By The Numbers: Running After Babies
- Kelsey Flynn
- Mar 25
- 4 min read
For our sixth installment, today’s number is…ha, ha, ha….9! Channeling my inner Count there because this post is focused on the transition from runner to mom. Not that the two things are mutually exclusive, but one does affect the other.
In my last post, I shared my running journey from 2012-2016. What has happened in the 9 years since then has a little to do with me as a runner and even more to do with me as a mom.
While training for the Full, I pushed it too hard. I went from casually training for a Half to really training for a Full, and my body wasn’t happy. Around week 12 of training, I couldn’t put weight on my left foot, and when I did, I had shooting pain going up my leg. I’d medicate before and ice after every run, but it just wasn’t improving. A few doctor visits, x-rays, and hanging out in podiatrists' waiting rooms with people old enough to be my grandparents later, I learned I had fractured my foot from overtraining. I didn’t want to give up on my commitment so far or the stubborn idea in my head to complete the Full, so I asked my doctor if I would really do more damage if I kept up the next 4 weeks and just dealt with the pain. She said no, and luckily, she is one of those crazy runner people and completely understood. So with tape, meds, and cortisone shots, I was given the green light to finish training and my marathon.
For the next 3 years after that, I was off-and-on running, pain, and rest. I did a few more half marathons and a few smaller races, but my body was telling me to take a break.
Then in 2019, we decided it was time to start our family and I became pregnant with our daughter. I figured I’d keep up my run/walk easy pace until I was no longer physically comfortable, and given my history and experience, I was cleared by my OB.
However, my body again had other plans. At about 10 weeks pregnant, I was diagnosed with a subchorionic hemorrhage. It sounds scarier than it is, and believe me, when the doctor tossed the word “hemorrhage” out there at an early checkup, I was taken aback. However, it’s a fairly common thing for pregnant women and usually resolves itself without any lingering issues. The best treatment for it is rest. That meant no running. And once I was cleared to run again, my belly was big enough that I was not comfortable moving like that. So - another break, dictated by my body.
After my daughter was born, I was ready to get moving again, and slowly went from walking to running. However, by this time we had moved away from my familiar running club and my body again had different ideas of how it would function. Between muscle changes in my lower half, pain in my hips, and sizing changes and breastfeeding in my top, I struggled to get back into it. Everything has just….shifted. And without the camaraderie and support I was used to, my desire to run fizzled out.
Flash forward to 2022 when I gave birth to our son, and experienced the same feelings about running during and after pregnancy. I’ve tried multiple jogging strollers to bring the kiddos with me, tried to find mom-and-me groups, tried to carve out me time on the dreadmill, all of the things. I’ll admit it – as my children have become now a toddler and preschooler, I am purely so low on time and energy to do much more than lounge on the couch after a day of work or relish sleeping in on the weekends. The cold, snowy mornings that once made me feel like a BAMF to get out and run in now just make me want to curl up and snuggle my babes!
So it’s been a challenge to get back into it for the past almost 9 (!!!) years. On top of physical changes I am still getting used to as well as general aging, I also get frustrated and disheartened that I am not doing what I used to do. I’m a marathoner, dammit, why does running 1 mile seem like such a feat? I used to call 5 an easy day!
Recently, I joined a running group that is closer to home, Tri State Running - Erlanger, and my first run this past fall felt like the first day at a new school – I was so giddy, anxious, nervous, excited. Would I fit in? Would there be a group for me? What if they all know each other? What if they’re really competitive? Luckily, I found them to be super welcoming and friendly, and though I’ve still struggled to jump fully back on the bus, I was able to complete the Queen Bee Half Marathon in October 2024, which I affectionately call my “comeback half” (never mind I was a little bit under-trained by my own lack of commitment and I wanted to cry for about 11 of the 13 miles, but I did it!).
Life does look different as a mom. That’s okay. It’s not an excuse, but my reality. Priorities shift, bodies shift, and you re-adjust. Then you re-adjust again. And some more. And you just keep going. One day, I’ll have more time and energy to focus on me. For now though, I am relishing my tiny humans, getting my movement in by chasing them, finding new ways to move, and keeping tabs on the group chat for when I do have enough gusto to join them on a run!
Keep running with me,
❤Kelsey
Image credits: Grayfruit, Kelsey Flynn, Ashley Varol
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