Is it all really worth it?

Since putting our house on the market 5 days ago, my already very very very busy life has skyrocketed into the stratosphere.  In addition to having to keep our house clean for all the showings that have occurred in the last five days, we still have to keep on living our lives with the kids.  Oh yeah, we have been meeting with architects and builders to get the process started on choosing someone right for us, to build our new house. 

Throw in my training for the Zooma Half Marathon in April, Valentine's Day parties times three kids, ballet lessons, soccer practice, planning a Spring Break trip, planning a Summer trip, shuttling everyone where they need to be when they need to be, cooking, cleaning blah blah blah and well, my head is literally spinning.

Every second of every day is accounted for.

By the time the kids are in bed for the evening, I am exhausted.

Fast forward to this morning.  After dropping the kids off where they needed to be, I hit the trail and ran 4.25 miles.  Good job Lisa.  Then I hit the gym to do a short upper body workout.  I normally wouldn't lift weights on the same day that I run, but I am so strapped for gym time that I just had to squeeze it in.  After lifting weights (oh, my tired arms and shoulders!), I proceeded to stretch and foam roll the legs and my good ole, OLD, aching hips.

I finally switched mental gears from being so FOCUSED on my workout to RELAXING a bit and letting my mind wander.  I thought about how much of a time suck training for a half-marathon truly is.  It really is.  Let's take a look, shall we?

•  time to prep your gear, water bottles, clothes
• drive to where you will run or map out your run
• warm up your body and stretch
• the actual run
• cool-down and stretch some more
• drive home
• on days you aren't running, cross-train or strength train
• for those like me, throw in yoga a few days a week to increase flexibility and strengthen problem areas (that would be my hips- yippee!!!!)
• in your down time (HA!), learn all that you can about nutrition, rest and recovery, fartleks, how to run hills, how to increase your speed yada yada yada.

Then, I thought about the sacrifices my family, mainly my husband, has to make so that I can do my long runs on Saturday mornings.  He doesn't flip out when I tell him I want to spend MORE money on race entries, new running shoes, cold weather gear, hot weather gear, etc.

You might think- no big deal, he's the daddy, he's the husband, he should step up and support his wife.  Yes, that's true and he does completely and wholeheartedly.  He never complains about the time my long runs take away from our family.  From what I can see, he doesn't resent me for it.

He just tells me "to have a good run and GO already".

I thought:  Is it really worth it?  All this TIME I dedicate to running?  Is it worth the sacrifices?

Guess what?  Ya'll have to know what's coming.....do you?  I promptly burst into tears.  Shocking, I know.

Yes, it is worth it.  It is worth it because it is FOR ME and brings me so much joy and continues to allow me to learn new things about myself.  When I got in the car, I called my husband and amidst my tears, I thanked him for supporting me and for not complaining.  I told him how much I appreciate him for that and that I don't say thank-you often enough. 

I think he was happily surprised with my call : ).

Then, I got home and saw this, my Rock Star Bling.  For completing two half marathons in the Rock n Roll Series during one calender year (I did San Diego in June and San Antonio in November), they give runners an extra medal.  It's pretty freakin' cool, isn't it?

Yeah, it's SO worth it.