Postpartum Week 4

Week-beginning Thoughts:

• My good diet/nutrition is starting to become a habit again. I've got somewhere between 9 and 14lbs to go to make it back to my pre-pregnancy weight, depending on what that actually was
• While my Achilles isn't 100%, it's definitely improved with a week of rest and dedicated PT sessions 2x/day. I'm planning on running 3-4 days this week (all easy runs) with KT tape, keeping up the PT, and seeing how it does.

Monday

Did: 3.11mi with stroller @ 10:01/mi avg, Achilles PT x2

Achilles PT at midnight with the baby, nice and easy run with the single to get the potato to school, and another round of PT in the afternoon.

Tuesday

Did: 6.22mi @ 10:19/mi avg, Achilles PT x 1

Wore my normal VFF shoes for 10KTuesday and had a symptom-free run for my Achilles, though it was still tight when I first got up and semi-sore for the rest of the day. Biggest issues today included: super sore quads (from stroller strides on Friday?!?), a really rough sore/achy patch on my right IT band (from Achilles PT on that leg?), and generally feeling big and out of shape on my run. If I'm 20lbs lighter than I was pregnant, how come I can't run any faster than I did when I was pregnant? :/ 

After the run, we did a family trip to a major attraction downtown, where I enjoyed some SPD aching near my pubic bone for the majority of the day. Hooray, postpartum running. :/ 

Wednesday

Did: 3.11mi stroller walk
Walk/ran the oldest to school. 

Thursday

Did: 1mi stroller run @ 10:02/mi, Stroller Strides, 1mi stroller walk, 3.04mi double stroller walk

Tight Achilles in the morning, but no trouble during activity. I did an easy jog with the stroller to warm-up before Fit4Mom Stroller Strides class, and then a 1mi cool-down. Later in the afternoon, I walked to/from school with the double to pick up my oldest. 

Friday

Did: 3.5mi double stroller walk, 3.11mi stroller run @ 9:24/mi avg, Achilles PT

Enjoyed a nice, cool walk to school with the kiddos (where I had to use my spare sleeves that live in the bottom of the double stroller as blankets for them-- oops!), and then followed up with a single stroller run along the river with one of my teammates. 

"Mommy, I don't like shirts as blankets. I like blankets as blankets."

being on maternity leave the same time as one of my teammates = awesomeness

Saturday

Did: 3.29mi run @ 9:59/mi avg, Achilles PT

Family run on the greenway = husband pushing the double and me running without anything in my hands--- that felt WEIRD. I was really down on myself for how hard this run felt, since I wasn't pushing any kiddos, had good weather, wasn't pregnant, and was still "only" around a 10min/mi average pace. It's hard to think I'm doing well when I feel like I've been "not pregnant" forever (it's only been a month) and should be easily running low-9s again. I mean, I've dropped 20lbs, so WHY AREN'T I GOING FASTER?

It's times like this where I have to think about what I'd say if one of my friends wrote the above. Why are we so supportive and uplifting of others, but so hard on and critical of ourselves? 

Sunday

Did: 4.01mi with double stroller @ 10:23/mi avg, Achilles PT, Big 5

I went on my first not-from-home run with the double stroller today. I was more nervous about getting the stroller in/out of my husband's car than the run itself. lol. Pushing 100 pounds of stroller + kiddo + stuff wasn't easy, and I, again, found myself disappointed with my pace. I need to get over that. :P

super hard to get everyone in the pic with the carrier... lol

RUN SQUAD <3 

Total Weekly Mileage: 16.95

Week-ending Thoughts:

• At this point during my last postpartum period, I'd only run a couple times, was still taking walk breaks, running 10:44-11:33/mi, finding running really hard, and definitely not running or working out more than every other day
• Definitely feeling some SPD/pubic bone soreness post-runs, but I remember that generally just being something I had to get through/deal with postpartum with my first
• My Achilles has definitely cleared up a ton this week. I"m attributing this to the PT.
• Now, I need to focus on stretching again, because I've had a small tight-ish patch in my left calf on my last two runs that shows up a few miles in...