3 weeks.

for the record

Pre-pregnancy weight: 134 lbs

41 weeks preggo weight: 176 lbs

9 days post-partum weight: 157lbs

Goal weight: 130 lbs

Gotta Walk Before I Run.

Gotta Walk Before I Run.

Turns out, this isn't just a metaphor. Nine days post-partum: My birth went well, no damage to my plumbing, I've been up and moving, well...since giving birth. I delivered at a free standing birth center and was sent home just 6 hours after my boy's arrival - and I was happy to be back in my own bed.

My mother came into town 2 days later. Now, my mother means well, but at 69 years old, her body isn't what it used to be. In fact, she's a wreck. Plagued by manic-depression, she gave up living years ago. Long story short, she can't stand for more 10 minutes, she shakes to much to write, and gets lost going to her mailbox. Frankly, she needs to live in an assisted-living facility, but refuses. What makes it tragic is that she'd rather have a hundred ailments listed on her gravestone than try to take care of herself. This week, I took care of two "infants."

I made her dinner while trying to teach my 2 day old to breastfeed. I helped her buckle her seatbelt after I hooked in my 3 day old into his carseat in order to pick up my 4 1/2 year old from preschool. I unsuccessfully tried to get her to shower while re-diapering my 5 day old.

I'm thankful my birth went well enough that I could keep my family going AND care for my mother. But I'm exhausted. I'm tired and sore and angry that I couldn't take it easy during my son's first week of life. I'm upset that she invited herself into my home for 8 days knowing full well that she couldn't help walk our dog, drive my son to school, help with meals or even clear her own dishes. I'm furious that she came with a runny nose and loud cough - and now my 4 1/2 year old and I have it.

I want to run. I want to strap on my running shoes and refuel with each step. I want to erase my bitterness by sweating it out but I can't. I should have been healing, but I've been up and moving non-stop. After driving my mom to the airport, I'm just now realizing how sore I am. I know I have to walk before I run, but I didn't think walking would be such a challenge. I know it's only been 9 days since a major event - giving birth - but a 20 minute walk shouldn't have been so hard. Maybe I'm just aching because I've lost my mother.

My birth story

I wrote this down the day after giving birth in order to remember it - and I can't bring myself to re-write it more poetically. My apologies for the blandness.

Baby's Name: Graham
Date of Birth: 10-18-09
Original Due Date: 10-10-09
Weeks Pregnant: 41w1d
Baby’s Weight: 6lbs 12oz (guess he needed that extra time)
Baby’s Height: 21"

Contractions began Saturday at 5pm, were 10 minutes apart. By 4am, they were 6 minutes apart. I wasn't supposed to go to the Birthing Center until 5 minutes apart, so I thought I'd wait it out in my tub. The tub slowed the contractions back down to 10 minutes. Bummer. I waited till my husband and 4 year old woke up at 8am and had them take me in. Contractions were back to 5 minutes apart and I was dilated 5cm. After laboring through stronger and stronger contractions for 4 more hours, I was devastated to learn I hadn't progressed at all.

I was pretty tired by now - I'd been walking around for nearly 15 hours straight (at least a half marathon, right?) and had so much farther to go.

My midwife said, you can take the hard, faster route or the slow, easier route: let me break your water and bounce you on the birthing ball for some intense contractions or wait it out. I broke down crying at the thought of choosing for it to get harder or been seemingly never-ending.

Before labor, I told my husband that there is going to come a time when I'm going to say that I quit and that I can't go on. I asked him to remind me that I'm strong enough and to help me through it. He totally came through.

She broke my water, manually stretched me from 5cm to 7cm. I bounced on the ball for 20 minutes or so through the intense sensations. "Contractions are only 1 minute - I can survive one minute of this" became my mantra. One step at a time. Even with only a 1 minute "break" in between.

I got into the warm tub, labored for 20 more minutes and felt the urge to push. I was only dilated to 8 or so. Again, my midwife helped manually stretch me and move the rest of my cervix. I pushed for about 20 minutes and out he came! What's remarkable is that from the time I had to chose my path until he was born was only 1 hour, and despite the assisted stretching, I didn't tear at all.

I'm very thankful for a knowledgeable midwife and my supportive husband. It was hard, but we did it and I'm so very happy with my decision to go natural.

thoughts at 39 Weeks and 6 Days Pregnant

These last 9 months or so have developed a new pattern in our household: I'm usually awoken in the morning by my 4 1/2 year old climbing into bed with me at 7:15, when he rearranges my pillows and blankets so he can lay down and pretend to sleep for 10 minutes; then he gets really close to my face and whispers "I'm ready for my breakfast now."

