So, as many of you know I am training for a half marathon in June. Only 6 weeks after having Porter I started running/walking. At twelve weeks post partum I invested in some mizuno wave rider running shoes (by suggestion from my dad and by the way I love) and started strictly running 3-4 times a week. During this time I had some killer pain right down my back side and in my butt. It got so bad I asked my little brother who is studying to get into med school how i could fix it and even comtemplated going to a physical therapist for some help!! Long story short, he suggested I wear my orthotics and hip support (an elastic thing around the waist that helps my post pregnancy hips form moving too much!) which I was drastically trying not to be dependent on. I put them on to do a run and funny thing. It helped. Once I put in my orthotics in my shoes and wore the hip brace….the pain was gone! Crazy huh?

I am now officially 4 weeks into my 16 week training program. The farthest I have ever run was about 3 miles for a 5k at least 5 years ago! Last Monday I ran 6 miles. I was surprised, I thought for sure I would be sore, but I woke up and all was well!!! Now, if someone would have told me 5 years ago, even one year ago that I would be running 6 miles or for more than 30 minutes straight I would have just laughed!! It feels so good to be able to go much longer. Running has gotten easier as i have been training.

I have found several challenges during this time. One is staying adequately hydrated, and another is pacing myself, and an occasional pain here and there, and lastly eating well.

So, on the issue of staying hydrated…who doesn’t have a little caffeinated soda on the night shift? I seem to barely get enough water in me to survive so to add in running, and the night shift caffeine, I have found this a battle. I am going for no soda this week, but am sure I will need the caffeine- I might be a little addicted. TO this I must say thank goodness for Crystal Light with energy (the caffeinated crystal light) although I am sure the water I mix it with is pretty much canceled out by the caffeine. So I am at square one again trying to get enough water. Let me just say, I’m working on it!!

If my training plan says to run 3 miles at 17:00 mile I struggle to run that slow...I might as well be walking. I did some research and have found that running for the allotted time Is the way to go so I end up running for the total time in which it suggest (3 miles @ 17 minutes = 50 minutes) and my 3 mile run ends up being more like 4-5 miles. I guess the endurance is what I am going for right?

As for an occasional pain I haven’t had any pains that a little heat, ice and ibuprofen, and a day of rest won’t help. I’ll be thankful for that after hearing what Stacey, my high school friend who will be running with me, has gone through.

Another difficult thing for me now is my diet and trying to shed a few pounds while running. I am unsure as to why with all the running I have hit a plateau in my weight and have not been able to lose any weight. A good portion of it I am sure is the way I eat. I will be struggling with this for a while as I don’t have a regular schedule with working 3 nights of the week, and then trying to get in healthy snacks while at work is killer too. I also wonder if it isn’t related to something called PCOS which I was borderline having when I got pregnant with Porter. Somehow with PCOS your body breaks down carbs and other things differently than a normal persons so losing weight is hard even when you do eat right (which I am working on to!) I am borrowing a blood sugar machine for the next couple days to see if that couldn’t be a part of it!
I have also learned that I do not need to buy a jogging stroller because I am absolutely unable to push it up and down hills while I run with two toddlers in it!!! Yeah, I only did that once and never again!!!!

So there we are with my battles since starting training for this half marathon. I have found in these 4 short weeks that running is a mental game. No I am not mental for running, but that running is a mind over body game. I have to stay relaxed and tell myself I can do it, it’s no big deal. I find with this running is a breeze. The only problem is if I say I can’t or I tell myself I am tired it is so difficult to keep going! My mind is defiantly learning how to take over my body! It has been quite a thrill for me to see how far I can push myself and after each long run where I have increased my miles or the amount of time run increases I feel very accomplished.