The weak physical strength that has plagued me my whole life
Postpartum parenting stress
Running was the answer!!

Running is trendy.
The wide park, quiet roadside, and riverside are filled with runners enjoying a run in the morning and evening.
Among the countless runners, there are those who have saved not only their health but also their lives through running.
The author of "Running Moms Don't Flicker" is an ordinary mother of two children and an elementary school teacher who balances childcare with work.
She was a typical weakling, living with carpal tunnel syndrome, weak ankles, and chronic headaches throughout her life.
Raising two children, added to her life of being in and out of hospitals, pushed her to the limit.
She used to envy the amazing moms on social media, blaming her weak physical strength for the piled up dishes and laundry, lack of sleep, and even trying to become one with the sofa. But then she stumbled upon running and her life changed.

Starting with five 5-minute runs of one minute each, she continued to run 'to live', and as she experienced the improvement of a chronic illness she had suffered from all her life, she came to believe in the power of running.
Now, she runs a half marathon (21km) in a crop top, and she writes this book with the belief that the running that saved her will also save the lives of other mothers exhausted from raising children.

Sometimes I felt wronged in the tunnel of parenting.
I don't live like the "great moms" on social media or in parenting books, so why is my parenting so difficult?
Anger, directed at no one, began to build up in my chest.

There were certainly moments when I held my child and smiled happily, but on the other hand, I felt sad because it felt like 'I' was disappearing and only 'Mom' remained.
On days when I was tired, I would get angry at my child, and he would blame me for that, and I would become smaller and smaller.

Because my body was weak, my mind also broke down very easily.
But parenting had to be different.
I knew that if I compromised with the word 'moderate', it would remain as the biggest regret of my life.

Around that time, I encountered running.
I started exercising, which I thought was only for people with good physical strength, when I lost all my energy after giving birth.
--- From "The Beginning of a Weak Mother"

That day too, my wrists hurt and my mind felt listless.
It's been a while since I wrote a blog post, and as usual, I was blaming myself for looking at the envious faces of other mothers.
Then, by chance, I came across a recruitment post for a running crew, and that post stuck in my mind.

An elementary school teacher like me and a mother of two, she was running with other mothers, vividly proving how running changed her life.
The article about having to run more even though I lacked stamina, or rather because of that, immediately drew me in like a strong magnet.
It was more than just envy.

'I wonder if I can try it too.
A small hope arose that perhaps we could break this damn hospital Möbius strip.
I, who had been letting opportunities pass by, saying, 'I'll do it sometime later,' left a comment that day without even thinking about it.
It was that desperate.
Was I waiting for a change that would take my body and mind somewhere I didn't even know about?
--- From "Can I Run While Pushing a Stroller"

I learned something important from running for one minute.
Even if it's a huge goal that seems impossible to achieve, its beginning is small and humble.
The truth is that even the most famous and amazing people I envied all started out with something small like 'running for one minute'.

I learned that my obstacles—raising a young child who had been hesitant to run, my always weak stamina, lack of time, and the fear of the early morning—could all be overcome if I set my mind to it.

Even though running for 30 minutes may seem like an insurmountable wall, if I start with one minute at a time and gradually increase it, I have a reasonable hope that I too can run for 30 minutes without stopping someday.
In my daily life, which was always focused on my child and buried in parenting, a sense of accomplishment toward myself, which was new for the first time in a long time, appeared.
--- From "Opening the Door to Recovery That Even Hospitals Couldn't Open"

We had lunch together and chatted for a long time, still reminiscing about Wanju.
That was when.
One person looked at me quietly but wearily and then suddenly said:

“Mr. Jayoung.
“Can I take just one picture of me wearing a crop top? I’m trying to get some inspiration.”

It wasn't a perfect body, but it showed some abs.
I have a body that stimulates someone.
Someone else said the same thing.

“I didn’t know just by looking at your upper body, but your lower body is solid.”

In an instant, she became an icon of body transformation.
I was embarrassed but happy.
If I, who have changed through running, can become someone's motivation, wouldn't that be the greatest twist of all time?
--- From "The Harp That Arrived Through the Gap"

After completing my second run, I was convinced that this gathering would not be a one-time thing.
The mothers' appearance was quiet, but they were always like the morning stars shining softly in their place.
So we named it to commemorate our run.

Starlight Runners.

It was a running meeting that awakened mothers' bodies and minds under the stars, either at dawn when the children were asleep or at night after a day of childcare.
When I posted this news on my personal SNS and in the group chat where I recruited people, along with a photo of us running together at dawn, all the mothers who run said I was cool and cheered me on.

“It’s great.
Starlight Runners.”
“The world’s coolest moms.”
“Moms’ running, live forever.”

--- From "Mothers Running Together Under the Stars"