335: Motherhood and Marathons: How Running Changes After Having Kids with Dr. Katlyn Lennemann

Speaker 1: 0:00

This is the Real Life Runners podcast, episode number 335, Running After Baby with Dr Caitlin Leneman. If you're looking for ways to bring more joy into your running and you want to be a physically and mentally stronger runner, you're in the right place.

Speaker 2: 0:21

This is the Real Life Runners podcast, and we're your hosts, Kevin and Angie Brown. Thanks for spending some time with us today. Now let's get running.

Speaker 1: 0:31

Alright, welcome to the podcast this week. Runners, super excited that you are here. I have a guest on the podcast with me this week. Her name is Dr Caitlin Leneman and she is the founder of Run Resilient. She helps moms get back into running after having babies. So we're going to be having a conversation today about how we can become more resilient in our running and even if you are past your child-bearing years, or maybe if you are male and never were a child-bearer in the first place, there are still plenty of valuable things and insights that you can take away from this episode. We talk a lot about the importance of strength training which I know you've heard on the podcast before and Caitlin's take on how to keep things simple so that you are able to stay consistent and gain the benefits that you need for strength training.

Speaker 1: 1:20

So tune in to today's episode. I'm excited for you guys to hear it and, if you like it, don't forget to share with a friend and leave us a review on Apple Podcast. Now let's jump in. All right, hey runners, welcome to the podcast today. I'm super excited to welcome on Caitlin Leneman, who is a physical therapist and running coach. Caitlin, welcome to the podcast, I'm so glad you're here.

Speaker 2: 1:42

Hey, I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me, Angie.

Speaker 1: 1:44

Absolutely. I'm really looking forward to our conversation today. Like I said, caitlin is a PT like me and also a running coach. She works more with like moms trying to get back into running after having babies. So we're definitely going to get into a lot of that. But before we jump into all of that, caitlin, tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.

Speaker 2: 2:05

Yeah, so I am, first and foremost, a mother of two, a wife to my husband. We're out of Des Moines, iowa. Like Angie said, I'm a physical therapist. I think I've been practicing around 10 years now. So kind of my journey as a runner mother myself and kind of some of the pitfalls I was seeing clients having in the clinic led me to want to serve runners kind of in the online coaching world. So really some of the mistakes that I myself made, as well as some of the things that I saw other running mom friends kind of going through and their returns to running after having kids, led me to start run resilient, which is kind of a passion of mine and a platform to help other running moms kind of run the way they want run as a mom I love that.

Speaker 1: 2:49

I love that name that you chose run resilient. Because I think resilience is such an important quality that we need to have as runners, as mothers, as humans, right? Because life, running, all of the things don't always go our way and we need to be able to bounce back and be resilient. So that's such a powerful name that you've chosen for your platform. I love that.

Speaker 2: 3:09

Yeah, it was definitely a word that stuck with me, and naming a business or a project, I think, is just as difficult as naming children, so totally.

Speaker 1: 3:19

Yeah, so tell us a little bit about how you got into running in the first place.

Speaker 2: 3:25

So getting into running in the first place? I actually I think it surprised a lot of my friends to see me get into running like I have. I grew up in a small town, played all the ball sports. Running for me was always something we tried to get out of, or a punishment for losing at a drill or some long warm up we really didn't want to do, Ended up playing college volleyball and again kind of same thing. Running conditioning was always seen as kind of a punishment or something that you wanted to avoid at all costs. Actually, my gateway to running was a friend of mine talked me into over a spring break signing up for a half marathon. This was. It may have been after 10 o'clock at night, it may have been after a couple of beverages, but this was a friend who could always talk me into about anything and thankfully she usually used her power spread good.

Speaker 1: 4:17

We all need friends like that in our lives, right?

Speaker 2: 4:20

Yes. So anyway, we did that. That was why I was in physical therapy school, so always liked to be active, was missing a little bit of direction that I'd had while playing on a volleyball team. So that kind of became the gateway. I found that I really liked having the routine again, like having something to train towards, love, the race environment. We had an absolute blast ran with a group of friends. That was kind of the gateway. And then I think, like most of us, we kind of start to look for, okay, what's the next challenge? What's the next challenge?

