When the pandemic started I was training to qualify for the Boston Marathon. The training I was doing was more planned out, higher intensity, more training days than I had done in the past. It was with peak performance training and I honestly loved it. Once the pandemic started and it was clear that all races for the year would be cancelled and I wouldn’t actually get to see if I could run the time, I stopped the training program, mostly because I no longer had a goal race for the season and I wanted to give my body the natural rest period.
At this time Jake and I also started focusing on other life goals we had, such as expanding our family. My runner’s brain thought that this was the best time to get pregnant, with no races I wasn’t missing much in terms of a race season. More importantly though Jake and I were ready to start family and excited to do so.
We were able to get pregnant fairly quickly, unfortunately, we had an early miscarriage a month later. Running does NOT cause miscarriages, it actually good for the body especially if you are previously a runner. II ran the whole time I was pregnant and only stopped to recover from the physical impact of miscarriage. We were lucky enough to get pregnant again a few months later and are expecting our little nugget at the end of January 2022!
Alright back to the running. I had this idea in my mind that running would be no problem at all while I was pregnant; maybe I would stop or slow down in the last trimester just because of how awkward and heavy everything is that time but otherwise no issues. I run when I am tired and do not feel like it all the time it is part of the training, the mental toughness. Alright well, I was wrong, running was not at all easy. It was a completely new experience both mentally and physically.
For the first 12 weeks I was exhausted and barely went from work to my sofa. I ran maybe once a week if not every two weeks This was really hard on me emotionally, except everyone kept saying energy would come back in the second trimester, to take it easy and not worry too much about running. Other than missing running, and not having a good alternative to release stress and get in some personal time, I was generally okay with running less. At least I had good reason; growing another human being and all. When I did go for runs I was much much slower, a whole minute/km slower usually. I was also running away shorter distances mainly 6kms when my average daily run was 8-10km. I know listening to your body is very key, especially while growing another human, however, it was hard to see and feel my body not being to do what I thought it should be able to do. Truly accepting and listening to my body has been a constant challenge in pregnancy. I found that knowing my body through running has helped me be more aware and intune with the changes that are occurring in my body through preagrancy. It was obvious to me from the begging that my body was changing on every level even if no one else could tell. Even knowing all these changes I still wanted to be able to run like I was used to, yes maybe not 5 times a week however not with speed or hill workouts but I wanted to maintain my current endurance for at least at the beginning part of pregnancy. After many frustrating runs and complaining to my mom and husband about the same I slowly accepted yes you are growing a human it is exhausting, it is okay you are running super slow kilometres and shorter distances. Focus on the fact that you are out rather than the distance and time. This mindset has carried me through the second trimester.
Once the second trimester started and I had more energy again, I did think that I might be able to run a little longer or just a bit faster again. I still was listening to my body and knew I would not be running at pre-pregnancy levels and I was truly okay with that. I honestly just love to run, it is awesome to have a race to train for but it’s also great just to get out there. As the summer progressed I started going for a few more runs – only the issue was my pelvic floor. I had to pee constantly. The constant pressure of the little one on the bladder was awful. Half the time I did actually have pee the half was just the urge of oh my god I need to go now. Needless to say, I found the routes around my neighbourhood that have good tree cover for bathroom breaks.😳
Overall pretty embarrassing and frustrating situation. My body generally feels good and wants to go for runs. It is definitely helping me mentally as well; however, my bladder has other plans. It really takes away from the run when you have to stop every 5 to 10 minutes. I truly thought pelvic floor issue would be a postpartum issue rather than a true pregnancy issue- yep pretty naive thinking there and I have quickly learned otherwise.
When doing these exercises it is a pretty foreign feeling and takes a lot of concentration. The muscles tire out quickly and leave a bit of an odd tired sensation. I learned that the pelvic floor works closely with your breathing; which additionally becomes even more important when pregnant, as there is less space as your baby grows and pushes around organs In your trunk. It always seems to come back to breathing, being able to control and regulated your breath is the foundation of good running, good physio and good health. Such a natural and basic function needs so much focus and works it is truly wild how much one needs to practice it.
Okay so what now? Well, I have started going to a pelvic floor physiotherapist. I have only had one session so far. It was a positive experience and it reaffirmed my belief that my pelvic floor was not functioning as it should be. In fact, my pelvic floor muscles were not working at all. I was activating my core more than I was activating my kegel muscles. She gave me exercises to do daily, that in time will help strengthen my pelvic floor and makes this less of the problem and continue to help me through labour as well as in the postpartum period. Honestly, I forget to do these exercises more often than I would like. In my mind, I will always do them before bed, as I am winding down for the evening, well guess what I am usually exhausted by the time that happens and I just fall asleep. I have now set up a reminder on my phone to do them, in hopes that will help me do them regularly. As runners, we know how important physio exercises are to success and we also know how easy to let them slide. As this is rather an embarrassing issue I was hoping that was going to be motivation enough. Let’s be honest though we are all human and we get distracted easily and physio exercises often get neglected; I also have the added bonus pregnancy brain which yes is totally a thing! I have another appointment this coming Tuesday, to elevated my progress and to make sure I am activating my muscles correctly.
Today’s run was the first one I went on since mid-last week. It was a bit chillier this morning, that fall weather is here in full force edging on the side of the winter. I am not prepared for this or ready for this weather on any level. There are three good things about winter, Christmas, the baby’s arrival and skiing, otherwise not an ideal season. I broke out the warmer clothing for today, winter tights, long sleeve shirt, jacket and mitts. It was more of a mental battle with the change in weather rather than the weather itself being that bad. I find when the season changes it will take some time for the body and mind to adjust to the new normal. I am super glad that I got today even though the weather sucked and I peed 5 times on my 45-minute run 😂😳. I love running. I feel more energized, healthy, happy and positive when I am doing it. I also want this little nugget of ours to love physical activity and being outside as much as we both do. Start them young right? Of course, the idea of training and potentially qualify for Boston 2023 is in my mind. Great way to get out with the little one right, the baby, me and running stroller perfect resistance training right! It might be a bit of a pipe dream right now and it will definitely depend on how postpartum is going with the little one how my body feels, but for now, I am plan and dream of Boston. As for the peeing, I am hoping physio will help and I will keep posting updates with progress, hopefully, there will be a lot more running in my future. Getting out there is the real win.
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Valerie Taylor
❤️🥰