Faster After Baby – Book Review

Happy weekend, friends!

This morning I completed my 4th run within 36 hours for a total of 30 miles within those 36 hours. It was a bit much for my legs, so they are enjoying the break this evening.

Wednesday night I did a hard interval track workout of 10 x 400s in 80-82 seconds. It wasn’t easy, but I recruited a friend who definitely helped me push when I was tired. I was stoked that all of the intervals were within the targeted paces. I really had to work for each one of them, but I can tell I’m getting stronger and fitter. (I remember doing ten 400s in college in about 90 seconds each with even more rest! I am obviously much fitter than I was in college.) I ended up doing a long warm-up and cool-down for a total of 12 miles.

Then Thursday morning I had 7 miles to run before Craig went to work. That afternoon I logged a wet 4 miles with the stroller.

Finally this morning was another 7 easy miles that were granny slow. There’s no rest for the weary because I have a long run with 2 x 3 miles at 6:30 pace tomorrow morning.

It is not easy, and I often have to remind myself to enjoy the journey because I know if I wasn’t out there working my tail off, I’d miss it!

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It has been quite some time since I’ve been able to read a book. (Hello having a baby!) I did, however, manage to finish one book this year so far. . . .that I started back in September. Faster After Baby is a great book for those who are new to motherhood but not ready to give up their competitive running days (me!).

This was such a great book that provided a lot of helpful information on what the body is going through physically during pregnancy as well as postpartum, the hormone changes that take effect, and tips on how to balance a new baby and wanting to return to running.

The author shared a lot of stories that I could relate to as she has a young son of her own and really wanted to keep running and training competitively; however as one could guess, having a baby doesn’t always make it that feasible. I felt a lot more reassured about the different feelings I’ve had over the course of the last year trying to maintain my competitive running. I definitely appreciated that it was an easy read and kept me interested the whole time as my brain is pretty fried by the evening most days.

The author, Meredith, contacted me last spring and interviewed me to be featured as one of the “Mighty Mamas” in the book. I was completely honored as I was featured alongside Deena Kastor and Stephanie Rothstein Bruce (<–who I would highly recommend following on Instagram if you are a runner and new mom).

I feel very honored that I was chosen to be featured in the book. When I answered these questions, I was only a few months postpartum. Not too much has changed since answering these questions, I still ‘want it’ just as much, my goal of a sub-3 hour marathon still stands, and I am learning to balance competitive training with a 15 month old.

If you find yourself in this boat, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Faster After Baby. And even if you aren’t training for any competitive races but you enjoy running, this is still a great read.