He's a natural snooze button: the initial wake up, then 10 minutes until his announcement, then he gets up to get his bowl and fill it with cereal giving me about 10 more minutes before I waddle over to pour the milk. The other morning, I woke up long before anyone else and enjoyed the stillness and solitude of dawn, like I used to on my early morning runs...only minus the run. My boy kept up his ritual, but whispering to his dad instead when he realized I was missing. Soon enough, he stumbled upon me in the living room, saying sweetly "When I saw you weren't in bed, I thought you were out running." It was such a lovely reminder that my old routine wouldn't be traumatic to reinstate once the baby is born. I'll adapt to our changing family yet be able to keep the frame of who I am. And it gave me hope that, no, the strains of pregnancy aren't forever - I will become strong and invigorated soon enough. And my family will help me.

flow of thought, in the short time before I meet my new baby

It's October 9th, one day before (in theory) I'm due to have my 2nd little boy.

• I'm trying to enjoy this pregnancy, each movement, and stretch and punch because I don't suspect I'll ever be pregnant again. I really miss the freedom of my own body (and all the vices I have to cover up its faults), but I appreciate the strange sensations and the relative safety/ease of growing someone inside me.

• I won't crave pregnancy again once it's done. Last night, I tried to roll over and sit up at the same time and feel like I pulled a muscle in my stomach. My poor husband - the look of terror when I yelped out in pain and couldn't vocalize that I was going to be okay in just a few moments.

• I've never been a 'damsel-in-distress' kind of girl, nor have I ever demanded ridiculous things of my husband just because of the baby, so it's nice to lay on the couch this rainy Friday morning, sipping coffee....and take advantage of the fact that it's too dangerous for me to drive my son to school during this monsoon.

Keepin' Austin Weird (5K)

Oh Blog - What a relationship we have! I think of you often, but never write.

Well, a quick update. I'm 36 weeks pregnant with my 2nd boy and once considered myself a runner - enough so to put a sticker on my car that says "Runner Girl." I love me a good long run. Only, I now define "run" as waddle-waddle-pee break-waddle-waddle-stop. I've gone from 25 miles a week to...uh...well, 2.5 on a good week.

Today, however, my 4 1/2 year old and I trekked out into the pouring rain to get WEIRD! The Keep Austin Weird 5k promised to be "the slowest 5k you'll ever run" and it delivered! I'm a month from giving birth...I felt that qualified as "weird" to see out on the trail.

We started in the back - my boy wanting to run rather than sit in the jogger - and we pretty much stayed there. He splashed through the puddles and I walked slow enough to make sure he didn't follow the rushing water down the street drains. After a mile, he was done and I could start to run. He crawled back into the jogger and we set off of doing 2:1s. While I was far from hitting a PR, we covered the last 2 miles in 27 minutes - nothing fancy, but hey, I'm HUGE and pushing a 48 lb boy in the rain.

Since this was Keep Austin Weird, after all, we switched places the last .1 mile: I sat in the jogging stroller and HE pushed me! I should have thought of that 3 miles ago!!! Overall, it took the two of us (well, 3 of us, technically) 50 minutes to do the 5k and we enjoyed every minute of it!

Now off to take a long, long nap!

24 weeks

Ah! I need to go for a run!!! It's been 5 long days since I've hit the pavement and I'm going stir-crazy!
BUT my husband is still out of town and I don't have a stroller to take the boy with me.

Might have to convince him to take his bike out with me again...see if he can make it farther than 2.5 miles this time.

This Evening's Spectacle

This evening's spectacle, down a quiet little neighborhood street:

My 4-year-old boy riding a WAY-TOO-BIG bike recovered from a dumpster whose training wheels screeched like fingernails down a chalkboard; all the while he was growling screaming out car engine sounds and pretending to get blown-out tires.

Next to him: me and my 23 week pregnant belly slogging* along soaked in sweat, chanting "Go Lightning McQueen Go!" or "Peet Stop"** in a really bad Italian accent or "Bring on the confetti!"***

Talk about a circus!

*runningfor3's fabulous term for slow jogging

** Guido anyone?

***Chick...and yes, thanks for asking: We HAVE seen the movie Cars 1084 times.

That song again?

This morning's run was foiled by the 4am wake-up song:

"Mommy, My Stomach Feels Funn-----[bbllleeeeeuuucchhhhh]."

"Race" Update

Hello All!

Crumbs here - Back from The Land of Fatigue and Heaving (a.k.a First Trimester) and happily gliding along through Celebration and Energy (well, relatively speaking!). I'm 22 weeks along in my 2nd pregnancy and have a renewed love of running quickly-paced waddling.

