Hello!
A few weeks ago, I talked about my recovery period and setting up a team of medical professionals to guide my return to running. As I continue to ease back into running, this team of support is still a critical part of my journey.
When I first began running again, it was not pretty. I was out for a walk with my husband and daughter around 7 weeks postpartum. The weather was beautiful and I really wanted to see how the motion of running felt. So I told my husband not to let me run any further than 15-20 seconds. These 20 seconds were awkward and painful. My feet slapped and scuffed along the ground due to a lack of knee drive, my hips ached, I peed myself, and I felt heavy as though my body had forgotten how to run altogether! When I asked my husband how it looked (because maybe it looked better than it felt!), he confirmed my suspicions that my form was rough.
Even though my first run back was far from pretty, it was a celebration because I was finally able to hit “play” on my return to running. No longer was training paused. Now I wish I could say my body was able to fast forward through the run/walks and skip ahead to continuous running, but that didn’t happen for another 4-5 weeks.
Weeks 7-12: The Run/Walking Period
What began as a single 20 sec run slowly increased to 8-10×15 sec runs, then 10x30sec, 10x1min, 10×2 min, a mix of 2 and 3 min intervals, then finally to 4 and 5 minute run intervals with 1 minute of walking in between for no longer than 20 minutes of running total. On days I was with the team, I would be excited because I was able to run with a group for my first run interval. It may have only been 1-5 minutes, but running with others was refreshing and motivating. When I would stop for my walk break and watch them continue on with graceful form, ease of breath, and a workout ahead of them, I would be excited because someday, that will be me again. Soon my slapping feet will match their steady strum.
In the meantime, I have continued to monitor my body closely and be honest with myself, my coach, and my medical team on how I am feeling and if/what symptoms I am noticing. Unlike prior to pregnancy when I was pretty rigid and had perfectionistic habits with my training schedule, I am giving myself plenty of grace and flexibility to change days around, cut some run/walks short, and rest when needed. I would argue that having a team of support around you during the run/walk phrase is just as important as when you are running continuously because if you rush this phase, you may set yourself up for prolonged negative postpartum symptoms and increase your risk of injury.
Since 13 weeks postpartum, I have been continuously running and taking walk breaks only when needed. I’ll dive into that more in a couple of weeks.
