I find it slightly ironic that I am writing this post on June 18th because I actually ran a marathon on this date seven years ago. I can’t seem to wrap my head around this fact. I probably will never run another marathon but this doesn’t bother me.

Could it have been that long ago? I was hanging on to my twenties and determined to run one before I turned thirty. My husband and I trained together.

I can’t say the training was easy but what in life is easy at first? I am proud that I ran the marathon but my pride does not come from crossing the finish line with two huge blood blisters on each foot. No, my pride comes from all of the training and hard work that lead up to the marathon. My sense of accomplishment comes from NEVER giving up on the training runs.

Sometimes I reflect back on this simpler time before my husband and I embraced on the marathon I like to think of as a different kind of training. Ah yes, parenting. Some days seemed like utter eternities. Additionally there were days where I felt like a complete failure. Some nights when I thought sleep would never come to anyone in the house.

Becoming a parent was amazing and stressful all at the same time. I had many emotions and sometimes I was way too hard on myself. I wanted to do everything right, I wanted to be perfect. It was almost paralyzing. I also was not expecting some huge obstacles and challenges I would need to overcome.

One big challenge was going back to work. I fought for six months to get a mothering room with a locked door. I was angry but more than willing to fight for what I knew was right. This made the transition back to work for me kind of a nightmare. It also made me down right pissed and unpleasant at times. My son was born early and then in the hospital for almost two weeks. My maternity leave was 12 weeks and it seemed like suddenly it was over.

I struggled managing working full time and being a mom. I know everyone else feels guilty but when you are a first time parent, you just don’t always understand that in the moment. You just don’t always understand that all parents are training for their own parenting marathons as well.

Almost in a blink of an eye, my son was one. We thought we had the parenting thing down pretty well. Nine months later our second son was born.

Well, I quickly realized 1 +1 doesn’t always equal 2. Additionally, parenting doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Life happens and well, our lives were about to change big time. We moved into our dream house six months later. My anxiety skyrocketed. The stress of moving with two young kids was almost unbearable. I was pumping and nursing and just exhausted. It was too late to turn back and not move.

Then, life threw another curve ball that continued our moving again but this time out of state. We said good bye to Minnesota and took off on our next adventure to Nebraska. My boys were still really young and some days were just really hard. Just like with marathon training, I kept going forward.

Well, we moved two times after that to two different states again. Sometimes when people would ask me about moving, my brain would hurt just thinking about it. I can laugh about it now but when it was my families lives in the moment, it was hard. Just because we had moved multiple times didn’t make it mentally easier. There wasn’t time to really process the change or always have the energy to be on my A game. Let’s face it, I was lucky if I was on my C game.

I sometimes thought maybe my brain was gone for good. It wasn’t easy starting over without any family or friends anywhere near by, and I was not always wanting to try and meet new people. I was exhausted and on edge. Social media was a double edge sword. It can be a nice way to stay in touch but also cold and impersonal. Also, sometimes I just didn’t want to see the best of other people’s lives when I was feeling the worst of my own.

Somehow I just kept moving forward. I tried to learn from my mistakes and do what I needed to do to be the person and mom I knew I was meant to be. I realized that I have accomplished and overcome way more than I allowed myself to be thankful or grateful for, and it was time to give myself some credit.

My anxiety is so much better now. I have been running regularly now for a year, and I have realized that parenting is just like marathon training. I have also given up coffee for tea with honey. It isn’t easy but I just need to keep putting in the work and effort.

I guess crossing the finish line will mean having children that grow up ready and excited for life. Children who know they are accountable for their own actions and happiness.

Life is not meant to be perfect but it is meant to train hard.Parenting is all about doing what is right for your children even if it’s not easy. We will all fall down. We will all doubt and look left to right as we train. One thing I am certain about is that becoming a parent has changed me in a way that is hard to explain. My boys have taught me way more about life than I have every thought possible. I didn’t realize how strong I actually am.

Apologizes for such a long post, but a great friend of mine gave me the courage to share my story.

Now it’s your turn. Go inspire someone else to be their best self so they can inspire others.