Speaker 2: 4:56

Yeah, eventually led to, I think, maybe another kind of the typical turning 30, let's do a marathon crisis. So that was kind of the gateway to the marathon. Could you hold my husband into doing it with me actually? Oh, there you go, yeah, so that was kind of special for us. But yeah, I mean, at that time it was always I'm training for race. It was always kind of these fluctuations between you're kind of either ramping up for race or maybe kind of falling off the map and not doing a full heck of a lot, which kind of led to then kind of the mind shift I'm at now since having kids. Things had to change a little bit with that. I couldn't really get away with the way I was doing that before.

Speaker 1: 5:43

So tell us a little bit like what was, how would you describe your relationship with running before you had kids?

Speaker 2: 5:51

Before I had kids. I would say it was more very goal and race driven. It wasn't so much what I considered a part of my lifestyle or a hobby or something that was high on my priority list. It was just kind of something I did. It would sign up for race or two each year, kind of go through that training cycle, but it was still running, was just running.

Speaker 2: 6:13

I initially did not see it as a sport or discipline in itself. I'm not sure. I think part of it was my history with it being like a conditioning aspect for other sports. And that's where practicing as a physical therapist and treating runners that's where it really kind of started to change. I think kind of one of my aha moments was being in that starting corral at the marathon and being amongst groups of people and really kind of looking around and seeing. I saw groups of women who were maybe 10, 15 years older than myself and I mean it was very clear like this was what they did and they were getting better at it and they were enjoying it. It was something they loved. Yeah, it was a lifestyle they'd adopted and I realized, oh, it is something you can get better at. This isn't my forever pace or my forever, what I can do. There is a way to rethink this and make it that thing that I love to do, kind of fill that gap of having something for myself.

Speaker 1: 7:15

So did you treat a lot of runners like in your physical therapy practice? Were you always an outpatient?

Speaker 2: 7:21

I was an outpatient. Yes, I no longer am an outpatient, but spent the majority of my time there. I've done pretty active community lots of bike trails, really a pretty good running community, a lot of triathletes. I've treated a lot of endurance athletes. Yeah, throughout all that kind of started to gain some experience and, okay, what's working, what's not working, seeing some patterns there.

Speaker 1: 7:43

Yeah. So when you decided, like you're standing on the starting line of the marathon and you're kind of looking around and seeing all these different people around you, and women in particular, what did you think in that moment, like you said, that's kind of like your ah-ha of like, okay, running is a lifestyle, maybe this is something. When did you decide to kind of adopt that for yourself? Was it at that time, was it afterwards? And then, how soon after that experience did you get pregnant?

Speaker 2: 8:12

Yeah, so I think that was it. I mean, I was at the start line and I think I knew at that moment this isn't the last one, like we're going to do this, we're going to put it loose, see how it goes. But I'm hooked. I mean this is cool, these gals are getting after it, they're having fun with it. I was hooked. I mean I think we got to mile 24, a little miserable running with him. I think he was like I'm not sure I'm hooked. I'm like I think I am hooked. This is hard.

Speaker 1: 8:39

I think I'm hooked. I mean, that's impressive to say at mile 24 too Well there were some moments before that, Well we wouldn't have walked on him.

Speaker 2: 8:46

But yeah, even when it was hard, I was like I'm hooked. I love this atmosphere. I love I don't know if that race, just being with less friends and having a little more quiet time, let it soak in a little bit more, but yeah. So then I mean we ran that that was June took a little bit of time off just to recover and then, I mean, pretty shortly after that, ended up pregnant with our first, so that it was kind of like I want to do this and then you're blessed with being pregnant with our first. So then what did running look?

Speaker 1: 9:15

like when you were pregnant and then like when you have young kids. I mean, your kids are still young. I would still call your kids young.

Speaker 2: 9:24

But what?

Speaker 1: 9:25

did that look like then? Did running still hold a place in your life during pregnancy?

