What Running 85 km’s Through the Forest Taught Me About Birth
In what feels like another life, I was a runner. And not just a runner, an ultra marathon runner.
For those of you unfamiliar with this title, an ultra marathon is any distance greater than a marathon (42.2km’s). Ultra’s are often run on trails, through forest and mountain ranges, and tend to focus on the journey and the experience more than the speed.
I fell in love with the sport in 2019 when I ran my first 50km race. One week later I found out I was pregnant. Ultrarunning and my journey through pregnancy and parenthood have progressed in tandem to one another.
And yet, my relationship with running has felt more complex since entering into this season of life. A season of pregnancies, losses, sleepless nights, sick babies, complete physical and emotional exhaustion, late night toddler whispers of ‘I love you mummy’, meltdowns and a new found appreciation for my body’s incredible resilience.
It doesn’t feel sufficient to say that I like to run. Or even that I love to run.
Running feels like a part of who I am. Which upon reflection, is probably one of the reasons why pregnancy is so hard for me. My body does not like to run while pregnant. It never has. I doubt it ever will. So I don’t run.
But, regardless of the running breaks I’ve taken while growing my babies, these ultra endurance events still live within my bones and are a part of who I am. As I prepare for my second birth - any day now - I can’t help but reflect on what I’ve learned about birth from running 85 km’s through the trails of Northern Ontario.
1. The importance of mental preparation
I’m sure everyone can appreciate the immense physical preparation required to run an ultra marathon. What I don’t think many people realize, is how much of ultra training is actually preparing mentally for the race. Wrapping your head around the idea that you CAN and WILL run for this insane amount of time without falling apart is a task in itself.
Both ultra running and birth prep require a combination of both physical and mental prep, but I would argue that in both cases the importance of mental prep FAR outweighs the physical.
Why? Bodies are incredible and can do physical things beyond our comprehension. We know that to be true. While I talk a LOT about the physical preparation required for birth (of course I do, I’m a movement professional and a bodyworker) as I prepare for this upcoming birth, I am using tools and strategies I developed while training for my ultra to help myself mentally prep for the incredibly daunting, and yet beautiful task of birthing a baby.
2. To listen to what your body needs in the moment
When running an ultra, you can’t afford to let yourself fall apart, even for a minute. Forgetting to hydrate could mean the end of your race. A hot spot ignored on the bottom of your foot could turn into a game-changing blister. You need to be continually aware of what your body is telling you IN that moment.
During birth your body will tell you what it needs if you listen.
Your body will intuitively move into the position it needs to be in to help baby rotate through your pelvis if you listen.
Your body will tell you when a contraction is on it’s way, when it’s ready to push, or when it needs a break if you listen.
Both ultra running and birth are the ultimate practice in being present in the moment.
If I had really thought about the fact that I would be running for 14 + hours straight, I’m not sure I would have ever stepped onto the trail. It doesn’t seem doable or manageable as a whole. But in small bite sized pieces, when you are able to stay IN the moment you are in, it suddenly becomes possible.
As I ran my last race, I repeated to myself ‘all you need to do is get to the next aid station’ or closer to the end of the race ‘just make it to the top of that climb’. Similarly, phrases like ‘just get through this next contraction and then you will get a break’ or ‘6 slow deep breaths and this contraction will be over’ have become essential mantras I plan on using in my upcoming birth to help me stay in the moment and not think too much about what lies ahead.
3. That Pain does not equal suffering
Yes, running for 14 hours through the woods is going to hurt. While I was running my last ultra my body was in pain. My hips and glutes ached and stung with fatigue. The bottom of my feet were red raw from pounding across the trail. My bag chaffed the back of my neck until it bled.
Similarly, for most people, childbirth is an incredibly painful experience. The difference is that pain does not have to equal suffering. And this is potentially the most important distinction to make.
As I ran through the forest I acknowledged the discomfort my body was feeling and thanked my brain for doing what it was meant to do - alert me to all these wild challenges and sensations. And then I reminded myself - as I will in my birth - that I was not HURT. I was not broken. My life was not in danger. These were sensations that I was experiencing that I had the power to interpret anyway I wanted. I was, and I will be doing someting incredible. Something my body was built to do. Something I am fully capable of doing.
4. To accept (and ask for) help from others
Running an ultra marathon, similar to parenting, takes a village of support. Leading up to the race, training for an ultramarathon requires hours of physical preparation which means lots of help with childcare. It has required an incredible partner who doesn’t blink an eye when I drive out to the Bruce Trail for a leisurely 6 hour training run through Hockey Valley.
Ultra running takes even more support on the day of the race. For my very first 50 mile race, our best friends drove out to the race with us to help care for our toddler and provide emotional support. For my latest 85 km race my mom drove the 8 hour drive with me (after having hip surgery!) to support me. She went from aid station to aid station during the race and made friends with everyone there to make it such a meaningful experience.
Birth requires this same village. As I prepare for this upcoming birth, I am LEANING into all the help we can get. We have a team of our close ally’s, with their phone’s on throughout the night, ready to jump in if needed. We have friends who are bringing us food or prepared to scoop up our toddler. I can’t underestimate the importance of building this support team before you give birth. Birth (like ultra running) is a team sport and your team is your village.
5. That the body can do incredible things you likely never thought it could do, when given the chance
Giving birth, in any way, in any form, by any means is an incredible feat.
Bodies are amazing, and sometimes it’s easy to forget this. Running 85 km’s through the woods, reminded me of what my body was capable of doing. And every single time I watch a baby being born I am reminded of this again and again.
In what feels like another life, I was a runner.
Correction - I AM a runner. Just living in a season of life where running isn’t accessible to me at this very moment. But as I can feel my pregnancy coming to an end, likely my last pregnancy, I can’t help but start to imagine myself on my next start line. Knowing a journey is ahead of me, but having no way of knowing how it will go, what I will learn or what my ‘story’ will be.
Sounds a lot like my upcoming birth eh?
I think this is why I like to run these long races. In a life where I am continually given so many options for comfort (many folks do not hold this privilege), running these long races is a physical and mental reminder of what I am capable of doing. That I am strong. That I am resilient. That I can do really hard things.
And I think birth has the opportunity to provide this very same lesson.
Did you enjoy this Blog post? Then you may also enjoy the following blog posts:
Navigating Childbirth: A Guide to the Stages of Labour
or
What to Include in a Prenatal Fitness Program
or
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