When I found out I was pregnant in the fall of 2009, I was coming off a promising 11th-place finish at the 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon and a couple of very near misses at making the US Mountain Running Team. I was happily married and around that age when the proverbial clock begins to tick. Although we were considering growing our family, these thoughts were still theories for some time in the future. And then I found myself huffing and puffing through a workout, Googling symptoms of pregnancy, and staring at a stick in a grocery-store bathroom on my way home from a group long run. Still not connecting all the dots, I tried a different variety of stick the next day: same result. I called my doctor to ask for a professional opinion. The nurse on the phone told me there were no false positives, congratulated me, and started calculating my due date. I was in denial. Despite my insistence that there must be a more scientific way of confirming this type of thing, the voice on the other end of the phone continued to explain that my self-administered test was accurate, told me to pick up prenatal vitamins at the pharmacy, and that she would see me at my first standard checkup in some obscenely far away number of weeks. The oblivion and commitment phobia would eventually subside. I was, in fact, pregnant.

Sample Training Block: The week after I found out I was pregnant Sunday 17-mile long run with friends Monday Four-mile easy run Tuesday 12 miles with 4×4-minute cruise intervals Wednesday 10-mile easy run Thursday Eight miles with 10×30-60 second pickups Friday Flew out to Kentucky for the USATF Club XC National race. Ran five miles easy on the course with B.A. A. team when I arrived. (Side note: Both times I found out I was pregnant were right after booking a flight to a race. Both times I went to the race anyway, ran it as a tempo, and left everyone wondering why I was a little off my game!)

Saturday

Raced Club XC, 40th place, 21:47 for the 6K course, 10 miles total for the day. Decided to play things conservatively and run the race at a tempo effort. (Interestingly, the national champion that day was Serena Burla, a new mother at the time returning to top form.)

Week total 66 miles for a taper week. (My mileage was on the low end heading into this race as I was just coming off an injury. A normal average for me at the time was in the 80- to 100-mile-per-week range.)

Running pregnant Having to take any length of time off from training is a blow. For the planners among us, saying we can’t fill the calendar with goal races, planned mileage, and workouts is like taking candy from a baby. Most of my friends knew something was up when I started answering the question, “So what’s your next race?” with awkward hemming and hawing. While I could sort of keep training and sort of keep planning, it all became hypothetical and distant, subject to certain change. Nine months is a long time. But I fixated on it, having no clue that nine months was just the first phase of a lifetime of changes. I read up on other runner moms ranging from Shayne Culpepper, who was just fine with stopping training altogether while pregnant, to Ingrid Kristiansen, who won the 1983 Houston Marathon while unknowingly pregnant and then came back to win again the next year five months postpartum in a PR of 2:27:51. I decided to do what felt good for me, which meant about 60 to 90 minutes of running most days. After the first couple of months, I had no interest in doing any fast running, so I didn’t.

By the final months I preferred to go alone in the woods. My daily runs became an empowering, meditative time for me when I felt most like myself in a growing alien body. I tried my best not to plan, to run by feel. In some ways, I had been preparing for this for a long time. When I moved to the hilly dirt roads and trails of Vermont, I learned quickly how to disregard my watch and train by effort. As a competitive endurance athlete, I am well versed at doling out my energy and staying shy of the red line. I am well practiced at regulating all my body’s systems in the face of heat, distance, and other variables to ensure that I can keep pace all the way to the finish line. That’s how I ran even splits during my first marathon despite 85-degree heat and humidity, and that’s how I knew I could keep my baby in a safe, stable environment.

People expressed a lot of well-intentioned, unsolicited concerns to me about being a fit, pregnant lady: “Make sure your heart rate doesn’t get too high.” “Don’t you think you might be running too much?” “Wow! You don’t look [fill in the blank] months pregnant.” And many worse things that stressed my psyche. But while I was running, I listened to my intuition, and it told me that running was positive and healthy, and as long as I felt good it must be good. I was fortunate

enough to be able to keep running until the day I went into labor as I had a complication-free pregnancy and a supportive doctor.