Speaker 2: 9:30

It did. It evolved and changed a lot. I wasn't someone that ran throughout the whole pregnancy. It just didn't feel right or comfortable to me, and I mean when I say comfortable, not necessarily a safety thing, but I just didn't like how it felt anymore. I found I had more fun walking with the dog or just being active. So stay active during pregnancy but didn't necessarily do a ton of running, especially the kind of the end of the second, third trimester.

Speaker 1: 9:58

What are your thoughts about women that want to keep running and keep training during pregnancy?

Speaker 2: 10:03

I think, as long as I think it's just such an individual experience, I think if you're working with your healthcare provider and you guys are staying in communication with what you're trying to do and what your goals are and it's something that feels right to you and your body's tolerating it, I mean great for you. I think, recognizing that that's not maybe what everyone's going to feel good with, and not holding yourself to what you're seeing other people do, just being okay with letting it go a little bit too if you need to and if that's what's right for your body.

Speaker 1: 10:35

Yeah, that's really interesting, though, because I think a lot of people might have a hard time with that right, like they have this expectation, and maybe it's through friends, maybe it's through social media now, where they're seeing people train and run and do all the things through pregnancy and they're lifting weights and they're doing all these things and they put a lot of pressure on themselves to be able to quote unquote maintain their fitness during pregnancy, and that, I think, can be a very slippery slope. What do you think about that idea?

Speaker 2: 11:03

I mean, I totally agree. I think it's and what's. I think I'm very fortunate in the sense of when I found running was, I knew I was hooked but I didn't have a. I was on my way up. I think a lot is still in front of me versus someone that was doing a lot, and they're running before they were pregnant. But I definitely think the comparison is a slippery slope. I mean it's. I think fitness and being healthy needs to be what feels right for you and that's going to be so individualized, especially when you're pregnant.

Speaker 2: 11:31

I mean, even pregnancy to pregnancy can be so different, even with the same person. Yeah, I think it is important to let go of those standards and let go of the comparison Be okay with. There are going to be some days where you're eating cheese that's on the couch and if you get to walk in with the dog, I mean, that's kind of is what it is.

Speaker 1: 11:51

Yeah, because I think that what a lot of women don't necessarily recognize or want to accept is how much change our bodies go through during pregnancy. And they think that, well, if I maintain a certain level of fitness during the pregnancy, then that will set me up to come back quicker or stronger after the pregnancy. And I don't know if that's necessarily true. What do you think about that?

Speaker 2: 12:16

I know that that's necessarily true either. I think, regardless of what you try to do, your body's still changing, and when I don't even think that changing stops just with the delivery of the baby. I mean there's so many things that are changing hormonally, with feeding, with lack of sleep, just the positions that are demanded of your body. Yep, it changes. It completely changes the center of mass when you're pregnant. I mean, we know that our muscles and ligaments gain some looseness, but we're out for the delivery of a baby. And then on top of that, you've got all the postures with feeding, holding a kid while you're making supper, adjusting to so many new normals.

Speaker 1: 12:59

My viewpoint is kind of regardless of what you try to do proactively, you're still a new person on the other side of this and yeah, yeah, and your body's gone through so much, and it's one of those things that you can't understand until you've gone through it and you can't predict how your body's going to respond to any of it.

Speaker 1: 13:17

I think it's a very good idea for women to stay active during their pregnancy, especially if they were active before. I think that there are a lot of health benefits that we get just by being active, right, whether that's going out for a run or lifting weights or going for a walk, whatever it might be. There's a lot of research that's showing it's very safe for women to continue training during pregnancy, especially if they were training beforehand, right, so it's not dangerous as long as we're doing it within certain boundaries, and I think that that's where sometimes people might go off the rails a little bit, thinking like I don't want to gain a bunch of weight and then starting to restrict food and starting to try to increase their levels of exercise because of the body image or other things that are going on right, and that's where it can get dangerous. But if we're all just making sure that we maintain the right mentality around training during pregnancy, it's a very beneficial thing.

Speaker 2: 14:19

I agree, and I'm very lucky I have some friends. We have friends around our same age having kids around the same time. So just having that person-to-person community too, where you're just being more real, I guess, with kind of how you're feeling and what you're doing, and being able to talk through some of those feelings with real people in real time, I think has always been something that's helped kind of keep some of those comparisons with social media and some of those things that they is just having that real network who they can kind of fall back on and get a little bit of what's real and what's-.

