Challenges and Tips on being a running Mum...

Yesterday my boy turned 5 months old... Woah! I thought he was only born last week but it turns out he wasn't. He is getter way more fun every day and cuter by the minute. He now giggles and he rolled over the first time the other day.

He's clearly not into selfies like I am!

He loves the mirror and seeing his reflection, he loves singing and it doesn't even matter how bad your voice is or how out of tune. He loves the bath and the shower. He loves when you do silly dances in front of him and he loves being thrown around a bit.

Bath time baby

He is a solid boy and isn't very mobile yet (apart from the one roll he did), but I am in no hurry for him to be scooting and booting around the place.
He likes stories and he is a real social bubba.

Happy wee chappy

He likes to be in big groups of people, however he is always a silent observer. He is calm and content and loves to take in what is going on in the world around him.

He is just one cool little dude and spending every day with him is the most fun job ever!

Hike buddy

Running, on the other hand, has a whole new dimension to it now that I am a mum. It is not quite as simple as just throwing on my sneakers and heading out the door, there is a lot more planning and practicalities involved now. Here are some challenges I have found from being a Mum and a runner (and pleeeeeease know that this is not a moan, on the contrary, I am enjoying and learning from every challenge that comes with the Mama territory):

• Runs aren't quite as simple as they used to be
• Runs are now a luxury (who would ever believe that?!?)
• Running with a buggy is really hard but great training!
• There is a lot more to consider now, such as timing, organisation, where you go and how long for, what the baby is doing, etc.
• It's not just all about you, there is someone else that your running now affects
• 90% of the time your plans will have to change due to a certain little someone

Here are some tips to help overcome the challenges:

• Be organised!! If you are following a training plan you will know in advance the distances and types of runs you need to do, so plan them around times when it will work for both you and bubs.
• If you must run on your own, or just want to, plan your runs around times when Dad is home, or someone else that could look after the wee one could be there.
• Be Flexible!! I think this is one of the biggest things to remember with a child in general, not just for running. No day is ever the same with a baby so if you think you have tomorrow's run all planned out, be flexible if things have to change. Such as, if you have to go earlier or later to fit in in around feeds or sleeps, or if your baby is having an off day and you need to re-plan your run altogether, this is fine, it's all part of the journey. If you are not flexible you will get frustrated when things don't go as you want them to - which 99% of the time they don't with children :)
• Be prepared - If you know you want to get out for your run as soon as baby wakes up from their sleep, make sure you get everything organised while they are sleeping so when they wake you can focus on what you need to do to get them ready for it. 
• Remember that you are the most important person in your baby's like and they rely on you for everything. If you are breastfeeding, be aware of how the running could affect your milk supply and what you need to be doing/eating/drinking to keep it up. If a run is going to make you too tired to be able to give lots of energy to your baby, then perhaps you need to plan it for a time when you have more energy, or when Dad, or someone else, is around to give their energy to the baby.
• Look after yourself! Just like I mentioned above, if you are too tired, injured, sore or anything else from running, you can't give your best to your baby - try to find the balance between giving your all to your running and your baby.
• Relax and enjoy the ride - remember that running is totally new territory after a life changing event like having a child so it may take a while to find your feet again and things will be different. Enjoy these changes and learn from the challenges. 

Mums, how do you find exercising or running with a baby?

Are there any other challenges you face around this?

Any other tips you could add here? 

the best part of my day

Day 9, Thursday: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)

Today wasn't the most exciting day I've ever had, however, each day has it's best parts and this was the best part of today: Having cuddles with my boy as he sleeps on me... Blessed x

I promise he can breathe!

A story of birth for all who are interested...

Well tomorrow my wee boy Fletcher will be 2 weeks old. For the last two weeks I have gone out of the house about 10 times - 8 of those include hanging out and getting in the washing, and the other 2 are Church and family. Needless to say my life is somewhat different now, but I do LOVE it and it's is a very good different. Each day always has some sort of surprise in store for us (usually in Fletcher's nappy) and each day is better than the last (so long as we got some sleep the night before).

Anyway, here is my story of how I birthed a human... I know a lot of you don't want to read about this but for those who do, I will leave out the gory details and photos :)

But first, a photo of the subject for you...

It's hard work having a nappy change - fallen asleep on change table.

Fletcher was born on a Monday at 5.12 pm, and here's how the days leading up to that time went...
On the Friday before, I woke in the night with some pains. They were what I imagined to be labour pains, but I was not too sure so started timing them just in case. They were somewhat regular for 2 and a half hours and then they just stopped. A little disappointed but back to sleep I went and the next day we had an awesome day at the beach with lots of book reading, swimming, some walking and some tummy burying in the sand (so I could lie on my front) - totally awesome when you are pregnant!

