Bravo for Running Moms

Brooke enjoys a late afternoon run near Saguaro Lake under WEaver's Needle
Yesterday was a classic example of how running keeps me sane.

It was my day home with Chloe, which means in the afternoons I can count on her to take a long toddler nap. I love - no, I need - that two-and-a-half hour stretch of time. So, when I heard her playing with her dolls an hour early, I peeked in on her. I knew by the smell what had gone down. Guess?

Our potty-training toddler peed and crapped her big-girl panties in her bed.

Yeah, so not awesome.

I threw the mess of clothes and sheets in the wash, wiped and re-pantied her round little tush, and went for my running shoes. It was either that or an early happy hour. Thank God for running.

I had to look at the bright side as I started my slow trot behind the stroller. At least a short nap for Chloe meant a work-out for me that I probably wouldn't have mustered the energy for on my own.

I wondered, "Could me going for a run have anything to do with just having finished a book about running moms?" It's likely. So I thought I would share, in case a fellow poo- or pee-wearied mom needs to find some release like I did.

The book is called Run Like a Mother: How to Get Moving- and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity by Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea. These women athletes tackle some serious and pertinent running topics in a down-to-earth and saucy-in-a-fun-way approach over 26.2 chapters. Get it?

This is a great read if you are a mom who is or ever was a runner. It will make you laugh, nod your head, cringe, and feel tired just thinking about trying to crank out a speed workout at 6 AM on a work morning.

Run Like a Mother
I think my favorite thing about this book, without intending to take away from its helpful supply of information, is relating to the other moms' experiences in the trenches of mommydom. While we all tackle child-rearing in our own ways, what we have in common is trying to balance our mom role with the other things that we also love about ourselves. You know, the pretty, interesting lady our husband fell in love with who used to talk about far deeper concepts than poo and pee? And if you are or ever were a runner, that's part of you as well. This book will help you reveal the sexy runner chick that you thought you were too tired and busy to find.

This book only took me about a week to read cover to cover. While I found the whole book enjoyable, I'll tease you with a couple of parts that were my favorites. Dimity's clever rendition of "If you give a mouse a cookie" adapted to "If you give a mom a pair of running shoes and 40 kid-free minutes" had me laughing out loud. It's so true, one of the hardest things with kids in the picture is just getting out the door.

This book will help you reveal the sexy runner chick that you thought you were too tired and busy to find.I found Sarah's tale about overcoming her infant daughter's weaning meltdown during all hours of the night before her big marathon a fresh direction from the more classically mundane race stories that go, "I trained this many miles and ran a PR in ____hours" of other books. Besides that little anecdote, the entire chapter on marathons has me more interested than I ever thought in trying to challenge myself to 26.2 miles one day.

I love that it's not about the numbers with these girls (even though they do like their gadgets and gps units), it's about what we're giving our mind, soul, and bodies when we hit the pavement or trail. Because that's what it's all about to run like a mother.

You can order this book from Changing Hands Bookstore.

Disclosure: I did not receive this book, nor payment of any kind (cash, credit, or other goods), from the publisher, author, or an outside firm for this review.