So now that baby Marron's arrival is getting closer, I am really itching to run. Honestly, I have been itching to run since March, but trying to listen to my body and take the best care of it possible. Sometimes that is hard. While out walking this week I was really tempted to run for a bit, then I remembered how much it would hurt and kept walking.
What I am doing is looking at fall races and trying to determine what is realistic and what is a bit crazy. Part of my problem is that don't know what birth and recovery will be like. I know that officially it is at least 6 weeks for a vaginal delivery and 8 weeks for a cesarian section. That said there are a lot of variables to both. I know women who felt fine 3 weeks after a vaginal delivery and others who were still pretty sore 12 weeks after a cesarian. The goal is to get baby out naturally and hope for a speedy recovery, but I only have so much control over that.
I have pretty much decided that the Disney Princess Half Marathon at the end of February of next year is going to be my goal race. It is expensive, but it is local and gives me about 8 months to get back into racing form. I am comfortable that I can do that.
The Celebration Half Marathon, Lady Track Shack 5k and Winter Park road race are all possible spring races, but those shouldn't be a problem either.
I am also planning on doing the U Can Finish 5 Miler at UCF on October 13 of this year. I ran this race last year and it was a lot of fun. Running around the UCF campus will never get old, especially since I never did it when I was a student. I also figure I can walk some of the race or drop down to the 2 mile race if I really have to.
Here is where things get a little crazy. I would really like to do the Space Coast Half Marathon. It is December 1. That is about 18 weeks after the baby is due and about 12 weeks after I would likely "officially" been released for exercise. If I had some sort of base, this would not concern me, but at that point it will have been about 6 months since my last run and I will have a newborn to take care of.
Is running the Space Coast Half too crazy? Any tips for getting back to running once the baby is born?
