This may not be a huge deal for some people. Heck, there are running moms out there who run marathons right away after giving birth. For me it was a big deal because it was a long, long break from long distance running. I didn’t think I had time to train…I had to learn to MAKE time. And I had to train smart and make the most out of the minimal time I had.
If you had told me 2 months ago that I would be running a half marathon and crushing my last PR, I would’ve said, “Are you kidding me?!” I wasn’t sure I could train properly with my busy mom life. At first, I told my husband I wanted to just run the relay for the Superhero Half, a local company that puts together 5Ks and half marathons. We had, after all, been running this event for 5 years in a row now (last year I only did the relay though as I was only 5 ½ months PP) and I didn’t want to stop my streak.
I looked at the calendar and saw that I had just enough time to get some decent training in. During the week, I got my stroller miles in and did some strength training. I took it easy on my long runs on Sundays with the local group I run with, but then I slowly started to gather…confidence. I was already pretty fit and I truly believe in muscle memory, but it was the process of letting my self-confidence take over that allowed me to get faster in my runs, both with and without the stroller.
So then it was a couple of weeks before the Half, when I looked at my progress and realized I needed to reassess my goals. I was thinking that finally breaking 1:48 would be really nice. Maybe even to get to 1:45. And then I analyzed my Strava data from my last long run and saw that I ran it at the same pace I did that 1:48 Half marathon a couple of years ago. When my running friend, Massoud, said to me that I should run with the 1:45 pace group and then take off if I felt good, I thought, Hmm maybe I can…
We had incredibly beautiful weather that May morning. My husband ran the first part of the relay and stayed with me until his part was done. We stayed with the 1:45 pacers but then slowly got in front of them. Once I was on my own, I stayed well ahead of the pacers and could hear them saying remark that I was actually pacing them. I kicked it up a notch at mile 9 and felt like I was flying at mile 10. I had to dial it back a little bit because I didn’t want to empty my tank too soon. I was feeling extremely exhausted at mile 12.5 but I knew the Finish Line was so close so I maintained my speed and then went into my kick for the last few hundred yards. I glanced at the clock but felt like my vision was a little blurry. Did it really say 1:43? I stopped my watch as soon as I crossed the finish and accepted my finisher’s medal. I looked down at my watch and it said 1:43:33! It was an amazing feeling of accomplishment.
MoralS of the story, don’t think it’s too late to start something. Don’t think you’ve taken too much time off. Don’t listen to self-doubt. Run when you can, run happy and run strong. Whether it’s 17 months or 17 years post-partum 😉
Xo,
Julia
