Going back after surgery

AsellusReborn

To sum up my situation, I became pregnant in January. I ran through the first 6 months of my pregnancy, including 2 half marathons and lots of 10ks. At 6mo pregnant I was put on activity restriction by my OB and had to restrict myself to walking - I still kept up my activity level, walking between 15-20 miles a week for most of the next two months and then around 10 miles a week until I had the baby.

I ended up having a c-section which delayed my return to running. I have now done 3 runs since my son was born, each 2 miles. I'm slowly getting faster with each one but I have to be honest, it's depressing how slow I am. I was running faster during my half marathons while pregnant, and my last one was at 23 weeks! (I was never a fast runner by any means but I'm absurdly slow right now.) I know it's going to take time to recover and I'm doing my best to be patient - no one knows better than me how much my body has been through - but I'm wondering what a reasonable recovery plan is. How long do I stick with 2 miles runs? My first run felt really hard, my second a little easier, and today felt great but I'm still super slow.

Thanks for any advice - I really want to get back up to my 10 mile runs, they were my favourite.

GiddyupTim

Be patient, says a guy who had knee surgery a while back. (I know it is not the same.) It can take longer than you think to recover. But, when it happens, you know it. That can mean . . . if you don't know it, it hasn't happened yet.
Better to be prudent, and make a gradual return to your previous distances, than to hurt yourself and have it take even longer.

SonicDeathMonkey80

I'd stick with the 2 mile runs and also work on rebuilding your core since you had a c-section. But overall, listen to your body and add a little extra to each run every couple of weeks. No need to rush.

AsellusReborn

Thanks for the advice, appreciate it. I know there's no need to rush - I'm not planning another half until April, so I have plenty of time to train. I just miss it, a lot.

AsellusReborn

Did a 2.5m run today and was startled to run an easy first 2 miles at a minute faster than my runs last week. I felt great so I'm not sure why it was so different from last week - the last 1/2 mile was hard but even that was still 30seconds faster than my runs last week. Go figure. I guess I'll just run by ear until I feel wholly back to normal.

GiddyupTim

Good for you.
How is that lil' baby doing anyhow?
We took our kids in the running stroller starting about 6 months, I think. This was a long time ago. They did not know anything about running strollers and age in those days. Now, they have found that putting kids in a running stroller too young can cause retinal detachments! Yikes! Fortunately, mine had no such troubles . . . and they loved it.

schmenge55

It will come back. All the extra capillaries and other things that you build when running are with you for life. The dust needs to some off and you need to get the kinks out, but it all comes back. Congrats on the baby.

lporter229

Over the years I have taken two extended breaks from running due to surgeries. I know exactly how you feel and how frustrating it can be to feel like you are starting all over. However, my best advice is to listen to your body and increase mileage and speed accordingly. You will be glad to know that after both breaks, I eventually got faster and stronger than I was before hand and it took way less time to get there than I thought. Sometimes I think our bodies actually need these breaks. But I know that runners never want to believe that when we are healthy!

AsellusReborn

Thank you all!

Baby is great, he'll be 2 months old on Saturday. I am not sure I will ever bring him with me to run...selfishly, running is my me time. Maybe someday though.