Running Moms In Need of Inspiration
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As a full-time working, triathlete, and running mom I find it difficult to fit daily exercise into my already tight schedule. My time, like most parents, is scheduled down to the minutes. But for me, exercise is my coffee. If I do not exercise I am grumpy, I don’t have the extra bounce in my step and as my husband will attest to more difficult to deal with. Don’t get me wrong, I do love my coffee in the morning too. Furthermore, because I train for races and so does my husband, I sometimes get the “catholic” guilt that I am training and I am not spending more time with my son. Every now and then, I need a reminder that leading a healthy lifestyle makes me a better mom.
Of course, I am not the first mom who’s had to balance family, work and exercise into my daily life, but after having my son it became just that more difficult. After giving birth, I began searching for inspirational books, and running communities of moms who could relate to similar issues that I was facing. I came across these two great books Run Like a Mother and Hot (Sweaty) Mamas. These books are great, quick reads that do not require a lot of your time or money.
Run Like A Mother
Click to Purchase on Amazon
This book is filled with essays based on the personal experiences of the authors, two women who are runners, have full-time jobs, and are also wives and mothers. It is hard to do all of these things effectively, but this book argues that running, because of its side benefits to mood and self-image, is an essential part of life regardless of the inconvenience.
It touches on all topics in respect to running before, during, and after kids. It’s a great read for those who are embarking on this journey for the first time but don’t have anyone to ask the questions that aren’t covered in running magazines like “what do you do if you need to pee 1/2 way through a run?” or “what’s the best running bra for a nursing mom?”
Amazon Product Description
In Run Like a Mother, authors Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea offer both inspirational advice and practical strategies to help multitasking women make running part of their busy lives.
McDowell and Shea understand the various external and internal forces in everyday life that can unintentionally keep a wife–mother–working woman from lacing up her shoes and going for a run. Because the authors are multi hyphenates themselves, Run Like a Mother is driven by their own running expertise and real-world experience in ensuring that running is part of their lives.
More than a book, Run Like a Mother is essentially a down-to-earth, encouraging conversation with the reader on all things running, with the overall goal of strengthening a woman’s inner athlete.
Of course, real achievement is a healthy mix of inspiration and perspiration, which is why the authors have grounded Run Like a Mother in a host of practical tips on shoes, training, racing, nutrition, and injuries, all designed to help women balance running with their professional and personal lives.
If you are interesting in following the two authors, here is their website Another Mother Runner.
Plus, if you are looking for running shirts and accessories, they have a really cute store.
Click to Purchase at Another Mother Runner
If you like their first book, according to their website, they have another book coming out March 2012 Train Like a Mother. I am looking forward to reading it.
I had an opportunity to connect with both women on Twitter and they are just wonderful women. Connect with Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell.
Hot (Sweaty) MaMas
Click to Purchase on Amazon
I like the authors’ practical approach to being a Fit Mom. The book includes suggestions for fitting workouts into family life and the importance of resting if rest is needed. I really like the ‘Mom2Mom’ sections where real moms discuss some crazy things they’ve done in the name of post-natal exercise.
After reading the book, my 20 mos. old son and I did some fun core work outs like balancing on the Bosu ball while giggling, pushing ourselves up on the ball, or me doing sit-ups while he sits on my stomach bouncing. We have so much fun together and I have to say a toddler’s giggles makes working out much more fun.
Amazon Product Description
Authors, moms, and fitness enthusiasts Kara Douglass Thom and Laurie Kocanda work to balance motherhood and fitness. They know other moms struggle to make exercise a priority in their lives because they speak with similarly minded women at seminars and on their blogs. It was from these conversations–and the interest in them–that the idea for Hot (Sweaty) Mamas was born. This book is perfect for every mom or mom-to-be thinking about starting an exercise program, as well as moms already pursuing their fitness goals.
Hot (Sweaty) Mamas reaches a wider audience than other fitness books that merely focus on “getting your prebaby body back” by presenting advice on how to pursue fitness despite a busy schedule, how to carve out time with or without kids to work out, and how to get the support needed to pursue fitness goals. Moms who find it difficult to start or stick with an exercise program will learn how to reframe their thinking. Women who continue to work out and struggle with the guilt sometimes associated with taking “me time” will be reassured. Mothers-to-be will feel better prepared to pass a legacy of health and fitness to their children and make fitness and motherhood coexist. Thom and Kocanda reveal the secrets to being a fit mom inside Hot (Sweaty) Mamas.
Here is their website Hot (Sweaty) Mamas.
If you are interested in hearing how Kara Douglass Thom maintains living a lifestyle, here is her blog.
I hope these books provide you as much entertainment as they did for me, as well as, inspiration to get out an continue leading a healthy lifestyle.
Happy Running!
