Thursday, June 07, 2007

Running towards motherhood……

No, not me you silly sausages, my Melbourne-based friend Nicola. Nic wrote the article below for a sports web site of some sort, something to do with adidas I think she said. Anyway, she gave me permission to post it here. Reading of Clairie's exploits the other day, I decided I should put it up. Here's to all the expecting mums...

Running towards motherhood……
As a seasoned and serious runner, driven by PB’s and how many km’s I can run in a week, my reaction to my pregnancy news was somewhat mixed. The excitement of becoming a mother for the first time was somewhat tempered with the trepidation that my running days as I knew them would be over. Every pregnancy book I read, written before 2005, extolled the virtues of exercise in the form of gentle swimming and an occasional brisk walk. Difficult for a 90k a week, 3:15 marathoner to hear! Luckily, enlightened health care and sports professionals put my mind at ease and outlined the benefits to both mum and baby of maintaining an existing exercise regime, including running.

Naturally, as the weeks have progressed, I am no longer a slave to my running watch. And I have realised that a longest run of 10k is an achievement, even if it takes me 70mins. So, at 29 weeks, as me and my tummy are running slowly along the beach, and the thought crosses my mind, “will I ever be able to run like I used to, will I ever get a new PB?” I think about how lucky I am, how I can still do what I love, and that I’m going to give birth to a future Olympian!

Nicola Thomson and Bump, 17th May 2007

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5 comments:

Clairie said...

Gosh I could have written that article!!! It's soooo on the money.

some days it is easy to accept that I am a mother first and a runner second.
But when you are at a training session or at a race....you just wish within yourself that you still had the capability to RUN.

The so-called-running that a pregnant body permits is a farce from the idealistic image I had of myself when I first found out I was pregnant.
Thankfully with everyones support and the mental adjustment to running as a form of exercise and not the be-all-and-end-all that I totally enjoyed before pregnacy, I am still managing to enjoy being out there on the pavements. :)

6/07/2007 2:28 PM
Ewen said...

Forgot to say, were you thinking about raw food when you dreamt up the title of Wednesday's post?

6/07/2007 7:39 PM
Rachel said...

Well, I can only hope I'm a half decent runner before I have a bub! But then I wander how many women who have never run before actually take up running to counter act the post pregnancy weight.

6/08/2007 11:07 AM
Samurai Running said...

As Nicola even considers running at all while pregnant elevates the status of running in my eyes.

But there is no real comparision, pregnancy is up there on its own.

Scott "and the bump", (The "bump" being a little beer gut).

6/08/2007 3:45 PM
Unknown said...

Yes, that's a lovely post from Nicola...another great lady like our Clairie! Go easy on the brewing! I'd love to tast a home brew one day...a good one that is!

6/09/2007 4:40 PM

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