Well, hello! Allow me to reintroduce myself. I’m Sandy and I’ve neglected my blog for months. EEK! Honestly, I didn’t realize that it has been THIS LONG since my last post. Time flies when you grow your family! I haven’t been completely off the grid though, I’ve been journaling my training on Instagram . Aside from having my hands full with a 7 month old baby and toddler, I’ve been sticking to my postpartum fitness plan in order to safely reach my running and strength training goals without injury.
Here is a VERY short breakdown of how I rebuilt my running base. I may create another detailed post later because there is not a lot of material available on this subject:
- I started with a mile test at 14 weeks postpartum, it took me over 15 minutes to walk/jog a mile.
- After that, I started walk/jog intervals (I began gentle strength training, yoga, pilates, and barre at 6 weeks postpartum).
- I slowly increased jogging time while slowly decreasing walking time (kept each session for 20 minutes for a few weeks).
- The buildup was so conservative that my “long” runs reached 3-4 miles in July.
- No speed work or races until 6 months postpartum.
- This gentle buildup plan worked for me! Even after 2 kids, I have zero leaking when I jump, run, cough or sneeze. I run pain free in the pelvic area, no prolapse, NO PROBLEMS!
POSTPARTUM RACE SCHEDULE
As stated, I only signed up for races that occurred AFTER the 6 months postpartum period. I know many women tackle races early on after giving birth, but I wanted to optimize my healing process and not worry about ramping up miles with a new baby. I wanted all the baby snuggles and as much rest as possible during the precious fourth trimester (the 3 month period after baby is born).
- August: Area 13.1 Alien 5K 32:22 (10:16 pace) at 6 months postpartum.
- September: Big Peach Sizzler 10K 59:11 (9:27 pace) at 6 months postpartum.
- October: PNC 10 miler scheduled for the 20th! No goal, will probably use the race as a training long run. I will be 8 months postpartum!
- November: Alpharetta Women’s Half marathon on the 3rd at 8 months postpartum.
CURRENTLY IN THE MIDST OF HALF MARATHON TRAINING
I’m currently in week 9 (of 12) for the Alpharetta Women’s Half Marathon! I ran their 5K in November 2018 while 6 months pregnant and had a wonderful time and immediately registered for the 2019 half marathon. For extra motivation, I signed up for coaching with a local coach/group Strong Run Coaching. I look forward to the group runs every Saturday because it is my only “ME TIME”! It’s so nice to run with a group of gals (and some guys) who plan to run the same race. I never see familiar faces at races so it’ll be fun! I probably shouldn’t have a time goal but the competitive nature in me wants to finish sub 2:10 (my 2 year old half marathon PR is 2:09). By the way, My ULTIMATE DREAM GOAL is a sub 2 hour half marathon in 2020 (this excites me AND scares me).
Aside from training during nap time and mommy-ing, I try to fit in some yoga and meditation into my day and my husband and I try to get out of the house for date night once a month. I feel like I’m “in the weeds” because my life literally revolves around my tiny kids right now. The days are long but years are short so I’m just going with it and multitasking self care when I can.
Have you ever hired a coach for any kind of training? How do you cope when you feel like you have no time for self care?
