12 Ways a Marathon is Like Natural Childbirth

I might be kind of freaking out over my marathon that's coming up so soon, now.   The trepidation I have going on reminds me so much of preparing for labor.  When I was pregnant, planning a natural childbirth, the midwives always told me "labor is like a marathon, you gotta be in it for the long haul and you've got to prepare."  Coming up on my first marathon (omg, in just a couple weeks!!) has me thinking of all the ways that a marathon compares to childbirth.

1. You're preparing for months.  Both for labor and marathon training, you've got to start getting yourself prepared (mentally and physically!) starting months ahead of time.

2. The time leading up to the event is not necessarily comfortable.  There will be aches, there will be pains. You'll grin and bear it.

3.  You can use it as an excuse to eat like a horse!  Come on... we all do it.

4. You know it's going to hurt, but the a big question on how long it's going to hurt for and exactly how much.

5. Along the same lines, there's a big question as to how sore you'll be after.  Could be only a little, could require a wheel chair.

6. You oscillate between being excited and being terrified.  This is a huge life event and a huge accomplishment!  It's going to be so amazing and awesome when it's over... but it's no small feat to get there!

7.  Slight risk of death.  Let's face it:  People die, occasionally, while running marathons or giving birth.  It happens... the chances aren't huge, but it happens.

8. You worry about needing to poop during it.  Yep... during labor or during a marathon.  Mostly you hope to not poop your pants.

9. You need to try to figure out what you can eat and drink to keep your energy up without making you nauseous.  This is probably not something that people delivering at a hospital deal with, but I had two babies at home and we definitely needed to think about this.

10. You know you'll look awful in the pictures, but you still want to see them in all their sweat-soaked glory.

11. You hope you make it through without needing surgery.  Injuries happen.  C-sections happen.  Neither are ideal (for those planning a natural childbirth, at least).

12.  The only way out is through... just keep going.

Obviously having a baby is a bit bigger life event than running a marathon, and not everybody goes through childbirth the way I have, but I've been so amused at the parallels I've been drawing.  Hope you enjoyed them.  Please comment if you can think of more!