Life takes us very fast from the moment we are born. We are in a hurry when we are children to be a little less children; when we are teenagers to be less teenagers; when we reach the age of majority we are still in a hurry to cross a little more that barrier that takes us away from the legal border...and so on until we reach full youth, as in our case, and life takes us to be mothers...and that is when our long-distance race begins, our particular "marathon". Because being a mother is a beautiful long-distance race... a race without a finish line. And despite the help of a partner and/or family, we make this race our own. That is the reality.
These are our three stories to celebrate Mother's Day, the stories of the skull trio as Gorka Cabañas called us the first day we met in Bilbao.
The running story of Verónica Martín
My name is Verónica, and this is my story for Mother's Day.
When Sonia, one of my colleagues from Runnea Women Team proposed to Lexury and me to write a post for Mother's Day as "mom runners", the truth is that I thought it was great, since the three of us are not only runners, but also mothers. But after the initial euphoria, I realized that in my case, combining family and Running shoes era much easier than for them. So what could I contribute? Let's think about it!
I started running five years ago, by which time my daughters were in school and work had long since left me. Basically I needed to do more than just take the kids to school, have a coffee with some moms and dads and go home to do what they call "housework". So I joined a gym where I went a couple of days a week and the rest I spent between going for a walk, which later became going for a run and taking care of my family business! By family business, I mean my house, my girls, etc...
As you can see at first glance many problems to reconcile today I do not have, I try to go running in the mornings but if it comes to it I also do it in the afternoon. At the beginning only if daddy was there to take care of them. Now they are two teenagers, and truth be told, they are eager for me to go running and leave them "quiet" ....
Being a mom is very rewarding, but reconciling leisure, in our case running, with work and family is very difficult if there is no one else in the equation.
I remembered how I started doing sports, it was when I started working, I always liked to be active and I joined a gym for the first time. Then I got married and left the sport aside. When my eldest daughter was born and after maternity leave, my boss left me and let's say that my Maruja ON mode stage began. The second one was born and for a couple of years I was quite entertained with them until, as I told you before, they started school and I began to enjoy libre time, time that I wanted to spend on those things that for a few years I had not even thought of doing.
So as you can see work, family and sneakers have never been a problem since they have not come to coincide in the same equation. I guess at the time it didn't even cross my mind to have "my space". I do have someone who makes it easier for me to enjoy what I love so much. But even so, I still feel "selfish" when I put on my Running shoes and leave the house to run?
Lexuri Crespo's running story
My name is Lexuri Crespo, my girl's name is Izaro and she is 2 years old. I consider myself an amatxu with an important craze, called runner or trailrunner, and here is a little summary of my madness...
Being amatxu, I knew that my life was going to change completely, but I also knew that running was not going to leave it aside. Thanks to it I have been able to find a moment for myself, that moment that everyone needs to disconnect from the world and that I didn't want to lose for anything in the world. Call me selfish, but I think that having a baby does not prevent us to continue doing what we like.
The first months were quite hard, I was breastfeeding her and organizing my schedule era an odyssey, since the feedings don't know about schedules and I could go 3 hours without taking milk or she would ask for it every hour. But childbirth made me much more stubborn than I era and I knew that if I wanted to run again I had to ask for help.
I think being a mother is a matter of two, yes we have the biggest burden, but I think they have to be part of it. They have to collaborate, help as much as possible, form a team so that the family is much more united.
I was very fortunate that my partner did his part so that I could start running. Yes, he is also part of my great madness and without his help this would not have been possible.
- You might beinterested in: Start running after childbirth: Basic tips to keep you active.
The return to running was little by little.... After the fortieth month I was able to start doing my hypopressive sessions and thus strengthen the entire pelvic area. I spent two months going to a specialized center in Bilbao and as you can imagine I had to take my little girl with me. She did not give a drop of war but if in the middle of the session she touched the boob there was no choice but to stop her. Little by little the days went by, my trips to the mountains were more frequent (walking and always carrying my little one in her backpack) and I was feeling more at ease with myself. This is another factor against us, our bodies change so much that it takes us at least a year and a half to get back to our pre-pregnancy state. Today is the day that I still have 2 kilos left from pregnancy, they seem small but they cost an egg and the yolk of the other to take them off.
