A Return To Running

Up until I was 6 months pregnant and before I started my full time summer internship, I was a pregnant running beast. I was averaging 5-8 miles per day and it felt delicious. When I started work (with a 3 hour round trip commute), I just couldn't fit runs into my day or at least I was way too exhausted to try.

Now that I'm done with work and just waiting for the baby to come, I'm starting to get back into running. When I hit the track yesterday for the first time since my 2.5 month recovery, it felt like heaven. I can't believe how much I missed running. I can't believe I allowed myself to miss out on the experience for 2.5 months.

The rythmic (yet waddling) swish of my feet hitting the pavement is like a music all its own. The slight burning of my lungs being pushed beyond capacity and the stinging strain of my calves felt incredible. I jumped right into that run as if I never missed a day. I couldn't keep the silly grin off my face as I completed lap after lap, it felt SO GOOD! I didn't even mind that the high school cheerleading squad gawked at me as they practiced their drills.

For the first time in forever, my mind felt totally and completely peaceful. My body felt like its old self- minus the incredible pressure pushing against my lady parts, of course. Everything felt so right. It was a runner's homecoming.

Of course, it feels very different running at 39 weeks than it did running at 28 weeks. To be honest, I was really scared yesterday and feared that I wouldn't be able to run at all. But it really wasn't bad. My leg musles are in atrophy and need to be coaxed into taking on mileage. The pressure bearing down with each step is also considerable greater. I mean, I am running with a 7 pound weight in me. Even though I'm running slower, I feel like my legs and lungs have to work harder. Also, after the first mile, I usually get pretty crampy (yay! maybe it's inducing labor!). But other than that, running feels just like it always has- euphoric.

Yesterday I managed to keep a running/jogging pace for 2 consecutive miles and today I made it to 2.5. Hopefully I will get up to 3 miles tomorrow but I'm not going to push it. This might sound sick but I can't wait until my post-baby work outs when I can start running harder and increasing my mileage!