2:00 AM Text Messages

Do you get text messages from your friends between the hours of midnight and 3 AM? I do. Almost every single night. It used to be that if I got a text message at that time it was from a friend who had had a bit too much fun on their night out, but that's not the case anymore. These days, those text messages come from friends who are dealing with something more like this in the middle of the night...

I chuckle now when I see that. It's stinkin' hilarious. What is not hilarious, however, is being the mom who is not getting enough sleep...EVER.

Of my small groups of running girlfriends, 5 of them have babies that are 18 months old or younger. A few weeks ago, one of them said to me that she kind of wished I was at the same "stage" as them with raising kids (my boys are 7 and 10), but then she changed her mind and said that she was glad my kids were older so that they can all see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There WILL come a day when they aren't up in the middle of the night with a screaming baby, and back up at 4:45 AM because the little man has decided he's not going back to sleep.

But for now, that's the stage they're at in life.

We all go through our own phases in life, and sometimes it's challenging to not move at the same pace as our friends and family. Back when I had my children, none of my friends were having kids yet, and it was really hard for me to go through that without friends that really understood how difficult it was. But now, I can empathize with what they are going through, because I have been there.

It's the same with marriage, buying a home, going to college, getting settled in a career... These are all stages that would be so much easier to go through at the same time as our closest friends, but that's not how life works. We all have to work through it at our own pace. 

Luckily, not going at the same pace as those around us doesn't mean that we can't be each other's support crew. This is true in the big things and in the little things. 

For me, the "big" thing this year (and last) is juggling life while training REALLY hard to qualify for the Boston marathon...and be fast enough to make the time cut off and run in Boston in 2017. Even though the girls I run with most often have no plans to qualify for Boston any time soon, they are still an amazing support group for me. (And my sister is my long distance training buddy who shares my BQ goal!!) They encourage me to get my workouts in, even when I really don't want to, and they never hesitate to send sparkle my way when I seem to have an insufficient amount.

For them, the "big" thing right now is learning how to manage training for marathons, half ironmans, 50K's, and life, while entertaining babies at 2 AM and trying to shoosh them back to sleep at 4:30 AM, and sending a few "catch up" texts in between.

Life is hard. Thank goodness for amazing support crews that help us to go at our own pace.

Sparkle.Pounce.Be Somebody's Support Crew.

-Kendra