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.

Old habits die hard

Okay, I always said that being registered for a race made me run more consistently (okay, pretty much everyone says that). I have discovered that this pregnancy is as motivating as have a race number assigned. I've been more consistent with the miles in the last few weeks than I have been since this summer when I had a 10K on the calendar. As previously mentioned,my doc recommended keeping up with the fitness, and since I know that running will be not-so-comfortable in a few months, I am getting in what I can now.

The job is wicked busy, so I have discovered the joy of the mid-day workout. It's a good stress reliever, and it is nice to not have to worry about it when I get home at the end of the day. My hair looks like ass for the second half of my work day, but my office-ish space is in an area that doesn't have many visitors or passers by. And the people that do stop in are coaches, athletes, trainers, lost students, or our maintenance crew - none of them seem to notice. Also, a new weight room for student-athletes opened up a few weeks ago across the street (paid for with private donations, before anyone gets upset about all the tons of extra cash that college athletic departments have**). I've made friends with the strenght and conditioning coach and he said I can come hop on a treadmill anytime I want. Today I ran my 3 miles while watching some winter condtioning drills with the football team.

I haven't kept any kind of journal up to this point about my pregnancy. I haven't even bought a "what to expect" type book. For one, it's still pretty early and my body is doing all the work, and secondly, I am still having a hard time believing I am knocked up. I have the bloodwork and have even seen the above-posted ultrasound pic. But I have felt (thankfully) so good up to this point and pretty much exactly the same as I did 12 weeks ago. Last night we did notice what I would guess is the first visibly physical indication of this pregnancy. I have always had a freakishly deep belly button. Seriously, it's like an inch deep. My husband calls it the Abyss and makes sound effects of a tiny person falling to his or her death in the never ending depths. Well, it's more shallow now! It actually looks normal. I am thinking of taking a weekly belly button progression picture instead of the weekly full belly progression picture.

So you might be asking what old habit is dying hard. The habit of a training schedule. I can't help but think of actually having a baby as anything but race day. So the only way I can think of handling the next 29 or so weeks is the same way I thought of the marathon training. Perhaps that is naive, but it's how I feel grounded these days.

**If you believe this, you clearly have no clue what things are really like in athletic departments.

A New Marathon

Well, I am now training for a new marathon: motherhood.

I was going to keep the news under wraps for a while longer, but word got out in my real life, so I figured I would go ahead and reveal here. Hubs and I had hoped to wait until I got all the way through the first trimester to do a big reveal of the news, but some of his swim team kids overheard some loud adults who were in-the-know speaking of it. When keeping a secret, be sure middle school girls don't get wind of it.

I feel really good. A bit too good, I sometimes fear, although many women I know have admitted to me that they felt great for the early parts of their pregnancies as well. No morning sickness, no exhaustion, no aversions or cravings (except maybe a beer now and again). I have been running and working out about four days per week. My doctor is AWESOME and a runner herself. She said all the stuff about keeping your heart rate below 140 was crap - I will know when I need to let up. The other day I was quite steamed at my mother and went out and ran my fastest 5k in at least a year.

I am due in mid-August and I have a feeling I will be making use of all the pools I have at my disposal for the last 3 months of this pregnancy!

I think the past week has caught up with me - I am officially bushed this weekend! Hubs and I cleaned, took the doggie for a long walk, and now it is nap time.

I did get up this morning to track my sis-in-law, who ran the Disney Marathon. Last year when I ran, she declared that she was inspired and would do it this year. I don't know that I have ever inspired anyone, but it was a nice feeling. She finished in 5:17 and was feeling good when we talked a little while ago. It did make me miss the event and all the things involved in the ol' marathon training. I hope I will go for another one again someday.

I'm off to nap, then to the office for a little while, and hopefully to the gym after all of that. Happy Sunday all!