I've never been fast, but My Oh My, just 2 months ago it took me 45 minutes to force myself to go 2.5 miles. The agony! All because of this weird addiction that seemed like it was going to promise me relief in my rough months of sickness. Really - food was intolerable. Advil unadvised. And a Mojito with a floater? Highly frowned upon by the masses. I knew I was allowed to run, though. And when I run, I get a Runner's High! Sweet - Hook Me Up. Only, I couldn't really make it through the first mile so easily without getting dizzy and feeling like a 7 year old was taking drum lessons in my head. I guess only being able to force down 500 calories a day meant there wasn't much in the bank for added exercise. This, it seemed, was going to be a very, very long 40 weeks. Weekly milage went from 25 to...well, 3 (or 10, if you count running to the toilet).

Fast forward to this week.

I had slowly reintroduced myself to running over the last 8 weeks - first with the treadmill and then out on the street - week by week adding a little more. I even completed a 5 miler in just 1 minute/per mile slower than pre-pregnancy. HOPE! HOPE, I tell you!

So I signed up for a 5k in my old stomping grounds of South Miami. (I'm back in town for a little while and what better to meet up with old friends than at a race?! It's a fun way to let folks know about the little one, too!) Anyway - I knew I wasn't going to set any records but I couldn't believe that I finished a cool 2 minutes slower than I did last year - right around old running buddies. Just 2 months ago I had lost hope of ever having my runner's high again. But there it was: Baby and Me waddling through at a relaxed pace, waving to familiar faces, enjoying the course, passing the finish line with a smile and energy to spare!

Each day I get bigger.

I know every run won't be that smooth.

BUT it's so comforting to know that, even when I hit rough patches (be it morning sickness or injury or burnout), I'll eventually get my groove back.

Happy Running All!

18 weeks

18 weeks 4 days

I had my monthly visit with the midwife this morning and was a little bummed to find out I've gained 6 pounds in the last 4 weeks.  I thought I was being so good - really aiming for 1lb per week as directed.  Apparently, my home scale is a little more lenient than that of the midwife.

However, considering I was so sick the first 3 months and gained next to nothing, 6 lbs total isn't so bad.  My midwife put it into perspective, too.  She measured me at 2 weeks larger than I should be, which means the baby has grown a lot this month.  

Looking down at her chart, she said, "Ooh, your first was 8lbs 3oz!  Oh you'll have no trouble with a 9 pounder!"  Yikes!  Not really what I want to hear! :)

Today's Run

Another cool late-morning meant another great run.  I didn't have much time, so I was only out for 30 minutes or so and a quarter mile less than 3 miles.  I started really slow, taking walk breaks every 4 minutes, but 15 minutes into it, I didn't want to stop.  My pace picked up to a steady 9:50 minute mile (2 minutes faster than my "normal pregnancy" pace) and I'm sure I could have done a couple more if I had time.  

18 week run

18 weeks pregnant

It was 66 degrees this morning and I decided: screw the gym, I'm running outside!  It's been a little while since I've actually run off the treadmill, so I was a little worried how my body would handle it.  I wrapped a belly belt around my hips (more details later) and hit the trail.  I took it easy, running 4:1's, finishing 4 miles in 48 minutes.  Looks like that's my pace now, which is fine. 

Delicious.  Now if I can just do something about the non-stop armpit sweating, I'd really enjoy this trimester. :)

Kids these days

So, my belly is getting bigger and I realized it's time to get something to wear other than my 3 elastic band skirts that I wear everyday.  I headed on over to Old Navy to get me some cheap fashion and what do I see?  A whole wall selection of maternity shorts and pants!  Sweet - they had the look of style, BUT a big 2 inch elastic-looking band around the top.  No problem, a long T-shirt could hide that.  

But wait....they weren't stretchy.   As my hands pulled at the top, they did not give.  THEY WEREN'T maternity!  What? What? What?  Ugly maternity pants are now in fashion?!?!? 

Does that mean my ever expanding waist and thighs are cool, too? 

Sweet?

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.

Today's workout - 10 weeks pregnant

10 weeks (nearly 11)

Today's little workout at the Y was nice.  Slow, at my pace with lots of recovery time.  Ahh.  

Lap Swim

5 x 200, 1 minute rests in between

5 x 5 dead lifts 70lb

14lb faux kettle ball swings 40

supported squats 20 - 50lbs

20 pushups on knees

I had enough energy to figure out how to change my tail light on my car, too.  God bless the internet - saved me $40 and time.

What a relief!

