Do You Need a Maternity Running Belt?
The tribe has struck again: This time, helping out a mom-to-be looking for belly support. Check out the post below, and suggestions for any one out there looking to continue piling on the miles with a bump in the oven.
Now, on to the maternity running belt recommendations, there are some clear winners.
FitSplint
The FitSplint, received multiple votes, probably for its multi-band construction. It supports the back, belly, bladder and hips.
Post Natal FitSplint
Maybe you’re ready to get back out there after baby: The Post Natal FitSplint, which got a few honorable mentions, works to abdominal separation or diastasis recti without restricting range of motion or breathing patterns.
Gabrialla Maternity Support Belt
Gabrialla Maternity Support Belt, was widely praised. It promotes proper posture and balance and is adjustable to accommodate size changes during and after pregnancy.
Also, a quick shout out to FitMaternity.com for offering everything an expecting mom could need to stay active. Love it!
Did you run through your pregnancy? If so, what were some life-savers for you?
The Ultimate Heart Rate Training Motivation Is Right in Front of You
Role Mother (and marathoner) Melissa is trying out the Half-Marathon Heart Rate Challenge and documenting it along the way. Here, she talks about what keeps her motivated. (Check out her intro post, her first two-week check-in, full of run/walk/skip/stop/bend over combos, her thoughts on delayed gratification, and her setbacks.)
These last weeks of heart rate training have been rough for me. I’ve been fighting a lingering virus of some sort, and experiencing a level of fatigue that goes beyond what just the typical effects of heat and high humidity would bring. For this reason, I have resisted doing any EAT math, or trying to figure out future race paces, or doing any type of pick-ups. Instead, I have probably regressed about two or three weeks in training. And guess what? I’m completely OK with that.
When I started to feel completely defeated, I headed over to the HR Training FB page and spent some time reading posts. Something wonderful and inspiring is happening over there! We are all progressing at different rates, all questioning workouts, some doubting, some greatly improving, and some regressing. But there are a few posts that I’ve read this past week that have brought me both a little hope, and a whole lot of satisfaction.
There is hope that I’m gonna “get” this some day, and satisfaction that this group of BAMRs, no, I take that back, every group of BAMRs is full of the most amazing, giving, and inspiring group mothers and grandmothers that I’ll probably even get to “know” in my life. SBS and D often talk about it during podcasts, how the mother runners they meet in real life or through these training groups are just plain outstanding human beings. And they are, we are. I read a post just yesterday that had a BAMR saving someone’s life at the gym. Let me repeat that. SHE SAVED A LIFE. A man next to her on the treadmill at the gym collapsed, and she went into nurse mode, administering CPR and using an AED. Coincidence she was the one running next to him? I think not.
And another recent post by a BAMR who has been having a difficult time with her HR training was the epitome of grace and giving yourself second chances. Not satisfied with how she had been progressing and admitting to her failings, she was going back to week 1. A big, huge DO-OVER. She was wiping the slate clean and just plain starting over. I applaud this courageous mother runner, and can only hope that in the next few weeks if I am still struggling, I will give myself the grace to do just that.
Finally, if you’re itching to get a race on your calendar, you’re not alone! I am anxious to not only culminate this HR training at the AMR Retreat Happy Girl Half Marathon, but I’m also ready to see what this winter racing season has in store for me, and how my HR training will make it a healthy, and happy racing season.
We’ll check in with Melissa every two weeks to see how she’s running and how she’s feeling, so come back to follow her progress.
Dry Martini: Hot in Here
Admittedly, I’m a wuss when it comes to summer.
One of the reasons why I left the south — I’ve lived in Texas and Tennessee — is that I just can’t hack the heat. Give me -10 in a snow squall and I’ll toss on another sweater, then go on with mushing my dogsled. Once the mercury rises above 75 I’m all, like, the fluids in my body are boiling and I’m about to fall down dead.
And that was even before I started running. Now, to quote my New York brethren and sistren: FUGETABOUTIT.
July, August, and the beginning of September are my personal betes noir. I just can’t even, to quote the Teen. Yet, I do anyway because you can’t change weather. Then, I complain.
If you can end your summer run in a pool, do that.
Two weekends ago, I did my 12 mile long run in a furnace. I didn’t take any pictures because I was afraid my phone would burst into flames when I took it out of my pocket. At one point — and this is 100 percent true — I saw a house cat and a squirrel sitting right next to each other on someone’s back step and panting because it was too hot to chase each other. This could have been a hallucination, now that I think about it. Even with my handheld water and a Gu or two, I’m not sure I wasn’t getting silly from the heat.
Then, rather than do the sensible thing and head further north for a quick summer vacation, we drove five hours south to the Jersey Shore because we love to GTL.*
No. Not really. We have good friends from college who live near the Shore and we relish any opportunity to get our kids and dogs together for some romping. And, yes, we did go to Ocean City to take in the Boardwalk one evening. It is a wonder.
