See Claire Run Again

Today was my first post baby run. It was scary. I've been telling Bruce for a good two weeks now that "tomorrow I'm going to get up early to run". But every time it was tomorrow and time to go run, I would find a reason not to. I was terrified.

My journey to becoming a "runner" (and I am still hesitant to call myself that, even after completing two half marathons) was slow and painful. When I started, I could barely run for 3 minutes before I had to stop and walk to catch my breath. It took me one full month of training to be able to run a mile without stopping. It took another two months before I could run two miles. Slow and painful. But 6.5 months after I laced up my running shoes for the first time, I ran my first half marathon. It was exhilarating to cross that finish line and realize I had accomplished such a huge feat. 3 months later I ran my second half marathon and that one felt even better. I had not only learned to run, but I had learned to love running. And then I found out I was pregnant. The morning after completing my second half marathon, I saw two pink lines and while excited, I knew that morning sickness was not far behind.

I managed to go for three runs while pregnant. The first was just a few weeks into my pregnancy. I made it 6 miles and it felt great. I was hopeful that I could continue running throughout the pregnancy. Then I got really, really sick and running was no where near an option. When I started to feel better, I decided to try again. On two occasions I went out for short 1 mile runs and found them to be too difficult. By that point my belly was heavy enough that it just wasn't comfortable and I didn't enjoy it. I decided I needed to give up running until after the baby was born but I knew the consequence of this would be that I would have to start from scratch.

After putting it off for several weeks, this morning I tied up my running shoes and found the Mormon Channel app on my phone. I told myself that I only had to go 1 mile and that it was ok for me to stop and walk every few minutes to ease myself back into things. I was beyond ecstatic when not only did I run the entire mile, but I did it at an 11:30 pace, which is exactly what my pace was before getting pregnant. I couldn't go further than a mile, but the fact that I finished one mile non-stop at a good (for me!) pace was huge. I can still run. I didn't lose as much of my running ability as I thought I would. And I enjoyed it! It wasn't easy, but it was fun. I got to listen to a conference talk and push my mind and body to do something I didn't think I was capable of anymore. It felt amazing.

I know it will be quite some time before I am ready for another half marathon and that is ok. I am just so excited that I am still able to run and I look forward to many more peaceful morning runs in the months to come.