Getting my Groove Back

I was a tad naïve when I thought about how quickly I would get back into shape after Forest was born. I figured I’d rest for the allotted 6 weeks post-partum and then within a matter of days I’d be cruising on 6 mile jogs through the Aberdonian hillsides. I claimed I’d put our in-home elliptical machine to good use during naptimes (because all newborns do is nap, right?) and as soon as I was able I’d be popping in my P90X DVDS for some naptime plyometrics. 

What actually happened was this: 6 weeks rolled around and the weather in Aberdeen (in December) was fairly miserable and the day light only lasted a few hours each day. The lack of sleep, plus the lack of energy, plus the lack of sunlight, plus the lack of a newborn who napped longer than 13 minutes pretty much zapped any motivation I had to get out of my sweatpants and go for a run. 

My first run back was humbling to say the least. It hurt…way more than I ever expected it to. I’ve always been naturally in shape. A lifetime of playing endurance-centric sports meant that I never struggled to go for a 45 minute run before. Running has always been my exercise of choice because it just came easily to me. I’d plug in my music, set my legs on cruise control and zone out for an hour or so while I burned calories. I was left with a happy body and a happy mind. 

But 6 weeks after birthing Forest, I struggled to complete a 3.2 mile loop on the trail near our house, and had to resort to walking most of it. 

You see, it’s quite hard to run when the abdominal muscles you’ve worked so hard to maintain are suddenly shattered. But I pushed through and a week later, I pushed through again, forcing myself to get out there if the weather was anything close to decent on a weekend morning when Jon could fill in with the child-rearing duties. 

Another factor I hadn’t considered when imagining my post-partum Heidi Klum-esque body was how breast feeding would factor into it. I had to feed DIRECTLY before jogging or else I’d be supremely uncomfortable while bouncing up and down. And I had to shower immediately upon returning or else Forest wasn’t interested in feeding from my smelly body. And I had to worry about increased lactic acid (linked to colic) in my milk and also a decreased supply since I was burning more calories than taking in due to a cardio workout on top of the breast feeding calorie burn. 

Needless to say, it was more complicated than I originally envisioned and most of the time I decided to use Jonathan’s volunteer baby-sitting hours to take a nap, make a phone call, or just stare blankly at the wall. 

Once we got to California, things got easier for three reasons: 1) the weather and daylight hours were cooperative with ‘after Jon gets home from work’ runs and 

2) Forest was mostly sleeping 10-12 hours at night which meant I wasn’t crazy for sleep during the day and 3) I stopped breastfeeding shortly after the move which gave my body more freedom for when I could work out. I think even if I’d continued breast feeding, the weather and the increased predictability in Forest’s eating and sleeping patterns would have made exercising much easier after the 4 month point. 

But even though it’s much easier to squeeze a work out in these days, I’m still not where I thought I’d be 6 months in. During the week, my work outs generally consist of 20-30 minutes of cardio either with the jogging stroller (more than 20 minutes and Forest will fall asleep in the stroller meaning he won’t take a real nap which means I have no time to shower/eat/stare-blankly-at-the-wall) or on the elliptical while Forest chills in his jumperoo. 

Weekends are when I really try to get my long runs in. Jonathan volunteers for morning duty so that I can go for 6-7 milers before the blazing California sun comes out (I’m still acclimated to Scottish weather so 70 degrees is too hot for me!). We’ve also been going on long hikes on most weekends which is helping me to exercise while exploring Cali and spending time with my favorite boys. 

I’m feeling pretty good, though I’ve definitely lowered my expectations on what I’m capable of at this point in my life. I know several women who run marathons 3-6 months after giving birth, and I think that is awesome and totally do-able if you care enough to create the time/energy/motivation to train. My goal was to run a ½ marathon by the time Forest was 6 months old. **Spoiler alert**: That didn’t happen. (Though I think without an international move at the 3.5 month mark, it may have been possible.)

Right now I’m doing pretty well with the 10k distance, especially since we have some wonderful neighborhood trails nearby. Recently, my favorite has been hitting the Alamo Creek Trail about 1/3 of a mile from my house and then running that until it connects to the Hidden Valley Ridge Trail. 

Hidden Valley Ridge has some of the most challenging hills with some of the most rewarding views. 

I can’t believe that just a few hundred yards out of the back of my neighborhood there are views like this: 

To me, there is seriously nothing more spiritual than a challenging trek up a hill to watch the sun rise over a setting like this. 

Utter peace (get it? Cows? Udder peace?).

As far as my post-partum body goes- I am fitting into my old clothes again, though they aren’t quite as flattering anymore. I have about 5 pounds or so to lose before I’m at my pre-pregnancy weight, but I’m not too stressed about that. I feel good and strong and basically content with how I look in a bathing suit. But my belly definitely shows signs that a baby used to reside inside, and you know what? I’m okay with that. I’m blessed by that. 

Now that Forest is 6 months old, I hope to join a gym with a daycare so that I can take a few exercise classes during the week. I’m also thinking that California would be a challenging and beautiful place to run a long distance race. I’ll likely start with a 10K and maybe by the time he’s a year old I’ll work myself up to a ½ marathon. There are some world famous ones in the area so it’d be a nice experience to have while we are living here. 

PHOTO SOURCE

Anyone have any tid-bits about how they shed the baby-weight and got back into an exercise routine? I think that’s been my biggest struggle is just getting back into a consistent routine. I usually will exercise when I have the time and energy, but with a 6 month old, the stars usually don’t align that perfectly too often! :) If I could make it a habit again, I think I’d be better at keeping it up. Any tips?