Speaker 1: 14:54

Yeah, so what I'm hearing from you is that basically, we can keep training during pregnancy as long as we are listening to our bodies, as long as we are listening to our medical providers and making sure that everything is good with the baby.

Speaker 1: 15:08

But we can maintain a lot of our mileage if we want to, as long as things are feeling good, like for me. I know that with the first baby I ran until I was 33 weeks pregnant and then I stopped running because my sacroiliac joint was acting up, so it was back pain that was really limiting me because of all the ligament laxity that you are talking about, and just my pelvis was growing and shifting and it was just uncomfortable for me to run at that point because of the impact. And so then I moved to the elliptical but I still stayed active, like I was actually on the elliptical on my due date. And it was the funniest thing because one of the trainers that was there he knew us very well Kevin and I were always at the gym, and so he's like, hey, he's like you're looking like you're ready to pop, when do you do? And I'm like, oh, I'm due today. He goes, get out, I'm not going to be at the gym.

Speaker 2: 16:01

I do not want to deliver a baby today, like I don't care what you do, don't do it here, get out Well, and that's I mean yeah, I think staying strong and active is important. I mean that's I mean kind of same. I mean we were active, I think, yeah, the day we had our second. I mean I was running around playing on the playground with our oldest.

Speaker 1: 16:19

Well, and I think that if, when you maintain that activity level, it does allow you to bounce back a little bit quicker and that doesn't necessarily mean when I say bounce back, it doesn't mean like let's just jump right back into marathon training, right, and I think that's a mistake that a lot of people make is trying to get right back on to like the race training wagon right after pregnancy. That's something that I've seen, but what are some common mistakes that you've seen when it comes to, like women that are getting back into running after having a baby?

Speaker 2: 16:48

I think I mean, I think you just mentioned one of them is kind of immediately trying to tie back to the numbers or the race goals, whether that's pace, whether that's mileage, whether that's a race distance. I think that often leads to going a little bit too far, a little bit too fast, instead of kind of training by effort and getting back into where you're comfortable in the running routine and kind of letting your body dictate some of those goals versus okay, I've got to get back, I'll put a race on the calendar, that way I'll do it yeah.

Speaker 1: 17:22

I mean that that, to me, is just a recipe for disaster.

Speaker 2: 17:24

Right.

Speaker 1: 17:25

So your, your post baby, your entire life has literally just been turned upside down, right? You have no idea. Your body is not what it was before. Your body's still trying to recover from growing a human inside of you and having to expand and, like you said, during that recovery period our bodies are trying to, like, go back to our new normal.

Speaker 1: 17:49

I don't want to say normal right, because I think that after pregnancy your body just changes and I don't think you ever go back to exactly the way you were before, right, like, can you get, have the same level of fitness as before? I would say you can have better, right, like, I don't think that you're limited by any means, but it's just different, right. And so people that try to rush that process can be very problematic because, like of what you're saying, when they try to do too much too soon, number one, they're not allowing their bodies to recover from the pregnancy. And then, number two, there's sleep deprivation that they're dealing with, that they often don't acknowledge, and then they're wondering why running feels so awful after, when they're coming back to it after pregnancy.

Speaker 2: 18:33

Yeah, agreed, I mean yeah. I mean I think really through that whole first year your baby's changing so much. I mean your routine it changes, what changes every week, what your normal sleep schedule is. I mean you kind of shuffle in a lot of different factors there. Yeah, I don't think there's any one magic time where it's okay yep, now we're good to go, we can just jump right back in where we were Right.

Speaker 1: 18:57

So okay, so you're saying one of the common mistakes is like trying to jump back into your old pace, your old distance, like your old mileage. Too much, too soon, right? What are a couple other common mistakes you see?

