but there was no GU, only ice chips...

This weeks Take it and Run topic at Runner's Lounge: Running is Like...

Well, I guess there are many things that running can be compared to. But being a running mommy, I couldn't pass this opportunity up to share with you my comparisons of running and pregnancy:

I was completely miserable in my last few months of pregnancy with Kain (60 lbs heavier and the end of a hot summer in the South, who could blame me) I just wanted it to be over, so people, knowing I was a runner, would try to be helpful and kept saying "oh just think of it as the last 4 miles of a marathon. You are almost done! The finish line is near!".

Here I was, "close to the finish line". Have you ever seen anything like it? Yes, there is just one baby in there. No, I don't know how I didn't fall over from the weight of it.


Anyway, that analogy just made me angry. It made me want to spout off my smart mouth with something along the lines of "you try having this kid using your bladder as a trampoline", or better yet, throw something at the well meaning commenter. Often this happened at work, and more often than not I was serving beer in bottles. You see where I am going with this. It could have been dangerous. We will blame the hormones, of course.

Does this remind you of anything? Kind of like when you are mile 22 of a marathon, and a well meaning spectator in the crowd shouts "don't slow down now, the finish line is just around the corner!!" Meanwhile you want to throw a gel pack at their head and yell back " yeah buddy, and that corner is still 4.2 miles away!! Easy for you to say from your cozy lawn chair, YOU get out here and run!!"

As you can tell, I was a horrible pregnant person. I hated it the first time around. Yet, there was a second baby. Remind you of something again? How about "why did I sign up for this! I'm NEVER doing this again" and 24 hours later you are searching the internet for the next marathon you can register for...

Race expo? Can you say BABY SHOWER!? Nothing like the latest gadgets and freebies to get you excited for the "big day!"

And talk about finisher's shwag: two perfect healthy babies!! The only thing better than that post marathon runners high is holding your brand new baby for the first time!! You want to brag and tell anyone who will glance your way all about what you just did.

Painful post race icebath, lost toe nails, and sore muscles making you wonder why just put yourself through this? Um, let me just say, sitz baths, stitches and engorged breasts.

(Sorry guys and squeamish folk, it's reality, blame mother nature, I didn't invent it.)

So as you can see, running is a lot like pregnancy and childbirth. I even set a 22 hour labor P.R. from the first baby to the second, HA! Where's my age group trophy???