Underestimating CS as major surgery.
My wife has been a passionate runner for most of her life. She really misses exercise. However, she is not only recovering from a CS but also from a DRAM- which means her stomach muscles have separated.
I remember that after 2 weeks we took a walk down to our local shops and back (about 800m round trip). We had to make several stops and she was really tired at the end of it. She felt deflated after having been reduced from such a high level of fitness to this. But I think we had no idea of what a major operation a CS really was until that day. Perhaps people underestimate this in general and have unrealistic expectations of themselves in terms of their recovery.
After three months she can now walk much further and drive. But she's seeing a physio now and I think that helps her to feel more positive about moving in a direction back to being able to exercise more rigorously.
It takes a lot of patience and also encouragement from us blokes when our women feel "flabby".
Good luck. You'll get there.:)