Sample Training Block: Second trimester, still going strong Sunday 18-mile long run with good company. Lucked out with the weather— there was a break in the rain and even a few glimmers of sun. Monday Day off Tuesday 10-mile easy run with high school track team during first week of

practice. Beautiful spring day. Wednesday Easy 70-minute run. Pace felt rather impressive, but I’m guessing it wasn’t so I’ll call this . . . 8.5 miles. Thursday 10 miles easy Friday Eight-mile easy run. Felt great on the downhills and flats, struggling

a little on the uphills. Went in for my five-month doctor’s appointment afterward. Feel like I’ve gained about 15 pounds in the past month. Starting to look like it, too. Somehow, though, the scales claim I have

not. Doctor says my weight must just be redistributing—muscle loss? Saturday 15.5 miles. I wanted to go on an adventure run today so drove to Camel’s Hump Road. When I got to the hiking trail head, it looked

good so I decided to do a loop around to Burrow’s trail. Turns out the only part of the trail that was runnable was the first 100 meters. The rest was covered in deep snow. Nothing wrong with a little midrun

hike. Finished up with a nice long downhill back to the car. Week total 70 miles Sample Training Block: Third trimester, week ending in childbirth Sunday Five miles easy, trails Monday Five miles easy on trails with Eli. Feeling good, didn’t get dropped

by E this time. Today’s the official due date, but no baby yet. Hiked with friends after, good visit. Tuesday Six miles easy, trails. Felt fine. Baby still holding tight in there. Wednesday Six miles easy, trails. Still no baby. Thursday Six miles easy again. On trails again. Still no baby again. However,

the baby birds on our porch finally fledged their nest so I’m taking that as a sign. Friday Six miles easy, trails. Same loop as yesterday. Thought today might be a day that I wasn’t able to run. Started having on-and-off lower

back pain last night similar to how I’ve heard early labor described.

Things seemed to settle down a little this morning, so I figured I would give a run a try. Definitely more tight in the abdomen and low back than usual and had some low-back numbness late in the run but was only one minute slower than when I ran the same loop yesterday, so, although more uncomfortable than I have been, I could definitely still run. I’m hoping that these changes mean baby is on its way soon! Saturday

Six-mile easy trail run. No new developments until about 3:00 or 4:00 p. m. when regular contractions started up. (Baby was born the next day!)

Week total 40 miles

Old goals

Courtesy of Kasie Enman

When my daughter was born, I was swarmed by hormones and complete awe over a piece of life that I somehow had zero awareness of up to that point. Everything on my list of priorities—my own personal well-being, work, friends, and running—got knocked down a notch. Nothing else seemed worthy of my attention or energy. If I’m being completely honest, prior to being a mother, running had been such a large passion that it took precedence over most everything. Now suddenly, for the first time in my adult life, I felt like I could have given up running altogether and been entirely satisfied. Though I was too sleep deprived to give this much thought, my daughter clearly was the new center of my universe.

Of course, I had spent the past nine months dreaming of my return to training and racing. I cognitively knew that the old me had unmet goals. There was this nagging sense that if I didn’t keep running, I would regret it. I believe my success as a runner owes less to talent than to year after year of consistency and

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Keeping fit between races by hiking with a weighted pack in Ziano di Fiemme, Italy.

incremental increases in workload. I’m also, as a friend likes to remind me, an all-or-nothing person. And who wants nothing? So while I questioned my desire to take the time out of each day to put in the work of a competitive runner, in the third week after giving birth, I started running again. First a 30-minute shuffle, then 40 minutes, 50 minutes, a race, workouts, long runs. It didn’t feel like running at first as my body healed. I could hear my daughter crying and would pick up the pace as I finished each run. Nursing became my cool-down. Double-session baby-jogger nap runs became our routine. Injuries took on a pattern of mommy postural problems instead of classic overuse syndromes.

