Me, a Marathon Runner, Nahhhhhhh
Do you hear that crowd cheering? Is your inner cheerleader woot wooting for ya? “You can do it!” Welcome to the parent marathon. I have been running since February and I hear this is a long race. Come on guys, this is not a sprint it’s a marathon. Get your goo, drink a beer, rip some bananas open, find your playlists, peel off some layers, put some clean, dry clothes on, stretch, stretch and stretch some more, get your breath, find some friends to run with you along the way, change socks so your blisters don’t get worse, drink some water, don’t forget the body glide for your raw chafing skin and yes, keep going. You can do it!
I don’t know about you, but I am frigging tired. I am mentally shot. I am physically destroyed and spiritually fatigued. Pretty much this marathon is tearing me, personally, apart from the inside out. Good news, like a real marathon there are some incredible rewards to this experience. I have learned some of the biggest life lessons about my own strength, my family’s resilience and our ability as human beings to adjust to take action to deal with climate change in ways I never thought possible.
As we approach the next mile marker, the new school year, emotions range from glee (like my 13-year-old self internally doing flip flops with excitement when I found out my crush wanted to eat lunch with me) to pure fear (like when I looked at the two pink lines on the stick that revealed I was pregnant for the first time) to dread (like the way I felt a couple of days ago when my child argued and argued with me about doing his summer school work on his own timeline and the need for me to stop helicoptering). I feel like we are playing a game of constant peek-a-boo I see you, except every time we close our eyes we see something else. Schedules change again. We go from in-person to virtual back to in-person classes. There is so much chatter, noise, opinions. It’s all very overwhelming. I hear myself saying “I don’t know if I can do this”.
I recall my last half marathon which I ran in no record time. The first six miles were super, the next two were harder but manageable and the last five were horrible. Every mile I greeted with tears and determination. So many times I questioned where I would get the strength from? Will my hip pain be so unbearable I will have to quit. But I didn’t. I get kept moving forward. I was lifted spiritually by those around me, going through the same thing. We were all tired (at least those going at my pace) but we somehow joined together, connected, embraced each other with a smile, a power-charged glance, a cheer, a positive sentiment that got us to the end.
This marathon is no different. My kids are the inspiration at all times. I repeat to myself this mantra daily, If they can do this so can I. Even though I know there are miles to go, I believe that if we can join each other, as caring, loving, supportive adults, who are all going through this together, we can make it to the finish line.
As with any race, pacers, and a personalized running kit help. Here are my current social “pacers” and my own going back to school mental wellness helpers.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/parent-checklist.html