New and old mums have been running into the headlines at full tilt recently. First came 92-year-old Harriette Thompson, the oldest marathon finisher on record and a grandmother of ten. At a rather brisker pace, Jessica Ennis chested the tape to qualify for next year’s Olympics. The words “inspirational” and “supermum” haven’t been bandied about with such abandon since Jo Pavey won gold in Glasgow and earned herself a million new Twitter followers from the Mumsnet generation in the process.
We mothers and grandmothers in Lycra have come a long way. Although we were banned for years from competing in strenuous distance events in case our wombs dropped out, once we showed we could channel the same strength it takes to push out a baby into athletic prowess, mums of steel started to stride into the sports pages.
In 1991, Liz McColgan attracted opprobrium and admiration in equal measure when she won the world cross-country championships three months after giving birth to her daughter (she was first woman in her debut New York City marathon later that same year). Sixteen years later, the news that Paula Radcliffe was back out training 12 days after her first child was born might have made most raddled new mothers wince, but her tenacious attitude won approval – and an NYC marathon gong of her own.
Nowadays most forms of exercise, including running, are recommended in most cases throughout pregnancy and into new motherhood . Indeed, pressure and research group Tommy’s, which aims to halve the number of babies that die during pregnancy or birth by 2030, have a campaign, Upbeat which recommends structured exercise for pregnant mothers.
Most devoted runners in my club continued running as close to their due date as they could comfortably manage, as did, indeed, Amelia Hill.
However, it is coming back to running after the baby arrives that presents the biggest challenge for ordinary mortals. Even once you’ve managed to exchange the posset-stained dressing gown for something approaching PE kit, the issue of childcare often derails fitness ambitions.
Professional athletes, and the wealthy, may be able to afford a nanny to mind the baby while they sweat out the post-partum blues with their personal trainers, but the rest of us have to rely on local leisure centre creches, friends or family. Sometimes arranging childcare proves too taxing, and it’s just easier to wander around aimlessly with the buggy, and kid yourself you’re wandering back to fitness.
That’s why outdoor fitness classes, where the baby comes along, too, have proved such a boon for new parents in recent years. I wish they’d existed 25 years ago, when I had my first child, and seemed to spend inordinate amounts of time being hauled out of aerobics classes to settle him in the creche.
Now that I’m a runner of mature years, my love of the sport has led me to train as a running coach, so that I can lead buggy-runner classes in my local parks. It gets me out of the office, and does my heart good to see women take their first power-walking steps to postnatal fitness. It’s a baby-steps approach, literally.
The women (and it is usually women that come to our classes, although fathers and male carers are welcomed) have to fill out a health questionnaire. We advise women not to start classes too soon after the birth of their baby – most show up when the baby is a couple of months old. Those mothers who have had a caesarian section are monitored carefully and given alternative exercises to the more taxing core work that forms the final section of the class.
Runners don’t have to invest in a swanky, three-wheeled, all-terrain buggy for the class. Most modern prams are robust enough for our hilly local park.
The hour-long sessions start with power-walking and power-talking. The workouts are as much about getting together and comparing notes as about easing back into running. From the warm up, the buggy-runners move into dynamic drills, running drills, hill running, then finish with core work and stretches.
Everything is done with your baby in tow. Sometimes, the buggies are parked up for the runners to practise their hill-sprints or step-ups unencumbered, which is when this coach puts on her nanny hat. For me, this is extra-gratifying. I love babies, but it’s a while since I had mine. Indeed, I’m a little broody, having just become a grandmother whose little enkel lives in Berlin.
So I get to cuddle babies, pass on words of wisdom and guide new parents to their first 5K race. Some buggy-runners treat the class as a social event, repairing to the park cafe for cappuccino and cake every week; others decide to join our Saturday running group or Sunday long-running marathon group. Some end up loving running so much they join a club and win trophies (one ex-buggy-runner is now a sub three-hour marathoner).
From my vantage point as Old Mother Coach and club runner, I’ve witnessed at first hand the so-called baby boost effect. Many women, like Jo and Paula, go on to run even more strongly after having children. That might be because of better lung capacity after running around with about 26lb extra weight in pregnancy, or a more relaxed mental attitude – nothing, not even winning, is more important than your children – or better organisation (you become a more focused, more efficient runner if you’re on a strict deadline imposed by parenting duties).
Whatever causes baby boost, it’s worth having a go at harnessing it. Who knows, a gentle jog with your baby under the encouraging eye of a veteran runner, mother and granny like me may not make an elite athlete of you, but it could at least result in podium glory in the mother’s race at some future school sports day.
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