Labor and Running

I am convinced that running a marathon is a lot like giving birth. Don't get me wrong, I am not an expert by any means...I have only run one. But, I have had three kids and in a lot of ways that was much easier...especially since both of my drug free labors were shorter than it took me to run my marathon (yep, both were less than 5 hours).

With both labor and also marathon training, months are spent preparing and making sure you are ready. It is so exciting but the closer it gets to "game day" you just want to get it over with. No matter how ready you are, there are still doubts if you will be able to get through it.

With a marathon, you know exactly what day things will happen....giving birth you do not. But, when the day arrives, the adrenaline is crazy and you are nervous and excited all at the same time. It's the moment you have been waiting for...no turning back.

Now, I had my last two kiddos with no pain medication at all and in a strange way, the pain scale was similar. You start out confident. You are feeling great. The further in, the pain is building and the fatigue is setting in. You dig deep and find something with in yourself to get you through to the end...but it's painful.

When labor is over and you are holding your baby in your arms, you very quickly forget the extreme pain. The moment you have been waiting for is here and you did it.

Just as it is with labor, when you cross that finish line and you are wearing that medal around your neck, all the pain was worth it and the accomplishment that you feel is out of this world. Because really, why would anyone ever put themselves through that again if they truly remembered in exact detail what it was like.

Now, I am in no way saying having that medal around your neck and being able to say you ran a marathon and finished is like holding that little life for the first time, but it was really bizarre to me just how similar the processes were. I had heard they were similar, but until you do both, you can't seem to reconcile the two.

Although, I will never give birth again (those days are over for us) I will run another marathon. With my first one under my belt, I now know what to expect and I only plan to improve my time from here. Shooting for an October marathon...more on that later.