Speaker 2: 19:11

Another one I would say, not making strength training a priority. Like we've mentioned, your body goes through so many changes. I think it's very important to kind of get comfortable in that new body again, identify what those changes are, and I think strength training is a really quick way to do that. I mean, I think it's hard, you're pressed for time. I think everybody wants to jump back into the running and a lot of times that first thing to go is the strength training when we get busy. But I think that strength training is going to more quickly kind of show you where you're off, whether that's okay. Like I can tell, I always hold the baby on my left hip when I cook. So this glute is weak or this muscle over here is weak, I mean our abdominals. Everything gets stretched, shifted. I think strength training is a really good way to find your way home in that new body.

Speaker 1: 19:58

And what do we need to keep in mind when we're starting back into strength training after pregnancy?

Speaker 2: 20:05

Same thing. I mean, you've got to kind of work at your own pace and a lot of that depends on what is your background in strength training. Have you been a runner who it was always on the list but you never quite got there before you were pregnant? Or are you someone who you were strength training prior and those things all guide how quickly and how intense you're going to jump back into it? But for the most part I think it is kind of starting back out, kind of going through the motions, kind of make sure everything feels good, that you can move on a good way with good form, good technique, kind of get everything back working together before we go and try to just throw on the same weights we were throwing on before.

Speaker 2: 20:42

Yep, but again, everybody's going to be different. Everybody goes into that pregnancy different. Everybody maintains, like you said. I know people who have lifted all the way through pregnancy and were able to get back to that side of things pretty quickly. And then I've seen the other end of the stick where they were kind of new to strength training.

Speaker 1: 21:02

Okay, so say, I am someone that I'm the runner that you just mentioned, that always kind of knew I should be doing strength training, but I never really got into it before I had kids. And now you're telling me, okay, I just want to be able to run again, right. And so you're telling me I should really strength train. And now it's even more important, after I have kids. Where do I even start with that? And like, how do I avoid hurting myself?

Speaker 2: 21:26

Yeah, I mean I would look for resources that you trust so I would find some, honestly, physical therapy would be a good place to start. I think going and seeing like a public floor or a women's health specialist is kind of an underutilized thing. So if you're you have the time and you want to go somewhere in person, I think that's an underused service in our underused service in our today's world.

Speaker 2: 21:48

I don't think a lot of people even know about it. Well, I mean, I think you have to kind of be having some incontinence issues or things really not going well for your OB to refer you a lot of times, right?

Speaker 1: 21:59

But you're saying to go see a physical therapist proactively that will kind of help you, help to guide you with some exercises that you can start doing to help you safely get back into it.

Speaker 2: 22:13

Yeah, especially, I think, if you are having like a little bit of discomfort or things you're noticing, say that that SI joint or that low back pain didn't really resolve with the delivery of the baby. I mean, go get some eyes on it and get the program. That's you know absolutely.

Speaker 1: 22:27

But I don't have, I don't have time to do that. I've got a newborn.

Speaker 2: 22:29

You've got a newborn yeah.

Speaker 1: 22:31

So that's what people are going to tell you? Oh yeah, absolutely, you don't have. I mean, it sounds wonderful, right, and wouldn't it be? And also, depending on where in the world people are, there may or may not be access to a women's health specialist, pt, or it might not be covered under your insurance plan, or whatever it might be. So say that I can't go see one in person. I agree with you. I think that seeking out professional help is, for sure, a good thing to do, but if I feel like I just can't get away, what would you say to me?

Speaker 2: 23:05

I would say, let's start with some basics. I mean, find something you can do consistently, something that helps you getting your body moving on all the directions that needs to move again. So I'm thinking functional movements like squats, step ups, things that work on your posture. Thinking like rowing things, kind of promoting back into that upright posture that we need stability kind of core. Don't make it over complicated. Find something that you can do consistently and stick with it. I think the best strength plan is one that you can do a couple times a week and be pretty consistent with it.

Speaker 1: 23:46

Yeah, would you say. Like, as far as strength plans go, do you think it's a good idea for someone to do the same exercise as a couple times a week, or would you suggest that they mix it up a?

Speaker 2: 23:56

little bit, I think when you're first starting out. I think it's. I think complicated is one of the main enemies of consistency. So I think if you're already pressed for time, you're tired. Do I think there's some merit to mixing it up and adding some variety? Absolutely Do I think, when you're first starting out, that you're going to get a lot out of doing those same exercises a couple times a week? Yes, If that's what's going to help you stay consistent. In most cases I have seen that be the case where you can get comfortable with the program, get to where you can knock it out in 15, 20 minutes. I see it constantly trying to learn a new move, constantly trying to figure out if you have the right equipment.

