Marathons and Birth

Marathon action on Sunday was especially inspirational after my Friday and Saturday barhopping extravaganza. Especially this guy who ran it wearing a duck costume:



The NYC marathon hits all five boroughs, including our beloved Bronx, so Ellen and I watched from 138th and Grand Concourse -- somewhere between miles 20-21, where runners hit the infamous "wall," when the body runs out of glycogen to burn and switches to fat, causing dramatic fatigue.

My friend Julie (F3939) ran her first marathon this year, managing to beat out Katie Holmes (F127) and Sean John "P. Diddy" Combs (44778). You can check NYC marathon results here yourself. Julie is a great inspiration, and may have even inspired yours truly to try and do the same. Ahem --- MAY!

One person Julie did not beat, and who was also inspirational was women's winner Paula Radcliffe. The female marathon world record holder ran the NYC marathon (her first in 2 years) just nine months after giving birth. Her training regimen was halted for less than 2 weeks due to the birth, stopping the day before she gave birth and resuming just twelve days later.

It seems hard for me to imagine a woman running the day before giving birth. Then again, as the Sydney Morning Herald so gracefully put it: "Paula is having a baby, not having her legs cut off." I wonder if it really is so unimaginable to train for a marathon so late into a pregnancy or so soon after. No idea what the risks involved are. I would imagine them to be numerous. I would also imagine such a feat would be out of the question after a c-section.

I think this story does more to illustrate the single-minded approach marathoners need to be successful than any statement about birth, though. More people have probably been moved by her perseverance (insanity?) in running than by her choices in childbirth. Thoughts?

And now, a photo I took from mile 21 of the NYC marathon, illustrating the huge diversity of the runners, and the lack of toilets (look closely):

click for larger
-dr-