Obstacle Course

Once you've run a marathon, it's hard to stop. (Running marathons in general, not that specific marathon.) Something about the thrill of training and pushing your body to its limits drives you to keep striving to complete more races, faster. After a 1 1/2 year training hiatus, I have decided to run a half-marathon in December in honor of C 's birthday and a half in February in honor of A 's birthday. Two halves make a whole, right? I realize this endeavor, though, will be met with challenges not faced in my last training regiment; challenges like training with two children and a double jogger.

Challenge # 1 Getting to the track
"All right, Pumpkin, let's go." I coax A out the door, while holding C on one arm and my purse on the other. I have just finished loading books, snacks, a sippy cup, my water bottle, and sunscreen into the car.

"It's too sunny."

"Then get your sunglasses." I walk out the door to put C into his car seat. A comes out onto the porch. "Come on, sweetie, let's go."

"It's too shiny," she musters in her most pitiful voice.

"How about you close your eyes, and I'll carry you to the car? That way you won't see the sun so much."

"Okay." I start the car and back out the driveway. One mile later, we arrive at the track. "No, don't turn off Veggie Tales." I refrain from rolling my eyes and whining myself and wait patiently for "Message from the Lord" to end. I unload the stroller then load it down with at least five books, snacks, my cell phone, Walkman, sippy cup, water bottle, and a toy for C . Then I buckle A and C into the stroller.

And....we're off......and make it at least three feet when I hear, "I want my snack." I hand A her snack and start to jog.....and make it three more feet when I hear, "I want my juice." I try to hand A her juice while running without falling and decide to play it safe. I stop the stroller, hand her the cup, wait for her to drink, put it back in the stroller and start my run. By the time we get to the half-mile marker, C is snoozing and A has settled into a book. I just hope reaching into the storage section of the stroller 50 times for books, water, and snacks counts as ab work.

Challenge # 2 Connor's nap
When I resumed running after giving birth to my sweet boy, he didn't immediately settle into a stroller nap. No, I was usually the woman sloooowwly pushing the double jogger with the howling baby. Once I made it to the half-mile marker, if C were still awake, I'd take him out of the stroller, place him in the front carrier until he fell asleep, then I'd ease him back into the stroller and finish my run, A waiting sweetly and patiently the entire time.

Now naps are routine, but there are no guarantees. Take, for instance, two days ago, when running down the trail, my little ones and I were greeted by the clink-clink-clink of a jackhammer. Of course, a jackhammer. Why wouldn't there be a man with a jackhammer in the middle of the Greenway? C , jolted awake, began to whine. Big sister, though, came to the rescue with entertainment (silly faces), and he was occupied until we got back to the car.

Challenge #3 Rainy Days and Detours
When it rains, the trail floods. When the flood recedes, there is mud, lots of mud. After a particularly rainy stretch, I give it a few days then decide to attempt running the trail, hoping to find ways to avoid the really muddy areas. We park in a new spot, which A noticies immediately, and enter the trail from a drier area. I jog down onto the path, where I am greeted by a woman walking. "The trail is under water up there." "Really?!" I exclaim, surprised. That particular area never floods. "Yes, but you can go see for yourself if you want to," is her curt reply. "Thanks," I respond. It's not that I didn't believe her. My "really" was more an interjection of surprise. We turn around and run through the parking lot of an office complex, which happens to be next to a fire station.

Now, we detour by the fire station whether it's muddy or not. Even when I try to keep on the trail, I am usually halted by a voice shouting, "Fire truck, mommy." What can you do? I just count it as extra training.

Challenge # 4 Heat
Really, what else can you say but, it's hot in August in the south. Real hot when your running. Fortunately, not so much when your lounging comfortably in the shade of the stroller.

Benefits
The benefits of hauling twenty pounds of books, snacks, sippy cups, and water bottles to the trail and hoping that my two sweethearts will sit or sleep patiently certainly outweigh the burdens of the challenges, though. While taking detours, I've shared with my daughter the amazement of seeing a flock of geese waddle around before taking off in beautiful flight. Her face shining with excitement as she exclaims, "Goose, mommy, lots of goose." We've seen the brook babble quietly on water stops. A , C , and I have watched firefighters wash the fire truck and new puppies test the limits of their leashes. While running, I've leaned over the stroller and read to A her favorite books, albeit a little winded. Me, not the books. I've overheard A and giggling as A 's silly antics entertain her brother, so her mommy can finish a 45 minute run. And, I continue to be amazed by how what I so often perceive as inconvenient stops are really opportunities for God to reveal small jewels of wonder.

And through this all, I am hopefully teaching my children small lessons about setting goals and accomplishing them and am teaching them a lot about discipline, faith, and perseverance. And they, too, are teaching mom; teaching me about patience and finding joy in the "little" things.