While I’m sure every nutritionist in the world would disagree, Johnson’s popcorn and a cheese stick are a wonderful post-run snack.
New York City marathon training, however, waits for no Boardwalk funnel cake. On the schedule was an easy 4 mile run on Friday and an easy *gulp* 14 mile run on Sunday. I’ve tried a few different routes in our college friends’ neighborhood during the years but none that I loved. I also didn’t want to do the 14 miles as an out-and-back, mostly because I would be in a place that I don’t know terribly well, which means I’d be hard pressed to describe my location if I had to call for help.
Besides, it dawned on me that I could simply plot a 3.5 mile loop from said friends’ place and run it four times, which would give me ample opportunity to refill my water bottle or shove ice in my bra.
My directions for the run, helpfully waterproofed with some packing tape.
I treated Friday’s run as a test of my loop; then tacked on an extra half mile to hit my goal. The good news: there were a couple of tricky turns because South Jersey doesn’t believe in street signs, but I puzzled it out. The bad news? It was so hot and humid that I wasn’t sure I could make it those four miles, much less 14. Short of growing gills during the next 48 hours, I wasn’t sure i could handle breathing hot air that was 95 percent water.
My innate pragmatism might be what got me through the run. I knew that as long as I was sensible about hydration and electrolytes, I wouldn’t die, even if the conditions made me think I could. I also knew that it would be a run stuffed full of suffering — but I can deal with suffering. It’s not my first choice, mind. Still, I have mad coping skillz, yo.
So that’s what I did. I coped. The run was slow — oh so slow — and miserable. I preferred the rain that fell intermittently to the unceasing humidity, if only because it washed away some of my gritty sweat. Around mile 7, when the peasants in my gut staged a revolt and I had to run into my friends’ abode to make an emergency pit stop, I realized that the 3.5 mile loop was one of my better ideas.
Because when you find change on a run, be sure to rub it in.
The only thought that got me through that last loop was the knowledge that I could go sit boob-deep with an ice cold NUUN in our friends’ pool once I was done. By the last two miles, I was walking a lot more than running and knew that that was the absolute best I could manage. And I just kept going, because I wasn’t in any real pain or on the verge of passing out. Queasy and exhausted, yes, but not in a way that seemed dangerous. A phrase, incidentally, that describes my 2016 so far.
So how do you deal with the heat, provided it is hot where you are? And if it’s not hot where you live, tell me if I can get a job there once I move….
*I’m told this stands for Gym, Tan, Laundry and was a repeating motif in MTV’s Jersey Shore.
Pool Running 101: Tips for Swimming Your Way Through a Running Injury
This post originally appeared in January 2014, but we dusted it off in time for summer injury season—and pool season. If you’re trying to work through a bum body part after major summer mileage, turn to the pool for recovery.
Go ahead and kick it in. Pool running can be fun (really!) and most importantly, keep you strong while dealing with a running injury. Bonus: you just might get faster as a result, too. /photo from gotheextramilewithwoot.blogspot.com
A little about pool running:
When our bodies tell us to give running a break because of injury, the idea of giving up our beloved road or ‘mill sweat sessions is tough to swallow. Even our tried-and-true cross-training activities, whether Pilates or spinning, don’t necessarily feel like enough. (OK, not at all.) Which is why donning a swimsuit and hitting the pool may just be the answer.
Yep, experts say pool running is the best way for us to train while injured to maintain fitness. This is because it works all the same muscles that running does, only with added resistance of water. Even if we’re not injured, turning to water for its excellent fitness benefits and breaking from pavement pounding can prove beneficial: it can help prevent injuries in the first place since it is non-weight bearing and there is no impact on our bodies. And, unlike with road running, in the pool we can increase our mileage with less risk of injury.
Still, you might be wondering how exactly to make pool running work for you (read: how do I not get bored out of my mind). Like us, you might be curious about listening to tunes during a water-running workout (it can be done). Or how exactly you even run in the water. We turned to the tribe for insight and, as usual, mother runners didn’t disappoint. While you won’t need running shoes, you will want to get yourself a special around-the-waist flotation device, like the one in the picture above.
Here’s what else you need to know about pool running:
All things are not equal…and that’s OK.
Remember that actual running—and logging miles—is a different experience from miles accumulated in the pool. Says Jill B.: “I depressed me to add up all my laps at the end and realize I only did .75 of a mile, so I started just keeping track of time in the water.” It’s also good to gauge your effort level—your heart rate in the water won’t be as high as it is for land running due to the pressure of the water on your body and the cooler temperature of the water. But keep in mind that how you feel (your perceived effort) in the water will be higher than how you feel when you’re running on land.
Time flies when your mind is engaged.
