london

The Mum Tum Run

~ morethanamara ~ Leave a comment


After completing a 5km run this morning, that resulted in a face stuck on a vibrant shade of beetroot for about 5 hours after, I felt the need to review my running so far since starting my slow but steady come back.

I have learnt a few things I thought I should share when it comes to running post pregnancy.

It’s not just your body that changes, but your mindset too.

Firstly my body.

I have never been a super duper skinny runner. This is one of the massive perks of running: you can be any size or shape you god damn want!

However, as my body expanded through pregnancy to the size of a small country, it’s not only bigger than it was, but also far wobblier than ever before. So the key to making sure I don’t feel like a bag of jelly plodding along? Wear supportive kit!

I contemplated vacuum packing myself into it, but have settled for a respectable pair of running tights, a good fitting sports bra (x 2), and a running top that doesn’t ride up into a crop top as soon a I set off.

On my feet, a supportive pair of trainers rather than the barefoot runners I wore pre pregnancy. More cushion for the feet is key here to soften the blow of the extra weight on the ground. And my joints.

I touched on the subject of the sports bra situation in my last post. Still currently wearing double the support in the form of two over shoulder boulder holders. This seems to be working nicely as the mammaries stay firmly put and so far so good with no movement, pain and no issues with milk production being affected after they are compressed. Any sports bra wearing ladies will know though, getting out of a sweaty sports bra can be tough going, getting out of two is even tougher and requires a lot of leverage. (And a Crane).

The top I have been wearing is all but loose. This is for a number of reasons.

Since being pregnant I have turned into a walking furnace. No matter the time of day, the weather or what I am wearing, I am at a body temperature of an active volcano, so wearing a loose fitting top not only hides a multitude of wobbly bits but keeps me cool. Comfort is key here, and running while having to pull down a tight top that rides up over the Mum Tum is just not fun or productive.

For the Mum Tum situation my running tights have been all but amazing at helping secure everything in place. I have ensured they are high waisted, and this then acts as the support needed for my stomach.

Yep it’s still there. A lot smaller than it was now William is on the outside, however it’s also not as firm. At all. I had an emergency C section and this has created a small indent along the scar, which then created a slight overhang of delightfully decorated skin, scattered with a small selection of stretch marks. Yippee! 

Now, please let me outline a few things about my Mum Tum.

I am ridiculously proud of it! I mean, my tummy grew a human! How cool is that!?! So giving it some extra support is all I can do when wanting to exercise.

The running tights come up high enough that my tummy is firmly in place and as these last weeks have shown me, it also means my stomach is wobbling less each time I run.

We will skim over the “but what knickers are you wearing?!”… however I do wear them when running. (Lot’s of my running friends don’t due to chaffing however I like the extra security). The two things I have learnt from todays run when it comes to this: no camels come looking for their toes and I am now another size smaller in said knickers, which I see as progress towards running my body back into shape.

Now my mind.

I have spent many a year, worrying and obsessing over my weight. I once even used running as a way to keep my weight below a healthy balance for my frame. (All I learnt from this was I was bloody miserable).

Over the years I have learnt that my body is meant to be a certain shape, and a certain size. I also learnt that once I found that size I was able to achieve running goals I never thought I would. I have learnt to appreciate what I put into my body, and with some dedication (and a lot of sweat) and appreciation to the sport I have gone on to achieve more than I ever thought I would.

I now have a new appreciation for my body when it comes to running. I appreciate and am grateful it gave me this wonderful gift in the shape of a now very chubby baby, but I also appreciate I need to look after it more than ever because of him.

I am determined to run and exercise as its what makes me me, however my driver is my gorgeous baby boy. I will do it slowly but surely, I will laugh (and write about the jelly belly and thunder thighs) and have fun as I do so. I will have a bit of me time now and then, and I will appreciate every step I can take.

My post pregnancy running journey will take time, “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” as they say. But this wobbly, plodding Mum is determined!

There will be days I look in the mirror and wish I had the runners body I used to have, but most days, I will look in the mirror, be grateful I can still run, see my Mum Tum and love it.

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Hannah: Your first marathon: Making The Breast Of It

~ morethanamara ~ Leave a comment


An open letter to my younger sister:

Dear Hannah,

Just one more sleep to go until you make the 26.2 mile journey around London, on foot.