Saturday night was much like Friday night but going through most of the night instead of just a couple of hours. Sunday evening and night followed suit, however the contractions then got stronger and more regular and there was a very strong pain in my lower back. This is it! I thought, so at 4am when I was in too much pain to sleep or rest, we called the midwife. She informed me that my cervix was soft and I was on my way, but still had a long way to go. So we both tried to get some rest and relaxation as we would need this when it was all go.

By 11.30 on Monday morning I was very ready to go to the hospital - I could no longer bear the pain of the contractions, or so I thought. When we arrived I was 6cm dilated which I was very happy about - I was a little afraid that the midwife would tell me I was only 2cm dilated. However, then everything stopped again. I was exhausted by then after a couple of nights of little and interrupted sleep, so was very disappointed when it all stopped. My midwife gave me the option of going home or staying and getting intervention (breaking my waters). I wanted everything to happen as naturally as it could but I also didn't want to go back home again so I got moving to try and speed up the process. Still nothing so by 2.30 she just said 'Right, let's break your waters', and Tim and I agreed. By 3pm the contractions were coming very regularly and were very strong, then by 4 they were relentlessly strong. By 5 I was ready to start pushing, which I did at about 5.02 and he was born 10 minutes later. Simple as that really. Apart from the build up of the labour over the weekend, it was a pretty quick and straight forward birth. I had no complications, only had some gas as pain relief (which was totally AWESOME!), and our baby boy came out very healthy and beautiful. He was perfect right from the start.

We were so blessed to have a safe and straight forward birth and a beautiful baby as a result. I am happy to say that I actually enjoyed the birth. There was a crazy load of pain but it was so worth it and it was the most amazing experience. Nothing can prepare you for labour or birth but before we went in to it I had said that I wanted to go into it and through it with the most positive attitude I could. There were definitely times when I wanted to punch someone - anyone - and give up, but for the most part, I just did it!
Hope you have enjoyed my story and know that not all birth stories have to be terrible ones - there are good birth stories out there :)
Here's another pic for you: Warning: the contents of this photo contain nudity...

Cute much?

I have been busy with our new bundle of joy

Fletcher William Dow was born 25th Feb at 5.12pm. He weighed a very healthy 7lb 13oz, or 3.5kg and is 51cm. We are so smitten and really do see where the term 'bundle of joy' comes from as that is what he is.

I was so blessed to have a very good pregnancy followed by a great birth story which my midwife says I have every right to boast about (which I will share later). Then followed by all of that we have the most beautiful baby who really is so wonderful and relaxed. I thank God for him everyday, he really has blessed us and enriched our lives greatly. I probably won't be on here for a week or so while we are getting adjusted with our new addition, so here are a few pics of our wee man from his first 3 days to keep you going... I'm sure you will think he is just as cute as we do :)

Chillin' with Mum

After first bath

Time with my Dad

First family photo

Always so peaceful

Cutest feet ever!

Creating a training plan the easy way and showering a baby...

Hi all,

*LAST DAY AND NIGHT TO ENTER THE SHOCK ABSORBER GIVEAWAY*

My latest exercising has consisted of a few casual strolls (ok - they are a workout for me but a casual stroll for anyone coming with me), and a couple of low key weight workouts.

AND... I have started to waddle... Eek! My husband told me to 'stop walking weirdly' the other day as I was trying sooo hard to not look like I was waddling that I just looked like I was walking strangely. Well, I don't waddle all the time, but by the end of a long walk I have a pretty substantial waddle going on! I'm sexy and I know it!

The rest of my training has consisted of lying on the couch reading great articles from this favourite website and magazine. It makes me feel like I am working hard when I read articles from here. They are oh so motivating and inspiring. Go check out the site!

The other awesome website I have discovered is this one here. Brilliant! I have just spent the last half an hour on it making a training plan for my up and coming post baby Marathon (in November). I know I am still pregnant and won't be starting the training for a wee while yet, but I thought I would fill out all my details and see what sort of a plan it came up with for me. I was a little cheeky and didn't put in pregnancy weights and measurements (but the ones I put in are heavier than my pre-preggers measurements, don't worry!). I have chosen a 14 week moderate training plan to start in July.


It is simple to set up, you just have to register your email address with them and then put in all of your details, and then they create the plan for you. You can create plans for running, multi post events, half marathons, full marathons, walking, running for health and fitness, you name it, they can pretty much do it. I recommend having a look, especially if you are a beginner.

What sort of plan do you use for training? Do you follow a plan at all? 

Any great sites or books for training plans?

The other part of my time lately has been planning and preparing for what was my baby shower on the weekend. It was fabulous! Me and my wonderful sister in law put all our creative ideas together (OK, I mean pinterest inspired ideas) and created a memorable shower in which myself and our baby were oh so spoiled! Here's a few snippets of the day...

Tim wasn't at the shower but he did get dragged into the photo booth

We had delicious food

The wishing tree - guests left messages for the baby which I will put into a book. Some very kind and special things were said

Photo booth props and teddy got signed by all the guests

So blessed by all the amazing and thoughtful gifts

My sister in law and party planner extraordinaire!

