Self-imposed stress...created here daily.

I'd like to claim that I'm a laid back, hip mom. Truth is, my stomach's in knots more often than not. I can tell myself all day every day to relax and take things as they come but honestly, that's just a lot of mumbo jumbo happening in my head all day. It's amazing I ever accomplish anything.

Of course there's the constant balance of being a mom, wife, employee, banker, housekeeper, etc. And then there are the 'me' items on my list, and one in particular is staring me down this week.

The half-marathon. (insert deep, painful sigh)

My third, you'd think I'd be over it. I trained okay. I'm in less pain then last year. And I know how much I love the atmosphere. But at the end of the day, it's still 13.1 miles. It's still this battle between my body then and my body now. The decent athlete turned mom with weak knees and hips.

I want so badly to be a runner. To know what it's like to be so passionate and dedicated to the sport that if I miss a run, I feel terrible about it all day and run extra long to make up for it the next. To be apart of this strange and fun group of people who do things a little differently. Who spend more money on their running gear than professional wardrobe.

I'm not there yet but hopefully one of these days I'll find a good balance. Whether that's a solid three miles or six, I should just be thankful that my body's still going. There are so many reasons I should be thankful for the opportunity to run a half marathon and yet my heads got me all worked up and worried about beating a time or looking strong or not walking.

Just another example of us being our own worst enemies.