Moms In Motion : Connecting Moms Through Fitness

Like most of us, I have many small stories that transpired during this personal revolution I just experienced with Moms In Motion. However, my most important story actually starts with my friend.

I first heard about Moms In Motion from my friend, who was doing it for the first time a year ago. It had been far too long since I had taken care of my body, and at 53 with a twelve-year-old son I knew I needed to take better care. My friend did her first triathlon successfully, and very soon thereafter learned that her husband was leaving her. Instead of crumbling, she continued training for "the next triathlon" and then the next.

She got through the worst time of her life without being destroyed. On the contrary, she surfaced as a beautiful, strong, confident, happy woman - in control of her own life. Her focus on triathlon training was so important to getting her through this trauma, and it was then that I knew that I MUST join Moms In Motion and do this triathlon. I wanted to be part of something so powerful.
Little did I know then that I too would need that type of outside focus in my life. I came home from the Saturday Moms In Motion training sessions so exhausted each week, that I would nap for most of the day. My husband said "this isn't normal you need to see the doctor". That wasn't enough to get me to the doctor. But then after about a month of running and feeling like I couldn't get enough breath, and something heavy was sitting on my chest, I decided I would see the doctor.

I've been very healthy all my life. And so it was quite a shock when I went to the doctor for these little inconveniences and the next thing I knew he was sending me through a battery of tests. After the first round of tests I learned that I had enlarged parathyroid glands and a growth on my thyroid. I knew that I would have to go for a second set of tests when I returned from an out-of-town conference. I received a call at the conference from my husband saying that I needed to get home as soon as possible because the doctor found something else that he is much more concerned with. I need to go home and have additional tests for an abnormality with my liver.

I just couldn't believe it. Always so healthy, and now for the first time in my life - doing something as daring as this triathlon and I find out that all my vital organs are falling apart? All at once?. How could this be? I don't feel sick. I would have surely fallen to pieces during these weeks and months if I didn't have to swim every other day, run every other day and meet up with the inspiring group of Moms In Motion women every week. I would have cried and fretted and imagined the worst.

Putting yourself completely - mind, body, and soul - into something other than your day-to-day experiences and problems raises you to a higher level of reality. I returned home, had a detailed liver blood test. Results - normal. Just a fleeting virus - says the doctor. The Wednesday before the triathlon I went in for the thyroid biopsy. The biopsy doctor says, "we'll have the results for you in 24 hours".

I said "I don't want the results until after the triathlon." Friday (before the triathlon) while going through my voice mail messages at work, before I could stop it, there was a voice mail from my personal physician who blurts out "Laurie - your biopsy is fine, everything is perfectly normal".

I am relieved by the good news on all fronts, but I never took the time to really worry about it. I was too busy planning out my training schedule for each week and each day. I was too busy listening and talking to others about how to improve my swimming or running technique. I was reveling in how others were doing in their own revolutions. I was too focused on being healthy to be sick.

When do we know that we have had a life-altering experience? I know I had one. I don't know when it happened or when I realized it. But I have a new skill set for dealing with life's traumas. It's called training. It's something like exercise, but it has purpose and focus. And without the committed goal of the triathlon it would be easy to fall back into old patterns and excuses and procrastination for exercising. I know that the body is fragile and temporal and need's my help to keep it strong. I want to be around to see my son grow up and have children, and now I have some control in making that happen. I wouldn't have been able to figure all this out without Moms In Motion. I wouldn't have thought that I could possibly qualify to enter a triathlon.

I wouldn't have been able to kick myself into a high enough gear to train the way we've been training and turn back the clock on my body. I wouldn't have regained my faith in humanity and seen the generosity in each human being. Moms In Motion breeds a generosity of spirit and goodwill. I can't wait until Moms In Motion regroups next year.