Pregnancy & Motherhood

Rather than cow bells and cheers, I hear the wherrrr—psh, wherrrr-psh, wherrrr-psh of my Spectra breast pump. At each crewed aid station, I’ve hopped into the car and pumped. I have a four month old baby at home, and I want to prevent my milk supply from diminishing during the race.

Like any good pregnant woman, as soon as I found out I was pregnant I Googled absolutely everything, including all the questions I had about running: Did pregnancy affect your running? Did you have to stop running when you were pregnant? How long after giving birth did you start running again?

As I was finishing up my training as a Certified Professional Midwife, I began to think about my senior research project. What topic in pregnancy did I believe needed more research and more information to share with other midwives and pregnant people. The answer seemed fairly obvious.

In 2017, my husband and I had been married for 4 years. We never thought we wanted children, but something happened that year and we decided to go for it. Within a month of stopping birth control, I became pregnant.

I never really thought of myself as influential until 2009, when I had my daughter. Once the feeling of being a human-growing badass gave way to the reality that this little person was looking to me to paint her universe, the wave of responsibility was intense.

The first run after my son was born was the most liberating and downright ridiculous run of my adult life. I was barely able to run a mile and was delirious from the sleep deprivation, but with the green light from my midwife, I was not going to miss out on this opportunity.

Brave is something I have been called a few times. Once, when I was about to run my first hundred miler – Grindstone 100. Second, when I attempted Lavaredo Ultra Trail after an agonizing DNF at my first attempt. And most recently when I shared publicly that I was miscarrying my baby.

It’s impossible to put into words the first hours, days and weeks of parenthood – the love, the fear and general how-does-this-thing-work deer-in-headlights look on our faces.

It’s impossible to put into words the first hours, days and weeks of parenthood – the love, the fear and general how-does-this-thing-work deer-in-headlights look on our faces.

Congratulations–you’re pregnant! Cue the unsolicited advice from literally everyone who has birthed [or for that matter, seen] a baby. You should probably cool your jets right now since you’re in such a “fragile” physical & mental state (because, hormones). It’s time to stick those running shoes in the back of the closet, jump into your fat pants (but don’t literally jump because your uterus might fall out), grab a couple pints of Ben & Jerry’s and park it on the couch with your good friend Netflix for the next nine months (and sorry ladies, but it’s actually 10 months). Yeah, that sounds like the healthiest & most exciting way to fully experience one of the most mind-blowing seasons of your life.