Saturday, January 26, 2013

27 weeks

I've really been struggling with back, stomach, and tailbone pain lately...yesterday I hurt so much that I couldn't even sit at the dinner table and had to go lie down to eat dinner.  Needless to say, I didn't run yesterday since I pretty much spent every possible moment lying down.  I did run Monday and Wednesday and had pretty normal runs (around 9:40/mile?).

Ran today, but I was still struggling with the cramping, so I had to stop after 3/10 of a mile and walk to finish out the mile--I tried to start running again after I'd been walking for about 2 minutes and I just couldn't because the pain in my stomach was so bad. After the mile mark I started running again very slowly (12/mile) and ran half a mile, then got some water, then ran another 1.7 miles, all the while slowly working my speed up.  Stopped for water again at 3.2 miles and then finished out the 4 miles, still working my speed up until I was running at 9:11/mile to finish.

It's frustrating because this seems like it's becoming a pattern--I start out at about 10/mile and then I have really horrible cramping for about a mile, and then I can work up until I'm finishing around 8:49/mile, but it takes the whole run for my body to adjust again!  And then the pain is so bad a few hours after I run...sigh.  We'll see.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

1/15

Another nice one last night coming in right about 9:32.  Ran the first three miles a little slower and stopped for a drink at the 5K mark, then finished out the last .9 more quickly, working to get back under 9:00/mile!  So nice to know that last week's horrible run did not sound the death knell for my running for the next little bit (this was another evening run after a very looong day).  I think I lost a ton of ground being so sick for 6 weeks, so I'm not going to be setting any speed records, but I'm finally starting to feel stronger again!

4 miles; 9:32/mile

Friday, January 11, 2013

25 weeks

Huge relief that my last run was not replicated today!  Started out at 10/mile and felt a little uncomfortable, so after 3 minutes I took it down to 10:42 for two minutes, and then gradually worked up to 9:31/mile.  Stopped at 1.5 miles to start a batch of bread, then ran a bit more, working up to 9:13/mile, then stopped at 2.8 miles to turn off the mixer and start the bread rising.  Finished out the remaining 1.2 miles (up to 9:05).  Average pace for the entire run, including the slow-down time from stopping was 9:32, which isn't great, but isn't too shabby either.

(And to continue the running-as-mom theme, after my run I went right in and got Luke up from his nap, made everyone a snack of apple slices and raisins, and sat down, all nice and sweaty (with one kid on my lap and the other three smooshed up against me) and read them Greek myths for 20 minutes while they ate snacks.  Not exactly the schedule of an elite racer, but hey...I'm running!)

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

24.5 weeks

Just endured one of the most awful runs ever.  I know I've mentioned this before, but running is SO hard for me this pregnancy--much worse than last time.  I knew it was going to be rough because I wasn't able to run until so late in the evening (very busy day today, plus 3 of the kids are quite ill), and so I planned to take it very very easy, and then slowed down even more once I started and realized that the back pain which was bothering me when I was walking around was agony once I was running.  And then even at a 12-minute mile, I started having sharp cramps in my abdomen.  I stopped and got a drink and then started again--I was able to run less than two minutes before I had to walk for three minutes, then I ran again for about five minutes and then I stopped again to check on crying Luke (I don't think I could have run much further anyway).  Ran another half-mile and then took a longer break to drink more water and answer some emails from students.  Ran another mile, gradually increasing the pace, stopped for more water and another break, then the last mile, still gradually increasing the pace until I finished at 10/mile.  Then I walked another mile because I felt so bad about my crappy run.

Pregnancy is always a hard time for me because I feel awful about my body, but this one is particularly hard. I was struggling with running when I got pregnant (all of that PT) and I wasn't as fast as I felt like I should be.  I had my normal dramatic weight jump in the beginning of the second trimester, but this time it also coincided with the ending of half-marathon training, so instead of my brain agreeing that yes, this ALWAYS happens in every pregnancy (my midwife even pulled out my charts to show me), I just felt like not running = fat and gross.  And I've gotten slower, and slower, and slower, and achier and achier (sometimes so much so that it's difficult to even raise my legs to walk, let alone run).  Whine whine whine, I know, but there it is.

In any case, I did have bronchitis, and I finished out my 23rd week of pregnancy with my standard Friday run, then ran on Monday the next week, took a day off on Wednesday and did a prenatal workout video in the morning because I was desperately hoping that the IT guy would come through and have my website ready so I could  work on it during naptime, and then on Friday I went skiing.  And then I ran again on Monday of this week.