Thanks to Mom and Fitness, I Became Who I Am Today

Posted May 11, 2008 at 03:00 PM by Caroline Shannon

Section: Her Health, Her Motivation

When I was 13, I went on my first long distance run. My mother was on her way out the door, and when she said, “Wanna come?” I shrugged my shoulders and said, “Sure!”

It was awful – just complete torture. I had never felt my guts churn like that before. My legs were begging me to walk, and every sensible part of my brain was telling me that, well, this kind of activity just didn’t make sense.

The only thing that got me through it was my mom. She reassured me over and over again – throughout all the huffing, puffing, moaning and groaning – that I could make it through that hellish run.

And I did.

Similar to my mom when she started running in college, I haven’t stopped running – or listening to my insides complain! – since then.

And I wouldn’t change a thing. Fitness has taught me so much about who I am, and even more so about the relationship that it can forge between two people – in this case, a mother and daughter.

A few “mom” things I will always carry with me:

1. Number 13 really can be a lucky number after all. When my mom first joined her college cross-country team, she was, well, not very good. Out of the thirteen girls on her team, she came in last every time. But she turned her seemingly bad fortune into a positive, and by her second year was running faster and stronger than ever before. She eventually became the first girl on her team. To this day, she still claims the number 13 is her one and only.

2. Teach fitness at a young age. Before my mom had four kids there were two of us – just my sister and me. My mom was infamous for taking daily walks with us, and when we were still too young to walk, she would just stick us in the stroller and go. Her commitment to staying healthy was how I gained some of my fondest fitness memories. Even though I no longer live with my parents, my mom, sister and I are still well known around the neighborhood for our exercise habits. Just last week we all went out for a Sunday afternoon walk and we had more than three people say to us, “Hey, we were wondering where you girls were!” It’s nice to know people are on the lookout for us, and, hey, when people are counting on you, it makes you get your butt out there. Right?

3. Use your arms when you run. And relax your face. And pick up your legs. Despite the fact that I sometimes despise my mother’s running tips – particularly, the ones that came during an extraordinarily taxing cross country meet – I know she is right. Today, I often hear voice when I am having a tough time. And when my legs feel tired? I just “run with my arms” a bit more – just like mom would tell me to do.

4. Exercise should make you feel healthy, not crazy. When my mom first began to get into exercise, the natural high that it gave her became a bit of an addiction. She overworked her body and did not eat enough, a combination that eventually took a toll on her increasingly thin body. It took her sister telling her to get a grip before she snapped out of it, and when she did, she discovered the true power of a healthy way of living. By eating the right foods and training properly she got in the best shape of her life. After that, fitness was no longer a chore, but, instead, a passion.

5. You are never too old. My mom may be forty-ish (you’re welcome, mom), but she can still kick my butt if she really puts her mind to it. Whether it is running, weight lifting or yoga, she is always able to step up to the plate. When I was sixteen, she and I got our Pilates certification together. I may have been a younger version of her, but no question about it she was just as physically capable as I was. And, yes, I know, mom, you did get a better score than me on that dang test!

Ask my mom about her physical strength and she would poo-poo the idea through and through. I can tell her she is severely mistaken all I want, but she will only tune out such notions.

Here is the thing, however, that I need her to know for sure: She may have given me her running pointers and killer, womanly strength, but those are not the things that I smile about when I am breaking a sweat.

Instead, I think of the end of that long, vacation run, and not finishing until we got to the end of a dock; we jumped straight into the water. Or I laugh about some of the walks that have turned into tiny fights – one person walking a few steps ahead of the other. By the end of the stroll we had already sorted out all of our problems.

I remember the fact that before every race one of my immediate family members has ever run, my mom makes sure his or her shirt number adds up to her lucky number 13.

And when I exercise, even if she isn’t, I feel her there, right next to me. Because that is the always-present gift she has given me.

Thanks, mom. I love you.