I reserve the right to use as many exclamation points in the following paragraphs as I want!
!!!!!!!!!
Today was the day I have been waiting for: my first post-baby RUN! It came 347 days after my last run and 97 days after I had Amber. After past pregnancies, I have had a date circled on the calendar to count down to my first postpartum run, but this time I was so much more physically run down and weakened by the pregnancy that I had to do something that is against my nature: wait and see. Ugh! No plan? Yeah. It was weird, but it worked. It was fascinating to watch and feel my body slowly regain its normal abilities again. When I stopped getting sore muscles from doing everyday housework like cooking, cleaning, and laundry, I started walking. When walking stopped making me super sore, I did a few rounds of going up and down the small staircase in our house. Then we all got sick two weeks ago and when I emerged from that I realized that I finally felt READY to run. It was a wonderful feeling. I went to bed last night feeling excited!
Amber woke up three times last night so I was wondering if I would be able to stay awake long enough to run anywhere this afternoon, but the planets aligned and I TOOK A NAP after lunch. It helped immensely (Amber only woke me up once during my 90 minute nap). When Jeff came home from work this afternoon, I fed Amber and then dusted off some running clothes.
It was in the mid 50s outside, so I got to wear shorts! Well, I wore my magic neon pink running skirt, and long sleeves. It was liberating. Walking in pants is so limiting, but running in shorts is completely liberating! Ten minute miles never felt so fluffy and free, ha ha ha. I will admit that by the halfway point I was puffing and huffing a-plenty. But I managed two whole miles. When I stopped running at 20 minutes, my lungs were tight and my legs were wobbly, but my heart was light and I was soaringly happy!
I can't say it enough. My run felt so FREE and refreshing! I am incredibly out of shape but it was still exhillerating to be out and moving and breathing and finding my running zen again. I ran two miles in 20 minutes. Not bad. It was about average for all of my previous post-prego convalescent runs. It was not the hardest first run I've ever had either, probably because I have been walking and doing ab exercises and jogging up and down the stairs for the past few weeks. I waited an entire 5 weeks longer to run this time than I did after my other pregnancies, and I'm glad I did. My body needed that time. There always comes a point where you just have to jump right in though, and I reached it today. So...boing!
When I was flying on my runner's high, I felt like I was saying hello to the rest of my life! I'm never going to go through last year's ordeal again, so barring any other injuries or serious health issues, I'll never have to get back into shape again! That makes all of the upcoming sweat, gasping, and soreness even more exciting and worthwhile. Once I get through it, I'll be 100% Shaina again, and I'll never lose that part of myself again if I can help it!
I felt more like myself this afternoon during and after my run than I have in almost a year. It was glorious.
I love running.
I love being able to run.
Look out, this runner is back in business!
Posted with Blogsy
1 comment:
Yeah. Sometimes I get disheartened at the thought of going through all the work of getting back in shape because as soon as I start to make real headway, I'm ready to have another baby. Sigh. And baby 3 has not been good to my body. Another sigh. I have been making real efforts that past 2 weeks to start a workout routine and it is well....going. Going as good as it can in the early morning hours with your kids crawling all over you! SO happy you are running. So happy you can get your body back. And so happy to know that someday I too will reach that point again!
Post a Comment