Aug 19 2010
Running in Circles
Since yesterday’s post was a little bit of a downer, I thought I might amuse you today with an account of my attempt to get back in some sort of pre-pregnancy shape. Anyone who has children (small or otherwise) knows that it’s hard to carve out enough time for yourself to shower and have a good poop, let alone work exercise into your already busy day. But, I’m trying. And I have a very supportive husband who is willing to help out with Sam and the big boys so that I can go run. The problem, of course, is that I often have absolutely no energy to do any kind of exercise. Oh, and I also live in Texas…and it’s summer…and I’ve lost count of how many 100+ degree days we’ve had so far.
Now, I used to think of myself as a runner. Not a fast runner, not a long-distance runner, but a runner nonetheless. Runner’s World and Running Times both come to my house. Sure, they’re addressed to my husband, but I still read them…when I have time. I used to log 12-15 miles a week at my peak running form. I’ve run as much as 6.2 miles in a run, but usually I stuck with between 3 and 4 miles, and I enjoyed it. It was time to let my mind just go and not have to think of anything. Then I got pregnant. Now, my doctor never said I couldn’t run while I was pregnant. But I got pregnant in July, and even though I didn’t have much trouble with morning sickness, it was soon way too hot for me to be comfortable running while preggo. And, I’m a well-endowed woman pre-baby. Finding running bras that reined in the girls was difficult enough pre-pregnancy. You can probably guess what part of my running gear no longer did the job the fastest. Needless to say, running went by the wayside pretty early in Sam’s gestation.
Toward the end of my pregnancy, when I was just whale-ish, I would listen to my Zune and a song from one of my running playlists would come on, and I’d actually miss running. I had these grandiose visions of loading up my cherubic baby boy in a jogging stroller and getting out jogging as soon as I was cleared for exercise 6 weeks post-partum. Join me now: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Reality quickly set in – not only was I exhausted, but (without going into too much detail) I was still healing down there. Believe me, when your girl parts don’t feel so great, RUNNING is the last thing you want to do.
Flash forward to June 26 (nearly 2 months after Sam was born) and I attempted my first post-baby jog/walk. If I thought finding a running bra was tough pre-baby, post-baby was a whole other experience. I’m nursing, so my “girls” are now roughly the size of nuclear warheads. One sports bra just isn’t going to cut it. So, that morning, after Sam ate AND I pumped, I donned two sports bras, and whatever running shorts would slide over my post-baby hips and the only shirt that would fit and set out. It was slow, it was plodding, it was TOUGH, but it felt GREAT. I was back out there. I got in 6 more run/walks in the next two weeks, and then got slammed with a summer cold. That just threw everything off. So, I took a break until I was feeling better. As I started feeling better, we made our first trip to Houston. While there, Grandma was more than happy to watch all the boys so Bryan and I could go on a “date run” (yes, we’re sick, deal with it). We went a very slow, humid, plodding, thought-I-was-going-to-die 3.1 miles. My first post-baby 5k. Bryan was very supportive and pulled me (literally, at times) through it. It felt good afterward, but I’ll be honest – it’s the last one I’ve done. Not long after that we hit oven-heat temperatures at home, and I’ve only been up for walks.
Still, I’m getting back to it. Slowly but surely. In all my post-baby jiggly, ungainly glory…watch for me soon in a fall 5k.
2 Responses to “Running in Circles”
You’ve been doing great! The heat has been just awful, and based on how tired I’ve been and how hard it can be for me to get out there, I can only imagine how hard it is for you! Keep at it, and remember that cooler temps will be here soon enough, which will surely make it a bit easier.
I definitely understand the difficulty in exercising. My first attempt was about a month ago. I made the mistake of doing a yoga class and walking 3 miles within a few hours of each other. Not good. I thought I was going to collapse. Now I just do one thing at a time, when I have time.