What I Learned About Birth While Training for, Competing in, and DNFing my First Half Iron Triathlon Pt.3

In part 2 of this series, I wrote about birth gear, and how important it was to thoughtfully get to know your gear before you need it. It's extremely necessary to think these details through, understand how they will be utilized in labor, and don't wing it!

The next thing that absolutely lead to me DNFing was an unrealistic and intentional optimism that I was physically ready. To give you an example of my misplaced optimism, two weeks after the race I finally looked back through my training logs to determine how many outdoor miles I put on my bike before I decided to tackle 56 miles in one go. I was both impressed and mortified. I completed 200 measly miles from 10 mile rides, peaking at 32 miles. Post-race me was ready to slap pre-race me who had thought that would be enough. And it was this astounding lack of time in the saddle that ultimately cost me the most physically.

But one might ask, didn't you follow a training plan? I'm pretty sure you said you did the research in part 1. The answer is... no. I knew enough to be dangerous, but never actually utilized training plans from the smart people who made this stuff scientifically helpful for the lay athletes of the world. I never got a coach or consulted a real, live person for real, live advice. And I reaped what I sowed.

How does this relate birth?

The first time you have a baby, everything is brand new. Your body is changing dramatically. You know this wiggly critter inside you has to somehow exit your womb. So what do you do?

Often people entrust their births to an OB or a midwife. These professionals are great resources to help you understand your body's changes and answer any of the biological facts of what happens when. They can be your liability gate, helping to keep you and baby safe. There are friends, family, and the internet filled with stories and advice about what you could experience.

And there are a bajillion resources on how to handle labor, birth, and postpartum.

Just like my failed 70.3, you get out what you put into this process.

If you spend time learning about your body, how you can train it to ready for birth, and actually practice movement, breathing, and finding peace in the storm, you're going to have much better odds at achieving your desired birth outcomes.

If you understand how your body is connected and how movement can help baby position properly, your body will have the opportunity to effectively bring baby down through the pelvis gracefully.

If you learn to breath, moan, and move during the crests of a labor surge, you'll work with you body instead of against it.

And if you wing it, convince yourself you'll just gut it when it's time, and skip putting the "miles" in to train? Your dream desires might just be that... a dream.

Take it from me: When the plan created by someone with incredible experience and science to back it tells you to put in the effort, do it.