Despite throwing up twice a day, farting like Hot-Dog Eating Contest Winner, and sleeping more than my dog, I've been nervous about this pregnancy. Mostly, I have feared that the baby stopped growing but my body didn't realize it. 

My fears were calmed this morning.  I had my first full exam with my midwife and she brought out the Fetal Doppler.  I heard the baby's heartbeat today.  Ahhh.  I know I'm not out of the danger zone, but I feel like I can tell folks now.

Synchronized Swimming

So I'm back to swimming.  Done with weights (for now) and back to my second favorite pastime: swimming.  For a while there, I was in the pool 3 times a week swimming strong for an hour.  But that was pre-pregnancy.  Actually, that was pre-Austin.  Not since last August have I jumped into a pool strictly for laps.  And although my endurance has slipped, I'm comfortable going back and forth and back and forth and back and forth for a little while.  Today, I swam 25 minutes, 5 x 200 meters with 1 minute breaks and treaded water for 5 minutes.

I suspect, I'll be in there a bunch as my baby grows.  

We'll be a team.  Our own little synchronized swimming team.  



*Awesome photo from John Carleton's Flickr account, from random google image search - sadly, it's not me.

Break up

I've broken up with my trainer.  

It's not you, it's me. 

It's the fact that, after a one hour CrossFit session, I must take a 2 hour nap;

that I have nightmares about being so exhausted that I can't even wake up to go;

that I fear throwing up in the parking lot again;

that I have to force myself to eat at least 1000 calories...I can't afford to burn many of them;

that I feel horrific that I can only down my prenatal vitamin 3 times a week at most.

This first trimester either much more difficult than my first, or it was so long ago, I simply forgot.

I told him I'd come back in a month, when this phase has passed.  Until then, I'll keep walking, and I'll take advantage of the pool at the Y.  But no more weight lifting for now.  

today's "Workout"

Today's CrossFit workout

6:30am

warmup

4 rounds of:

Kettle ball Cleans 22lbs - 20 alternating each arm

20 Jump lunges

20 Pushups -start on toes, go to knees when have to

Row for 20 calories (approx 1:41 seconds)

Walk 400 meters

Started very strong, just resting 30 seconds in between each set; 3rd round had to take longer breaks in between.  Thankfully, the walk was outside and mostly in the dark because I had to throw up for about 4 minutes.  Embarrassingly enough, someone in the group saw me and later sent out a search party when I was gone for 5 minutes. :)

This is a growing list I like to call...

Public Places I have Thrown Up In Since Becoming Pregnant:

• Mexican Restaurant bathroom
• Thai Restaurant bathroom
• Japanese Restaurant bathroom
• My son's school...in a church...just barely made it to the bathroom.
• My front yard
• Neighborhood park, by the treeline.

Weight, that's not right!

9 weeks:

I'm officially 5 pounds lighter than before I got pregnant.

This same time last pregnancy, I was 10 pounds heavier.

Not a diet I recommend, though.

This morning's workout

CrossFit workout - 8 1/2 weeks pregnant

Warmup

5 rounds:
5 Push Press with 55lb bar
3 full hang pull ups (purple band)

4 rounds:

150 single jump rope

5 burpee

15 kettle ball swings (12)

2 1-minute plank

Summery: Felt good, despite being late to the gym.  The Push press uses more abs then I remember and felt a little weird.  Pull ups, no problem - especially with the purple band.

Took 1 minute in between rounds just after doing the kettle ball.

Plank wasn't a problem.

Feel good, but I know I'll be tired very soon.  Kind of queasy, should eat.

On the bright side, more time to nap!

Sweet.  I'm finally a part of this hot group all the newscasters are calling "The Unemployed."

Only, I wasn't downsized.  I was fired for being really bad at my job.  

I've never been fired before.  It was a long time coming though- totally deserved it.  

Alas, my dream to be a baker has ended.  Oh well.  Can't say morning sickness induced vomiting between making batters was enjoyable.  Uh...and cleaning the sink after all the buttercreams - makes me queasy thinking of it.

Oh, well.  Off to stand in line for bread.

Today's "Workout"

This morning, I dragged my butt out of bed at 6:15 to get to the gym.  I might add, that it is literally a 2 minute walk from my house....and I've paid for this month already, so I have to go. Because I'm cheap like that.

After the warm up, here was my CrossFit workout:

5 sets

3 Dead Lifts at 95lbs

O-ring lifted knee hangs for 15 seconds

3 sets 90 seconds on/30 seconds off:

Boxing

Burpees with medicine ball

Seated sideways wall ball 

The first round was easy, off course, I didn't really push my weight at all.  But I was surprised at how easy the hangs were.  The second round?  Totally different story.  Where as 3 months ago, I could have easily done 80 wall ball throws in 90 seconds, this morning I eked out 30-40.  

