Running Post-Baby, Part II

So I wrote several months ago about how surprised I was at the difficulty I had adjusting back to running post-baby. It took me a while to get my mileage up and speed down - much longer than I expected. All in all, I think 9 months in 9 months out was probably a pretty fair assessment though. I'm finally pretty much back to where I was pre-Samuel, and that's a good feeling!


I ran my second half-marathon last weekend, and I did it quite a bit faster than my first two years ago. Admittedly, the circumstances were much different this time around. The race did not start an hour late and I had water the whole way and running buddies to keep me motivated. The situation was definitely better than the last time I ran.

The only negative was that Eric was working, so I had to leave Samuel in the child care. He did fine, but I worried the whole time about how he was doing and if I would be feeling well enough to take care of him afterwards. I think that kept me going slower than I would have for the first several miles. (And this is definitely TMI, but as a nursing mom, my milk totally let down around mile 11. THAT was a weird feeling!)

It was SUPER helpful to have my training buddies with me. I lagged behind on some of the hills, but seeing them ahead of me gave me the motivation to speed back up and catch them, something I may not have done otherwise.

Anyway, it took me right at two hours to finish the course (two hours and four seconds. I was both thrilled and annoyed!). When I finished, I felt like I had to keep moving for the next 10 minutes. Every time I tried to stop, I couldn't breathe. I guess my body just got in the running groove? Anyway, I finally cooled down and un-froze the hand that had been carrying my water bottle (it was a pretty wonky color for a while). It felt good though, and I was able to sprint and the end and generally feel way better than I did at the end of my last race. It's nice to feel good when you're done!

I did sleep pretty darn good that night though!

Anyway, I'm hoping this spring I can really start working on my times some more. I was really getting into a good groove last year when I got pregnant and had to slow down. Hopefully this is just the start of a new, faster Christie! We'll see... :-)