I wasn’t convinced that I had made the right choice, but I forged ahead anyway to keep my options open. “No regrets, the time is now” became my mantra. There was a short window left to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Trials Marathon. I entered the 2011 Boston Marathon as a first attempt. If I got under the mark there, then I could dive into mountain racing that following summer. These were the goals of my former self, so I stuck to them.

Sample Training Block: One year later, leading up to World Championships Sunday

Hill workout. 12 miles total. Sets of 400-meter-300-meter-200-meter100-meter hills. Worked the ups and downs continuously. Third time I’ve done this workout this summer. Did five sets (one more than last time). Five-mile double session run later in the day pushing baby jogger.

Monday

Five miles easy on the trails followed by physical therapy. 11 miles second run pushing baby jogger in the afternoon. Tired.

Tuesday

12 miles on trails.

Wednesday 12-mile progression run. Kind of struggled the whole time, especially in the final three miles. Not surprised, having trouble recovering this week. Four-mile double session run in PM. Thursday

11 miles on trails. Five-mile double session before heading on trip to the Adirondacks with family for a few days.

Friday

Six miles with Eli, pushing baby jogger.

Saturday

20-mile long run with Eli, ~2:40. Fantastic loop that somehow ended up being the perfect length, mix of dirt forest roads, no cars, went by quickly. There was even a spring about halfway through and a couple of wild apple trees along the way for nourishment. Loosened up with a swim in the lake afterward.

Week total 103 miles

Two years Looking back, the two years between the birth of my daughter in August 2010 and my second pregnancy were nothing short of insanity. I was going through the motions of an elite athlete while living in the world of a new mom. My body was in one place, my head in another. And yet our new little family took part in a lifetime’s worth of awesome adventure. Maybe I owe the success that came during this period to disassociation. Maybe the change in perspective was freeing. Maybe the nine months away from high-intensity training rejuvenated my body. Or maybe the stars simply aligned while I put one foot in front of the other each day.

In two years’ time, I raced the Boston Marathon, Olympic Trials Marathon, and Pikes Peak Marathon and became the first Vermont female winner of the Vermont City Marathon. I became a national mountain-running champion and then world mountain-running champion. Along the way I trained and competed in Macedonia and Albania, which led to opportunities in England, Greece, Austria, Italy, Argentina, and across the United States. My favorite support crew was by my side as much as possible—for three of the four marathons and five out of seven countries.

When asked what I remember most about these experiences, I proudly brag about how my daughter took her first steps the day we arrived at the team hotel in Albania for the World Championships. I laugh as I describe how I celebrated my big win by nursing my daughter during WADA drug testing—couldn’t they just test the breast milk? I tell the story of how a friend, watching the Boston Marathon on national television as I crested Heartbreak Hill with Geoffrey Mutai for a brief second en route to his record setting 2:03:02 (thanks to the women’s earlier start), said he could tell my breasts were “full.”

Second time around In between racing up and down the 14,115-foot peak of the Pikes Peak Marathon and touring the Patagonian lakes region with the Salomon Trail Running Team, I became pregnant again, this time with a son. This time I had wrapped my head around what it meant to be pregnant, and a mom, and a runner. I had seen glimpses of my daughter gaining independence, taking just enough time for herself to give me time to think about having some new goals for myself again. There are days when I still question whether and why I should run. I don’t expect the next two years to be anything like the last. Every day, I stand at the edge of the unknown and step off. The biggest lesson I’ve learned so far from parenthood is to be flexible and trusting.

Physically, the second time around, I was able to run throughout my pregnancy again though I grew larger, noticed symptoms earlier, and slowed down sooner. I also had more confidence in my inner mother’s intuition. I gave birth

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Posing for a belly photo in the early months of my second pregnancy.

Courtesy of Kasie Enman

to a healthy baby boy in June 2013, resumed running two weeks later, and jumped into the US Mountain Running Championships six weeks postpartum because I decided I would rather take part than sit at home. There are days when I feel strong and fast and days when I take my loosened joints and separated abdominal muscles in stride. There are days when I am brimming with motivation to get out the door and other days when I want to give in to my daughter’s pleas to be with her “all the time.” Each day is different. Each day is a gift. I hope to share my old passions with my new, travel more, set PRs, and win just enough prize money to fund the next crazy family adventure!

