I have not been racing and breastfeeding but I have been breastfeeding three kids up to 14-15 months each and usually the first months are very demanding. You may feel energetically low and also breasts are so full that it may be hard to move actively. I guess if you were well trained before and keep up regular but not overly intensive training for a few months you are able to start training harder when your baby is ca 4-5 month old. I would say that when babies are 6 months old you will feel like 'normal' from the training and racing perspective.

The first three to six months of bfing are the hardest ones, with the highest demand and the most variation in demand. You can gradually build up your training, eating and hydrating carefully--- oh, and sleeping, Then at six months you can hit the training harder. The bf will be well enough established that you ought to be okay. I breastfed an older baby while training hard and it went fine. Even when he was younger and my training was just picking up, we didn't have any problems.. I drank lots of water and did not diet (not at all!). I tried to eat nutrient rich foods and get lots of sleep (this was harder to do). Baby had plenty of milk, and never turned his nose up at the taste of the milk or the sweaty smell of his mom.

The only caveat I'd give is that if you find yourself too tired to train hard, let the race go. Be a participant and not a racer, or even forget about this year and do it next year.

thanks, both of you, for your feedback and advice!

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http://www.hooslisa.com

You've received pretty solid advice on nutrition, hydration (and mostly importantly) sleeping. But remember, as you naturally lose weight with training - your milk might not be as nutrient/fat enriched.

Also, start thinking about how you are going to be able to feed or pump and than dive right into a workout - in theory, it sounds easy but it is not. And how are you going to manage a long work-out (3+ hours) with boobs getting full of milk.

Sorry, I don't mean to sound so negative, but these points are pretty realistic.

Best of luck to you!

I have breastfed for 13 months, but wasn't racing. Breastfeeding actually consumes more calories than being pregnant, so more fatigue and having to adjust your nutrition is normal.

I did an HIM when my son was 9.5 months. I breastfed throughout the training. I should mention I breastfed on demand. I found I had a hard time managing nutrition. The pregnancy weight melted off, but I also felt exhausted a lot, despite upping my calorie intake and resting.I also had to ensure I kept up on fluids and not get dehydrated. A few people mentioned that I was also likely getting a lot of nutrients stripped out of me between the training and breastfeeding. When race day came, I ended up in the med tent with borderline low sodium. It was a hot day, I was taking salt, but once again despite practicing my nutrition all through training, it never came together.

None of this really got me down. I was happy about my performance because I was doing my best and it was a big challenge. My 6 year old loved it when I trained. she said I smiled a lot and was less mean! Lol! My milk supply never suffered and the little guy never complained, but I noticed my body kept adapting to the training increases and demand to produce milk by keeping my metabolism shooting through the roof. I felt less speedy and not as strong. My guy is two and just weaned finally from night nursing and I already feel like my body kicking into higher gear. Though I no longer have time for the same volume of training as when on my one year mat leave.

Another (downer) voice of experience here.

I nursed my son to 20 months and noticed a huge bump in my energy when he was weaned. Huge! I can't imagine completing a half iron when I was nursing, but more power to you if you're up for it!

I think a lot depends on how baby sleeps (we were co-sleeping and nursing on demand, so I don't think I slept more than 4 hours in a row until we smartened up and got him out of the bed at 18 mo) and how enthusiatically s/he takes to solids (I had imagined that everything would get easier once he could get his calories from another source, but he was barely willing to eat solids before 12 mo. He was a big, big baby (31lbs at 12 mo), so that was a lot of calories leaving my body every day).

So good luck, all the best, but be kind to yourself and be ready to adapt your goals to your new reality.

Congratulations! I was about to ask a similar question so thanks! My daughter will be 6 weeks on Monday. I'm starting to get back into training (swimming and semi-running) and am also breastfeeding. Do you or anyone else have tips for training while breastfeeding? I've just been given clearance to bike, and assume most will be done indoors unless my hubby is home to watch her. I figure races in the first year will by sprint or Oly though if I could manage a half, that'd be awesome. Right now, I feed her and then exercise for 45min or so. That puts me back home and showered before she's ready to eat again.

A couple of things I learned along the way( see my earlier post):

• stay hydrated;
• watch out for the caffeine in gels and sport drinks , my little guy became caffeinated a couple of times and was like the energizer bunny and wouldn't sleep. I ended up making sure my gels and drinks had no caffeine ( I still had the odd cup of tea here and there, but I became used to no caffeine picks up and we all slept better);
• buy some really good support bras. I went to Lady Sport in town and a gal refitted me with a couple of sport bras that gave excellent support and minimized any movement of the girls while running, etc (with out chafing issues too, but still use an antichafe stick). Made a huge difference on my running form and fatigue on longer runs;
• listen to your body carefully while training - I tipped myself into mastitis a couple of times because I was doing too much;
• eat a lot (healthy foods) - I swear I had a hard time keeping up with the babe and training stripping calories out of me all the time;
• Don't always worry about the timing of the nursing. I sometimes ended up nursing as soon as I got home from long rides or runs. Little man would nurse happily despite the state I was in and never seemed to indicate the breastmilk had a problem;
• Training really helped me stay calm in our crazy household and conversely, the family demands would sometimes interfere with training and I learned to deal with it. Really helped on the build up to the race - expect the unexpected!

I am happy to answer any other questions :)

Jen

Thanks. Do you find that as your baby gets older, he/she goes longer in between feedings? Sometimes she'll go for 3 hours before she's hungry and other times (though rare) it'll be 2 hours. I try to train and be back home before she's likely to be hungry, so daddy doesn't have to deal with a fussy baby. As a result I can only go for an hour but in the future would like to go longer. I'm gradually increasing my volume and right now am trying to get my endurance back. Thanks for the tips about dealing with nutrition.


I like the DeSoto sports bras. I got a couple when pregnant and tried them after having the baby. They fit well so I ordered a couple more.


I found a nice side effect from my IM training is that I never really felt sleep deprived from the baby. I was already used to not getting a ton of sleep and being tired :)

Thanks to everyone for posting. I was just logging on for the SAME information. My daughter will be seven weeks on Wednesday. I can handle the wake-up calls - its the drained feeling that is getting me. And I've never consumed this much water before in my life. It seems so easy to get dehydrated.

I was hoping to run a marathon in mid-January. I ran through my pregnancy (last run was about a week before delivery - i was just too tired and felt like crap that last week). My doctor had me on a strict 6-weeks of no exercise. She did allow walking and we did quite a bit of that.

Now, I'm trying to get back. I ran for the first time today. And it was great - about the same pace as my pregnancy runs.

But the only problem I'm having is feeling incredibly weak/not strong. My core seems almost non-existent (felt stronger last week of pregnancy) and i have some muscle imbalance. Anyone have any low back issues? I think it's mainly a muscle imbalance and a pull. I helped our 70 lb dog into the SUV - HUGE mistake. Now, I'm having quite a bit of pain in the right side of my low back. It is fine whenever I'm walking and only bothered me for the first minute or two of the run today. I also noticed the pain lessened after I used the foam roller on that IT band. Thoughts?