Tuesday, September 14, 2010

It's Time to Get Real

Ok, it's been so long since I posted anything that I didn't remember my password and had to reset it. Sad, I know.
Now's the time when I could go on and on about how great training is and how I'm so looking forward to the event and so on, but I won't. Frankly, it's time for a little honesty. I've read a lot of posts and blogs about the training and fundraising and all that's involved into preparing for walking 60 miles in 3 days, and I don't think a lot of you are being honest so I want to come clean on a few things. Someone needs to.
For starters, to be quite frank, I am tired of getting up every Saturday and Sunday at 4:30 in the morning to walk for hours on end. After all, I'm up every weekday, taking kids to daycare and school, then sitting through a meeting every day at 9 am, then trying to get everything done that I need to at work before the usual buying groceries, shuttling kids to Brownies and dance, getting homework done, dinner, baths--oh wait--there's supposed to be quality family time in there somewhere, right? Come here kids, let's cuddle for 5 minutes before I get back to the laundry. Ugh.
So I'm really missing my weekends of getting a normal night's sleep and feeling somewhat human afterwards. Instead, I walk for 5-6 hrs on Saturday mornings and turn into "The Grouchy Tired Mom That Needs A Nap" when I get home. It's not that I want to be tired, but after usually 4 hours sleep and 17 miles of walking, it's just inevitable. Last Saturday, I told my kids I was so tired and needed to lay down at least for 30 minutes to rest, so of course my son needed his bottom wiped (twice), wanted cereal (twice), and there was the usual sibling fighting that needed my cranky attention. Ugh, not the mom I want to be.
And wow, the people that ask the question of why I'm doing this and, I don't know how to describe it exactly, but they seem somewhat disappointed that I'm simply doing it because I can. Because Susan G Komen was my age with a husband and two little kids when she died and it could totally be me if we don't find a cure. That Keith's sweet aunt, Bonnie, died from breast cancer. I swear some people seem a little puzzled at my motivation when I haven't lost someone "that close" to me. And please, friends of 3 Day walkers, please don't ask if we've lost weight in our training because that's not what this is about. If weight loss was our motivation, we could have done that without signing up for this. I think a large majority of us are doing this because we could never envision this kind of time and energy sacrifice for ourselves, but when it's for friends, family, even strangers who are undergoing chemo or those who've lost their lives to cancer, it motivates us to make the time to make a difference. Besides, after walking 17 miles, guess what we are--hungry! So please, don't ask that anymore. We're all tired of it.
Yes, I confess all of this without a shred of guilt because it's all true. Yet I know that I'll look back on this event and all of the hard work that went into it and never regret a moment of it because it's bigger than me, you...all of us really. And truly worth every sacrifice that goes into it. And that's what keeps me going.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks very much for your comments, Trina. Well said. I often marvel at how people are able to keep going and do all (or even most) of the recommended training when they have young children. I'd never be able to manage it.

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