Embracing Life Advice

I was a young girl, no more than 7 or 8, spending the afternoon with my Grandpa in his shop. He was working on a project, and I desperately wanted to help. I remember trying so hard to secure that piece of wood to the bench with a C clamp. I was getting upset because my little uncoordinated hands just could not get it firmly secured for him. He saw my frustration and that I was about to cry and he said, "how about we stop for a break. Let's go see what Grandma has for snacks in the house." So we took a break. Afterwards, bellies full and emotions in check, we ventured back out to the shop to finish our project. I told him that I thought I was too small and could not actually help him like I thought. Before we got started my Grandpa imparted some words on to me that have stuck with me from that very moment. He said, "Jaym, I want to tell you something, 'when a task has once begun never leave it until it's done. Be the laborer great or small. Do it well, or not at all' so we started this project and we are going to finish it." I have never forgotten those words he said to me that day. And I have often gone back to them in life when things have come up.

This week we found out that my kids' school will remain closed for the rest of the school year. I can confidently say that I am okay with the circumstances. We have gotten into a pretty good routine completing their school assignments every day. The challenging part will be navigating the demands of training for a marathon, while making sure my responsibilities for my children and their school work is met first until school is out for summer.

I started hitting the double digits a couple of weeks ago for my long runs. Last week was tough. I had eleven miles on deck. The interruptions were endless. The frustration was mounting. Trying to find the right time to get my runs in is an ever evolving process still. When the older two were at school, I would put my toddler and baby down for a nap and capitalize on that time to get my runs/strength training in. This new world we are navigating now having everyone home provides its own set of challenges. Not only has our usual routine been upended, so too has the sleeping situation. The baby is going through a sleep regression period. My toddler wakes up at 230am like clockwork and at some point in the night my five year old wakes up with a nightmare. We are now in what I have deemed 'survival mode'. Enter the advice I once received from another wise man in my life, my other Grandpa.

When I was in high school, dealing with some personal challenges I had gone to my other grandpa for advice. He told me, "Jaym, sometimes things do not work out as planned. That does not mean you quit. You must learn to adapt, improvise and overcome." Another "life gem" I was handed, just like the one from my grandpa when I was a girl. I knew today I had twelve miles on deck to complete. I knew at the end my Coach was wanting me to push the last two miles hard. I also knew that I had schoolwork to help my two older kids do. Plus they each also had a Zoom "classroom" conference with their teachers. So in taking the advice of both of my very wise grandfathers I decided the best way to "finish the task until it is done" while also "adapting, improvising and overcoming" our current situation, was that I would have to break up my long run today. Was it ideal, no. But neither is the world we are living in right now. So this morning we tackled most of their assignments. Then I ran seven miles. Stopped to help my oldest son attend his Zoom class time with his teacher. Then an hour later I finished my five miles, (12 in total) and pushed the last two just like Coach Pittman wanted me to.

Life is always changing. Especially these days. What I am learning is to be flexible. Not everything can happen as it is intended to. Instead of fighting the circumstances and pushing it in places that it does not need to be, I am rolling with it. This may mean that over the course of the next two months until school is out I have to improvise my training in order to complete it (sorry Coach!) but I will not quit. Because, whether great or small, do it well or not at all. I am already this far, stopping is not an option.