Training during the 1st year Postpartum

The VERY beginning:

The first few weeks after baby is born are the hardest. Mentally and physically it is a challenge. Mentally all you want is to go back to activity like normal, but physically you cannot and are uncomfortable all while trying to adapt to this brand new life. I started walking around the block just a couple days after being home and that was just awkward and unpleasant. Once my body started to heal then the mental starts to limit your physical. I was scared to flip turn in the pool because of my weak core, I was worried jogging would put too much pressure on my uterus and cause more pain and sitting on the saddle was just plain terrifying.

I took everything very slow at the very beginning to test it all out. After the 1st session of each I gained more confidence for the next and by the 3rd or 4th workout in each discipline I felt like me again. Of course I was starting to build my base and wasn't hitting the numbers I have in the past, but I was no longer unsure of my body, and I was able to start focusing on improving performance.

I set VERY low goals each time. I made sure not to get too greedy during the first few sessions. I didn't want to over do it right at the beginning so I would set a small goal and gave myself check points along the way. If I was feeling awesome at the end of the achieved goal, I would for myself to stop and add more to that next workout.

Click HERE to read the blog about slowly getting back in to working out post baby.

Training for worlds, 1 month-4.5 months PP:

Honestly, looking back, this was the easier time for me to focus on training. After maternity leave, I went right into summer break. I didn't have to worry about going to work. All I had to worry about was finding someone to help watch Cade while I motivated myself to work out. The motivation piece was hard because I was tired all the time, but I also knew I had to be ready for worlds. It was also a break from the new role I was figuring out. In my opinion and experience, babies under 3 months aren't too cool. Once school started, I had about a month of working full time before worlds. That was a stressful time of not sleeping, adjusting to being away from Cade, trying to figure out being a full time PE teacher (I have always taught in the classroom as well), all while getting in the last of the training. Just before the race I was broken down and got sick. Thankfully, I was able to rest and wasn't at the peak of being sick during the actual race.

Worlds 70.3 Blog HERE

1st Olympic post baby blog HERE

Post Worlds, 5 months- 7/8 months:

I was on cloud nine after worlds because I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders after knowing I could do it and I did do it. I felt like I had earned some time off. It was very stressful once school had started and I just wanted a break. At that point, Cade was becoming a lot more fun to be around too. He would go to sleep really early after daycare because he wasn't napping well at all during the day, so I wanted to be with him as much as I could. I knew once I had to start coaching come January/February, my time would be even more limited with Matt and Cade. Because I wanted to spend time with him (and get a nursing session to keep the supply and my stash up), I would race to pick him up after school instead of going to get my workouts in. Everyone talks about how fast these itty bitty years go (which WOW, they aren't lying!) and I have been trying so hard to soak it up as much as I possibly can.

Cade has been a very inconsistent sleeper throughout this whole year. I never knew what I was going to get. There was a good chunk of time that he would get up 2 times a night and the 2nd would be closer to 3 or 4am. At that point, I was exhausted and I wanted to stay in bed as long as I possibly could before getting up for work, so working out in the morning was pretty close to impossible for me.

Needless to say I had a lot of "red" in my training peaks... (This is the program I use with my coach where she leaves the workouts and I update them. When an athlete does the full workout, it turns green. Red means nothing was done... oopsi, sorry Coach...) At the beginning of training, I would obsess over making all my training boxes green, and I've learned to let it go just a bit and give myself a little grace.

7/8 months- 10 months:

I needed to have something to work for to get back in a groove, so I had decided to sign up for a half marathon. It was the Cary March Madness half, which would be my 3rd open half marathon. This race is known to be a tough, hilly course. I needed to get myself in gear. I started to get more regular workouts in (still not my most disciplined, but better at this point). I started to do more hill workouts that I LOVED.

At this point, I also started getting more involved in group work. My coach leads computrainer classes, so I was able to do the first 2 sessions. She also had group hill repeat runs. This group/team work really lit a match under me. I started to thrive on the support, accountability and friendly competition. Being in a team environment is what I am used to and back to where I come from. During this time I did my best FTP test, outputting my best power to date. I took that confidence and had a killer hill repeat workout that I had no idea I was capable of at that time. I was again on cloud nine. It gave me confidence that I was capable of so much more. I couldn't help but think, "wow, if this is how I am performing in January, my summer is going to be exciting!" Whenever I start thinking like that, I am typically jinxing myself. Yup.

10 months- 11 months:

My lack of sleep was crushing my immune system. Working in the school system, having Cade coming home with germs and illness, and having a compromised immune system was a huge struggle during the winter months. A simple cold that they say typically takes 10 days to overcome seemed to double, triple, I'd go as far as to say quadruple in length because my immune system has been weakened by the lack of sleep, poor nutrition and hydration, and the fact that I have been sharing or supplying my son's immune system through nursing. Everything I had gained during 9/10 month postpartum seemed to be shattered by illness. I was exhausted with the beginning of soccer season and would miss a lot of run workouts because the weather was junk, I didn't want to get on the treadmill, and honestly, I just didn't want to. Sickness has been relentless, and once I was getting better I had gotten into the habit of going to hang out with Cade and not being motivated after dinner to workout again. Adding soccer in the mix takes more of my time and energy that has been hard to overcome as well.

