She Runs By Faith

Happy Fitness Friday ! Tomorrow I'm running my first race since Baby W's birth and I wanted to share a few of my race goals with you. Over the past three weeks, I have been doing walk-run intervals to ease into running and I had my first "running-only" run on Wednesday. I'm not ready to push the pace but I do look forward to running with other people tomorrow! I run alone these days and really miss the running group atmosphere from our old hometown. Pregnancy, birth and the postpartum recovery take your body through so many changes! This week's 4-miler this week was a good reminder of all my body has been through. The 9:25/mile pace smoked me at the end of the run. That workout was a reminder that it takes time and patience to rebuild fitness after having a baby. Consistent stretching and foam rolling helps me to recover between workouts as I gradually increase the mileage and pace. 5 Goals for My First Postpartum Race 1. Run By Feel. I'...

Two weeks down and I'm really loving our "new normal" of being a family of four! Today I'm joining up with Jessica and Jill at  the Fit Dish link-up but first let me briefly introduce  My Postpartum Fitness Plan . My littlest man is two weeks old! But it's only been two weeks!? Why have a fitness plan so soon? I have a plan this time to MAKE MYSELF take it easy. Yes, forced easy-ness and recovery time. After our first son was born, I started walk-run intervals just after 2 weeks postpartum and ran 5 miles on the 3-week mark. My body recovered quickly after a smooth delivery and everything worked out fine. I ran a marathon 7 months postpartum and finished in 3:37:37. That was a good finish time for me and I even placed in the top 10! BUT... I was exhausted. Longer training runs were more burdensome than enjoyable. In the peak mileage of training, I came down with a nasty sinus infection, missed a week of running and told myself "never again...

I'm joining up with One Year and Beyond this week and the topic is loving your post-pregnancy body. Back in April, I wrote a post on this topic called "Body Image After Baby" and this is the perfect time to revisit the discussion. As E is getting older, I'm feeling like I have my body "back". After a beautiful summer of playing outside and two half marathons, I'm in better shape than I was pre-baby. I feel great! Now here's the kicker... We want more babies. As many as God chooses to bless us with. Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from Him. PSALM 127:3 E and I chilling at the finish line of the Wild Hog Half Marathon With more babies comes more pregnancy and more body image battles. E is now 19 months old and he is gearing up to be a big brother! Yes, God has graciously blessed us with Baby #2! It's early in the pregnancy but this is something we want to share right away. Life begins at conception and this is...