REAL TALK: When We Felt "NORMAL" Running After Having a Baby

Miles with Moms

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In this episode, we (Olivia, Tricia & Whitney) answer a question we’ve been asked often by listeners: what it was REALLY like for us to return to running postpartum and when we finally felt NORMAL running after having a baby. (Shanna could not make it today—we missed you Shanna!)….

SPOILER ALERT: None of us had a BOUNCE BACK story to share. In fact, quite the opposite.

-We talk about the impacts beyond the physical changes recovering from pregnancy including sleep deprivation and hormonal changes.

-We share the impact of breastfeeding had on training.

-And we discuss how stress & anxiety around having a baby impacted our recovery.

-We also talked about lessons learned and Tricia, as a pelvic floor physical therapist, gives guidance for new moms.

We hope sharing our journey shares a REAL account of what it is like to return to running after having a baby—not just someone’s highlight reel.

As usual, we give a mother runner shout-out (to Shri!), read a listener review (thank you!), and give a reminder to drop a review and check out our secret podcast on Patreon.com/mileswithmomspodcast.

Thanks for being here!

About your hosts:

• Whitney Heins is a mom of 2 kids, a VDOT-certified running coach for moms who run, and founder of the resource, themotherrunners.com. Coming out of a long injury cycle, she ran a 2:54 marathon and 1:20 half marathon in her 40s. IG: @themotherrunners.
• Shanna Birchett is a mom of 6 kids six years apart, including twins. She returned to running in 2022 after an 11-year break, running a 2:44 marathon in the summer of 2024. She is the co-founder of Endure 365 running, endure365.com, which offers heart rate-based training plans. IG: @motherhood_running.
• Tricia DeNardis is a mom to 3 young kids and a physical therapist specializing in the pelvic floor, pregnancy and postpartum rehabilitation. After running 10 marathons, Tricia completed her first 50k in the fall of 2024, and is now hooked! IG: @burpeesandburpcloths.
• Olivia Garcia is a mom of 2 young kids, who used to work as a paramedic. She fell in love with running in 2019, despite surviving a marathon that didn’t go according to plan. With a 2:57 PR, she's cut more than an hour off her marathon time. IG: @watch_oliviarun...