Ow...My Knees! 07/09/2010
 Here I am at mile 14. My parents worked at the water point...the thought of seeing them really motivated me to do the first 14 miles. It was the last 12.2 that kinda sucked! I was never a super runner. In fact, 7 years in the army only made me hate running after hearing repeatedly that I was never fast enough. But somehow, when my sister began training for her SECOND marathon (I couldn't believe she'd run a FIRST!), I felt compelled to train with her and at least provide moral support for those long Saturday runs. And boy...were those Saturday runs LONG! I had no idea when I agreed to train with her that I would essentially be giving up my weekends as I knew them. Saturday runs meant no late nights Friday and really (if I wanted to be a GOOD training partner), no drinking. They also meant I would probably lack the energy or imagination to do anything on Saturdays as I restructured my time for more important things like icing my knees and figuring out how to replace my electrolytes. And so this was my life for 4 months. During that period I got dumped by an ex-boyfriend, stalled on a major project at work, and forgot what some of my friends looked like because I didn't see them without going out on Friday & Saturday nights. But when I crossed the finish line of the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon (a great race that I would HIGHLY recommend if you feel like throwing your life out of balance a bit), I didn't care one bit about being dumped, demoted, or forgotten by my friends. All that training had paid off and I had just finished my first marathon! I felt like a rock star. Or in the case of this particular marathon...a rock & ROLL star! Later that year my sister and I did another race together. This time we were a little less crazy and downsized to a half marathon. Still enough training required to throw my life a little out of balance...but not quite to the level of training for a full marathon. What I discovered was that I actually kind of LIKED the imbalance! It turns out I didn't miss late Friday nights on the town or sleeping in on Saturdays. I was in the best shape of my life and if that meant being a little imbalanced...so be it! I don't run marathons anymore (at least not at the moment). But the lesson I took from that experience was that dedicating myself to a big goal felt good. In fact, it felt GREAT! Now I'm willing to take on bigger projects, go on longer trips, and spend entire weekends doing absolutely NOTHING! Does it throw my life out of whack when I do that? Sure. But now I understand how good it feels to live in that state of imbalance for awhile...AND how good it feels to get back to a more balanced place after the goal is reached. What about you? Have you run a marathon? A triathlon? Some other physically demanding event that forced you to be out of balance for awhile? What lessons did YOU learn?! Leslie Stein, 9 July 2010  We finished! My sister, our friend Jessica & me sporting our finisher's medals after completing 26.2 miles. All the lost weekends were worth it for this moment! CommentsMickey Sat, 10 Jul 2010 12:08:15 am I didn't enjoy running either, but if everyone else can do it, I can too...right? I ran my first marathon when my first baby was 6 months old...and then spent the next years complaining about my old lady hip (because it's been a problem ever since). I ran my first half marathon two years ago, and this year I ran the rock n roll San Diego and am training for the Nike Women's marathon in SF in October. My story is different from Leslie's---late nights of drinking and sleeping in aren't things I had to give up since I have two children. But I did have to make some huge adjustments--running before dawn to get them to school on time; paying a babysitter to watch them for hours of running when my husband was out of town (pretty much all the time without even including the 7 months overseas); and having to stay awake and do things the rest of the day after my long runs because the kids can't just run rampant. In the end though, it was worth it. So worth it. I was already in the best shape of my life after haveing four kids from doing CrossFit, but I really do love to be able to say 'I run marathons.' It makes me happy, so I will get up before dawn, and pay sitters, and try and stay awake. Sat, 10 Jul 2010 10:20:54 am Mickey, Bergen Sat, 10 Jul 2010 12:53:39 pm I actually think that for me I need some imbalance in my life to ultimately achieve balance. Let me explain. I spent the last 2-years as a stay at home mom. Before that I was a jet-set professional, always on the go from one adventure to another, whether I was running a marathon, traveling to some far flung location or buying a house. I always had about 5 different fires going. Now I don't want anyone to think that I am saying stay-at-home moms do not have a bunch going on, they do. But it's different... At least it was for me. I discovered that when I have all the time in the world to procrastinate, that's just what I do. "That laundry? I'll have plenty of time this afternoon... Well, now it's the afternoon, but the baby is sleeping and I would HATE to wake him since the laundry room is right next to his. I'll just do the laundry tomorrow morning..." You can see how this cycle repeats! And you can replace "laundry" with just about any task; grocery shopping, working out, etc... So I decided that in order to achieve balance, I needed to add more to my life. Some think I am crazy, but my great idea for my husbands deployment was to move to a different state with the boys and go to grad school. And you know what? I was so energized by the thought of adding more to my life, I was able to apply to and be accepted to a great program, earn a full fellowship, find a great little place to rent, move the family cross country, get the boys in day care, enroll in swimming lessons, and just get going. Sure now I am tired and feel pushed to the max far more often. But I like it better this way. Since I don't have as much time to procrastinate, I simply don't, and I amaze myself sometimes with how much I can actually accomplish. Amanda Sun, 11 Jul 2010 9:13:42 pm With two kids, a husband running for political office, a full time job, a house in the 'burbs that always seems to need some kind of attention, and on and on and on and on... I have fully come to realize that we can have it all, we just can't have it all RIGHT NOW. Sun, 11 Jul 2010 9:43:28 pm Bergen-I am LOVING your comments! I think this is something I've known since high school (and might explain why I wanted to be the captain of everything, editor of the yearbook, take dance lessons, AND participate in at least three after school clubs). I needed enough to stay busy and keep myself from procrastinating!! Kudos to you for making the changes necessary to get the best out of every day! Thu, 30 Dec 2010 2:34:54 am In the season of joy I present my sincere wishes and kind thoughts. May the kind of New Year outshine all the rest Sun, 09 Jan 2011 7:57:03 pm We realize the true worth of happiness when we are in sorrow. Leave a Reply | Imbalance...Not So Bad After All!Check out some ways Laurie & Leslie have found imbalance turned out not to be such a bad thing!
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