This happy face was my passenger for the last of my running in 2011. Now, six months after he entered the world, I'm ready to get back out there and run for my life.
I stopped running around halfway through my pregnancy, mostly all my baby business was making breathing difficult (having a fetus on your lungs can do that). Even after the running stopped, I kept up exercising. I alternated walking and prenatal yoga during the week. I kept at it up until my beautiful boy entered the world.
And then...I needed to recover and rest. I had all ideals of being back on the road before the next Jingle Bell Run for December '11, but I didn't take into account things like middle of the night feedings, and trying to cram milk-full breasts into sports bras (answer:no). So I did what I'm sure doctors wouldn't reccommend: I gave myself time to adjust. I didn't beat myself up for not exercising. When I could, I would take the kids on walks during the day.
Right around when the baby was six months old, I felt the itch. The weather was unseasonably warm and on my commute home I saw the other runners out there. I'm ready, I thought to myself.
I had a few false starts. With children, you can't always guarantee that you'll get a full night's sleep, or a virus will attack the household. Then I found myself fighting the inner critic, finding any excuse not to go out (I couldn't find the right playlist; I couldn't find my equipment for the road). Finally in the middle of March, I was ready to go. I set my running clothes out the night before, and got to bed. Of course, the boy had other plans, and I did not get out that next morning. I sat at work that day, disappointed. I got home, and just as I was about to start dinner, I turned to my husband.
"Can you handle this," I asked. "I need to get out and run." Since he's also a runner, and been seeing me struggle with my return, he took my place in the kitchen without hesitation. I got dressed, grabbed my iPod, and out the door.
That's how I finished Week, 1, Day 1 of the Couch to 5K running program. I'm now on Week 3, after an interruption by colds and conjuncitivits. I'm still running.
Look at that face. How can I not run to stay healthy for that face?
