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training after pregnancy (Read 405 times)

melinhk


    New here... but have been running for about 1.5yrs. Have completed a 10K and 1/2 Marathon in the past year and then found out I was pregnant. This has not been an easy pregnancy and my running has been very limited. I'm due end of August and have a desire to run a 1/2 Marathon in Dec. I know there are all sorts of things that I need to take into consideration, things that I won't know until the baby comes... but I'm dying not being able to do what I could 6 months ago. The only thing that keeps me sane at times is planning how I'm going to get back in shape, etc after baby comes. I know I'm jumping the gun but does anyone have personal experience on training/racing quickly after giving birth? Also, if I were to take the usual recommended 6wks off after baby is born, I'm left with about 8wks to train. Are there any good 1/2 Marathon training plans that don't start off with running 8/9 miles. Am I being to over-zealous to want to run the 1/2? Thanks!
    mb197314


      You need to think about the safety of you and your baby. If you are having a hard pregnancy you need to focus on that and not worry about training during this tim. After the baby is born you need to focus on him/her and not worry about jumping back in to training for a half marathon in December. Half Marathons are a dime a dozen and there will be another one. think about the health of you and your child first. Running needs to take a back seat duering this time.
        I would have to agree with mb197314. You definitely need to take the time to recover. You also have to consider that you probably won't be getting as much sleep once your little one arrives. I wouldn't run too far or too fast ( or both!) no matter how tempting it is. You could just end up with an injury. If the half marathon seems too much and your worried about it, is there a shorter race you can try just to get back into the swing of things? I just had a baby about 10 weeks ago and I'm getting back into running. I didn't run at all while I was pregnant due to hip pain, but I'm getting back into it now and looking at a 5K in about a month. I wasn't running half marathons before my baby came, but I did run a 10K. It was so hard not running for 9+ months so I totally feel your pain there. It's hard to be patient and wait, but your body will appreciate the recovery time if you take it easy at first.
        Teresadfp


        One day at a time

          Another vote for taking it easy! At least for me, I wasn't surprised at how challenging childbirth was, because of my reading and classes, but I WAS surprised at how hard recovering from it was for me. That held true for all three of my kids. And all three deliveries were uncomplicated and vaginal. I had only one painkiller shot, the third time. One piece of advice - I had episiotomies the first two times, and that made recovery much harder. So ask your doctor or midwife to avoid that if at all possible. Good luck! I was never a kid person, but being a mom is the best thing that ever happened to me. You'll have a lot of years to run, so don't push your luck. Teresa