How pregnancy and motherhood changed me as a runner

Running during my pregnancy taught me many things, most importantly to listen to my body and enjoy running. I have a bad habit of continuing to run through the pain figuring it will just get better. Last Friday I headed out with the BOB for a run only to have pain in my hip that got worse as I went, after a few blocks I turned around headed home, got Morgan and turned it into a pain free walk instead. A year and a half ago I would have never done this, probably the reason for so many injuries including the tibial stress fracture that I discovered during a 20 miler that started painful and only got worse or the foot stress fractures that I discovered the day after finishing TCM many years ago when I had a swollen, bruised foot and could barely walk after mile 20. As ma result of listening to my body I had a great 16 miler on Sunday that was pain free.

Motherhood has also changed me as a runner, I know everyone said it would, but I haven’t quit running and I never will because of my child. I am learning to make every mile count and am running for quality instead of just to bank miles. I am also turning into a morning runner, twice a week it is my goal to be up, finished pumping, and out running by 5am. Still working on this a bit, as I am usually a little behind schedule and end up needing to cut the run short to make it to work on time. I have also been running on the treadmill, yes in the Summer, but now that I actually have a child who naps I can take advantage of this and get in some interval work while watching some trashy daytime TV. I guess this 8-10 miles on the treadmill will never be as bad as the 20 miler I once did to finish off my marathon training a few years ago, got to love Minnesota Winters with -30 wind chill, blowing snow and zero visibility.

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