Speaker 1: 24:37

Yeah, and I think that's a trap that a lot of people fall into right, like they jump onto YouTube and they try to find some sort of exercise to follow and then they end up spending 20 minutes just searching on YouTube when they could have been doing a couple of basic exercises and that would have been a lot better for them.

Speaker 2: 24:54

Yep, I agree yeah.

Speaker 1: 24:56

What is it? It's a rabbit hole.

Speaker 2: 24:59

Keep it simple.

Speaker 1: 25:01

And I think that what you just said there I think was really important and profound which is complicated, is the enemy of consistency, and I think that a lot of times in our life, in our running, in our strength training, we try to overcomplicate things and it leads us to not being consistent because, like you said, you're constantly trying to figure out new moves or new speed work or new this or new that, when most of us, especially when you're just getting back into running after a break so in this case we're talking about pregnancy and some like. For other people listening to this podcast it might not be a baby, but maybe you are just coming back into running after a break you need to start doing the basics consistently first before you start adding in anything fancy, because that's the way to get burnt out, that's the way to get injured, that's the way to just stop being consistent, because it just becomes too complicated.

Speaker 2: 25:55

Absolutely yeah.

Speaker 1: 25:57

All right. So to kind of like summarize, kind of getting back into running after kids. If you had three pieces of advice for me, what would they be?

Speaker 2: 26:07

The Don't feel like you have to go it alone. I mean, leverage your community, whether that's your support within your house. It's going to help you kind of reach that goal of getting back into a routine. A big thing for me was finding some mom friends that also like to run and just having that friend run to look forward to Use your community. I think a lot of times it's we have to do everything as moms. We feel like we have to do everything as moms. Try to let go of that a little bit if you can, and it's hard. Two would be kind of like give yourself some grace with your expectations. I mean you are juggling a lot. You've got a new life. Whether it's your first kid or your second or your third, you're adding someone to the family. It's going to change your routines. It's going to change the amount of time it takes you to get out the door.

Speaker 1: 26:57

Yeah, I mean for me my second kid was much harder than my first. Yeah, like after number, like after number one, it was like, okay, I got back into running, I got back into working out. Like I ran my first half marathon. I was, I was good because my husband and I would just trade off who was with the baby. And then, when number two came into the mix, I was inconsistent for about three years after that because two was just a whole new world Hard, I mean it's way.

Speaker 2: 27:27

but you're leaving your husband with one little one versus other. That's clinging as you try to leave, and then a baby.

Speaker 1: 27:33

that's kind of you never know, especially if you're breastfeeding. You know and you're responsible and all of that, yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:41

So I mean I think those would be a couple. I think the third was keep setting those big goals for yourself, though I mean it's it's really cool for them to see you and your, your support system, working together, for you to do something that is outside of the house a little bit and something that's just for you. I think a lot of my memories of my mom are are taking care of us and what's just as an older adult that I'm starting to now kind of now CEO. She is this whole cool person that just kind of put it all aside, right. So I think it's cool to let them kind of see okay, mom has some cool things. She does kind of witness that while they're growing up.

Speaker 1: 28:19

Yeah, I think that's an important thing is like understanding that, yes, it is part of our job to take care of them, but it is our job to take care of ourselves first too, because by taking care of ourselves and not losing who we are, we set a good example for them. We show up better for them in a lot of ways also, and I find there's a lot of people that lose themselves in early motherhood because the only thing they can think about is their children and what they need to do for them, and they lose a lot of what they love to do, and so being able to connect to that and maintain a positive for yourself is extremely important after pregnancy or after you have kids. Yeah, I think it's huge.

Speaker 2: 29:05

And yeah, I mean it's cool, I mean they see it and it's something healthy, it's something that you're proud for them to see. It's the mom guilt is a real thing. I mean it's what can be hard to leave them and it's for sure All right. So now you have now had the experience of running a marathon before you were born.

