I must tell you that I am absolutely 100% ready for spring! I use to LOVE the winter! It meant long runs in the woods in the snow! Mountain biking in the cold winter air. Totally crushing winter workouts were the best. Yes, those were the days.
Days of nothing else to do but train, rest, study, work and enjoy life. Well, for now at least those days are a distant memory. I felt myself longing for them this winter. I am one of those people who could literally be in the woods all day, whether it is hiking, running or mountain biking, and be perfectly content.
At the risk of sounding like the worst mom in the world…
Here is the honest truth. The most difficult part of motherhood for me is the pace. I am not designed to sit down and play with dolls or draw pictures or read books for hours. Isn’t that terrible? I love spending time with the kids, active time that is; whether it is a cooking lesson, going for a walk, working in the garden, teaching some moves with the ViPR, or hiking. In fact, I would rather be with all of them than not.
When I first had the boys, this was a huge shock to my world! I could no longer just get up and go and do what I wanted when I wanted to do it. Having twins is an extra obstacle because you have two babies to manage. I spent many, many hours each day sitting and nursing the boys, so for the rest of my day I wanted to be moving.
It was not the long nights or busyness of motherhood that got me, it was the stillness. SO….
My solution to this conundrum is this…
I started teaching the boys how to ride bikes early on, in preparation for having the girls. I wanted them to be ready to go with me on walks with the girls. And we did! When the girls were stroller ready in the spring of 2015, the boys would ride their little bikes on walks with me, sometimes over 30 miles per week! I would pull the wagon or push the stroller and they would pedal away! It was fabulous!!
I am creative with our indoor time. Dance parties, cleaning jobs, cooking lessons, indoor obstacle courses.
I fit my movement/exercise into the time before everyone wakes up.
Although not ideal for my circadian rhythm, I can get up and go for a run, bike ride, swim or walk before the sun comes up. I really love lifting weights or using my 3 ACT Slide, Pelvicore Ball, Coretex, and ViPR in the morning. This is my therapy, my stress reduction technique. These couple hours in the morning help me to be a better mom. I heard a podcast where it was a form of stress reduction called active global.
Well, that’s me, active and global.
So, knowing myself and my poor tolerance for slow pace activities is part of the puzzle. The next part is taking action and making the changes I need to enable me to function optimally in my current world.
If you are still reading, AWESOME!! What are your secrets to optimizing your function? I would love to hear from you!! 🙂
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