15 Weeks and Cutting Back

I had a really good 20 mile run on Sunday, December 16th. Little did I know it would be my last long run for a while….

We are past 15 weeks and had our next big doctor appointment.

The good news is everything is going well with the baby. We got to hear the heartbeat and we hope to know the gender by the end of January.

At this appointment I brought along my training log to share with the doctor how I have backed off my miles to 40 a week and slowed down my pace. I wanted him to hear about my plans to still run the Goofy Challenge slowly. I wasn’t ever expecting his blessing. I know a doctor would never be in a position to advise something as “safe”, since really anything can happen. I was hoping however that he would review my information and tell me how to be as safe as possible. Things like how much to hydrate, eat, the proper heart rate to maintain, perhaps advise run/walk….things of that nature. Instead of getting advice for being safe in order to complete the races, he instead said I shouldn’t participate at all. It was tough to hear and I did my best to negotiate the situation. I’m running very comfortably now and I would make sure to not run any harder, in fact I would be extremely conservative. He wouldn’t support it. He reminded me that the first trimester the baby is small and still forming. Now that the baby will be growing much larger, he is not comfortable with my version of “moderate” working out going forward. He said that while I’m comfortable running long distances, the baby isn’t. He said that there isn’t a way to know for certain if the oxygen to the baby could be compromised with extended activity.   And he wasn’t supportive of gambling on any sort of risk.

He had advised me that my 2nd trimester I would need to cut back my running volume by 1/3 and then again at the final trimester. I was just hoping it would be after this race. My version of “moderate” would have to change now. No Goofy Challenge, no more long runs, my pace would have to slow down again, and my running volume needs to come down a 1/3.

I never want to put my baby at risk, but this was still hard news to hear since I am feeling so good and I was looking forward to running as long as possible. Now I would be cutting things short while I felt great, it was hard to comprehend.

It took me a while to even write this post because it’s not how I expected the next 5 months to go.

I tried to convince Rob that we could still go and I would watch him race, but he wasn’t into it. He didn’t want me have to watch him doing the race we planned together, plus I can’t ride many rides when we would be there. I was still okay with going, but I understand where he is coming from. So Goofy is off the books for 2013.

So now what in the running department? I have to say after this first week of cutting back, it feels like I’m recovering from an injury without the actual pain. I savor my much smaller and slower runs. I get to do yoga and lift weights. I can mix in swimming and cycling here and there, but I haven’t done that yet.

I am also shopping my fall marathon. I think it will help to get a race on the calendar so I can focus on it post-baby. Also, I will be using the free time to focus on the nursery and other items around the house.

With the lower/slower miles I can’t say this blog will be very interesting. I will still post progress on the baby and some home project stuff. Rob is starting work on our next airplane so I will have info on that to share soon too.

Now off to plan for fall 2013….

14 Weeks

Time for a little 14 week check-in.

Our schedules have been crazy busy between work, other friends baby showers, holiday events and running. Everything has been great, I just feel like I could sleep three days straight from so much going on.

Bump watch continues. I’m still mixing pieces of my wardrobe with maternity wear. This dress from my regular clothes so I probably won’t be wearing it again for a while.

Me and Abby at her Holiday Brunch. She made some amazing food, mostly from Cooking Light and she may be featured in a future issue. 🙂

14 week bump pic. 😀

Week 14 almost done!

Running

I’ve been running slower, but still getting in some mileage. Rob and I got in an 18 mile run and I packed a water belt, which I haven’t done in years. The water fountains on the trail are turned off for winter so I wanted to make sure I had enough fluids on had. I got to refill it mid-way in the uptown Normal station.

18 Slow and steady

Also, Rob and I got our 2012 Rock and Roll series medal in the mail. You get a medal if you run more than one Rock and Roll race in the same year. This one is for New Orleans, Chicago, and St. Louis.

My training since my last post:

Saturday (12/8):

18 Miles Long (Const Trail, 2:48:06, 9:21 Pace)

Sunday (12/9):

8 Miles Easy (Treadmill, .5% Incline, 1:09:56, 8:45 Pace)

Totals:

Run – 40.5 Miles

Bike – 20 Miles

Monday (12/10):

Rest

Tuesday (12/11):

5 Miles Easy (Treadmill, .5% Incline, 44:00, 8:48 Pace)

Wednesday (12/12):

Rest

Thursday (12/13):

7 Miles Easy (Treadmill, .5% Incline, 59:54, 8:34 Pace)

Friday (12/14):

1.5 Miles Walk (Treadmill, 4-5% Incline, 22:29, 15:00 Pace), Upper Body Weights

Saturday (12/15):

10 Miles Easy (Treadmill, .5% Incline, 1:25:50, 8:35 Pace)

Nursery

Our nursery progress is slow right now as we clear out our workout room and move it to the basement. The basement isn’t finished yet, but it won’t bother anything to have the workout room down there early. After we clear everything out, we will start getting into decorating mode once we know the gender.

