying out the back of your treadmill-we could both just see it happening!
ReplyDeleteThe most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ~e.e. cummings
Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward. ~Kurt Vonnegut
Hope today is filled with sunshine, smiles and laughter, even if it is at yourself! Love Em
Kristen. You are inspiring. You continue to inspire. You are strong. You continue to be strong. You are beautiful. You continue to be beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you for passing along your gifts to all of us, who, may stress about the every day "small stuff" in life, and then, after reading a latest post, become grounded to reality and take the time to remember what life and love really are about.
Sharlene
Hi Kristen.
ReplyDeleteI visit this blog at least once a week and think of you and your family much more than that. It was an honour and a privilege to get to know you and share both smiles and heartbreak with you. Georgia's face is still crystal clear in my mind....not to mention her full diapers!
As a fellow runner, I understand the catharsis a long, hard run brings; I also still laugh at myself as my dog pulls me all over the sidewalk and small children pass me by as I struggle for 1 more mile.
When my breath is gone and my tears are near I always think of how fortunate I am to have lungs and legs that will carry me as far as I ask them to.
Thank you once again for all that you've taught me.
Sarah
(PICU)