Grounded

So last Monday we took a little trip to Labor and Delivery, for what turned out to (thankfully) be nothing. For a while the possibilities of what ailed me went from appendicitis to kidney stone to "you are contracting every 3-5 minutes to "you are closed up tight as can be - it's just growing pains." The whole thing was never really scary or anything, but the after effect is that I have had to slow down considerably from what I was doing a mere two weeks ago. These "slow down" orders are more from the Hubs than from the doctor, but there might be something to it. I made a somewhat involved dinner last night that required quite a bit of time on my feet in the kitchen, and I was so knocked on my ass when I was done that I almost (only almost) opted out of eating my gourmet creation.

I mean, I am almost 33 weeks pregnant so this is not unexpected. I think the rapid deceleration of my activity level surprised me though. I am missing my workouts. Not so much that I actually miss the workout itself, but I am missing how I feel when I'm done and I think I have some more pronounced mood swings as a result. Le sigh. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow (my first since last week's hospital visit), so she might be able to give me some guidelines to follow. OR she will probably tell me that is just part of the whole show and I'll just have to deal.

Of course that would be the perfect excuse for me to spend lots of time lounging at the pool.

30 weeks today. Most likely anywhere between 8 and 12 weeks (please be 8 weeks, please be 8 weeks) left to go. Still feeling really good. I have discovered that I actually need to get a workout in to keep up this whole feeling good thing. That, or I have to do absolutely nothing all day. If I just have a normal day, sans workout, I feel like ass by bedtime. BUT if I get 30-40 minutes on the elliptical in there somewhere, I feel okay. Also, if I get that workout in, I don't feel guilty when I have my daily milkshake. And I have my daily milkshake no matter what.

I decided to hop on the treadmill today, just for old times' sake today. I really didn't want to run (too much weight up front to jostle around), but I was a bit bored with elliptical. I had seen a "sure to burn away your fat butt" kind of routine in a Prevention Magazine that I picked up at the doctor's office a while back, so I kind of tried that out. Walk slow for a 5 minute warm up (I went at a 3.8 pace), then jack the elevation up to 15% (also called "as high as the machine will go"), take the speed down to 2.0 pace and do lunges for 2 minutes. Then take the elevation back down a bit, speed it back up and walk at a brisk pace for 3 minutes. Lather, rinse, repeat that routine a few more times. I thought it would be a pretty easy workout. Well I had the jelly legs when I got off the treadmill. I looked kind of like Simon Pegg's character from Run Fat Boy, Run after he does the spin class with Hank Azaria. I'm sorry I doubted you, treadmill. I won't make that mistake again.

We go to a childbirth class tomorrow. Some friends of ours went to this same class a few months ago and they assured us that it wasn't too boring, and that there were plenty of snacks and free stuff. We are really just excited that there is a Chick-Fil-A across the street and we will stop there for probably both breakfast and lunch. I may have two milkshakes tomorrow.

The ol' update

Wow, if only I had waited until tomorrow to make this post, I could have gone a whole month with my one follower to only look at that last post about Uggs and Nike Tempo Track shorts.

I still love my workout clothes. And I'm still wearing them for working out purposes! I have finished running for the pregnancy, but I can still break a good sweat on the old elliptical and I hope to start swimming in the next few weeks. I actually could probably still get a run in, but the fact of the matter is that I really don't want to. I ran last weekend on the treadmill and it's just not worth the worry (am I bouncing around too much, is that a contraction, is my balance way off, etc). I did however make it 25 weeks into the pregnancy and I'm really proud of that. At 23 weeks pregnant I ran in a 5k and finished 10th out of 22 in my age group. My time was pretty slow (34:23) but I still loved having done it.

I'll start my third trimester this week (or next week, depending on who you ask) and my body is starting to feel it finally. A little more trouble getting comfortable at night, a little bit of the achy back, feeling overstuffed and full after a normal sized meal. But all in all I have nothing to complain about. I still have about 3 months to go and I know I've had it very easy so far.

Work has tapered off for the most part, so I can hang out at home and do fun things like nest and blog. So maybe there will be another post again before June!