You’ve got your race number, you have your timing chip and your kit.

You’ve run and run and run over these last few months no matter what has been thrown at you.

You’ve completed the main race already and tomorrow is just your victory lap.

It’s emotional.

Your brain is currently going over and over everything you have done or not done and analysing every single step you have taken since the “You’re In!” Magazine dropped through the door.

It’s just your brain playing tricks.

For you, at times, this happens more than most. Your brain will tell you can’t but in your heart you know you can.

Your body has come so far, because you have looked after it. It has changed and morphed into the body that will carry you to the finish line.

You have gone against the self doubt, and become stronger than you will ever realise.

Remind yourself how strong you are, when you think to finishing the races you have completed along the way.

They are more than the medals you have received, they are huge leaps in your confidence and your body showing you what you can really do.

The 21 miles you went off and ran, just like that, because you had trained to do so, was the confirmation you are ready for tomorrow.

When your mind is playing tricks, recall on how you felt when you saw how much distance you had crossed.

Tell yourself that no matter what has gone on, at home, at work or life in general, you are still here and you are doing it.

You are and will be in the 1% of the whole population that has completed a marathon.

You will have the blisters, the aches, the pains to show for it.

But the memories and the knowledge will stay with you for the rest of your life.

Your body will forget one day what you have put it through, but your brain will thank you forever for what you have achieved.

The marathon isn’t for everyone, but applying yourself to a mammoth task, takes time, strength and discipline.

You have all of these.

You’re doing it to support the Women around you. You’re doing it to show others that Breast Cancer will be beaten.

But ultimately you will do this, and show yourself, you’re more powerful and stronger than you think.

No matter what anyone else may say, you are ready.

Keep your mind clear, your heart open and your feet moving.

You will never forget how it feels to cross that line.

You deserve the world and tomorrow it is your day.

Love always,

Jenny

“There will be days you don’t think you can run a marathon, but a lifetime of knowing you have”

Running/Bumping along a new route.

~ morethanamara ~ Leave a comment

IMG_0061

I have always appreciated how far I could push my body when it came to running.

I have pushed it mile after mile to complete so many races and runs that I have lost count.

Running has seen me through so many good times.

Great times in fact.

And all the tough times in between that everyday life brings.

I never imagined that at my running peak I would be running 100km and living to tell the tale, and on the opposite side I never thought I would go from running 100km to struggling around just 5 of them.

However, my reason is not through injury or lack of motivation, but pregnancy!

I am now nearly 33 weeks pregnant, and over the moon to be carrying my first.

My last race was a 5km Parkrun at 27 weeks, where for the first time in any race I found myself at the back of the pack.

This is one experience that I will in in fact cherish along with the big achievements I have managed.

The support and encouragement from the spectators and other runners was just overwhelming!

“Go on the pregnant lady!” Rang out as I eventually crossed the finish line ultimately last for the first time in my whole running career so far.

Just when I had started to think my running days were over there I was, actually running (fast walking) through 5km and living to tell the tale.

I have a huge sense of pride in my body. It is currently growing another human being and yet it is still letting me achieve my goals, albeit slightly different versions.

At nearly 33 weeks pregnant I have put my running shoes to rest for the time being, and switched my exercise to a moderate regular swim, Aquanatal class, and lots of walking.

The knowledge and experience I have learnt over the years of running and testing my body has meant I know when to rest and I know when to look after myself.

My current marathon goal is to deliver this bundle of joy I have been graced with, safely and healthily.

And when the time is right, I will come back, to not just run for me, but run for the new life I have created.

I want to show them, it doesn’t matter how fast, slow, fat, thin, first, last and everything in between, just do you.

Be the best version of yourself you can be.

 

 

 

 

“Running a marathon: Your First”

~ morethanamara ~ 2 Comments

26.2 miles?

Yep that sounds like fun!

On foot?!

Oh go on then!

How hard could it be?!

22 half’s, 12 full and 4 ultra marathons later… yep it’s painful.

No one tells you the truth. No one tells you the potential impending loss of your perfectly manicured toes nails. I mean your feet obviously want to go that far, don’t they?

What better way to spend a Sunday morning than running the streets of London (Please note this is in relation to my first marathon in 2012).