Part caution, part exhaustion, part "i-don't-wan't-to-puke-here-on-the-gym-floor",  this workout was pretty half-assed.

All Day Sickness strikes again!

Wednesday morning is usually my CrossFit morning, but starting Tuesday night at dinnertime, my body revolted to any idea other than laying down.  I had to skip dinner and go straight to bed at 7pm.  Not only did I sleep through my workout, I dropped my son off at preschool at 8:30am, then came back to sleep until pickup at 12:15.  I forced down some food then came back and napped 3 hours with him.  Back in bed by 9pm.

Today is better...so far.  I can stomach a little black tea.  And might get out for a little jog/walk.

I'll probably nap though.  I have to take advantage of these days off from work. :)

another dream

I was on some sort of a military base in the desert, running though these open airplane hangers with two other people.  We were being chased and shot at by our own people.  We made it out of a hanger and were running through the hot sand, and we all dove into a small sandy ditch to escape fire.  Our only hope was to bury ourselves in the sand to hide from the gunmen.  

I laid on my back, desperately covering myself with sand - trying to remain still and not let my breathing show. 

I woke up and took a huge gasping breath, still feeling the weight of the sand on my chest.

Evening Jog

(7 weeks)

Took an easy jog through my hilly neighborhood today.  First time in a two weeks.  

Man, I needed that.  I need to keep running.  Getting out there seems impossible, but once my feet start getting the rhythm, I'm happy.

I took it super easy, doing 3:1 intervals for just 26 minutes and 2.2 miles - just to make sure I could get out there again.  I could have gone longer, possibly quicker, but I didn't want to take a chance since it's been so long.

CrossFit on Wednesday.

Pregnancy Dreams

I had kind of forgotten how crisp, crazy and memorable my dreams are when pregnant.  Though I haven't really been dreaming about running or exercise, they are certainly bizarre!

Here is a sample:

• I was in a theater performing improve/prop comedy while in the audience.  Then for Act II, I was in an ensemble of actors who were all tiny and I was supposed to wear a Tinkerbell costume, but I couldn't find it anywhere backstage.  I went through box after box searching, but never found it.
  

• I was in my street, in my car, and the wind began to blow - harder and harder and harder - until it was visible and it suddenly iced over the entire street and neighborhood.  I was stuck in my car on a small raised patch of pavement that was untouched by the weather.
  

I have a feeling this will become a regular posting topic.

The Truth About Exercising While Pregnant

Honestly, it isn't the workout that is tough.  I become invigorated once I've begun....but I'm going to have to take a 2 hour nap later in the day - even if it means putting on Noggin for the boy so I can drool on the rug- or face down on the kitchen table.

Today's CrossFit:

Warmup & 300 meter row

4 Rounds of:

:30 on/:30 off Row for 3 minutes at fastest pace (me: 1:55 minutes/500 meter) =410-450 meters

15/12/9/6 Low Ring Pushups

15/12/9/6 Sit ups on crazy hanging contraption.  (sure - it probably has another name).

Overview: Holy crap, I'm winded quickly!  Took up to 2 minute breaks in between stations.

Then again, I think puking up my entire dinner last night and doing a 6:30 am workout on an empty tank probably wasn't the best way to reach my full potential. :)

Today's workout

CrossFit Workout - 45 minutes

warmups & 300 row

5 rounds of:

4/4 Mixed hand position pull ups using purple band 

8/8 20lb dip-press single arm

12/12  lunge with back leg on bench

4 rounds Tabata (20 seconds on:10 seconds off):

opposite crunches

plank crunches

3 isolation rounds:

8  (30lb) bar bicep curl

8  rubber band press- triceps

stretching

Summery:

Week six in pregnancy: Tough on the muscles, but heart rate stayed in a reasonable range.  Had to force a banana and peanut butter down before hand because I was feeling so nauseated.  Felt perfectly normal throughout workout, but feel a little queasy again now afterward.  Maybe a smoothie will stay down?   It's amazing that I feel so good while working out, but so terrible all other times!

I'm Back!

I have the advanced sense of smell of a wolf.

The thought of coffee makes me gag.

I'm peeing every 15 minutes.

I can't stomach more than a couple bites at a time.

My "slow run" pace can be considered a sprint.

I nap every day at 2:30 whether I should or not.

EVERY commercial makes me cry.

Yep - I'm pregnant (almost 7 weeks).

Very excited, very sick.

But - I'm still doing a CrossFit workout 2x a week and trying to get a run in at least once a week.  I'm here to document my experience.