John Bingham is one of my favourite running personalities. His "Penguin Brigade" proudly encourages slow runners to "Waddle on!", sentiment that I have taken to heart while training for past marathons. (After all, I had little choice but to embrace his philosophies. My mom always said that I have two speeds: slow and stop.)
Many pregnant women feel their graceful stroll morph into a wide-stanced waddle. And I could easily sport one of Bingham's signature "I'm slow. I know. Get over it." t-shirts right now. The similarities between marathons and pregnancy do not end with speed and lanky movement, however.
Consider the following parallels:
1. Water and protein consumption: I'm drinking copious amounts of water, the likes of which I have not seen since my marathon training days. I target a serving of protein each meal in an attempt to avoid swelling, something I haven't done since I broke down my quads on the roads each morning.
2. Massage therapy: My RMT has commented that my calves are as tight as those of a sprinter. Too bad the rest of me doesn't look like I just cooled down from a killer speed workout.
3. Core strength: I used to do crunches to support an efficient posture at the end of a race. Now I'm doing kegels, yoga, and transverse abdominal work (apparently, strong transverse abs help increase abdominal pressure and speed delivery).
Running friends tell me delivering a baby is like running the last 6 miles of a marathon over and over again for a few days. Is there any chance that the mental toughness I developed on the roads will get me through the big day? Let's hope so, because I sure don't have the physical fitness that I had when in marathoning days.
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