body after bump: month 9

Two weeks late is better than not at all, right?!

I had a goal date in mind to reach my pre-pregnancy weight.  July 7 – our 5 year anniversary and right smack dab in the middle of our California trip.  It would be just before 9 months postpartum, so I figured it was plenty of time to reach my pre-pregnancy + goal weight.

And guess what?  It was more than enough time!  I actually reached my goal weight at about 7 months postpartum – 2 months early than my goal!  And I’ve happily been able to stay at my goal weight, even with being on vacation for almost a month straight.  Now, that, my friends, is pretty impressive.

While I did reach my goal weight, there is still some work to do.  Yes, the weight is gone, but I lost a lot of muscle in the process.  My tummy still needs some tightening and the rest of my body just needs to tone up all over.  My new goal is just to get strong.  To get back where I used to be before pregnancy when I could easily outlift people twice my size.  OK, maybe not easily, but pound for pound, I could lift a lot!  I miss those days!

My other goal of course is running related.  I want to run a 5K under 20 minutes again.  I’ve done it once, I know I can do it again.  I’m smarter now and have more life experience behind me.  I know that I can push my body that hard again and I’m determined to do it.  I just don’t know if it’s going to happen right now.  (Anyone else think of HIMYM:  “I don’t want to be with you… right now…)

What’s standing in my way?  Time.  Once I go back to work next week, having time to workout is going to be tough.  My new school is a 30 minute drive.  On top of that, I will be coaching JV volleyball at the high school this fall, which will eat up a bunch of my time with practices, games, and tournaments.  Plus, that little rug rat (army) crawling around at home and my sweet hubby who I would like to spend the rest of my time with are pretty important too.  I have a feeling my only time to workout will be at 4 AM – seriously.  Which means a lot of time on the treadmill during my favorite running season.  Boo.  But, it’s still a priority, so I’m attempting to keep it that way.  Even if that means waking up at 4 AM to spend an hour at the gym.

So, my real goal is just to get a workout in for the next few weeks.  I’m definitely keeping up with bootcamp, but if I can train for a sub-20 minute 5K, then so be it.  I’ll get there again, I promise!

How do you find time to workout?  Are you a morning exerciser or afternoon/evening exerciser?