Mother runner Jill B. has a waterproof iPod she uses. “Listening to podcasts and music certainly helped,” she says. Vicki B. mentioned a Lifeproof brand phone cover with headphone extender that could work well while Christi S. sang the praises of her Jabra wireless headphones that are weather-proof and allow you to leave your phone outside the pool. Other mother runners suggested pairing up with a water buddy—or the very least, get to know your fellow swimmers. “I ran in the pool after back surgery a few years ago,” says Kristen S. “I have never had such a great experience in my life. I went after putting my kids on the bus and the pool was full of retirees. I learn so many life lessons from these ladies, laughed way too much, and got a ton of new recipes! Go in open-minded.”
Mix things up.
Kelly-Ann S. runs in the water often and says varying your routine is important. “I also add in crunches while I’m there, and good old fashioned treading.” Try including a variety of workouts, just like your land-based runs. This could mean varying the intensity and time, or even running your favorite speed or fartlek workout in the water. You just may notice this translates to faster times on the road. McKenzie A., who took to the pool for eight months following an injury, says she loved interval work. “That broke it up and got my heart rate up.” Jill B. kept things interesting, too. “I would break it up doing intervals – run 8 laps, crawl 8 laps, kick board 8 laps, buoy 8 laps.”
Have you turned to pool running because of an injury, or to add something different to your fitness regimen? How has it helped you exactly? What tips do you have, leave us a comment!
Taking a Breather from Having a Running Coach
Stopping to smell (and take a selfie with!) the roses was actually an excuse to take a break during a recent rough run.
We enlisted the help of a postpartum doula after our twins were born. Every other night, the doula—Deana—would spend the night at our house, watching over our babies (while folding laundry!) or quietly soothing a crying baby until its twin sibling awoke, when she would bring them to me to be fed. Tucked up in the sloped-ceiling suite of our renovated attic, Deana and I would talk and laugh as I breastfed my babies; I felt as supported and loved as I imagined my twin babies did. After the babes were done nursing, I’d go back to sleep while Deana changed, swaddled, and soothed them back to sleep.
Having Deana meant I got a reprieve every other night. In addition, Deana was like a professional parent, teaching my husband, Jack, and me how to “stretch” the babies so they didn’t want to feed every 45 minutes, how to usher them back to sleep faster, how to nudge the twins toward a schedule. As the agreed-upon three months of doula-help drew to a close, I felt sad and slightly panicky, but Jack and I had decided pre-twins, we’d only employ a doula for three months. As I hugged Deana after her last night with us, she said, “You’re my only client who actually stuck to the agreed-upon time commitment; everyone else always begs me to stay around longer.”
Lovely natural vistas, cloudy sky, a comfortable pace, and a pre-run lake swim made for smiles on Sunday’s run.
This scenario has played itself out in my mind a lot these past few weeks, as I come the end of seven glorious months of having a running coach, Briana. I had worked with Bri in 2014 when I qualified for Boston Marathon, and she was the person I called for comfort and encouragement as I trembled on a hospital gurney awaiting the results of my ankle X-rays in May 2015. When the time came to train for Boston, there was no doubt who would help me get through the training—and those hilly 26.2 miles.
Agility drills, strengthening routines, dynamic flexibility sequences: All these tools from Bri’s arsenal, plus smart, effective miles. After the mid-April marathon, I counted on Bri to prep me sanely and safely to accompany a friend on a 20-mile training run. When that endeavor was over, thoughts of “what’s next?” pinged around in my brain. Sure, I wanted another training goal, but mainly I wasn’t ready to run a Bri-free workout. So Bri and I teamed up to prep and push me toward a speedy 10K race. On that overcast evening on July 9, Bri’s magical combination of drills + smart miles helped me nab first in my age group, but I missed my time goal by 4 seconds.
In the aptly named Freedom Cap by Saucony, I decided to take a respite for a training schedule.
Since then I’ve vacillated on whether to be #coachedandloved by Bri for another 10K in an effort to get that 50:xx finish I had been striving for. Or maybe to go for a 1:50-ish half-marathon. I found a few races that worked with my calendar, but my heart didn’t surge when I contemplated them. I finally confessed all of this to Bri. Part of her reply:
“Every goal, no matter how big or small, has to start with you wanting it. At the end of the day, it has to excite you. It only becomes truly successful when it comes from you! There is fun in trying to hit a time; there is also fun in taking a break and just enjoying no pressing date on the calendar.”
I’ve felt my commitment to challenging workouts wane in the last week or so: I skipped a strength series after Saturday’s run; I blew off a run-barre-class-run sequence in favor of an ambling run; I didn’t sweat it when I started tempo segments a few seconds late or ended them early. All heresy to this usually ardent, rule-following coachee!
So I am bidding Bri good-bye like I did with Deana nearly 11 years ago. The farewell isn’t as permanent as it was with our doula, though: While I’m certain I’ll never have another set of newborn twins, I’ll most definitely push myself toward another heady running goal—and I’ll want my beloved coach to help me reach it.
How about you: Have you ever worked with a running coach?