This week was my second back at work after maternity leave and I am still trying to settle into the schedule. Even before having the baby I had to get up early to fit my training in-- I have a long commute and I like to get to work early. Since F still gets up once a night to eat (usually around 4 am) I stay up and hit the gym and then go to work. It makes sense, and it is the easiest way to train during the week, but getting up at four is not the easiest thing to do. And it means that most of my miles are on a treadmill (it is pitch black until after 7 here so there really isn't anywhere I feel great about running outside).
I was in training for a half marathon last spring when I found I was pregnant. I was halfway through the cycle and felt so good and strong I thought I could keep going - I would be in the early second trimester for the race and wouldn't have gained much weight. It would be fun to have a pregnant PR. But the pregnancy hit me like a sock full of quarters and I stopped running pretty quickly. That race is coming up in April and it feels like a good goal to try to do it this year. Plus, JR's work will pay my race fee and who doesn't love a free race?
That means the schedule is important and to make it work I have to do the longer runs on the weekends. This morning JR let me sleep in because I hadn't had more than five hours a night in days and I slept through my normal run time. Luckily I was able to squeeze in a couple of miles while my parents played with the kids. After so many runs on the treadmill just being outside felt fantastic and it was nice and cold. My garmin was dead so I ran a route I do all the time so I know the markers. Just a quick 3.5 miles with some hills thrown in, at a good clip for me. I felt great the whole run but my legs never really got warmed up.
The longest I've been able to run since the baby is six miles. I will need to start a training cycle for the half in about two weeks and I am not sure I am up for it. My legs are not fully back (not to mention my abs) but really it is squeezing all the training in (especially all the miles I will need to do on a treadmill) that worries me. Last year I ran downtown under the lights to fit it in but after some attacks on runners last year I am wary of being out before the sun is up.
I frequently see articles about running for mothers. They are all full of the same annoying tips. At least half of them involve running while your kids nap or having them do workout videos with you. For the most part they assume that you are a stay at home mom with kids at home. But I think for a lot of women it isn't about making it work during nap time (do we really need that tip? I think most people could sort that out) but how to make it work when you work eight hours a day and have school pick up and sports commitments and it is winter and sun is up for what feels like ten minutes a day. I would like some one to explain how I can run at lunch and not look like a sweaty mess all afternoon or how to do a ten miler on a treadmill without dying of boredom. That is the kind of tip I want to see.
So for the next couple of weeks I will keep getting up each morning and trying to adjust to even less sleep but more mileage. See if I can hit my target paces and gut out a few longer runs. And maybe I will sort out exactly why I have never seen an article for dad runners.
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