About a year after my daughter was born, I entered a 12 mile road race.  I felt almost no pain during the race, and comfortably ran consistent 8 minute miles or a little faster. While running, I pictured myself as a prehistoric mother, running across a wide beautiful plain in search of food for my baby.  I thought to myself, I'm not just a runner, but a mother-runner. My ancestors survived because they had the ability to run long distances and to also speed up to catch game. Sports psychologists have studied the mental profiles of long distance runners and found that most of them tested as "normal", with the exception of one area, "imagination".  Runners are able to keep their minds busy and keep themselves focused for long periods of time. Thanks to my daughter, I now think to myself that if I run fast enough and far enough I am honoring the spirits of the women who ran before me. Coincidentally, my daughter's grandmother is also a marathoner, so I'm hoping that she will be the third generation when she grows up. All women have running in their genes, otherwise, we would not be here. We would not have survived. Something would have eaten us, or we would have failed to get enough to eat.

So if all mothers share the same survival abilities that I do, why do most moms of pre-schoolers allocate so little time and money towards their own fitness? I would not say that many of the moms whom I meet are inactive, just that their physical activities are limited to walking, playing with children and maintaining their homes. I am fortunate to have the means to belong to a pricey health club that includes up to four hours per day of child care in the form of two hours per parent or grandparent.  Few working or stay at home parents have access to as many hours of childcare that I possess, and perhaps many of them prefer to spend as few hours away from their children as possible. My husband or parents mind my daughter during my lengthy bike rides and runs outside, and usually bring her to my races. Since I did not have an additional paying job this summer, I was able to spend a wonderful amount of time with my two year old and still train for a marathon. Yeah, in stores, I’m the mom running after her speeding toddler who is yelling “Ready, set, go! Run away from mommy.”