Running Doula

Posted by Kim:

My training and experience as a birth doula has helped me learn to provide continuous physical, emotional and informational support to my laboring moms, but the truth is each and every one of my clients does that same thing for me (whether they know or or not) every time I am out on a long run. OK, so they don’t technically provide me with any physical or informational support, but the truth is that thinking of my doula clients, remembering their labors and how amazing they each were keeps me going literally. When I feel like I am going to hit a wall and think I am about quit, I remember their labors, I think of how amazing they were, all that they went through, and it helps me put one foot in front of the other. I think if they can give birth, I can run a 10 short miles right?

It is at the point when I am near or am just about to splat straight into that wall during a run that I rely on the tricks of the doula trade. While keeping the end in mind and knowing how proud I will be of myself when I finish is always in the back of my mind, I instead try to primarily focus on short term goals, I break time down into mini milestones. For example, I will look for a street sign or a mailbox up ahead and I tell myself to just run to the point, and then reassess how I feel. When I reach my goal I say, well you made it that far, you can make it to the corner. It is the same thing that I try to do for my doula clients, one contraction at a time.

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