Running After Baby
- Aly
- Mar 18, 2019
- 5 min read
Getting back on the run physically, mentally, and logistically.
After thinking a lot about my experience of getting back into running after my baby was born and talking to other runner moms, there is one conclusion that I have come to - everyone's experience is completely different and unpredictable. One of my pregnant runner friends recently went to Facebook to seek out advice from mother runners on when they ran their first marathon post baby. How long does it take to recover from childbirth and get back to marathon training? Is five months too ambitious? I honestly cannot remember what my expectations of getting back to running were when I was pregnant, but I can guarantee I had NO idea what the actual obstacles of running postpartum were going to be. I am sharing what my experience has been running after having my first baby which is completely unique to this pregnancy, delivery, baby, and me! Everyone experiences different challenges after baby and best advice I can give now is give yourself time and grace.
After a smooth labor and delivery, (albeit very long...) my OB said she was fine with me getting back to running after three weeks, as long as I was listening to my body and came in if I experienced any severe pain or bleeding. Our daughter was born in May, just when the weather starts to get very nice in New England. We spent those first few weeks of her life just enjoying her and the sunshine, going on long walks through the city, to doctors appointments, lunch, beer gardens (it had been too long for me!), and anywhere else we felt like going. As great as I felt just a few days after her birth, even going on long walks gave me that "heavy" feeling in my pelvic floor, and I understood exactly why running right away would not be a good idea.
A couple weeks later though, I truly felt like I was ready to get my body moving again. Exactly three weeks after my daughter was born, I loaded her up in her travel system jogger, (this means she was secure in her car seat in the jogger stroller) got the dog's leash on, and met my friends to do some hill repeats a couple blocks away. I "ran" 2.5 miles, averaging 14:00 min/mile pace. I walked the downhills and jogged the uphills. It felt amazing to be back. After this first run, I started getting back to running regularly, and returned to my easy run pace of about 7:30 minute miles fairly quickly. The physical return to running was relatively easy and fast for me, the mental return was a different story.
What I tried to convey to my pregnant runner friend when I answered her Facebook question, was the unforeseen, nonphysical obstacles a new mother will face after her baby is born. One of the most difficult for me to conquer was the pure logistics of getting a run in. My husband was back to work after two weeks, my daughter didn't start nursing until she was six weeks old, and newborns need to be fed every 2-3 hours and only stay awake for about 45 minutes! I was crazily pumping every chance I could to make enough milk for her, then it was wake, eat, poop, diaper change, and then almost nap time again and I still had to walk the dog, eat something, brush my teeth, maybe even nap (I don't think I ever napped when she napped!) When the hell are you supposed to fit a run in during this ridiculous cycle?! Those first couple months I somehow managed to run 4-5 days a week but rarely over three miles. Since my husband was back to his rigorous work schedule, 90% of my runs were with the stroller. I often just did laps around our local high school track and baby would fall asleep in her car seat and I would feel like I was on top of the world and nailing mom life.
It was at this point when I thought I totally had motherhood and running postpartum down, my husband and I contemplated training and running a Fall marathon together which would have been about six months postpartum. Our daughter was sleeping well; 5-6 hours straight, a quick nurse, and then 2-3 more hours; and my postpartum mama bear hormones were in full throttle! I was back up to about 35 miles per week with a medium long run of 12 or so miles (with the stroller!) and I felt invincible! And then, BAM. The hardest months of motherhood so far hit me...the damn four month sleep regression.
If you haven't had a baby, you probably haven't heard of the four month sleep regression. If you had a baby that snuck right through it without really noticing what was going on, you are so damn lucky. I read that this very real sleep regression can last anywhere from a couple weeks to a few months, and our lovely child was the latter. From 3.5-6.5 months of age, our baby would not sleep more than 45 minutes at a time. She was too young to let her cry, (and even when we did try that later, it didn't seem to work for her) and I basically just didn't sleep for those months. Running at all, never mind a freaking marathon, was the absolute LAST thing on my mind and just being able to shower and feel somewhat human was a victory. She eventually got through this stage and learned how to soothe herself back to sleep, but this three month time period was the biggest hurdle getting back to running regularly, and I never would have predicted it.
Fast forward to now, I am exactly 10 months postpartum and less than one month from the Boston Marathon. I have run three races since having my baby, (Reebok Boston 10K for Women, Old Fashioned Ten Miler, and the Black Cat 20 Miler) and am back up to 55 miles per week with one rest day. I am getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night, (well, most nights) and have figured out a feeding/eating schedule that works for baby and me. I am positive there will be more hurdles and sleep regressions to come, but I think I am now better prepared solely because I have lost all cockiness I had during those first few months of motherhood! I'm sure our next kid will pop out with a completely different set of challenges, never mind the thought of juggling two kids and trying to get a run in. I'm confident in nothing other than I will figure it out eventually.
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