Screw Time...
We all need like 30/7 right....or maybe another day in the week would be nice. I would take just one more hour a day if I could.
But I can't so I make it happen like everyone else. Some days I am exhausted, some days I barely get to see Cory, but in the end I usually get done what I need done, and if I don't, well....tomorrow.
I trained for my first marathon while working two jobs, going to college full time, and helping to build a house. I was busy. I was cranky. I had a great boyfriend who put up with my crazy schedule and many hours of bitching and complaining. I made it work because I wanted it. I wanted the marathon but I also wanted to graduate, and I needed money. The house, well that was Cory's dream and he let me be part of it. Now it is my dream.
Lately I find there just isn't enough time. I am working, working out, cleaning. The last two weekends I have been up earlier on Saturday and Sunday than I get up for work during the week. Work is almost like a relief from the weekend. I complain to Cory about being tired and as much as he understands, he still reminds me that it is my doing. It is. I do what I do because I have goals. My goals are my dreams. In order to enjoy life I will always have a goal. I cannot imagine living one day of my life without doing it working towards something that will make me a better person or make me feel like I have accomplished something. I live to love and to dream big and go after it.
So yah, the past two weekends come Monday morning I have been exhausted. It is that proud exhausted though. Memorial Day weekend I rode 75 miles and ran 14 miles. I was proud but I was tired. This past weekend I ran 13 and rode 40 with a day less than Memorial Day weekend, once again Monday was exhausting but I had a smile! When my friends finished their 20 miler in my office Tuesday morning everyone but me questioned why the hell they would do it....I understood. They were exhausted but smiling. They just did on a Tuesday morning what most people won't do in their entire lives. It is an amazing feeling.
With my group of friends this isn't unusual. I mean, I have had two friends run ultra marathons in extreme weather the past few weekends, one made it over 90 miles in the rain, the other made it over 50 in the heat and humidity without great aid. We are what we are and we do what we do....and we make TIME. And these people...they have kids. Yes kids.
Point you may ask? No, I don't have kids. I workout when I want. I don't have to answer to anyone but myself. I am selfish. I have heard so many times how, "it is easy for you...you don't have kids." Not from my friends who do what I do, but others. Like the only reason I work out as much as I do is because I have the luxury to because I don't have children. Almost all my friends have children and work out as much as I do. They make time. Yes, some of them have amazing spousal support. They work together. However a few of my friends are single parents and still manage ultra marathons and triathlons/ironman races with kids.
I hate the fact that because I do not have kids people think I have extra time on my hands. I have seen it in jobs where people get time off/etc because of kids and I just have to understand because I do not have kids. I have had other people tell me it isn't fair because I get to work out whenever I want because I do not have kids. Like I am some kind of bad person for not having kids.
I work 40 hours a week.
I am a little obsessive compulsive and my house is always clean because I clean it once a week.
I am in a book club and read 3 books a week.
I write constantly.
Cory and I have at least one project going at all times.
I am on a softball team.
I am volunteer coordinator for my running club (this is the least amount of volunteering I have done in 3 years)
I workout 6 days a week for at least an hour a day.
So I may not have kids, and I may have a ton of hobbies, but I still manage to get in a work out with a full load. and yes, the load is my choice and it may be selfish choices but it is my life and I have just as little of time as everyone else who have made their own choices.
But to someone with kids...they may say that kids come first and you can't predict when/where they will need you so let me put it this way...
I have a friend who trained for a marathon with twin infants....she trained on a treadmill. Ran 20 miles on a treadmill sometimes with 2 toddlers....
I have a friend who is currently training for an ultra marathon and a half ironman who has two girls under the age of 10. She is a single mom. She gets it done.
I have friends who within 24 hours found out they were going to have a newborn, since both have completed major races.
I have several Ironman friends who have children who have completed multiple IM with having kids and awesome support from their families.
My neighbor has 3 boys and makes it to the gym multiple times a week and I see her running and walking as well.
I know kids make schedules more difficult. I know I cannot really say anything because I do not have a kid and I won't know until I do. I just ask that the next time someone says they are training for a race and you do not really know them, do not automatically assume that just because they do not have kids, they have the time or the ability to do it. It is not THAT easy....
I guess the most important thing I am trying to get across is, I work for it and use my time wisely. When I put down on an application that I have good time management, I am 100% true to my word. Cory will wait till the last minute and then make us late while I am giving him the death stare, I hate being late. Most days I am racing the clock. I can tell you Tuesday to the minute where I should be in my swim, when I should be beginning my squats, and what time I should be brushing my teeth and cutting my veggies for lunch? Crazy? Yes, maybe I am. But I have limited time and if I want to get in a swim and strength before work I get my ass up at 4:30AM and get my butt to the Y, If I am not there I am the first to admit it is my doing. If something comes up I can't control then I get up the next day and do it then. When I trained for my first marathon while working two jobs I would get up and run and then go to one job at 8am, immediately to the next at 5pm, and get home after midnight and still have to study. I was exhausted but I wanted that marathon.
So yah I do not have to get up to a crying baby at 4am. I get up to workout. I do not have to fed a family after work. But I still have time issues and I still make due. Next time you judge me, don't. You don't live my life. And if you want to run/swim/bike in my shoes a week....well...grab some cleaner too, because after we finish our 4 hour workout we are gonna clean the house.
