See Jane Run...Really?

See Jane Run is a blog about a girl named Jane who runs.  Or it was until I got pregnant.  Actually, that's not true, it was until I became VERY pregnant.  But once I became pregnant, the training, the paces, the mileage all changed direction and I don't think it spoke to the running community quite the same. It was fun at first to write about running under these brand new exciting circumstances, but as I enter my 39th week of pregnancy...I am ready to write about and experience running as I did before these last 39 weeks.

I've been a runner since the age of 15 and it was love at first step. There have been all sorts of running adventures since then and while so much changed in my life as I grew up, experienced high school, went to college, spent a year in China, made my way in the world, and eventually got married, the one constant was always running.  When life would freak me out with all the uncertainty, there was always a good run to set things right and to put my mind at ease once again.  I might not have had a good (or any) job, a boyfriend, friends where I lived, a church home, a plan for my future, a degree I could use (English), but what I did have was the open road and a pair of running shoes and that was enough.

When I met my husband it was a dream come true because he was a runner too.  He got it, in essence, and he became my fellow adventurer as we traveled all over the US to run all kinds of races.  He opened my eyes to new ways of training and thinking about running, and I wouldn't say I became good at it, but my improvement was (and hopefully will remain) significant.  I got faster, I ran farther, my weekly and yearly mileage skyrocketed, and now I'm a coach.  I've met a ton of amazing people through the sport of running and that has not only enriched my running experience, but my life as well.

So now, at almost 39 weeks pregnant (that's in the nine month I-could-have-this-baby-any-moment range of my pregnancy), I find myself (awake at 3:00 a.m.) thinking about this blog and running, and wondering how other running blogging women handle this hiatus.  I've tried to write informative posts on what it has been like running through a first pregnancy so that other runners who approach pregnancy for the first time have an example. I really appreciated that from the running moms who have already done this, and it helped tremendously to see what they did during their pregnancies and how they coped with a growing baby and an ever changing body and running.

It has been a fun, exciting, informative, amazing, blessing-filled adventure but I've got to say...I'm tired of writing about pregnancy.  These days I can run, and it isn't that uncomfortable when done on a treadmill, but it is super slow and I end up paying for it over the next few days so that my physical activity is minimal as I recover from a 3-ish mile run.  I understand why I am at this point (I'm carrying a 6 lb-ish baby in my tummy after all!), but that doesn't change the fact that I am ready to RUN and write about RUNNING again.  I look forward to those first few (probably discouragingly difficult and slow) miles of getting back into it after pregnancy.  I look forward to experiencing the return, figuring out how to juggle running, life, and a baby, and I look forward to sharing that new adventure here. 

I look forward with almost a physical ache to training for something again.  My morning running crew is training for a marathon and many of them are doing it for the FIRST TIME!  I am over the moon excited for them, but it is killing me to miss it.  They are all strong, amazing runners and while many of them stated that they would never run a marathon, I knew it was only a matter of time.  But now?  This time?  When I can't go with them?  It's hard.  I love that they are doing it, but I long to be with them.  First time marathoning is an amazing experience and I love being a part of others journey - especially when they are so dear to me. 

It is also almost August and that is usually when I begin thinking about my fall and winter events.  I make my training plan, and after a summer of 5ks and 10ks and "whatever" morning runs, I begin to slowly focus once again on a goal.  I cannot WAIT to do that again!  I am so ready.   I may be tired, my belly may be big and heavy, my feet may get sore after merely walking around a lot during the day, but that doesn't change how I feel, what I know, and what I look forward to in my chosen, most beloved of sports. 

So, for now, I wait and I blog about being pregnant and waiting.  "See Jane Run" seems an odd title for these last 9 months, but being pregnant didn't change the fact that I am a runner.  And it quite literally won't be long now before I have this precious little girl I cannot wait to meet, become a mom, start a brand new adventure, and during it all return to my favorite activity under the sun (or under the moon and stars in some cases).  I am not expecting an easy journey, but I am expecting a great one.  There will be great miles and there will be hard miles, but there WILL be miles.

And I look forward to sharing them all with you.