As 2018 turns to 2019, it seems like a good time to reflect
on the running year gone by, in particular the challenge of coming back after
having a baby. Winning the British Championship this year was a real surprise,
and a great honour. But it would be a lie to claim it was easy, so I felt I
should write down a few lines - with other new mums in mind - to say how it
really was.
Firstly, I should point out that I have been incredibly
fortunate, and that I’m well aware that my challenges pale in comparison with
those of other new mothers. For a start, I had a straightforward pregnancy and
was able to carry on running until the day my daughter was born. Secondly, I
had no major trauma following childbirth (I’m currently working with a
physiotherapist on closing the separation between my abdominal muscles – diastasis recti – but this is fairly common after pregnancy, and actually hasn’t been
a major barrier for me in terms of exercise). Thirdly I have a very supportive
family, in particular my husband and parents, who make it possible for me to
get out running and racing on a regular basis.
Nevertheless, I still found it hard coming back to running
form (I’m actually not sure I have arrived there yet – I realise now that my
‘pre-baby’ expectations on this subject were somewhat naïve!). When I first
started training again it was a bit of a shock to discover how unfit I’d
become, friends I’d run with comfortably in the past now seemed impossibly
fast. Trying to do too much too soon, I picked up a tendon injury and had to
reconcile myself to the gym for two miserable months. With the return of the
light came a return to the fells, but all too soon also a return to work.
Training became a juggling act with baby time, training frequently taking second place,
or losing out altogether. To reconcile the two, I started to train from
5-6.30am before work, whilst my little family were cosy warm in bed, but it
wasn’t easy, especially after a night of broken sleep (our offspring is not of
the ‘sleep through the night’ variety).
Looking back at the end of the season I was slightly surprised, but extremely happy with what I had achieved (British Champion, and being competitive again at a world level in Skyracing at Glencoe Skyline in September). However, maybe as a consequence of contentment, my motivation to train took a definite nose-dive. I found it harder and harder to leave my bed for the cold
darkness outside, and realised that I needed a new focus. So I did something
crazy, and entered a race I’d vowed I would never ever run, the Spine (a 426km
race non-stop along the Pennine Way in mid-January). Realising I’d need to up
my game and run more than 30 miles a week in preparation, I also started
training in a focused way for the first time in my life. We’ll see whether that’s
worked in a week (eek!!!). The bigger
challenge might be of another kind however... my intention to complete the
weaning process over Christmas suffered a big blow when Rowan got two viral
infections back-to-back and refused to take anything except breast milk for 5
days. Now I’m trying to work out the feasibility of pumping at every checkpoint
to keep myself milked... 😉
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| Spine training with a pack... |
I believe there will be a tracker to follow my progress (or
lack of), excellent procrastination for those dark January workdays in the
office!