Ahhh, running clothes...

Maybe I'll become a bi-monthly blogger - that is rate I am going at least.

Can I tell you how much I love all of my running clothes these days? Because they all still fit. Lots of elastic makes me a happy woman. Technically the Nike Tempo Track short is probably not appropriate to wear to work, remember that I work on a college campus where the Nike Tempo Track short is like a uniform for all the lip-glossed girls. Of course I do not own a pair of Uggs, so it would be easy to discern myself from the aforementioned lip-glossed girls.

above: not me

And I really can't complain - I'm 23 weeks pregnant (like 5 months?) and I am just now having to get some new clothes. And they are summer clothes at that. Hooray summer. I hit the jackpot on ebay the other night at got a mini wardrobe for less than 200 bucks. I'm hoping that haul, plus my running gear that I can wear because I won't be going into work this summer, will get me through the rest of this pregnancy. I did quite enjoy the rush of winning the ebay auction so there is a good chance I will do a bit more shopping there.

Ran 3.1 on Monday night on the treadmill. It was a bit rough for the first two miles, but the last mile was great. I think my final time was in the 37:00 range (SLOW), but I did walk a good half mile of it, and I am doing that taking it easy thing as well. Kettlebells last night, which was great. I was able to do all of the moves, and I kept my form for all of them. Rest today, run tomorrow, and then the 5K race on Saturday. I am hoping there will be an "expectant ladies" division - maybe I could pick up a 3rd place paper weight or something in that division.

Outside again

There was a brief break in the rain yesterday, so when I was home for lunch, I packed up my running gear and took it back to the office with me. It has been ages since I've run outside (since early December maybe) and luckily my office is one block away from my favorite in-town running route.

I was only planning on running about half an hour, but I was geared like it was a 10 miler. Water bottle, cell phone, Garmin. I hate taking that much stuff, but I figured better to be safe than sorry. I have been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions this week, which is totally normally at this point in pregnancy, but I was still a bit unsettled about the idea of not taking all of that stuff out there with me. Better safe than sorry I guess (is this a sign of me being one of those over-the-top over-protective mothers?).

The run was fine. About 45 seconds into it though I realized that there was a good chance I might pee on myself a little bit. So my quickly my goal for this run went from "just getting out there" to "make it one mile to the bathroom in the pavilion at the park across the river." It took a good 5 minutes for my huffing and puffing to stop and my breathing to get back to normal and conversation pace. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that I maintained a pace somewhere in the 10:20-10:45 range. I did think about really pushing it at the end of the run to get in the last .25 miles, but I decided against it. I think I could have done it, but I am making a conscious effort when working out to say "well, you have done plenty - no need to overdo it."

I did make it across the river to the bathroom and then around my office a bit. I ended up running around 2.75 miles in about 31:00. It's the first time I've worked out in 10 days, first run outside in 5 months, and I am 20 weeks pregnant on top of that. I'm pretty happy with the results. At this point my belly isn't big enough to mess with my center of gravity, but I don't know how doable this will be four weeks from now. I may have to become an elliptical girl.

Oh, and in three weeks I am running a 5k. It's at a battlefield nearby and it is a very neat event. Some gentle hills, lots of monuments, and race day staff decked out in the Blue and the Grey.

Three Guinness and a water

Every time we ordered drinks for our table, we ordered "Three Guinness and a water, please"

And I've discovered that posting and organizing pics on here is a total pain in the ass. So there is absolutely no order to these pics.

A roadside sign point us to some druid-y (druish?) ruins.

From the Cliffs of Moher gift shop. I love this picture


Part of the Cliffs of Moher. Also knows as The Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride.


Lavender in a street market in Galway

From the Galway Cathedral shop. Where the song Ring of Fire was on the radio. Really. (photo credit to Gnumoon)

Galway Bay



The drink of choice



The "backyard" of the Adare Manor. We stayed in the villas, not the fancy Manor house. It was still awesome.


Dublin with some snow

Over the next few days I hope to post some pics with the traveling four actually in them!

Not quite dead yet!

