By: Shanna Sullivan, PT, DPTAfter having my third daughter I knew I wanted to return to physical activity, but running a marathon was not initially at the top of my mind.
A couple months postpartum, I began lifting weights again and started running with my best friend – solely to have some “mom time” and a break from talking to toddlers all day.
We both hadn’t run in years, and began running 1 mile for the first run and slowly added a mile each week. I was so proud of us each time we added another mile and we started to feel the “runners high”.
After a few weeks we decided we were already getting close to a half marathon distance, so why not train for a marathon instead?
Five months later we ran our first marathon!
The Schedule
Most Marathon training programs are planned with daily workouts and one rest day a week. As a mom of three, working out six days a week just wasn’t feasible.
I consistently ran three days a week, including longer runs on the weekends, and fit in one day of strength training or biking. The rest of my activity came from chasing after my kids, what I like to call “the mommy workout.”
I had to give myself grace from the start, knowing that there was no way I’d be able to follow the program perfectly. The program we used was Hal Higdon. He offers a bunch of different training plans for various distances and skill levels.
How I Squeezed This In As a Mom of 3 and Working Part-Time
Training began in the spring, as the days were getting longer and weather improved.
We planned runs either early in the morning before kids would wake up, or later in the evenings after the kids went to bed, or even sometimes brought the family along during the day. Some of our runs ended in the moonlight which was so fun!
I was also pumping full time, so I made sure to pump right before my runs to avoid feeling too engorged while I was out (and doubled up on the sports bras!).
What Did I Learn?
I loved having a goal to work towards and challenging myself. I took away the competitiveness of wanting to have a good time, and focused on doing it for fun with my friends, and felt that the distance for me was a great enough accomplishment.
Having at least one day of strength training was key to avoiding injury, along with banded warm ups before the runs. Strength training allowed me to work on muscles that kept my hips strong and keep up with the endurance required for such long distances.
There were a few runs that I had to skip for sickness, and I felt like taking a week off would really set me back, but it didn’t. I was able to jump right back into the training even if I missed one long run.
Pro Tips (That I Followed) to NOT Give Up:
Post on social media that you are training for a marathon so your friends hold you accountable.
Add more friends to the running group to keep everyone accountable - you’ll have FOMO if you miss out.
Buy matching outfits for long distance runs just because its fun and gives you an extra boost of energy.
Have a great cheer squad and show your kids what you’re doing!