Speaker 1: 29:22

You have now had the experience of running a marathon before you had kids and you just recently what a month or so ago, just ran your first marathon after kids, right, yep, congratulations on that. That's amazing. So how did you, how would you say that? To compare, like, how did marathon pre kids and marathon post kids compare to each other? Not that we already talked about we don't want to compare, like times and all that stuff, but like, how was your experience of both?

Speaker 2: 29:53

I mean, honestly, I feel like I survived my first marathon and my first marathon training cycle and I feel like the second one with kids, despite having a lot more going on and a lot more moving pieces. I loved it. I mean, I honestly enjoyed it, Sure.

Speaker 1: 30:10

Your kids are how old right now?

Speaker 2: 30:12

We have a four year old and a two year old.

Speaker 1: 30:14

No, guys, so your kids are still little.

Speaker 2: 30:15

They're still little yeah. You're not like me, you're not into 14 and 11, yet it's still kind of a you know could be in your room in the middle of the night Like, hey, what's going on? What's going on, mom, going on. Is it not time yet? No, back to bed. Yeah, I think the always that question of will they wake up before my alarm or will it?

Speaker 1: 30:37

Yeah, yeah, that was the worst so how would you compare the two?

Speaker 2: 30:43

Yeah, so I was like second one, I this, this most recent one. I took a lot longer to get ready. I mean it was it was more like okay, I feel ready to do that. Like I want to do this, I feel ready to do this. We're the first one. I feel it was kind of like, yeah, I should do a marathon, let's do it and print a plan when this time around it was it was more okay. This is just a natural progression of where I am. A lot of conversation with my husband like, hey, here's what the time commitment is going to look like.

Speaker 1: 31:13

Here's kind of the tentative plan, but I think we can make this work, yeah, and getting him on board ahead of time, I think is a very powerful thing too.

Speaker 2: 31:21

Yeah, and I I think I've learned a lot. I think a big thing was being more intentional with when to push workouts and when to keep runs easy. That's, I think, starting out gosh. I think when we when I ran like my first half, I think the friend who got me to sign up was like hey, you should run every mile at like 930 so we can run this and it's just very arbitrary pace and we got away with because we were in our young 20s where this time around it was being very intentional with the hard work.

Speaker 1: 31:52

A lot of, and then what like? How did you feel like during the race, during the training, after the race?

Speaker 2: 31:58

I mean really felt good. I mean the long runs felt good, was able to still have a full day with the family. I think marathon one, prekids, it would be like long run, two hour nap yeah, I mean I think two hour nap in a burrito on the couch, because all we have is a dog this time around. It's like okay, long runs knocked out, get a little breakfast and we're, we're into things, we've got kids. It's the weekend, kind of got to be on the go, but really felt good during that.

Speaker 1: 32:25

And what do you think allowed you to be like that, make that, have that difference between needing that two hour nap after the first time and then this time being able to just go about your life, like what led to that difference.

Speaker 2: 32:40

Definitely learning a lot about nutrition and fueling, yeah, realizing, okay, you really need to be taken in something every 20, 30 minutes so that you're not returning home just a depleted zombie. I think slowing down, letting go of that okay, hey, no, you're not supposed to be running every long run at marathon pace Like you need to slow down, being intentional with those pushes and I really just having more individualized approach. I think strength training remained a priority throughout this marathon cycle, which I think really led to legs still feeling strong, things, feeling good towards the end of the race, having that practice with nutrition during the race, you know, really pretty strong and sharp throughout the whole, throughout the whole race. Yeah, and was again able to finish and again, those the kids were there at the finish line and we kind of have to flip that switch pretty quick from finish line to mom mode when they're there. Yeah, I think I ended up burying one of them back to the car, so that was so good and felt like it could.

Speaker 1: 33:44

So it was good. What was your goal and, like your mindset going into this race?

Speaker 2: 33:50

It was. I wanted to finish strong, I wanted to, I wanted to have fun. We ran a local course last year. I ran the half marathon there, so really just wanted to enjoy that whole, that whole course and enjoy the the Des Moines community. Really just kind of have the strategy that I want to be able to finish the last few miles of this finishing strong, feeling good. Yeah, and I don't say believe.

