See Jane Run

If only tackling a marathon were as simple as those words imply. Truth is, women have more of a challenge making time for running, given their myriad responsibilities at home and at work. Here’s a how-to handbook to getting healthy on your own time.

- Anna Sharratt

INSTEAD OF RUNNING AWAY, WHICH MANY NEW MOTHERS SECRETLY fantasize about while they endure endless diaper changes and middle-of the-night feedings, Dr. Lindsey Forbes decided to run a marathon. “Right when my son turned a year, I started training,” says Dr. Forbes, a psychologist based in London, ON, and mother of an 18-month-old. “I wanted more structure in my life. I chose marathons because there was something about doing those long, slow runs: It gave me back me time.”

Dr. Forbes began her training by running home from her clinic three times a week to minimize the impact on her family. She used Saturdays to do two to three-hour runs. “I was pretty zonked for the rest of the day,” confesses Dr. Forbes, whose husband and parents helped by looking after her son. The training changed her schedule, shortening her evenings with her husband and forcing her to pack more quality time into shorter spurts.

Plus, there was the constant need for communication and planning to ensure that there were no bad spousal feelings – advice she also shares with her clients. “You have to make sure that everything stays balanced in the rest of your life,” says Dr. Forbes, who achieved her goal of running a marathon in Niagara Falls, ON, last October. “I think my husband is aware that it’s good for everybody.”

DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS

As any runner will tell you, taking on a marathon is challenging. On the plus side, you’re making positive strides by setting an ambitious physical goal and working toward it. “There’s great psychological value in pursuing and achieving that goal,” says Tara Costello, a mental-performance consultant based in Charlottetown. In Dr. Forbes’s case, she says it makes her a better mom.