Dear Self,

Stop Comparing.  


You are not who you used to be.  
You did just have a baby.

It's ok that most of your pants don't fit.
It's ok that you're tired.
It's ok that  ten minute miles wear you out after 3ish miles.  

It won't always be that way.

So stop comparing yourself to where you were a couple of months ago.  Sure, you may have been very pregnant and still running longer and faster than now, but you weren't recovering from giving birth.  That really does take a lot out of you.  You forget that every time, but it's true.

And by all means stop comparing yourself to where you were a year ago.  Back then your baby was nearly a year old, not nearly a month old.  There had been months and months of work to get to that point, remember that.  Don't think about what the number on the tag on your pants was, or what the number on the scale was.  Don't think about what your pace was, or what the distance on your long runs was.  There is no marathon on the schedule this year.

You'll get back there.  Really.  But remember it's not an overnight thing.  You're doing just fine, just be patient.

Go ahead and consider it a productive day today even if all you do is feed your baby and hang out with your kids.

Now go love on that baby as much as you can.  She didn't get the memo that she wasn't supposed to grow so quickly.