I'm my own worst competiton

I'm not a big fan of competitions. The only running competition I'll ever win, is the one where you get a prize just for showing up.

There are no clearcut criteria for motherhood

And as for motherhood: there are no clearcut criteria to determine the winner. One juror may lavish you with lots of points for doing Arts and Crafts, but another may reward Reading Bedtime Stories. I wouldn't know where to begin.

My competitor is Me

But even though I'm not competing, I'm constantly plagued by one annoying competitor. She always wants to do júst a little better than me. 

If I manage to reach a certain little tree on Monday in ten minutes, but it takes me eleven minutes the next day, you can be sure she's there taunting me!
'They probably moved that tree you know!' I'll try and defend myself, but all I get in response is:'Nehnehnehnehneeeh!'

I have tried to get her disqualified, but to no avail. 

She's always there, because my worst competitor, unfortunately, is me.

Whip you body and kids into shape!

Running and raising kids have a lot in common. Just like you whip your body into shape by running, you whip your children into shape by educating and raising them.

When you first start running there's gonna be protests

When I first started running, my body was not amused. Just like a child protests agains the demands you make on it, my body moaned and groaned when I made it run more and more miles. It protested with tired muscles and responded slowly. But in the end it adjusted! My body became lean and mean, a real running machine! And the moans and groans became shouts of joy.

The same thing goes for parenting

The same thing applies to raising your kids. Let me give you an example: I've decided that, in the future, my kids can make their own beds. And just like my body did back then, my kids moan and groan and respond with resistance. But slowly and surely they'll adapt, and soon making their bed will be a normal part of their routine.

Whether it's raising kids, or training for the New York marathon: you'll succeed in the long run!

When does running get easier?

I've often wondered when running will get easier. I 'm kinda waiting for this magic moment when I'll lace up and breeze out the door, effortlessly cranking out a ten miler.

Running hasn't gotten all that much easier

Nevertheless: even though it hasn't gotten all that much easier yet, I can now run much further and much faster then I could seventeen years ago! Back then I'ld barely make it around the corner without collapsing in a teary, sweaty heap of misery, and now I can run for an hour without blinking.

Although not without some cussing.

Running is like mothering

As usual running is a lot like mothering. I also thought mothering would get easier over time, but it hasn't. To be honest I find it as difficult now as thirteen years ago when I was a new, dewey-eyed mommy. But just like with running I have learned a lot, and I'ld like to believe I have improved.

So even though both running and mothering don't get easier, as a runner and as a mom yóú get better at it!

My routine: Running, hula hooping and meditating

Since I discovered the joys of running seventeen years ago, I have found a routine that works for me.

My running routine

I run daily. I run early morning for about 45 minutes. After that, I do some hula hooping for about 10 minutes. I used to watch Kdrama's while hula hooping, but I've finished all the good ones, so I found myself searching for something else to during hula hooping. And I found it: meditating with the Headspace app.

Meditating with the Headspace app

I've tried meditating before, but I always kind of hated it. I found it very hard en quite boring. But the thing about the Headspace app is that you can meditate for only 3, 5 or 10 minutes. And that's quite doable. One of the tips I found in the Headspace app is to tie your meditation practice to a daily routine. Like brushing your teeth. So that's what I did: I tied meditating to my daily running + hula hooping routine.

So now I feel very virtuous after my daily run + hula hooping ánd meditation!

It's a great way to start the day.

What's your fitness routine?

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