Making time for Marathon Training as a Mom of Three
Today we share a story of a member of our Boreal Bliss community. We always welcome your stories on this platform- a place to inspire, share, wonder, and more. Michelle and Bryana had babies days apart in January 2022, and Amanda had her little girl 10 weeks later. The three of us share countless texts about motherhood and running. Most recently, we pondered how Michelle would go several hours without pumping on the TC Marathon course. We uplift one another and we are proud to share Michelle’s story of marathon training with three children, one of which is seven month old Willow. Go Michelle! We love you!
16 times. I’ve trained for 16 marathons so why would number 17 be any different?
Well… 8 months postpartum and having 3 kids under 6 brings its own unique set of challenges. The past 16 weeks has been full of puzzling together when to complete my training runs, being hyper focused on hydration and nutrition so my milk supply would stay up, running before dawn or after dusk, treadmill runs, circling miles around my block wondering when I’d get a call from Nate that Willow is losing it (this never happened by the way.. turns out she didn’t need me as much as I thought she did) stroller runs, and quiet solo runs where I could hear my own breath, the pounding of my feet hitting the pavement and the birds chirping.
I thought this would be one of the most stressful training cycles to date. Turns out, it was one of the most memorable.
Playing I spy with Lincoln on stroller runs, seeing Willows little toesies kicking around as I chat next to another mama runner with her stroller, hearing Lily yell “Go mom!” From the bleachers on our track Tuesday’s, snuggling up with Willow after a long hard workout.. she clearly doesn’t care if I’m a sweaty salty mess. And That feeling of elation after returning from an early run knowing the house is still quiet and I can enjoy foam rolling and a cup of hot coffee without getting crawled or jumped on.
I’ve had moments of guilt washing over me; questioning if this was too much to put on my plate and if I would miss too much at home with my kids. Deep down I knew it was the best decision for my physical and mental health; I’ve done this long enough to know that I am a better human, mom, friend and wife after a run.
When I toed the start line on Sunday, I knew it would just be the icing on the cake... a celebration of what my postpartum body can endure. Seeing my kids along the route with their homemade signs and their little hands reaching out for a high five was something magical.
