For new mothers struggling to get back into shape after having a baby, Paula Radcliffe may be a source of inspiration - or incredulity.
Moments after winning the New York City Marathon on the weekend, the beaming British runner cradled her cherubic 10-month-old daughter Isla to her rock-hard abs. She wasn't the only marathon mom - actress Katie Holmes was greeted at the finish line by husband Tom Cruise and 18-month-old daughter Suri.
"People thought having a baby would be the end of my career - I never thought it would be," Ms. Radcliffe told the BBC. As her legs grew weary in the final stretch, she said, "I just kept repeating to myself 'I love you Isla' to keep my rhythm going."
While Ms. Radcliffe belongs to a very elite group of athletes, running during pregnancy and after childbirth is not off-limits for most women, provided they follow some precautions, experts say.
As the cultural preoccupation with shedding baby weight grows ever stronger, women are looking for new postpartum fitness options. But don't expect marathons to replace mommy-and-me yoga - they're not for everyone.
Karen Bridson, the Toronto-based author of Nine Months Strong and The Secrets of Skinny Chicks, ran throughout her pregnancy and finished a marathon when her son was just seven months old. It wasn't easy - she pumped a cooler full of breast milk so she could leave her baby with her sister when she travelled to Ottawa for the marathon, and she suffered from dehydration during the race. "My body was busy making 10 to 12 ounces of milk on my chest while I was trying to run a marathon," she recalls. "It was not pleasant."
Even though most of her friends thought she was crazy, she says crossing the finish line felt great - psychologically as well as physically. "It was a great exercise in reclaiming my body and defining myself again as a person separate from my baby," she says. "That was what I needed to feel like I was back in control of my life."
The biggest determinant of whether a woman will be able to run after giving birth isn't her willpower or even her fitness level - it's her baby, says Jean Marmoreo, a Toronto family doctor and women's running coach. Unless you've got the support team of an elite athlete or a Hollywood celebrity, finding the time to train with a newborn can be tough.
"No elite athlete has a colicky baby," Dr. Marmoreo quipped. Generally, it takes everyone about six months to get back up to speed after childbirth, she says. She advises most new moms to start off with walking. Once they can comfortably run 10 kilometres, Dr. Marmoreo says, most women can prepare to complete a marathon (42 kilometres) in 16 weeks.
During pregnancy, most doctors say, avid runners should ease back on their training and non-runners shouldn't start - walking is recommended instead. Pregnant women's bodies produce a hormone called relaxin, which loosens joints, making them more prone to injury. Overheating can harm the baby, especially in the first trimester, and pregnant women need to guard carefully against dehydration.
During the first trimester, fatigue and nausea may be a runner's biggest hurdles. As the pregnancy progresses, a woman's centre of gravity shifts, so pregnant runners need to be especially careful not to trip and fall. Superstrength athletic bras and supportive belly bands can help keep everything in place.
After giving birth, most women can return to running - slowly, to avoid injury - at about six weeks. Women are advised to breastfeed before running, but according to the breastfeeding experts at Kellymom, there's no evidence that lactic acid buildup during intense exercise affects the palatability of breast milk.
Even Ms. Radcliffe struggled to return to racing form after a two-year absence from competing. After a 27-hour labour, she left the hospital last January on crutches. She started running again just 12 days later, but then was forced to take eight weeks off because of a stress fracture.
Her comeback impressed the second-place female finisher in the New York City Marathon, Ethiopian Gete Wami, who took a few years to recover from the birth of her own daughter, Eva, who's now 4.
"I was impressed how Paula was able to train and even more impressed she was able to perform like this so soon after," Ms. Wami told reporters.
Ms. Radcliffe's feat will serve as inspiration, but probably not instruction, for other women, Dr. Marmoreo says.
"Paula has shown people this is doable," she says. "Mind you, there are not too many Paula Radcliffes in the world."