Due to the lack of training I had in the weeks leading up to the Cary Half, my coach was trying to keep things realistic and wake me up a bit. She started to tell me if I continued to miss more runs, I might want to consider not doing the race or have different goals of just using it as a training run. I reached out to see if people wanted my bib because I wasn't ready and I also started to have knee pain after a track workout I did with my PE classes. No one wanted it so I sucked it up and used the race as a training day.

11 months- Cary Half:

I didn't even do a race recap to my coach after this race (sorry, Jen, but I guess better late than never).

My knee had felt better the few days before the race. I was feeling just ok too. It was just me on race morning because it was cold so Matt and Cade stayed home. I got there, checked in, did a pre race warm up, went to the bathroom about 10 times and headed towards the start. I saw a fellow triathlete and we started together. He had made a comment about suffering and I told him that I hadn't planned on suffering at all that day, just wanted to be done with it. He seemed a little surprised because our coach is all about the suffering so he probably assumed she had brain washed me by now (keep working on it, Jen, I do need to figure out how to toughen up and suffer more). So after the first mile, he went on and I stayed in my comfortable pace.

Before the race Jen and I talked about being able to average 7:45. When I had been performing well the couple months back I was hoping to average closer to 7s. Maybe ambitious, but that's what I originally wanted. After not training much, being sick, my goal was maybe holding 8s. When she said 7:45 and believed I could, I actually nailed it in the end.

I've been told the beginning of this race is easy to go out too fast and then you pay for it once the real hills start coming so I wanted to be conservative. (looking back at it, I was probably too conservative at the beginning).

My belly was acting up 20 minutes in. I ended up stopping at one of the forest preserve bathrooms which added time and some distance to get there and back to the course. I was really annoyed when a half mile to a mile later there was a portapotty right next to the course.

Kept on trucking and was pleased to end at 1:43- 7:45min/mile pace. Of course I wanted to do better but I didnt push myself to suffer in order to be better, so all considering I was good with it. After a long run, I have a weird pain or pressure in my pelvic/uterus area. I cough and it tightens up. It has happened ever since birth. It's something that happens directly after the run and goes away within a half hour or so.

I was also pleasantly surprised that the race still had me in 25-29 age group, so I got a 3rd place finish out of it. It was a nice treat to enjoy that age group one last time before officially aging up a few weeks later.

Once I got home I was a disaster. I think I was so dehydrated and my nutrition had been horrible so I paid for it the rest of the day, which was miserable.

11-12 months:

After the race, I got sick again. So ever since then my workouts have continued to suffer. I was expressing my frustration to Matt, that this year of training has been a game of one step forward two steps back.

People were so amazed how I was able to train and compete so quickly after having Cade. As I said at the beginning, that was the easy part. Those who can be disciplined and "on" all the time they are the amazing ones. Those who find the balance to work full time, care for their child(ren), and workout consistently are the amazing ones.

I've been tired for the past year. Of course sleep deprivation is no joke, but it is still amazing what women can be capable of with little to no sleep. The fatigue changes as you get used to the new way of life. The tired is always there and focusing seems to be a constant challenge. Somehow being tired all the time also makes time go that much faster. I never get anything done because I can't focus on things long enough.

So the real challenge the first year postpartum: can you beat the fatigue?

For me I have not and I think part of it is because I've been too greedy. I needed to be smarter with the training with the lack of sleep so I could try and protect myself better from getting sick. Instead of going hard for 2 weeks and then be out for 2 weeks with feeling sick, I think being more aware of my training output on a consistent basis would have been more productive in the long run. I'd go hard on weekends that would make me more tired for the week and less likely to get the work during the week done. Hence a horrible, non productive cycle.

Do I regret not working out? Yes. But do I regret using my time after school to hang out with my family? Nope. Not at all. I do need to get out of these bad habits and start to prioritize and plan better.

Some things I learned throughout the first year after baby:

The Trainer became my friend.

I did the majority of my bike training indoors on my trainer. I did this for a few reasons. 1- during 70.3/Half ironman training, my mom was typically the one watching Cade while I went out for the long rides and I wouldn't want to be too far if something were to happen, like getting a mechanical for example and then causing her stress if I'm in the middle of nowhere for her to come get me. Not to mention having to get Cade packed up in the car too.

and 2- I didn't want to think. Thinking of a 4 hour route along with all the nutritional needs, I just didn't have the energy to do it all the time. So I would set myself up on the trainer with my nutrition ready to go and just focus on the rpms, the watts and not whether I missed a turn and am lost AF. 3- I wanted to be able to be lazy. Getting on the trainer is so mindless for me. I could also catch up on shows or read while I was on the bike so that was an added bonus.

I'm grateful for the days I decided to be on the trainer when my eyes were so heavy I thought I was about to fall asleep. That could have been ugly on the road...

