I had been talking so much about training Iron Girl duathlon prior to the event I'm obligated to do a wrap up. It was a crisp gorgeous autumn morning last Sunday. I'm a "back of the pack" runner so I wasn't out to break any records. My main goal was to have fun and finish. Check and check!
I'll tell you there was nothing like seeing my family's faces beaming at the end. Little Vivian had thrown her arms around my neck the night before as I was putting her to bed and said. "See you at the finish line Mommy!" Those words and that proud smile was exactly what got me through the big hills and the final run. I hope they see me follow through on goals at the finish line many more times throughout their lives.
When I was gathering my bike and gear after the event I heard a familiar name introduced over the PA. Kara Thom (of mamasweat - and Cribsheet guest-blogger) She talked about how there should be a mama category for races and asked the moms in the crowd how many times they had been up during the night with their kids prior to the race. Hands flew up in the air.
I later (over) shared with her that , although I was able to sleep the night before, this mama took extra time in the transition part of the race. Because well, post-baby, mothers on the run sometimes have to deal with a little, ahem, bladder issue. I'd talked openly about my #1 problem during my last pregnancy.
Kara immediately pointed me to an illuminating (and funny) Q&A with biomechanical scientist Katy Bowman, who has a different perspective than I've ever read on the topic. She says focus on squats instead of kegels. You can read Kara's full interview with her below.
At least I know I'm not alone. Kara said her pageviews skyrocketed after the above post ran. Who knew how fascinating your pelvic floor could be?
