Rhythm of Running

Part One:

I step out my front door four days a week with my runners on, iPod on the go and a water bottle in my hand headed out to run where ever my feet take me. I go as far as want as fast or as slow as want, I turn off my brain and I center myself to the earth and to the music and I find peace.

Sometimes I get going and everything falls into place, I have hit what I call my 'rhythm'. For me that is when my heart rate, my breathing pattern and my legs all decide to work together and I feel like I am flying. I can't say at anytime I feel like it is effortless, but it sure feels good. I come home collapse in the driveway happy that I laced up my runners.

Other times I never hit IT. I don't get everything to match up, it feels like I am working harder than I have to; my shoulders are up high around my ears, I clench up my hands a bit. Or maybe its just a day that my legs feel heavy and I can feel my ass jiggling behind me as I pound my way down the hill. I does not feel good to run on these days, but when I get home and collapse in the driveway I feel good, happy that I laced up that day.

Part Two:

The kids have been back to school for almost a month now (APL they start back the Tuesday after Labour day, mine missed the first week, they were in Vegas with Paul) Sebass has started second grade and PJ is into first. Quentin had some choices to make this year, he could do one or two Kindergarten classes.

He is in the Montessori class and has been in the preschool for a few years now. He had the option of doing the Montessori kindergarten, the public school kindergarten or to do both classes on in the morning and one in the afternoon. Quentin thought about his options for about two seconds and said to me, "Mommy, I would like to make more friends so I think I will do both classes."

He does montessori in the morning and then a lunch program with the teachers of the morning class and then they walk him to his second classroom for the afternoon. (It is all at the same school and PJ and SeaBass are at the same school as well) What all this means is that all of my kids are in full time school.

I, being the fool that I am, have decided to most of my newly found free time to work. Yes, you read that right I volunteered to work more. I am now in the office 4 days a week. We have added office hours, we now have two days a week that between Paul and I we work straight through the day. We open the office and 7:00 and a.m. and we close at 5:00 no closing for lunch. It is working out well, but it means a bigger work load for all of us. Both Paul and I are feeling the crunch as we get into the rhythm of things.

Here is where I tie in Part One and Part Two:

I am struggling a bit to manage everything. I feel like I am sprinting from point A to point B all day every day. The kids have homework that needs to be attended too, they have piano lessons one afternoon a week (and practice their lessons 4 days a week, I only ask them to do it for 12 min. let's keep it reasonable, it is supposed to be fun.) they start Peter Puck on Thursday of this week and will do that only one day a week.

Learning how to get everything done and still keeping it fun for the kids has been like one one of those daily runs where I never quite get my rhythm. I feel like I am doing the right things and getting the right balance but I am struggling a bit to do it, shoulders up around my ears, my hands clenched to tight and my ass dragging along behind me while I completely forget to breath in and out. At the end of the day when I collapse on the couch I find myself glad I put on my runners and laced up but damn I can't wait until I find my rhythm again.