Last night, I returned to the trail to see if my foot was healing up or if my marathon training would need to take a backseat to further/new rehab.  I have just over 12 weeks until the Lansing Marathon and while I’m confident I can nail a “finish it” type plan in 12 weeks, I really don’t have a lot of time to lollygag if I want to have a loftier goal.  So back out I went after a little more than 24 pain free hours.  I was certainly hoping that the shooting pains at the side of my heel left as quickly as they arrived.  Sayonara pain cuz Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That! 

Fortunately, it was Wednesday night so I had the F’N Running Club to distract me as I plowed down the snow covered trail. 

My foot felt pretty decent.  No shooting pains.  A little discomfort but really I felt decent but I’m going to tell you what didn’t feel decent……..

But before I do, I’m going to drop a disclaimer in here:

If you are a dude, you may want to stop reading right now.  If you are a woman who has not yet been blessed with children, then you need to 1)  bookmark this post and come back about 2 weeks after you have your first child, when you have a “few” questions about the changes that have occurred to your body during the birthing process, and when your considering going out for your first postpartum run.  I also ask the young ladies to please, 2) stop reading now cuz some things can’t be changed so no need to get your “panties in a bunch” at this point in your young blissful lives and maybe, just maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones and this won’t be an issue for you.

Now that I only have you #MotherRunners on board and everyone else who is dying of curiosity, let’s talk about what happens to a lot, and I do mean a lot of us mothers when we run.  Stress Incontinence. Yes, I “sometimes” pee my pants when I run.  This has been an inconvenience since Aby was born.  Initially it was only a problem when I would jump on the trampoline, or cough, or sneeze, or dance.  If I ran slow, I would sometimes get lucky and stay “dry” but if I ran fast, then well, it wasn’t good.  Now this was back in the day before technical clothing became all the rage.  Many of us were still running around in our OLD cotton tees that we had possessed since the beginning of time.   This was before running skirts.  This was a LOOOONNNNGGGG time ago.  Okay, not so long ago but I was running primarily in the old style “bike shorts” and well, when you pee yourself in those things, people notice.  Or at least I thought they did because I was self conscious!  This would be the main reason why I owned one of the very first running skirts.  “Water” running down your leg is much less noticeable than flooded bike shorts.  Awesome, huh?  Now you know the real reason as to why I own all those running skirts.

If you have been running with me for a while, then this isn’t much of a secret to you.  If it’s nice out and I’m “leaking” a lot, I’ll run off trail to pee to try to limit further leakage.  However, last night was a new event even for me, cuz it was cold.  What happens when you are layered up, have tights on, then pants over and you are leaking “more than normal”.  You have wet pants.  Actually, wet pants that freeze.  I must say, I don’t ever remember having frozen crotch syndrome.  Awesome.  I was so soaked that I had to throw my spibelt in the wash.  Soaked from my hips to my shoes and no amount of wicking material can handle that.  This really got me thinking about how to get home without my car smelling like piss other mother runners.  I know they too have this same problem so I want to compile a list of “options” for all of us with Stress Incontinence. 

First, if this is your problem too, go read this article on Exercise Induced Incontinence, aka Stress Incontinence. Good info.

Here are a few ideas as to how to handle the situation:

1. Kegel Exercises.  First place to start.  The doc will probably get you started on them during pregnancy and will recommend you keep them up forever to restrengthen your muscles postpartum.  There is a TON of info on the KegelExercisesForWomen.com website, I encourage you to check out the link and the info.  Why?  This is why, the source being that amazing website which I just listed: 

Why Do Kegel Exercises?
Often the pelvic floor muscles are weak which contributes to problems with losing urine. Doing the exercises correctly and regularly with resistance can strengthen the muscles. Stronger muscles lead to little or no urine loss for many women.

2. Wear a pad.
3. Keep the bladder empty.  If I have any urine at all in my bladder, I normally leak.  Yesterday, I drank a lot of water, drank coffee in the afternoon, and drove from downtown directly to the trail.  The bathroom on the trail closed at 5pm.  I didn’t make it in time and neglected to seek out another option.  My fault.  I’ll be more vigilant about this in the future. 
4. Acupuncture may help in certain instances.
5. Hypnotherapy may help in certain instances.
6. Herbal remedies may help in certain instances but recommendations vary.
7. Medication is available for certain cases – talk to your doctor.
8. Surgery is available for certain cases – talk to your doctor.
9. Urethral Inserts are available for certain cases – talk to your doctor.
10. And when all else fails, buy some running skirts!

Do you have issues with on the run “leakage”?  What do you do about the situation?  Any inside info or do you just deal with it by not dealing with it like I have for so many years?

** Happy DRY Running ** Amanda – TooTallFritz