Holding Back: An update on my post-partum running

Screen Shot 2012-11-27 at 4.32.18 PM

I ran my first* post-partum mile on Sunday. It was glorious! My legs felt strong, my body seemed to be fall right back into running as one of my most comfortable states of being. It felt right. I warmed up with a half mile walking at 4.0 mph pace and then sped the treadmill up to 6.0 mph or 1o min/mile pace. I tried to focus on my foot strikes to keep my cadence high despite the slower pace. For the minute I counted my cadence was about 170 foot strikes, which is a pretty good average for an easy run. (You can read more about foot strike and cadence HERE.) The mile seemed to go by faster than ten minutes; I got off the treadmill wanting more. 

*first post-partum run with permission. My other runs weren't really "allowed."

According to my new training plan I was scheduled to run 2 miles today. Before heading down to our treadmill in the basement I did one of the pelvic floor workouts from my Hab IT DVD, which involves kegels, sumo squats and several hip abductor and adductor exercises. I did it while Jack was squirming and smiling on the floor in front of me. After I finished I was able to settle him down for a nap. With both kiddos sleeping, I headed down to the basement and hopped on the treadmill. I did a half mile warm up walking at 4.0 mph pace again and then sped the treadmill up to 6 mph. My body felt great, but as I began to run I noticed that my pelvic floor didn't feel as firm as it did on Sunday. Instead of feeling completely normal and almost unaware as I was on Sunday, I felt very aware of my pelvic floor. At around the 3/4 mile mark it seemed that the sensation was a weak feeling, just not as tight as it was on Sunday. For the next 1/4 mile I debated. One voice inside me said: Just keep going, you plan to rest three more days before your next run. You could do another mile. And then the other voice (the one that sounds a whole lot like my husband's) said: Stop. Sarah. Stop at the mile mark or you'll regret it. So I did. I stopped. Got off the treadmill and did 10 minutes on the recumbent bike instead. My husband will be so proud when I tell him!

Screen Shot 2012-11-27 at 4.32.49 PM

I'm not sure why I didn't feel "right" perhaps it is because I did the pelvic floor exercises first and my pelvic floor muscle were fatigued before I started running? I usually do the DVD after my cardio as a way to cool down. But I decided to do it as a warm up today. I don't think I'll do it before a workout again. It is also possible that after the run on Sunday things "down there" were stressed and a day wasn't enough time to recover. I also failed to do my pelvic floor exercises on Sunday or Monday, which may means that I did nothing to tighten those muscles post run. Either way. I'm glad I stopped. I plan to try to run again on Saturday, I'll try two miles again and see how it feels. Perhaps added rest time and not doing the pelvic floor exercises before will change how I feel during the run.

Have you ever had to stop mid-run? 

--Sarah