Ironmoms

Did you catch that little self-indulgent slip, "I've done an Ironman!" in last week's post? Sometimes it springs up when my ego needs a boost or somebody is sizing me up all wrong or, like last week, in retaliation to my body's failings and I need evidence to the contrary, i.e., when I can barely run 11 minute miles or when I'm pregnant, and perhaps, coincidentally, barefoot.

You'll have to forgive me.

Here's why.

The day in the life of a mother can be just as hard or harder than finishing an Ironman triathlon (that would be a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run). I'm serious. I'm not just pandering.

Consider this: An Ironman can take 10 to 11 hours if you're really fast, or up to 17 hours if you take your time. Our work day as moms is longer. During an Ironman there are volunteers to help: dress you, feed you, show you the way, give you medical aid, massage you, and this is a biggie: put a freakin' medal around your neck. No one ever does any of those things for me when I'm "just being a mom." Wouldn't it be nice though, if at the end of the day (when is the end of the day, again?) someone would put a medal around our neck?

I realized that motherhood is harder than Ironman within days of becoming a mother and I was humbled. So many women have commented to me over the years about my Ironman finishes: "I could never do that," they said. What I didn't know then was that those women, most of them mothers, were doing much harder day in and day out.

And I believe motherhood is more difficult even under these lucky circumstances: I have healthy children; I have a supportive partner; he has a job; we have a roof over our heads; I'm healthy, save for the occasional mastitis but if I need antibiotics we have health insurance that will pay for it; I can still run, no matter how slow.

Takes my breath away to imagine losing just one of those circumstances.

I'm sure you've heard it before: Motherhood is an endurance event. Whether you've finished a triathlon of any distance, or not, you are an Ironmom.