Jill: The New Normal

For most of my life, exercise has been about feeling fit and strong and liking the way my clothes looked. I've never been worried about the number that the bathroom scale reads.  In fact, I never even owned a scale until I was married.  Running was also never part of my exercise regimen until I met my husband. I much preferred hiking, biking, weight lifting, and fun classes at the gym like kickboxing where I could imagine how super tough and kick ass I was or yoga where I could imagine how slender and graceful I was (neither of these are true by a long shot but it's fun to dream).  But after meeting hubby, I was more inclined to toss some running into the mix.  We happily kept fit together for all the years before we were married.

Then we got married.

Then we had kids. 

Ever hear people say "having kids changes everything"?  Yeah, it's basically true except that things don't exactly change.  You just find yourself having to adapt to what I like to call the "new normal."

For example, we still sleep, but just not as much.  We still cook good dinners together, but just not as often as we make mac 'n cheese.  We still go out for dates, but now we need several days advanced planning to pull it off.  We still work on our house, but now it's at the pace of a land tortoise (approximately).

And we still exercise.  My husband's regimen hasn't changed much.  He still just goes out and runs, more when he has a race to train for and less when he doesn't.  I, on the other hand, have less time to drive to the gym for one of those classes I enjoyed.  If I've gotta spend three days prior lining up child care for an hour long zumba class, it just isn't worth the effort, especially not when I could be spending that time with a glass of wine and a few blissful moments of silence.

So now I run.  It's easier, quicker, and thankfully, it's fun now that I have buddies to whine with.  It is, for now, my new normal.