I like to run. I think. Maybe.
Actually, I’m not really sure I like it at all.
A few weeks back, I ended a post by saying, “I’m off for a run!” As if I’m oh-so-cool, the type of person who runs without waver, my feet drifting along the pavement as if I were born in Baby Nikes.
Ah, no.
Although running has always been a part of me — something I’ve fallen back on when those peanut butter M&M’s somehow found their way into my belly again — the sport and I have broken up a few times. Through the college years, we were going steady. Like, dating six days a week … sometimes even at 5:30 in the morning. After graduation, I ran the Chicago Half Marathon and did quite well, if I may say so myself. The year after that, not so much: I blacked out at the 11th mile. No lie.
Since then, we’ve had our ups and downs, but these days, I run about two or three miles a couple times a week. I don’t think about solving world peace on my runs, or calculate complicated math problems to keep my mind distracted — 80 percent of the time, I’m usually thinking about what I can eat for dinner, since I just ran off about 928 calories and all. (Or, 250 … same thing.)
Well, a couple weeks back at a newborn session, my running aspirations received a mini kick-in-the-butt when I met a woman I’ll call Mrs. Inspiration.
As I stood on their front doorstep, camera over my shoulder, I was greeted by her husband: With a brand new baby in his arms, he told me his wife would be back in a minute or two — she took a quick trip to Starbucks, as their night before was a bit sleepless. 🙂
I carried in my equipment and started setting up. A moment or two later, Mrs. Inspiration walked into the room. As I looked up, my immediate thought was, “This can’t be Mom.” Little Ellyott Jordyn was just seven days old, and Mom hardly looked like she had given birth seven months ago, much less seven days.
We chatted a bit as I started snapping some photos. A half-hour into the session, I mentioned how fabulous she looked and asked, “So what’s your secret?” 🙂
Running, she said. She likes to run.
I thought to myself, “Oh, that’s cool. She jogged off and on through her first trimester and then ate healthy for the last six months. I can do that someday … not a big deal.”
But no.
Want to know what it is, ladies? Want to know how you can look gorgeous and fit within days after giving birth? You need to run miles … like, almost every day. With a baby inside you.
“I actually ran two miles the night before Ellyott was born,” she said in the most humble voice I’ve ever heard.
I tried to pull back my bulging eyes as I picked my jaw up off the floor. Suddenly, my sensitive tooth didn’t seem to hold up too well in the Excuse Department.
Pam, you’re an inspiration to me, and it was wonderful to spend some time with you and your family. When Ellyott is a teenager and thinks her mom isn’t cool anymore, remind her of what you were doing the night before she was born. That’s a 10 on the Cool Scale. 🙂 Here are some photos of the lovely little girl …
And we couldn’t forget about her big brother. 🙂
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