The effect of pregnancy and breastfeeding

MsE

I have been a lifelong runner spending the last ten years in Asics Gel Kayanos. During this time, I have had 4 pregnancies and I have breastfed each baby, which I calculate to mean I have been pregnant for 3 of those years and breastfeeding 3.5 (and counting).  Unfortunately, during this time I have also suffered from chronic running related injuries including ITBFS (ie runners' knee) and ankle tendonitis.

My assumption has always been that a weakened core has been largely to blame (as well as too much too soon on occasion), in addition to the extra post-pregnancy weight my body is carrying when I start running again after each baby arrives exacerbating the weakness and any biomechanical inefficiencies.  The reason I have assumed this is because I over-pronate quite severely which is clear from video analysis and, in fact, just by watching me run.  More recently, I have come to realise that the pregnancies and breastfeeding have probably contributed to problems in that my body is probably depleted by the baby as I have always continued to run while pregnant and shortly after birth.

So I have conscientiously been doing physio exercises and holding off on training in the hope these injuries will disappear.   I am keeping distances short at the moment until I have resolved the problem and running a max of 6-7 miles at a time no more than 2-3 times a week.  My post-pregnancy weight is still there but at 5'3" and around 8.5 stone I am, apparently, not overweight (although my usual weight is around 8 stone). 

I am also toying with the idea of changing my shoes as I have religiously run in Asics Gel Kayanos for the past ten years but rejected orthotics on the basis I want my body to learn to compensate for its inadequacies.  It suddenly occurred to me that the Kayanos are pretty clunky and I may benefit from a more neutral stability shoe.

If anybody has had any similar experiences or thoughts or tips I would be grateful to hear from you so I can focus more proactively on how to banish these niggles and up my running! Thank you for taking the time to read this.

[Deleted User]

Due to the Vitamins D, breast feeding is very important feed to your baby health.