I feel your pain….
I too enjoyed running before pregnancy & kids. And now… I’ve never been so out of shape in my life. I have 101 excuses and reasons why! However I truly do believe pregnancy takes quite a toll on your body. After my first baby I tried to start running again and everything felt different. Just as you said, my hips were hurting, but also I was experiencing patella tendonitis. I was very disappointed and thought I just had to face reality…I’m getting old and running is no good for your joints. So I had my second baby 18 months ago and then it seemed even harder to find time to exercise. I finally got myself into a good exercise routine (at 4am ugh!!) for about 10 weeks, got lazy for about 6 weeks and then broke my foot. Must have been my old brittle bones! I didn’t do any type of exercising for another 4 months. So then comes New Years & resolutions etc. and I went out to dinner with some friends. With a little liquid courage I agreed to do a ½ marathon with my girlfriend (I must be crazy). I knew this would be quite a challenge for me for many reasons. I have never run that kind of distance, the longest distance I ever did was a 10K. I knew I was completely out of shape. I would have to start waking up between 4 & 4:30am every day to train (it really is the only time I can do it). I started to get really excited about training and knew I had to start at the very beginning. So that is what I did. My co-worker gave me the “From Couch Potato to 5K” program. So here is where the advice comes in. I started the program which was walk 1 minute, run 1 minute. I thought to myself, “this is for a novice, I can do more” and I over did it. Well immediately I was feeling pain all over. I backed off and did the program as it was written except I had to expedite it so I could start training for the ½ marathon. So if you’re anything like me and feel you can run 2 miles easily after being pregnant, giving birth and not running for many months, think again. You’re best off starting out really slow, I mean EXTREMELY slow. Just a little bit at a time. It is really tough to do especially when you remember doing 5 miles so easily. Do tons of stretching before & after you run (this is where I feel the most out of shape with inflexibility after having kids). I mix in a yoga and weight workout on the days I don’t run, which really helps the body. I’m up to 3 miles now and battling the tendonitis still but at least the hip pain is gone and I feel like I’m in better shape. I’m still not even sure my body will be able to handle the ½ marathon, we’ll see. Best of Luck getting back to running…Think Slow!
A little about Me: I'm a working Mom of 2 wonderful, little girls, 3-1/2 years & 18 months.