When you go ahead and have a baby, your whole body restarts.
Now that I’m easily prancing 6 miles a pop, it’s hard to recall how difficult—yet empowering—it was to run that same distance six weeks after giving birth (before you get too impressed, know that I did wet myself during the jog).
Although I did my best to run (more like waddle) during pregnancy, it felt like I was starting from scratch when I began building myself back up to frolicking ability after I gave birth (which does a number on a body part that is critical to running, btw).
From the hesitation I had running with the baby jogger on the bumpy sidewalk to stretching beyond the standard 3.4-mile route I run, it took a conscious decision and a sometimes disagreeable passenger to extend beyond “just enough,” running-wise. For reasons neither I nor the careful designers of the Summit X3 Baby Jogger with all-wheel suspension could understand, I was terrified of Baby enduring anything over a 5-mile run. I filled my head with pessimistic ideas that further distances (coupled with Michigan potholes) would lead to Baby having internal bleeding and a future resentment toward running.
Therefore, I reserved long runs for the hours after Baby went to bed and during a naptime as reliable as your bowels are after mile 20 of a marathon. When it became clear that I couldn’t devote all those precious time windows to running (after all, we’ve got other $hit to do, and no one is sponsoring us to do this!), I realized Baby and I needed to test beyond our 5-mile boundary and trust the makers of the Summit X3 Baby Jogger with all-wheel suspension would allow us to do that.
We ran 8 miles (And by “we,” I mean me and the dog. Baby didn’t do anything but play with her distraction toy).
Making yourself surpass the gateways that keep you locked behind “just enough” is what builds you to being the kind of person that can accomplish things despite doubt, excuses, lack of enthusiasm, and depression that would otherwise keep you stagnant. Forcing myself to continue activities and behaviors that foster a life I want to stick around for is vital to me being a better parent and person, even when engaging in those activities and behaviors are much more challenging when you constantly have to keep a baby from causing her own demise.
And I need to stress: those “activities” and “behaviors” aren’t exclusively going for a run, making it to the gym, or maintaining an all-organic diet. Sometimes, they’re allowing yourself to indulge in doughnuts you’ve been denying yourself for weeks or strategically using baby cages to trap you and Baby in the living room so you can watch a full movie for the first time since Baby was born. Once you prove to yourself you can do it, that gateway is no longer closed.
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