Running Is My Morning Cup Of Coffee (TOL)

 

Running is my morning cup of coffee.

My friend Lisa made this statement to me the other morning and it was just the cutest, most accurate phrase to describe my morning running habit.

Lisa and I have been friends since our boys were 5 months old. I’m sure that I have already told our famous friendship story of how we met while pushing strollers through Baby Fortunoff. I was pushing an empty stroller with my screaming child on my hip while Lisa was pushing a peaceful, sleeping baby in her stroller while she happily shopped.

She says she felt bad for me for back then as I clearly looked like I was in distressed mom mode and I loved her immediately when we stopped to talk and realized we both favored frozen yogurt for lunch.

^ #TBT to my son’s first birthday party. The boys are still the best of friends!

After our initial mall meeting, we spent every day of our boys’ baby/toddler days pushing those same strollers through the malls, parks, streets, and playgroups. We didn’t exercise beyond those stroller walks and that was just fine for us as our stroller walks all day long kept us in fine shape and spirits.

Our lives are very different now from the way they were 14 years ago but we are still as close as ever.

Wait – who remembers way back when (in 2013) that I used to watch Lisa’s third baby a few days a week so that Lisa could run her errands? I even forgot that and now little Jordan is in kindergarten! I would write my blog posts back then while she napped. 🙂

Anyway, Lisa called me while I was running the other morning and I answered because I am happy to catch up with my friends while I run because sometimes that is the only time that works.

That’s when she made the nonchalant comment of how she totally forgets that I run every morning because I put running/the gym on hold when the boys were babies and it’s still not something I talk about, it’s just something I clearly do every day at the same time, as if running is my morning cup of coffee.

It sure is. I enjoy running every morning even if I don’t talk about it at all aside from here on the blog. It’s a part of my routine, it makes me happy and sets the tone for my day. Of course I still need my actual morning cup of coffee (usually two cups actually) but I need running as well.

I don’t really need to run that fast too often though. On occasion while running lately it crosses my mind that maybe I’m not working up to ability (you know, as if I am giving myself a progress report) but then I quickly realize that no one is grading me. I can do exactly what I want to do when I am running so if that means I just run easy, there’s nothing wrong with that.

As we have discussed, my natural running tendency is to run a little slower and a little longer. When I naturally decide I am tired of distance, I then, naturally, decide to run shorter and faster. So really, there’s nothing to think about. I do it all subconsciously and because I’m not pushing myself to do something I really don’t want to do, I can relax and enjoy myself in the process.

On This Day:

So my first ever Thinking Out Loud post popped up the other day and when I went to read the link, I noticed it was from four years ago right around now. December 12, 2013 to be exact!

12/14/16: Holiday Party Desserts & WIAW – this feels like yesterday. Can’t wait to attend this annual party again this year!

12/14/15: Do I Really Need It?

12/14/14: Carvel Sundae & Weekly Workout Recap

Running is my morning cup of coffee #running #thinkingoutloud Click To Tweet

If you have kids, how did you meet your “mom friends”?

Are you a morning or evening runner?