Speaker 1: 34:15

Yeah. So I'm hearing you like just basically say it's a big perspective shift and like holding different things in levels of importance too. Yeah, absolutely yeah. I think that's a really important thing for us to keep in mind.

Speaker 1: 34:28

Like I said, whether it's coming back after a kid or another break is giving ourselves that perspective shift that we don't have to be exactly where we were before, and that's totally okay. And that doesn't mean that the first race back, if we're not exactly where we were before, that doesn't mean we won't get there. It doesn't mean we won't even get better than that. It just means that this is just what the first one is when we're coming back, or the second one or the third one, whatever number it is, and allowing ourselves to say like, hey, okay, this is what we're doing now. This is how my training has gone, and let's see what results from that. Let's see what the outcome is, based on the process that I've followed during this time, really really focusing on the process versus the outcome and allowing the outcome to kind of take care of itself by what you've already been like, the work that you've been putting in throughout the months leading up to it.

Speaker 2: 35:25

Yeah, I totally agree and I think being a mom helped me shift that perspective. I mean so much of motherhood and parenthood is seeing how to enjoy the day to day. I mean sure, birthdays, holidays, those big moments are fun, but you kind of with sick kids on their birthday but you don't know when that race day or that big day. A lot of that's out of your control. But you can enjoy all the little in between Wednesdays. I mean that's. I think that to me helped shift that into the running as well, like, hey, big picture on this, it's enjoy the process, enjoy the little moments and mean celebrate the heck out of those race days. I mean that's, it's huge to get to go and kind of cut it loose and see what you've got. I mean that's a blast, yeah, but I think it's more fun when you've got that ownership of that full cycle building up to it.

Speaker 1: 36:17

Yeah, celebrate the cycle and the training, not just the race itself.

Speaker 2: 36:20

Yeah, it's like hey, that were the races. Less than a day. It's one day. That cycle, months, year, I mean that whole body of works though.

Speaker 1: 36:30

Yeah, I always like to tell our runners that the race is your victory lap. The race is not the goal. You've already, by just getting to the starting line of that race, you've already accomplished that goal. Like now, you just get to celebrate it.

Speaker 2: 36:44

I like that. Yeah, it is fun.

Speaker 1: 36:47

It is fun. Yeah Well, very cool, caitlin, this has been a super fun. If people want to connect with you, what kind of runners do you like working with specifically?

Speaker 2: 36:57

Yeah. So I love working with moms. I love kind of piecing the pieces together of the training plan, balancing that with everything else that's going on. So I definitely love to serve those mother runners who are looking to still push some goals, work towards some goals, but maybe are wanting to skip some of that frustration of trying to figure out how to make that generic plan work in their life, or help them take a more personalized approach to their child.

Speaker 2: 37:26

Yeah, absolutely A more personalized, kind of individualized approach. I love that being able to kind of troubleshoot with them throughout that training cycle, because if there's any group of people where things kind of get a little crazy, it's probably moms with kids.

Speaker 1: 37:41

Life does not always go as expected.

Speaker 2: 37:43

No. So having that resource to make adjustments and stay as on track as you can is yeah, and that's huge.

Speaker 1: 37:52

And that's one of the big benefits of having a coach or having someone that you can talk to about training is they can help you adjust when life doesn't go exactly as planned and, as we all know, life very rarely goes exactly as planned Right, yeah, so if people want to connect with you and talk to you and learn from you, where can they find you?

Speaker 2: 38:11

Yeah, so I'm probably most active on Instagram. On the handle there is run underscore resilience. There's also a Facebook page tied to that as well. Also have a website which is run-resilientcom.

Speaker 1: 38:24

We'll link all of that in the show notes as well. And was there anything else that you wanted to leave us with? If you wanted to leave us kind of with one thought, what would it be?

Speaker 2: 38:35

Just some awareness Like, hey, moms, you can run, you can run for yourself. There is a way to do that in a way that you can still be happy, healthy, energetic for your family. But running is a great way to kind of hold that space for yourself. Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 38:53

I love it. All right, caitlin. Well, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for being here. This has been super fun and we'll talk to you soon. Sounds good. Thank you, angie.