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Just wondering how the pain of childbirth compares to the pain you experience over the course of a tri season?? I am just thinking there can be nothing more painful than the physio digging his elbow into my hips and glutes last night!!
Also (and more serious) - Do you think your "racing attitude" helped you during birth ... I had a friend say how she felt she dealt really well with the pain of contractions/crowning as she was used to digging deep and telling herself "just keep running/breathing/pedalling etc... only 4ks to go, half way there etc" and she used the same self talk during birth.
Cheers :)
I didn't get into Triathlon until my kids were older, but I was a runner and in pretty good shape. I know that over the past few years, I've used the breathing techniques I learned in Lamaze classes more in PT sessions than I ever did during childbirth (no drugs either time, #1 was 7lb 12oz, #2 was 10lb 5oz, but my labors were relatively short or I might have gone for the drugs!). Every time my PT digs into my psoas? I expect him to pull out some internal organ - ouch! Just focusing on my breathing has gotten me through a LOT of pain from a major crash/shoulder injury/surgery/PT and some chronic overuse injuries.
I think having an athletic background was helpful for most of the L&D experience, but I remember right before my kids were delivered that the nurses wanted me to relax my muscles - it was counterintuitive to me, I thought I needed to work harder. It was a really strange feeling when I finally was able to do it and it felt as if the baby just slipped out.
Totally different kind of pain in my experience. The pain of childbirth overwhelms you to the point that you can lose control - and in a way you have to lose control in order to relax and let the body do what it needs to do. Your race experience will help you focus, but in terms of pain, it is not the same.
For me it's an apples vs oranges kind of comparison. I actually did my first marathon in the year before I got pregnant and had my first child. I truly thought that would be good mental training.... which is wasn't, but it was great to have the marathon ticked off my bucket list before I got busy with kids in my life!
The difference for me is that in a race situation, if you are truly overwhelmed with the pain, you just ease off the effort. Once you're full into the pain of childbirth, there is nothing you can do, you have got to deliver that baby. You are in control in a race situation but you are NOT in control in childbirth.
I remember the comparing my contractions to intervals at the track. Super painful, but relatively short... got a minute or so of recovery, then go again! Use the recovery time between contractions well and it's not that bad. :)