Peak Physical Shape

While I was pregnant I heard some nasty rumor about achieving peak physical shape 4-6 months after giving birth.

Seriously?... Who are these women that showed such remarkable physiological results? Were they human? Are we sure they were raising the children they gave birth too?

If the conclusions were actually valid I'm pretty sure the experimental protocol has more holes than my overused trainer tire. I just can't believe these conclusions could be valid.

After four months of sleep deprivation I doubt there are many people who would preform well in a physical test. Factor in the nursing (complete drain of your system every few hours) and you'll start to wonder how any new mom would contemplate any type of physical test. If you think about it longer, the bone and ligament movement will make you wonder how anyone could even hypothesize physiological benefits at this point.

What good does higher blood volume give you when you can barely find the energy to swing your legs out of bed in the morning?

But... I still believed this rumor when I heard it. I had it stuck in my head that I'd be back in full force by now. I actually assumed I'd be trying to hit a PR at 3M this past Sunday. Don't waste your time looking for results, I didn't even attempt to run it this year.

Even after all the logic I still have some dilution of getting myself into good shape in the next two months. My last race of 2009 was at Galveston, when I was 15 weeks pregnant. I reluctantly decided to do the quarter and the sprint instead of the half Ironman. This year I want to do the 70.3. I'm fully expecting this peak physical strength to get me to the finish line faster than when I raced there a couple of years ago. I have no clue how I'll pull it off but I'm ignorant enough to believe it could happen. After all, I keep hearing parenting gets easier after 4 months. ;)

BTW, If I do pull off some super performance at Galveston I'll be sure to share my postpartum training routine with everyone. Who knows... maybe this sleep deprivation really does benefit triathlon training. Doubt it!