Once you have run this distance, your body will forget the pain, your mind will remember, your feet will recover, but the sense of overwhelming achievement over rules any doubt you ever had you could do it.

One of the first achievements is making it to the start line of a marathon. Take my first for example: London, April, 2012.

I battled my way through a Runners World “Beginners” marathon plan. 16 weeks, of no drinking, unlimited kit washing and a constant glow that can only be described as a beetroot face.

In the lead up I took myself to organised races, trudged weekly around the local lakes in the rain and gave up painting my eyebrows on to save having to take shares out in my favourite make-up brand.

I endured pounding the streets of my home town daily and was convinced an alarm went off somewhere to indicate when my lungs were going to give way and I needed to walk. This would always coincide with someone I knew driving past and beeping.

I honestly think their is a niche in the market for motivational drivers when marathon training. I mean you could hire someone to drive alongside every Sunday Runday, to shout motivational quotes, play Eye of The Tiger and throw the occasional banana?!

Note to Self: Start this business when retired from running.

I spent years and years watching the London Marathon  on TV from the comfort of the sofa. Admiring the elites and scanning the crowds for the person I knew was running that year. I was convinced each year I would do it, and there I was, 2012 heading straight towards what would be 26.2 miles of pure enjoyable torture.

There I was, on the start line, squished between a rhino and a pink lady apple genuinely debating wether I needed the loo again or I had suddenly developed a complete bladder malfunction.

I had made it, I had followed the plan, I had completed the long runs, I mean 20miles is nearly the whole way right?! 6.2 more… phaa! I’ve got this!

Then we start. Atmosphere is AMAZING!! I am really doing this! And gradually forgetting I need a wee. Everyone is smiling, cheering and all of a sudden I literally feel like a running goddess.

The sun is shining, I am wearing my charity vest with sheer pride and I am gliding along the first few miles confident in the knowledge I beat my fundraising target. I am thinking ahead, my proud family and friends were going to be somewhere along the route to cheer me on and this is going to be so much fun!

Ultimately it is fun. It’s 26.2 miles of a game called “I can and I will”. Your mind is your toughest audience. It will tell you the socks you are wearing are wrong because you can suddenly feel a small pain on the big toe of your left foot. (Gotta love a blister). It will explain to you as you run through half way that your sports bra is really flattening your chest and yes that is the start of chafe under your arm. It will remind you of all the times you had “just one more” biscuit with your cuppa and that they are suddenly weighing you down.

Your mind will then shift between “oooo water station!” to “a womble most definitely ran past me”. From “whose stupid idea was this?” to listing all the reasons why you are.

For me it was dedicating this champion distance to my Mum. Mum had been ill, and running a marathon and raising money for the charity that supported her and our family was very little in comparison. I wanted to challenge myself to achieve.

20 miles passed and this was it. The never seen before 6.2 miles to go. The unknown territory my feet, knees, lungs were begging me not to go through. My mind won.

Just before I hit the final 800m my mind wanted me to slow down, she said “come on Jen! You ran all this way you deserve a walk!” Hell yes I did! Back at 22 miles the little walk I had seemed like a long distance memory and the finish line seemed like a cruel joke.

Just as I started to slow down I had an epiphany, a voice started to tell me “come on!!! You can do it! And you don’t want your finishers photo next to the apple!” I looked left, face to face with a pink lady.

Running a distance that many just simply wouldn’t even contemplate is an achievement in  itself. Putting yourself through training, however big or small, requires commitment and respect.

Not every marathon you run will have the brass band to see you off, or the throngs of people handing out jelly babies. Not all come with fancy dress, or shining sun, but they all come with one thing, achievement.

The journey you make is all in the lead up to your race. The marathon is the finishing lap of this journey and no matter how many times you tell yourself you can’t do it, that one time you do it will stay with you for the rest of your life.

I crossed that finish line, not up there with the elites but up there with the pure satisfaction I made it.

I finished the race a different person to the one at the beginning. I respected my wobbly body and size 12 frame for carrying me through the miles. I appreciated the people around me, who were challenging themselves for so many different reasons that not one was more important than the other.

I was a marathon runner.

I did what many had told me I wouldn’t.

“There will be days you don’t think you can run a marathon,

There will be a lifetime of knowing you have.”