Listen to your body: Taking it slow and recover.

During 70.3 training, I was feeling great and able to continue to add on in the next workout. I had plenty of days that my legs had felt heavy and tired, more so than being actually sore, but overall my body handled my training pretty well. I do believe part of it is because I was still very active leading up to delivery and also because I wasn't working at the time. I was amazed what my body could do with little sleep, I was also amazed at how well I was able to recover for the following workout. I was listening to an episode of the crushing iron podcast and they talked about determining your level of fitness. One indicator they mentioned was how well your body is able to soak in the work you did and what your next workout will look like. If your next workout can be another solid effort and performance, your fitness is doing pretty darn good and you can potentially start going to the next level in training. If you are feeling drained and fatigued in the next workout, you might have gone too hard, need more recovery, or are over training.

During the beginning phases, I learned to respect and appreciate the "slow and easy" sections of my workouts. I slowed down and built my base properly, and was able to respond well. Before getting pregnant I have always been one who felt like if I wasn't going hard, then I must not be getting better, or putting in enough work. While being pregnant, I was forced to slow down and I felt successful just moving. After Cade was born, I knew I needed to continue to take it slow so my body could ease back into it. I have been able to see the benefit in going slow.

However, once I would start getting sick, or take days off, I did not keep this learned lesson in mind. I would go too hard which did not allow me to recover properly. I got too greedy.

I made sure to stretch and foam roll when I could at some point in the day too. My goal was to get to the start lines in order to just make it to the finish lines this first year. I wasn't putting the pressure on myself to reach certain times, I just needed to be healthy and capable of keeping my body moving forward. I always had times in my head, but didn't put pressure on myself to stick to them. I had a variety of scenarios I would be happy with.

Once the race was over and I had taken some time off, my fitness started to suffer.

Take care of your back.

I have had some serious back aches from carrying Cade and the way I have to torque to get his car seat in the Jeep. I think if I did a better job with strength training more consistently this first year, I would have been so much better off. I have still done some strength, especially while I teach group fitness 3x a day to my students, but it still hasn't been consistent or enough. I highly recommend doing functional strength training (High pull, RDL, even KB swings, core work), foam roll/stretch, get regular massage if possible. These are things I should have done better at. My back is a wreck...

NUTRITION and HYDRATION was key.

While nursing it can be tough for some women to be active and continue to maintain their supply. I noticed as long as I was constantly drinking LOTS and LOTS of water in those beginning months, I was good. But I mean LOTS of water (at least 80 ounces a day). They recommend while nursing you need an extra 250 calories or something like that. Whenever I was doing my long workouts, I would make sure I had plenty of nutrition during the workout, then after I had to find the time to eat something. Most days I was eating cliff bars and greek yogurt while I was in the shower for 5 minutes.

When I was getting ready to do my first sprint back I didn't even consider nurtrition. I figured because of how short it was, I would be fine. My coach quickly reminded me that my body was using plenty of energy to produce milk for my child that I would need more calories to take care of the deficit.

Body image changes.

I'm self conscious about things I never thought I would be self conscious about and then other things I thought would make me loony, I'm totally fine with. But at the end of the day, my mind is in a million different places and prioritize everyone else around me, that I usually look like junk and don't even have time to dwell on it.

Gained Confidence

After being able to finish workouts with such little sleep and do semi decently in them, I have gained a whole new kind of confidence in myself, my body, and my abilities. Before races if I didn't sleep I was a hot mess mentally. Now, if I can't fall asleep before a race, I think, "well, I've made it through the last year without sleep, what's one more day?" I've realized that I am so much stronger than I ever thought and I hope that I can find my groove again so I can use this new confidence.

Remember your why

I have to constantly remind myself of this. I have this internal voice that asks me, "why am I doing this? Why are you putting this pressure on yourself"? Because I am a competitive person. Doing well in competition makes me feel good about myself. I need something to feel pride in. When training for 70.3 I wanted to prove to myself and others that I could do it. When I don't want to do my workouts at night, I talk myself out of it in the fact that I'm not a pro. I'm not an elite racer, so why do I have to put this pressure on myself. Why not just enjoy it? And then I remember that this structure, this competition is in me. This is who I am. And I do enjoy it.

Prioritize your time

I have learned that we can always make time for the things we want to make time for. If you have ever said, "I didn't have time for that", it isn't true. You didn't make time for it. It wasn't a priority to you. That is OK- just be real with yourself about it. Before worlds, I made it a priority to workout and be prepared (once school started, it was harder to do, but I still did it). Once the race was done, I had the same amount of time I did to workout, and yet, I chose not to a lot. I say this because I am human and slack off just like anyone else and giving yourself that grace is important.

So- what's next?

Well, 2 weeks before a sprint triathlon with very little disciplined workouts, I decided to sign up. Maybe silly, but I am hoping it starts getting me excited being back in the racing environment. I have one 70.3 on the calendar for this summer and I really want to be ready.

Coaching soccer has really made things more challenging and draining but the warm weather coming makes me hopeful I'll start to get some motivation back.