Rescued again!

14 weeks 6 days pregnant

So, I've got this mysterious green phlegmy illness that only seems to bother me at night and in the morning.  I've been pretty high functioning this week, until it was time to take my son to preschool.  Blah.  That's all I felt.  And once I dropped him off, the numbness morphed into apathy and then self-pity.  That's when I feel paralyzed; unable to accomplish anything...not even unload the dishwasher.  I could only look at the clock and watch the time I had before picking my boy up just vanish.  After 2 1/2 hours of wandering the house and snooping at old friend's holiday pictures on Facebook - and only having 1 hour left - I forced myself to put on my running clothes and shoes.  I didn't quite have motivation or a plan, but at least I was dressed.

I hoped in my car, and decided to find a place to run.  I didn't want any hills, but all the tracks are at schools (thus closed during school hours).  So, I figured I'd head down to the YMCA, where I could fit in 35 minutes of treadmill time.  Blah.

But, I forced myself there, and I forced myself onto the treadmill for just 5 minutes.  When 5 minutes was up, I promised myself just 5 minutes more.  By then, I felt good and was eager to keep going - even disappointed went he time was up.

Running broke me from the self-loathing phase and paralysis it causes.  I'm so glad I forced myself to move.  

14 weeks

14 weeks pregnant


Wahoo! 2nd Trimester! Feeling a bit more secure about the baby's well-being, and my appetite is back!

And I mean BACK.
Breakfast? No problem.
Mid-morning Snack? Sure!
Lunch? Just say when.
Another snack? Why not!
Dinner? Dessert? Count me in.

You know what else is back? My pre-pregnancy weight...plus one or two or three. Not that I don't think weight gain isn't part of the process, but (sick as this may sound) I did enjoy" the "lightness" of food-aversion.

Next topic:

As our kids started to play near each other at a park, a pregnant woman saw me holding my belly and said that we must be around the same week. Ah...I thought - this is going to be embarrassing. I'm 14 weeks, I said, and you? 22, she replied.
Yes, I feel huge.

It's a bummer really. I thought I really worked my abs to get them back to pre-first-born, but apparently, it was all a facade. My stomach said - RELEASE THE TENSION - and every bite of food that goes into my mouth pushes my belly out farther. I guess it's fun, though. Fun to jog around with my gut sticking out of my "Beer Run" dri-fit shirt when I run.

Anyway - this week's workouts so far:

Sunday: short bike ride

Monday: 30 minutes elliptical, 15 min weights/arms, 3 sets of: 20 wall ball, 20lb lift thingy-whose-name-I-have-no-idea.

Tuesday: 3 miles, in a not-very-impressive 12 minute miles.

Soreness: 8 out of 10

By the way....this is what I feel like. (click on image for credit)

13 weeks

13 weeks now and I see the light at the end of this queasy-regurgitating-exhausting first trimester.  I'm down to just dry heaving in the morning but hunger has come back in full force.

I took a class at the Y today - "Pure Strength" - which was more entertaining than I expected.  Out of the hope I'd get cues for modification, I told the instructor that I was pregnant and that I may not be able to do everything.  "Sure you can - we won't be laying on our stomachs."  That made me giggle.  She walked away before I could get out that I'm not supposed to lay flat on my back.  

Anyway - I aerobicized my little heart out for the hour, self-modifying when needed, and came out comfortably sore.

Of course, I tore into lunch like a vulture at a buffet, but that's an entirely different workout story.  

Spontaneous Jog

Got in a brisk walk today on a rolling trail.  I had my running shoes on, but that's the only preparation I had made.  I didn't suspect I'd feel good enough to throw some jogging in there.  

Dear lord, I miss being flat for the sake of spontaneous runs.

Anyhow - 3.5 miles (1.5 walking, 2 miles jogging) = 50 minutes.  Not exactly speedy, but it felt good.

Cravin'!

12 1/2 weeks pregnant

What a morning! Oh, it's certainly the little things.

I woke up...and get this...I didn't dry heave in the sink. Oh, glorious morning! The lack of my routine demoralizing episodes inspired me to hit the gym with a vengeance!

5 minute crossfit warm up
30 minutes on the elliptical machine keeping heart rate around 130-145
30 minutes of weights: leg curls and pull ups and dips and calf raises and more!


Followed by a WEIRD craving of peanut butter on celery (on celery, I tell you, that's not me).

As if I needed more evidence my body is occupied by another: I made chicken noodle soup for family dinner last night.   I guess that's only odd since I've been a vegetarian for, oh, a decade.  

My husband and I eat dessert every night, but since I've been pregnant, I can't really tolerate sweet.  What have I wanted instead? PROTEIN!!!  I've been eating turkey sandwiches and chicken egg rolls like they are going out of style.  Making a meat dish for dinner last night was like code to my husband giving him permission to suggest other meat meals for me.

He went in low & dirty, too.  He suggested we should have the California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken pizza tonight.   He had me at California.

This runner is back!

Whew! I've taken a long "holiday" from running. The first couple months of pregnancy just wiped me out!!! BUT - I'm back. It started last Sunday at the Capital 10K in downtown Austin. It's a HUGE event, so I was certain that I wouldn't be last in...and if I needed to walk, I'd be just fine.
My 4 year old boy and I participated - and he was certainly more excited than I was! I hadn't run 6 miles since the first week of January, so I was certainly nervous.
It was PACKED, so there was lots of walking. No problem! My boy wanted to run, too! And pick flowers. And collect rocks and drink at every water station. 1:29:00 My record for longest 10k. That's okay. We had a blast - and I shouldn't have entered a race that long after not running anyhow!




I've been out running twice since then. My pace is SLOW, but I can't blame it all on the wee weed growing in me. Lack of milage is MY fault. But I felt GREAT! After one day, I didn't even need to nap...and went to bed at 11:30pm!

Oh, Running - I've missed you. Thanks for letting me back into your life.