Animal and celebrity game and guess how many jelly babies

favours

Did I mention that the food was divine?

Delicious Raspberry and lemon cake made by my other amazing sister in law!

Half way and wearing a smiley...

So this week we are officially half way! Yip, 20 weeks into this whole pregnancy thing and I've got to say, although there are some undesirables that come with pregnancy, there are a lot more things that are enjoyable and I am enjoying it! For now... hehe.

I think my stomach has just exploded though and one undesirable = clothes I could fit last week, I can no longer fit. One enjoyable = I get to buy new clothes, so it's not all that bad. Running, however, has become a little more uncomfortable now as I am just a tad bit bigger, even with my smiley belt on.

Because I just know how much you all LOVE seeing what I look like first thing in the morning!

 A few weeks ago I bought a tummy support belt to wear whilst running. When I mentioned it in a previous post a friend asked me if it was only for pregnancy - No, it's not. You could wear one if you needed to support your back or something like that, but I think they are most commonly worn during pregnancy, and it's great that they support your belly and your back at the same time!

The one I am wearing in the picture above is called a 'smiley' belt, which comes from this website here. It is neoprene, aka wetsuit, material so is a little bulky under my shirt and quite thick which makes you sweat like crazy underneath it. It does help with support though.

"Wear a Smiley Belt during pregnancy to support painful back and pelvic joints or use as a belly band to reduce abdominal heaviness and relieve low back strain."

I got it to help with the 'abdominal heaviness' but found it was quite good for supporting my back too, even though I didn't even realise it needed support. I think it was definitely worth the buy and is even good to wear on long walks, etc. Because I am going to be at my biggest through the hottest months, I am a little unsure of how I am going to go with running and wearing the belt all that time. I guess we will just have to wait and see how that one turns out :)
 

After my run, without the belt on.

I know I had said I would post posts like this one under the CRG Baby tab above, but I am having some issues with figuring out a few things to do with it. So until I can sort it out you will just have to excuxe the occassional baby posts popping up on my main blog page.

Oh, I also just have to tell you, we had the half way scan this week and in it we saw this...

I know these scans are so hard to tell what is going on in them at the best of times, but cock your head to the left and you will see that our baby is giving us a thumbs up... The coolest thing ever we think! As for the sex - we did not find out, although it was rather tempting once we were in there.

Do you have any helpful hints for running/exercising during pregnancy?

What were your favourite and least favourite parts of pregnancy? 

A whole new dimension...

Hiiiiiiiiii!!!!

I know, I had kinda fallen off the blog wagon there for a while, sorry to all you people who just love reading my blog - my husband and my Mum, mostly!

But here's the reason (well more like the excuse), and yes, trust me, it is a good one!

Curious Runner Girl is now Pregnant Runner Girl!!!

That's right, you heard correctly, I'm up the duff, knocked up, preggers, with child, in the family way, or whatever else you want to call it. That and the fact that I have started a new, full time job, we've been doing work on our house, and I've been trying to have a social life!

Have to be honest, it was quite the surprise for my husband and I but we are so totally over the moon and know that it's God's timing - which is not always the same as ours, but it's always the best!

I am 17 weeks now and feeling a lot better than I had been in some of the earlier weeks. Have to say though, I have been rather lucky actually, not having any morning sickness, just a bit of nausea which was usually fixed by eating - not complaining about that!

We are both totally loving this new adventure and our wee little blessing, we're learning so much and it's all so very exciting.

source

'So what does this mean for my running???' I hear you ask? Well, let's get over to that side of this whole thing...

Running...

Funnily enough, with all the tiredness and nausea early on, this was the last thing I felt like doing so I actually haven't been running at all that much. I have done the occasional run but nothing over 10km. I have, however, been loving doing weight workouts, spin classes at the gym and going for long walks and hikes. With the occasional run thrown in there. All so good! I have also still been playing hockey but I'm definitely feeling the baby in there while I am playing, so taking it easier. Thankfully we have our last game this weekend, the Grand Final, so I will be able to finish the season.

So hot right now in my hockey uniform!

I know, don't get me started on our retro curtains and nasty carpet - we are currently undergoing home renos... Fun!

I am not going to do the Auckland marathon that I had registered for, which you would have read about in this post here, as I just don't think I could handle it being about 25 weeks pregnant and not really a seasoned marathoner with child in belly. I will hopefully try to do some smaller races. Was considering maybe a half marathon, but we'll see...

Have also been enjoying yummo meals like this one full of fresh salady veges now that it is spring and getting a but warmer... Yay!

Yummalicious chicken salad... Drool!

So that's my latest news, I will update you with all the juicy goss of the pregnancy... Jokes, I know you don't really want to be reading ALL about that. But what I will do is start posting all about exercising while pregnant, workouts, and other such stuff fo ladies with yo babies (and without - this isn't an exclusive blog you know!).