Put me in coach...

So friends it is week ONE of spring session at the YMCA and yours truly is teaching two running classes!  Running 101 on Monday evenings and Runner's Speedwork Wednesday mornings. Hooray!  I am so excited!  I left the Corporate world almost 7 (!!!) years ago to love and grow 2 baby boys.  Being a stay at home momma has been a fantastic, crazy ride but, as most of you out there that stay home can relate, I lost a bit of my identity.  When I used to *work*, I had a fancy title By the way, growing little kids is work in and of itself...you just don't get paid to do it with money.  Payment is in kisses, hugs, drool, and puke (i guess the latter would be negative equity).  I wore Banana Republic dress pants (dry clean only!) and fancy button up shirts (dry clean only!) and high heels.  I attended important meetings.  I went out to nice lunches.  I was in and out of airports, with the clickety click of my heels and my carry on luggage.  All and all, I felt pretty freakin' important. 

Believe me, I don't miss any of that.  Well, not that much (I did have a great suit that from time to time I'll just put on and walk around my bathroom in...).  I happily traded those great dry clean clothes for comfy yoga pants and cotton t-shirts that could be washed over and over.  I swapped lunchtime pasta dishes at Bertuccis for grilled cheese crusts and blue box mac and cheese out of the pot, eating over the sink. I still felt freakin' important, but it just wasn't the same.  After a few years of spit up, slobber, poopy diapers, crying, whining, temper tantrums and being a "mommy slave" I knew I needed to do *something*.  I just wasn't sure what that *something* was.  I needed a piece of "Kim" back.  I needed to do something for me.

I tried working the retail biz.  I worked at Gymboree and then at Pottery Barn Kids.  As you can imagine, I spent more money in the stores than the stores could pay me.  And having a fresh faced college student as my manager made me swallow my pride a bit.  I decided to work for myself and start a home-based business with Arbonne International, a health and wellness company.  It was hard work, but I truly believed in the products so it came easy.  But as Zach's job demanded more travel, it was harder to carve out time to do home parties and juggle babysitting for the kids.  And honestly, I started to lose the passion for the business aspect I had when I first started. For me, being a business owner wasn't going to fill the void.   I decided I would still be a consultant for Arbonne and continue to share it's awesome product lines, but not actively work my business.

I started to find myself again when I began to run.  I did races and they were all about me.  I trained for them and I completed them.  When I associated myself with titles, I easily could add "runner" to the list with "wife", "mother", "daughter" and "friend".  I finally have that missing piece back into my life and the fact that I get to coach others to run is just icing on the cake. Maybe I can help someone else find her missing piece too.  I am so thankful that I have hooked up with our local YMCA because I couldn't think of a better place to work.  Work?  Yes!  I am back in the working world ladies and gentleman after a 7 year sabbatical filled with love, sweat and tears of mommyhood.  And I can't wait to see where this ride takes me...

Check back each week for samples of my workouts from each class...this way if you are not here in DeWitt I can still be your virtual running coach!
(ps.  I have to thank my friends and family that have been so supportive of me doing this.  I honestly can say that I wouldn't have had the courage without your encouragement!)