My First Official Run After Delivering My Fourth Baby

Alhamdulillah, today was an exhilarating experience that must be blogged about. I never thought I could run again since having baby no4. Life has been hectic and there was hardly any time to run. Somehow, we managed.

I think my husband had emailed information about the run and when we came across the booth in the usual running place, we decided to sign up on the dot. It was a 6 km run and there was no time limit. Certificate and medal award to all finishers. A bit expensive though, RM50 registration but the medal was nice enough.

There was also a 3km run for family and the other kids were dying to participate, but without the yes from hubby, based on the previous run earlier this year where I was the only parent with two kids in another event, it wasn't going to work. So it was just me and son no1.

For the most part, for the past one year or so I have cycled at home on alternate evenings using the exercise home-bike. Some people asked about which brand to invest in, I can't compare as this is the same indoor static exercise bike I have used for many years (I think 4 now). We'd only go jogging during the weekends.

Rebuilding stamina has not been easy. Recovery after my third caesarean and fourth delivery was snail's pace compared to all the previous pregnancies. Maybe it's age, I'm not sure. Certainly I did not plan to have a child after the age of 35 but we humans can only plan, God ultimately decides what is best.

Sometimes its hard for me to believe that I used to run 5km alternate week days and 10km-15km long distance run at the weekend. I really hope that I can go back to this level of fitness. I had initially planned to run my first marathon in 2014 after my first half marathon in 2013, until I got pregnant. Ah well, life goes on. Now that baby is nearing 2 years of age, I can slowly go back to a more predictable training and sleep pattern, both not achieved as I write this but certainly hoping it to transpire in the next one year.

The main question is:
1) How to start or restart?
2) How to maintain momentum?

Change is always difficult because staying in one place requires no effort. I had to set goals. My goals were weight loss, to get back to the weight I was before I was pregnant, and to finish that goal of running a marathon that I had set many years back.

I think it's important to write the goals down, and then come up with a plan.

Running a half marathon (21 km) isn't something like going shopping or buying a book. You don't just wake up one day and say 'I think I'm going to run a half marathon', sign up for one the following month, and then do it. Ok, it might work for people who are fit and accustomed to running certain distance but for the majority of normal people, half marathon and any running event regardless of distance requires some thought, preparation and advanced planning.

There were many setbacks. Full time job didn't leave me with much energy to pursue exercise in the beginning (after many months of time off work completely, so I did enjoy returning to work but it had some drawbacks). Baby was also still small and sleep was fragmented at best. So I either didn't exercise or just used the exercise bike.

Cycling has to be roughly twice the distance to get the same amount of work out as a run, if I'm not mistaken. It is a good form of exercise, especially when I was pregnant, and in the early months when my weight was still on the heavy side. I went from 66 kg to 50 kg in about 6 months. Mostly through a bit of mindful eating, a bit of exercise and also nursing my baby.

Then I decided, for many reasons unrelated to exercise, more personal and family reasons then anything else, to move back to Kelantan which also involved taking up a part time job. This was an opportunity to spend more time on my work-out but again, didn't translate. It was painful, running, after not running for so long. My knees hurt as it had when I over-trained for the half marathon in the past.

But at least I did get to cycle more regularly then before. I also ran but not more than 3 km at one go. It was only after signing up for the LTK or Larian Terbuka Kelantan, that I made conscious effort to run, and measure the distance and speed, and make sure that we built enough stamina towards the event. We means me and my son.

Motivating oneself can be an issue, but once I sign up for a race it becomes automatic. I look at the date of the race and then plan ahead how to build up distance from running 3 km to 5 km and making sure we 'peak' at the time of the event.

I felt like a beginner again, struggling with:
1) Breathing
2) Mental strength

The best way to breath is to take deep breaths and to inhale or exhale for as long as possible, shallow breaths will make one tired more quickly.

I also found myself thinking about all sorts of negative things while running which was not an empowering experience.

It was a morning run and I had not done any morning runs in a while. That was another mistake.

I wish there was someone else who would be a cheerleader for me, as I had to be for my son. I had to train him, be his pacesetter, made sure he ate and drank right, plan out the training for him, now I realize that doing something challenging is half as hard as coaching others to do the same.

Today's finisher medal.

Just wanted to share the picture of the medal. When I crossed the line, the girls said, you were so close! Never had that reaction yet. Of course now I am in the women's senior category, there is less competition.