That was a nice 5-week blog sabbatical! Really, I was quite busy and then quite lazy. The quick update is that all is well with both myself and zee bebe. I'm 20-weeks pregnant, so halfway there. I also am posting from my shiny, new MacPro. Oh, it's so pretty. And I should change my blog header to "Before I'm 32," as I had a birthday about 3 weeks ago. Next post - those pictures from that Ireland trip that I took 2 months ago.

Heartrate above 5o for the first time in a while!

So I never did go for that run on Saturday. Or on Sunday. On Sunday my body decided to finally start acting pregnant and I slept. Oh how I slept. But on Monday I went to the cardio room. I was a bit rusty and ended up calling it just after two miles. I wanted to keep going, but I just had the lead legs bad. I finished up my workout with some leg lefts and planks.

Tuesday I made it back to my first kettlebells class in about three weeks. It was a short class but I did tons of swings and squats, and mostly with 35 pound weights. I did however drop down to the 18 pound (and even 12 pound) kettlebell for some of the arm stuff. I am trying very hard to find my "I'm pushing myself" vs. "I'm pushing my pregnant-self too much and need to lay off" place. I think I am figuring out my stopping points though.

I rested on Wednesday and hit the treadmill tonight for three miles. It was a good three miles. It took me 36 minutes and I had to drop it down to a walk for a bit around the 2 mile point, but it was good nonetheless. I really noticed my belly for the first time. I mean, I know it's there and all, I can tell that it has changed a bit, but as I was running I could feel it and tell more easily that there was something there. The rest of the time I can still suck in a bit - and I kind of have to do that, as I am being cheap and wearing any pre-pregancy clothes as long as possible. But while I run, it's out there (just a teeny teeny bit) and I can tell it's there. This may sound like all kinds of rambling, but I guess this might be the case for lots of women who witness thier bodies change like this for the first time.

I swear Ireland pics are coming up!

2nd Trimester

Well, thirteen weeks are done, approximately 27 more to go. I feel good. I never really lost any energy much in the first trimester (maybe I did but was too busy to notice?), so I don't have the 2nd tri energy burst that I keep reading about. I put on 3-4 pounds, which I am pleased with. I have no problems gaining weight, I was just afraid I would go crazy and pack on way too much early on.

I ordered two books tonight from Amazon. The first is the Runner's World Guide to Pregnancy and Running. I love the easy to remember and non-alarmist advice my doctor gave me of "If you feel weird, stop. Otherwise, do what you usually do," but I am thinking this will have some more specific stuff and some good alternatives for when running just isn't a comfortable option any longer. The other book is Maternal Fitness: Preparing for a Healthy Pregnancy, an Easier Labor, and a Quick Recovery. I don't know if the exercises and techniques in it are baloney or not, but the customer reviews were pretty good and I'm sure it will be an interesting read if nothing else.

I have a date with the treadmill scheduled for tomorrow morning. It's been almost a full two weeks since I broke a sweat, so it could be all kinds of suck.

Oh, and I went to Ireland last week. I will post about that on Sunday hopefully. The nutshell version is that it was a freaking awesome trip.

Empire Run Up, here I come

Well, as is want to happen on Thursdays, the first part of the week caught up with me and knocked me into a sleepy haze for the day. In a few days I am leaving (on a jet plane) for a week in Ireland with some girlfriends, so of course I have tons of work to do. My boss however sent me home after lunch. Man, I must have looked rough. I know he was planning on bailing out of work early as well, so maybe part of it was so he wouldn't feel guilty for it. And we are going to be working all weekend long. ANYWAY, I never got my workout in this afternoon. I could have around 5:00, but I chose to go to a swim meet and spend some time with the hubs. The workout can wait.

I had dorm duty tonight. In a building with four floors. So at 11:00, after all the kiddies had turned their lights out (I have to be "on duty" in the lobby until midnight), I ran the stairs a few times. Seven times I think. It was actually pretty hard and I had the jelly legs a bit when I was done. At least I feel a little less guilty now. And the challenge of the Empire Run Up is a bit intriguing now.