No parent runs without strings attached. You’re on foot heading away from your children. There’s always a little invisible string of care that stretches mentally out away from you and towards your kids.

Generally, it lays silent, waiting to tug at your heart the second your phone vibrates and you wonder if it’s school or the babysitter or too sharp a turn on the scooter and how fast could you get home? (Not very.)

Today, for only the second time I can recall, I got the dreaded message out on my run, three miles in. But before I could even panic, I got three more text messages with two neighbors seeing if anyone needed their kids picked up, and my husband seeing if he should leave work to get them.

Which was AMAZING. But as I picked up my pace and headed for home, I realized that it would have been fine even if no one had been able to get them. The kids were in the company of trusted adults, and they were safe, and they could wait.

Just like any time I’m on a run. Even if I hadn’t had my phone, they would have been ok.

It’s hard to let go when you’re a parent. But when we trust that they’ll be ok without us until we can get there, we make it true. And we need to take that deep breath and allow ourselves a mental break and go into the yoga class without our phone or let ourselves run for miles.

It’s easier for me to type all this now that my children are elementary school age and separation anxiety is non-existent, but even back then I left them with wonderful adults that I trusted and I was better for it.

Anyway – fellow parent runners, I hope you can do your worrying when you’re choosing your babysitter or school, not for your entire run.

They ran happy and finished strong!

I am so thrilled for them 🙂

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

On April 1st, I asked the kids if they wanted to run their first 5k. I told them I had a program that would help them get all the way up to the 3.1 miles and all they had to do to start was be willing to run for 60 seconds. They said yes, and so it began! By the next day, they’d told friends at school, one of whom even made Will a good luck on your race card, and we were committed!

We used the Couch to 5k training plan for about 6 weeks, and then switched to just consistently getting out there and increasing our distance or doing some speed work.

It has been amazing. There have also been not-so-amazing moments, like running when it was so cold out we needed mittens despite it being late April, or them cutting each other off and accidentally tripping each other, or whining because they weren’t in the mood to run when we had time to do it. But once we got out there, it was magical. I might have had to coax them out the door a few times, but I didn’t pressure. Once they were outside with their shoes on and their hearts pumping all three of our moods inevitably lifted and we came back happy and accomplished.

We’re running the Wonder Run 5k, and it’s a special race for me because the first year I ran it, I was pushing them in the double jogging stroller. They were 2 and 3 years old, and a friend who was part of the event planning snapped this photo when I waved at her and it was used in the local newspapers to advertise the race!

I ran that race in under 30 minutes pushing both kids, and I remember the feeling of joy and accomplishment. It was amazing.

I think this Sunday is going to be better, though, because I get to see my kids feel that level of accomplishment.

Already they speak with pride about how much they’ve changed over the course of our running. They talk about how much faster they are on the playground, about how far they can run. When we’re out driving they’ll exclaim “I’ve run here!” or “I could run the rest of the way home!”

They’ll shake their heads and say “Mom, remember when we thought running for 3 minutes was hard?” and I’ll just laugh because I remember feeling exactly the same way.

When you first start running, the noticeable increase in ability with consistent effort is so beautiful and addictive. It’s one of the best lessons kids can learn, too.

They’ve learned that if you try over and over again at something, you get better.

That if you don’t feel like doing something, maybe that’ll change once you get going.

That sometimes you’ve just got to put your mittens on and get out there.

That consistent effort creates incremental change and over time that creates big, beautiful transformations that allow you to cross a finish line while people cheer.

I know there will be some walking with their jogging on Sunday, and that they’re not speed demons… but I also know that these guys have gone out and covered 3 miles and are ready to do it again. They’ll be some of the youngest kids running the 5k instead of the fun run, and when they finish, they’re going to be so darn proud that their legs took them the grown-up distance.

It’s Spring!

Time for new beginnings.

Always remember

You don’t have to be good at something for it to be good for you

There’s always child’s pose

You can slow down

You can walk

Don’t push too far just because someone else is looking

Or because you could before

Reach upwards and grow

At your own pace

Offer what you have

Take what you need

Grow gently and slowly towards the light.

Greg and I just got back from Iceland. It was an incredible trip – restorative and filled with incomprehensible natural beauty. Much of my time outdoors was spent in utter awe of my surroundings.

Every time I travel, I try to bring something back with me. Not a souvenir. A practice.

When we visited Paris, I internalized what our Tattinger guide told us on our tour of their champagne caves – champagne does not require a special occasion, it creates one. I also took away the joy of biking as a form of sight-seeing, and how nice it is to just sit outdoors and linger over an espresso or an aperatif as its own activity, not just a break from doing something else.

England reminded me that it can be worth taking the time in the afternoon to put together a little snack plate and pour yourself a cup of tea.

I love the memories of travel, and I love the reminders to slow down or incorporate some of each vacation into regular life. You don’t have to be in Bath to have earl grey and a scone and not feel guilty for sitting down.

Visiting Iceland in April when it was 45 degrees out and there were strong winds reminded me to put on my best gear and get outside. It’s worth it.

We spent two and a half hours hiking up a mountain where it was so windy at the top that I sat down at one point for fear I’d blow over. But I was bundled up and comfortable the whole time, and it was gorgeous.

The time I spent in Iceland outside was epic, even when it was raining and the wind was blowing. When the elements were strongest, I felt the most alive, even though I normally would not have ventured out in that weather. It was invigorating and beautiful and epic to be walking through the rain in between moss covered canyons of lava stone, or leaning into the wind and getting pelted with frozen snow.

I know I sound insane. But I mean it.

Get bundled up.

Go outside.

Gulfoss waterfall might not be in your backyard… but outside is beautiful, and as spring makes good on its promises of occasional warmth and sunshine, I’d like to remember that those aren’t the only days I can go outside. I can always go outside. And I’ll probably feel better for it. Layer up. Head out.

There are other parts of the trip I’ll hold close to my heart, too. That the natural wonders of a country are glorious; while Reykavik was lovely, our time in its museums and restaurants and cafes paled in comparison to our time outdoors. I liked the famous landscape paintings in the Reykavik art museum mostly because they reminded me of the real thing.

Grab your jacket and boots and find some outdoors to explore near home.