Lessons on being a runner-mom On running while pregnant I share my experiences knowing fully that there is no one right way. My first pregnancy was different from my second. No two women or two babies are the same. • Trust your body and your intuition. There is truth in the saying, “Mother knows best.” • Find a route—trails worked well for me—where you have options of adding on when you’re having a great day or cutting it short if you’re not. • Apparently running right until the end doesn’t guarantee that baby will be born sooner rather than later. My daughter was nine days “late” and my son arrived 11 days after his due date. • Talk any questions or concerns over with your doctor!

On returning to running and racing after childbirth After my first child, my husband tricked me into my first race, saying, “You have to start somewhere.” It’s the best advice he has ever given me—or at least the only

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On the podium (center) at the Giir di Mont SkyRace with two of my Salomon teammates, Silvia Serafini (left) and Oihana Kortazar (right).

advice I’ve ever listened to! I’m glad he did because while I didn’t win or set a PR, it got the ball rolling. • Put your ego aside. It helps to remember the basic reasons why we run. Courtesy of Kasie Enman

• My body took a lot longer to feel “normal” again than I thought it would. It was six or seven months until I felt that I could fully train again, but by a year I was exceeding expectations. • Be ready to go at a moment’s notice! Also be ready to change, juggle around,

or cancel your training plan at a moment’s notice. Creativity and flexibility are key—think like a circus act. My husband and I have done intervals pushing the baby jogger, hill repeats up and down the driveway with a push of the

baby swing for recovery, canceled race plans when awoken by a vomiting child . . . you get the idea! • Prioritize. Have a clear idea of: (1) what needs to get done every day, (2) what you would like to do if it works out, and (3) what isn’t important. This

helps you decide when and what to change, juggle, or cancel.

On eating and drinking with kids More than once, I’ve found a glass of water I poured an hour ago still sitting full by the sink. It took a nutrition consult with a friend for me to realize that while it felt like I was dutifully eating six or seven meals per day, as someone with a raging metabolism from simultaneously nursing and training should, I was really just eating fractions of the same interrupted meal spread out over the interrupted day. Things that work for me: •

Choose the most nutrient-dense food possible. • Stay on top of finishing whole portions; a simple awareness of this helped. • Drink whole glasses of water immediately upon pouring them (not normally recommended otherwise).

• Power-packed smoothies are a mainstay in my diet. • I started raising chickens so I can fill up on fresh eggs!

On traveling with family I have learned that I want to take my family with me on every trip I possibly can. While I think I crave focused alone time, I crave having them with me more. The high-quality time we have together leaves me with a greater sense of accomplishment than running alone ever did. •

Flying with children isn’t as nightmarish as I thought it would be. And it made me feel a lot happier about the fact that I was still nursing my daughter two years in. Surprise toy stashes help too. •

Don’t forget to pack for yourself. It’s embarrassing to show up at the starting line of the race with nothing to wear but a diaper and onesie. • There is nothing wrong with your child’s first sentence being, “Mommy run

up and down mountain” and her favorite bedtime story being the Italian travel guide.

On racing with children in tow My husband works weekends, so I bring my kids to almost all my races. I am very lucky to have supportive family living in the area to help watch the kids while I race. I don’t thank them enough. I also have children who love their mommy and conspire against things like warm-ups and cool-downs. • Make sure to factor extra time for nursing/pumping into your warm-up routine. I had a slow learning curve with this and found myself in the passenger seat of my car five minutes before race start for almost an entire year.

• Take off your bib number before postrace nursing. The crinkling sound is distracting, and it gets in the way. • Maintain your sense of humor. ▲

Full-family selfie on a hike up Camel’s Hump back home in Huntington, Vermont.

Courtesy of Kasie Enman

• If a cool-down is not negotiable for you, don’t come back within eyesight, earshot, or smell range of your children until you’re completely ready.