Being pregnant is a new experience for me. Everyday my body changes and I practice listening to it so I can give it what it needs. Despite this attempt at mindfulness, I oftentimes fail. As a person who enjoys endurance sports, I have typically practiced mind over body. I've learned to settle into the discomfort of a 20-mile run or steep climb with mantras that ignore my body's complaints (e.g., "Shut up legs!"). At the same time, I haven't ever been a runner that tallied my weekly miles. Mainly, I trained for events and followed the training schedule. I liked getting faster and running with a group. To cross-train, I rode my bike. Honestly, I don't know what I like to do better. Mostly, I like to be outside, challenge by body, and quiet my restless brain. With a body already challenged by a growing baby, I had to rethink how I ran and what a run meant for me. To take you through this process, I wrote about a typical run day during my first trimester.
I wake up (slowly), eat breakfast, and drink a half/caff latte to power my very dull brain. In between answering emails, I search blogs written by other women who ran during pregnancy. I spend most of my time reading blogs that talked about how these soon-to-be moms ran 5 1/2 marathons during their pregnancy with hardly any issues. I thought... How cool! I want to do this too. I read these for motivation and because I don't want to be scared to run.
After pumping myself up with the blogs, I put on my running clothes, get my dog, and head out. I think... The weather is great. I'll go for a longer run today. After my typical walk for my warm-up, I start running. On this route, there is a slight downhill to begin. Immediately, my boobs hurt. I think....Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. I hope this goes away. Maybe I need to buy a better sports bra.
Luckily, the pain went away. After crossing a busy street I take a look at my watch. I think... Wow. Am I really going that slow? I feel like I'm going faster! I decided not to look at the watch anymore. This wasn't about training; it was about getting out for a run and staying healthy. No pressure.
I keep going and I get a cramp. This is the kind of cramp you get in the side when you've drank too much or too little water (at least in my experience). I knew it was because I hadn't drank enough water. I didn't want to get stuck on my run having to pee since I tended to do that more now. Most of the time I could outrun these cramps. I think... Oh no! I'm dehydrated. That can't be good for the baby. Maybe I should shorten my run a little.
I slowly jog up a hill and begin to descend, typically a fun things for me since I can go fast and get a break. No... the jostling from the down hill intensified the cramp, brought back the boob pain, and made me realize that I now had to pee. All of a sudden. I think... How can there be so much pressure in my bladder when the baby is a poppy, grape, raspberry...? Maybe I'll shorten my run even more.
At this point, my dog pulls me to the curb to sniff something and I stop to walk and the cramps and bladder discomfort are minimized. I think.... Sweet relief! I start walking. Dozer, my dog, looks back at me and we carry on. We walk back through the trails and the bark park. He sniffs every corner and chases every squirrel. As soon as we get home, I head straight for the restroom and Dozer slurps from his water bowl. Later, we take a nap together. I think... Does my body really ache after that run?
From then on, I realized that I just needed to run like my dog. He runs, walks, and visits with every passerby. He never judges the pace or feels guilty about shortening the mileage. He just has a blast, no matter what, and he ALWAYS takes a nap afterwards. So, with the wisdom of my very young dog, most of my runs from then on were about being outside to release the nervous energy of being newly pregnant, extremely tired, and brain dead. For me, that was what made running during my first trimester fun again.
