I love the days that start early with one or both of the kids up before 630am, crying through breakfast, having a fit about getting dressed and then heading out for a run. And yes, I’m serious – I do love these days as they are spent with my kids and I love having that opportunity.
We had a little more than an hour left of our run this morning when the rain started. Axel was already asleep in the Chariot with Juniper playing next to him. I slowed down for a couple seconds to cover them up as I was determined to get my full hour and a half training run in (plus both kids needed down time after the fussy morning). As we ran back towards town, a large four door F250 slowed down next to us which could be scary in some places but not Carbondale. A young, cute mom stuck her head out the window to make sure we were okay or if we needed a ride home. As I gave her the thumbs up and thanked her for thinking of me, Juniper looked up at me and said ‘A little rain won’t stop us, right Mom? We’re tough.’ Thus, more motivation to keep going.
And keep going we did. I ran for another nine miles, me soaking wet but the kids dry and very happy in their Chariot. As the rain let up and Axel woke up, I opened the rain cover in order to listen to the kids giggle over every puddle we ran through. I had been getting funny looks running in the rain with the kids but felt much better when I ran into professional steeplechaser, Carrie Vickers, that had been doing the same thing. Gossiping and laughing, we ran along with all three kids for awhile enjoying knowing we weren’t alone in our quest to be athletes and mothers.
None of us melted in the rain, I had a great 12+ mile training run, the kids had some rest and we all were happy and ready to have some fun playing together. And although nothing ever goes quite as smoothly as planned, I’m not being sarcastic when I say I love these days.
