My last run was 9.5 months ago. It was the morning of our embryo transfer, actually – a 2 mile jog/walk. Then I put my running shoes away for what I hoped to be awhile after a successful transfer, and it was.

Many runners can continue to run while pregnant but is too high of  risk with a twin pregnancy. I walked daily until 22 weeks when crazy Braxton Hicks kicked in, and then finally stopped exercising altogether at 25 weeks after the 3rd hospital visit because of the darn things. I admit I missed it. I started walking again slowly about a week post c-section, waiting (im)patiently for the 6 week mark when I’d be released to run again.

I almost made it.

Technically I really cheated the first time about a week ago. Running after pregnancy (particularly a twin pregnancy) is going to take some re-learning.

Lets discuss The Boobs.

Prior to pregnancy my boobs were a small B cup. Others found this surprising but I liked them that size. They were enough but low maintenance – requiring cheap 3 packs of sports bras only to prevent the world from seeing my nipples and not really for any true support. Around week 14 of pregnancy they shot up a cup size. Ok. Not ideal but not bad. Then I gave birth, and my milk came in.

Like woah. I’m a legitimate D cup. And besides the fact that I am happy they can nourish my twins, I am less than thrilled.

So back to the cheat “run”. I was walking the dog and feeling stressed out about breast feeding issues and decided that I’d just try jogging slowly down the street to see how my body responded. If during my first “real” run I was going to feel like my uterus was going to eject itself from my body I wanted to know. My uterus remained intact. What I didn’t expect was to be nearly bonked in the nose by The Boobs. I stopped. As a person with very little shame (and it was dark) and exceedingly stubborn, I grabbed The Boobs with my left arm, held the dog leash with the right and kept going anyway. So now you need to picture me grabbing my own chest with one dog next to me leashed and the other unleashed following behind. I jog/walked a bit, stopping to walk when a car would drive by (nothing to see here, just walking my dog).

So another week went by and yesterday I decided 5 weeks and 4 days was long enough, laced up my shoes and was out the door. I forgot how much core strength is actually required to run and my current lack of it took some getting used to but I took it easy and all in all it was like running into an old friend years later and finding yourself able to reconnect like no time had passed. With my headphones in and my Zombie App locked and loaded, the familiar pounding of the pavement and even a little dose of the infamous “runners high” I was off and running.

First official post baby run: 1.5 miles 15:18 for a pace of 10:07 min/mile

First race planned: Race for the Ark held end of August – my final race last year the day I started stims, and I figure the perfect race to begin again.

Hello again running shoes, its good to be back.