On the road again

I did it. First day on the road in running shoes in say... oh about... 9 months. I ran a bit during my first trimester but gave it up when it started to feel like too much.

There's a little story to these shoes. We had to place an order with Road Runner Sports (where we always get our running shoes) back in the winter because Joe was in desperate need of another pair. Even though I knew it would be months before I could use a new pair, I ordered some new Saucony's for me. My old ones have all the miles of the half marathon training, plus the race itself, plus a little summer running, and I wore them all winter while pregnant, when I wasn't wearing the one other pair of shoes that I could tolerate--my Dansko clogs. We stored the shoes away when they arrived. "Maybe I can break out the new shoes when I go to the hospital. I'll probably be doing lap after lap around the delivery ward..." Ha! Yeah, right. By the time I got to the hospital I was doing well just to waddle between the bed and the bathroom! So the shoes stayed tucked away in the basement for another few months.

The weather got warmer; the flowers blossomed; weeks turned into months. I really thought I'd be ready for some light jogging by six weeks. That definitely wasn't happening! By 8 weeks post-partum, I was feeling stronger, but still not up for running. Finally I quit putting pressure on myself and said, "I'll start running again when I am good and ready to start running!"

Well, the time has come. I am proud to say that I've been out for two workout sessions that were walking-jogging intervals.

The first time, I donned my "magic shoes" (think Forrest Gump) and I hit the pavement at a fast walk. I got all worked up and was ready to try it. "Well, here goes..." I am not exaggerating when I tell you that the first two blocks were the most painful stretches that I have ever run. Augh!!! What happened?! I mean, every joint and bone in my body was like, "what the hell is this?!" I walked again for a bit to recover. But block by block it got better. I could remember how amazing it felt to be running in my mind, although not in my body--not yet. The next time I went out, it was a little easier again. I am still doing the walk-run thing, but now I'm enjoying it and get lost in the daydreaming of what's to come.

It's funny. I did the half marathon to prove to myself that I could do something completely unfathomable. I thought if I can prove that to myself, then I'll be ready for child birth. Well, not exactly.... but it certainly didn't hurt. The breathing and discipline helped me a great deal with the birth experience. Now, I'm on the opposite side of fence. I think about what I endured with 23 hours of labor, and feel like now I can conquer anything. I'm a lot stronger than I ever thought I was. Funny how these things work out.

So, here's my dream--I'm putting it down in print so I guess I need to stick to it. I want to do the New York marathon in 2009. We're going to try for the lottery in a few weeks. (Joe's in charge of that. I don't know how it works, but he says we need to get a move on.) I want to do a 5k by the end of the summer and a trail run race series to race by baby-stretched body back into shape.

It's so great to be back on the road again--or the trail, as it were.