First it’s time to pack up awards and medals. It was a trip down memory lane looking at awards, first award ever, first overall female, first age group in marathon…..all of them are so special and bring back memories.

Our medals, I even shared one whole hook for Rob’s medals which are on the right. Aren’t I generous? 😉 We will definitely have to get a better display going when our new workout room is finished.

I can’t wait until we have nursery decorating in progress and I can post updates on Pinterest and Instagram.

Well that’s it for now…more to come!

3 Months and Counting

We are past the first trimester!!

Me and baby bump at 3 months.

Since bump changes will probably start being more rapid now, I’m going to try and take pics each week.

Me and baby bump at week 13.

I wasn’t sure how to break down the pregnancy experience into categories, so this may jump around a bit.

Clothing

Within the first 7 weeks my tops weren’t fitting since I’m not used to having much of a chest, my XS shirts weren’t working out. I invested in some medium shirts that will hopefully work for awhile.

Sports bras I had the same issue. I’ve bought a few and my favorite is adidas Techfit Bra. It is super stretchy and soft.

Far as pants I jumped into maternity pants as soon as my regular pants didn’t work. I tried the belly band for a time, but my job is a lot of sitting and I felt like I was constantly checking it to make sure my pants weren’t slipping out, etc. Instead of investing in new pants every few weeks, I just figured I might as well get into maternity pants that will last a while. I was surprised that they even have design jean maternity pants. So far I’ve only invested in one pricey pair from Adriano Goldschmied, but the quality is so noticable that I suspect I’ll be looking for a couple pair along the way.

I’m still wearing heels most days. People have told me that I probably shouldn’t, but I figure I’ll give up the pairs that get uncomfortable as I go along.

Nutrition

My nutrition hasn’t been perfect, but not that I expected it to be with Thanksgiving, our wedding anniversary, Rob’s birthday and other events. However, I have been playing the game of eat as much variety in fruits and vegetables as possible. I’ve stocked up for smoothies, veggies in my egg scrambles, salads, and just to eat straight up.

Running

So far in running I’ve done a marathon, two half marathons, two 10Ks, and two 4 mile races. The first 10 weeks were rough exhaustion-wise. I wasn’t running consistently since I normally on week days I would run after work. During this time I would be so tired after work that I usually was passed out and would miss working out.

Then around week 11 I started waking up at 4am. My eyes would pop open and I would be wide awake. I couldn’t get back to sleep. After this happening for a couple of days I realized maybe this could be my new workout time from 4-ish to 5am. At least then I would know I could get in one workout. Here is the progression of my training since getting used to a new workout schedule.

My long runs are much slower, but at least I’m getting to do them.

Monday (11/19):

5.6 Miles Easy (Treadmill, 46:00, 8:17 Pace)

Tuesday (11/20) – Wednesday (11/21):

Rest

Thursday (11/22):

4 Miles Easy (Treadmill, 34:32, 8:38 Pace)

Friday (11/23):

10 Miles Easy (Treadmill, 1:25:28, 8:33 Pace)

Saturday (11/24):

2.1 Miles Easy (Pre-Race, 18:30, 8:44 Pace)

4 Miles Race (30:16, 7:34 Pace, 3rd Age Group)

Sunday (11/25):

Rest

Total: Run 25.7 Miles

Monday (11/26):

5 Miles Easy (Treadmill, 43:10, 8:38 Pace)

Tuesday (11/27):

Rest

Wednesday (11/28):

5 Miles Easy (Treadmill, 43:06, 8:38 Pace), Upper Body Weights

Thursday (11/29):

5 Miles Easy (Treadmill, 40:26, 8:06 Pace)

Friday (11/30):

Rest

Saturday (12/1):

8 Miles Easy (Treadmill, 1:07:26, 8:26 Pace)

Sunday (12/2):

16 Miles Long (Const Trail, 2:28:01, 9:16 Pace)

Totals: Run 39 Miles, Strenghtening 1 Time

Monday (12/3):

Rest

Tuesday (12/4):

4.5 Miles Easy (Treamill, 1% Incline, 39:39, 8:49 Pace)

Wednesday (12/5):

5 Miles Easy (Treadmill, .5% Incline, 42:30, 8:30 Pace)

Thursday (12/6):

5 Miles Easy (Treadmill, .5% Incline, 42:34, 8:31 Pace)

Friday (12/7):

20 Miles Spin Class (1:02:28, 19.21 mph)