As I said before, organizing my schedule era a bit crazy, before going to the gym I was always breastfeeding her and I was watching the phone in case I had to run (which more than once I had to do). I was like that for at least 2 months, until the fourth month I started jogging ... Puff mother mia: horrible feelings, heart rate through the roof and an incredible fatigue! I thought that Izaro was with me, that this era my sacrifice and everything went away.
It was time to set a goal and what better than with one of the best races, the Behobia San Sebastian. I was not in my best physical shape and I knew it was going to cost me my life, but I had to run it, for me and for her. I didn't get the best time of my life, but I enjoyed it like never before, since it had cost me my life to get the training done.
As the months go by and Izaro grows, everything is much "easier". Now I can get up early to do my training and arrive when she is awake or even leave late in the day and she can stay with her aita. It is true that my schedule is pretty good and that I can even pull my mom when necessary to go out to train. I have to thank her for everything she is doing so that I can continue training hard. She, besides being the best mother in the world, is the best grandmother in the world and this is also part of her, without her all this would not be possible.
All this that I have told you is a small summary of my return to running being amatxu. That not everything is rosy and that everything costs. That if you need help to go out to train that you pull every person close to you. That you have to be patient, the body is wise and that the time will come out little by little. So set a goal and give those legs a good workout.
The running story of Sonia Perez Ramos
My name is Sonia, I'm one third of the trio calavera and as you know I tell you my adventures and misadventures in my Runnea's mom runner blog, so here I remind you a little of my story for mother's day with emphasis on the best: my mother.
My mother's name is Esther, and she broke her back (almost literally) in the famous "freezer" of my town to help my brother Juan and me to get ahead. My brother decided not to study (something that now weighs on him, I know), but I went to university in Zaragoza to fulfill my dream of becoming a teacher. I saw her put in lots of overtime despite doing shifts from 6 to 14h, from 14 to 22h and even in the night shift to cope with my illusions.
When I passed the 2009 competitive examinations, I took a weight off my shoulders, I felt that I had finally shown her that everything she had worked for me in her life had been worth something; but I also know that if I had failed them, and if today I were to dedicate myself to something else, she would be equally proud of me, as she is of my brother.
I see many of his efforts reflected in my conduct as a mother. I make time for myself from where there is none, just as she did. Hence my impossible early mornings before going to school, my modifications in Runnea Academy trainings, and even leaving work and going for a run in a row so that I can dedicate the whole afternoon to them.
I have always been a very active girl. In my youth I was a lifeguard for 7 summers, which led me to keep in shape through swimming; I also did aerobics, spinning, and even cycled for a while...until I discovered, at the age of 40, what really makes me happy, what has given me back my joy and what has been an escape valve for my day to day life: Running.
After the birth of Jimena, and facing a series of various complications, I put on my running shoes to escape the problems and stresses of my day-to-day life by running.
Running makes me escape, distract me, not to think about my problems; it makes me be disciplined with the Runnea Academy training schedules because the time I have left to prepare my teacher's classes and to do my housework depends on it.
At the same time, it has allowed me to write this blog in Runnea where I tell you my little things. I have discovered that I love to write. Writing has allowed me to let off steam. Writing has allowed me to connect with #gentequesuma, people who have come into my life to stay and to enjoy with me this crazy adventure I'm living.
All this would not be possible if I didn't have the support of my family, the one who saw how this hobby, little by little, has become a very important part of my life. Running has given me back my smile, even if it is now a little diffused by my injury. From here, as always, I want to thank my family, friends and cuchipandi for supporting me, for putting up with me and for putting up with me day after day. And to you Mom, thank you for being my mirror, my best example. You are unique, you are special... You are my mother!
For all those mothers that when you ask for a hand, they give you three! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!
