Inspiration

"Without inspiration the best powers of the mind remain dormant. There is a fuel in us which needs to be ignited with sparks."
~Johann Gottfried Von Herder

This week I began my third week of training for the Disney Marathon in January. On Saturday I ran 7 miles, the longest distance I have run since December 12, 2009. It took me exactly 70 minutes to complete it, not a second longer, and it was possibly the most arduous 7 miles I have run to date.  

That morning, Lucia was being quite fussy. For the 18^th night in row she had slept through the night, and while I count my blessings every day that she is such a wonderful baby, her very adult sleeping habits make for some very long days. I was beginning to realize that my run would have to be put on hold for a little while.

I had originally planned to run outside while my husband, Jason, watched her, but he had go into work last minute to take care of some paper work .  I knew Lucia wanted to get outside for a bit.  I could see it in her eyes. So, I took her for a little walk in the jogger to calm her down and waited for Jason to get home.  It was beginning to get hotter outside, and by 9 am it was already 90 degrees.  Jason wasn’t back yet.  So I decided that these 7 miles would have to be run on the treadmill.  Yes, I would be running 7 miles on a treadmill. Now, to some, 7 miles on a treadmill may not sound that bad. However, most runners will tell you that running on treadmill is not only physically exhausting, but mentally exhausting as well.  Unfortunately, (or fortunately, however you chose to look at it) it had to get done and I moved Lucia’s gym mat into our recreation room and I started running.

The 7 miles were hard and they were long. I kept looking over at Lucia watching me from the floor.  At times it seemed like she was laughing at me, almost like she was saying “This woman is crazy, running all this time and going nowhere.”  And, she was right. I was going nowhere, but my mind was going all over the place trying to find reasons to stick with it.  I had to find motivation to keep going, stride after stride, mile after mile, on a very boring and squeaky treadmill.  I had to find inspiration.

With my daughter playing next to me as I ran, finding inspiration wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.  One of my favorite quotes is one by Walt Streightiff; “There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million."  As she looked up and smiled at me I knew that I was one of her 7 million wonders, and that made me run harder.  My will to always be one of her wonders, made me stronger.  Her love for me made me confident.  I began to realize that while I was running for her and because of her, she was the one making me a better and stronger runner!  I realized that she was the best inspiration a mother could have, and a million miles on the treadmill would be possible as long as she was smiling next to me.

I finished the 7 miles, and it was hard. My body hurt, and today my body still hurts.  But my heart is happy.  And so I will keep running. 

This week is my third week of training, my third week of a quest to prove to my daughter and to myself that mommies can do it all. These next 16 weeks will be hard and tiresome, but when it gets tough I know that I can draw on my little 10 pound bundle of inspiration to get me through. 

So here is lesson #1 for my little Lucia: Find your inspiration… let it move you, let it drive you, and let it guide you in everything that you do!