When You're Sick And Can't Run, You Find Your Feet...

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Since I'm sick and can't run or work out, all of a sudden I have all this extra time in my hands!  I'm trying to be a good girl by taking THREE full rest days, so I can do my long run (8-miler) this weekend.  I've got this bug that reduced me to a shivering, coughing, "hit-by-a-truck" mess on the couch.  I hate being sick.  Everything takes a back seat - the house, the laundry, and it's like survival mode over here, just feed and care for the kids, don't worry about anything else, just let the house explode.

Still haven't shaken the bug off of me completely, but I am feeling better. We're having this unusually warm spell today, 60-some degrees outside!  I want to run so badly!  But like I said, I'm trying to be good, trying to be good.  So instead of a run, I treated myself to some breakfast at Panera (after dropping off Little Man at preschool) - whole grain bread with a slice of ham and eggs!  YUM!  I'm easy to please.  For one hour I let myself "be where my feet are" and it was awesome - much needed "me" time that doesn't involve running.

I "met" Maggie Bahnson from my couch through Another Mother Runner's "Follow That Mother" post which led me to Maggie's own blog, A Slice of Wife, which brought me to her wonderful post about being where your feet are.  In my own frenetic days, I admit I am somewhere else but here most of the time.  Sometimes, while I'm cooking, I'm thinking about the laundry that needs to be done.  While playing with Little Man, I think about what to cook for dinner.  Maggie's post was my much needed reminder to be in the present and just relish whatever it is I'm doing.  It's something I am constantly trying to be better at.

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So instead of thinking about what I'd rather be doing (running) or what I needed to do (groceries), I watched people in Panera.  I realized there were lots of moms like me - waiting for preschool to end, taking a "me" break, or working - in groups, alone - some on laptops or on their cell phones.  There's the solo Dad with his daughter, struggling to keep her from screaming her head off again.  Most interesting is this lady whom, I swear, took 30 pics of herself on her cell phone!  Ok!  Yeah, so this is what it's like when you don't run while your preschooler is in school - you get to hang out at Panera, chill, and take pics of yourself!

I realized then that I needed more of that kind of time.  I feel like I'm constantly rushing going from one thing to the next.  I need to just chill, "be where my feet are," like now.  Thanks so much, Maggie, for helping me find my feet.