I'm Running Again!

Do you have something you love to do so much that it feels like something deep within you comes to life when you do it?  Running is like that for me.  When I run I feel free, I feel strong, I feel happy and I feel alive.  I stopped running at 25 weeks pregnant because of some foot and hip discomfort.  It wasn't a hard choice to make, as I knew it was the best choice for my body and I knew that it was just for a stage.  I kept up my cardio fitness with spin, elliptical and stair machines.  I am such a huge fan of exercising during pregnancy, as I've done it for all three pregnancies.  It takes some wisdom and good judgement to know what is right for your body but it certainly has helped me physically and emotionally to have overall positive pregnancies.

But now that my body is my own (kind of) I am excited to get back into running.

The first couple weeks my focus was on rest, recovery and healing.  With lots of support from Adam, I was able to take it easy, as he took over the housework and cooking.  I went for some walks here and there and tried to remind my body about posture and holding my core strong...not easy after being pregnant.  It's a work in progress.

So this week I decided it was time to try out running.

It's all about finding the right training buddies right?!?  Others that have a similar fitness level, who are as fast or just a bit faster than you are.  Well, I've found them; my 7 month pregnant friend, my 55 year old dad and my 6 and 8 year old kids.  

Last week I went for a long walk with my friend.  It ended up being 2 hours long because we wandered around wal mart picking up some things.  When we got home and she was saying goodbye, I said, "we should do this again next week."  To which she responded, "yeah, and maybe next time we could go a bit faster."  I realized then that she had been going slow for me because I had just had a baby and I had been going slow for her because she's pregnant.  How considerate of us.

Monday my parents came over for the afternoon.  My mom, to hang out at the house with Ivy and my dad, to go for my first run with me.  They are planning to do this every week for awhile, for which I am so grateful.  We went out for 30 minutes;  run 1 min, walk 1 min.  Felt great, other than making me more aware of my need to strengthen up my lower abdominals.  We were slow but who cares.  It just felt so good to move my body that way again

Tuesday I felt good from my run, just a little sore in the quads, so I decided to head out for a short "training run" with my kids.  I asked them if they wanted to train together for a race this summer.  Probably just a 5 km race.  I thought I would do it with Riley but Kyla was eager to join in too, so we'll see how that goes and give it a try.  It's really a win-win situation because now that Adam is back at work this week, he comes home pretty tired from a long day.  He gets to cat nap with Ivy on the couch while I meet my needs and take the older kids out for some fresh air and exercise.  I plan on doing this several nights a week.

Running with my kids is hilarious.  I mean, they are kids, so they do kid stuff.  Like putting their arms in their coats and while laughing they explain, "look at me, I'm a running stump!"  They are also so sporatic with their pace, sprinting up ahead, jumping off snow piles and stuff like that.  I really do love spending time with them this way because I'm sharing with them something I love to do.  We have fun, I teach them a bit about running form and pacing and we laugh and talk about other things.   Some of my favorite memories with my dad are exercising together and I hope it will be the same for my kids and me.

Oh and little miss Ivy is growing.  I'm trying to savor up this stage and enjoy her as much as possible.