6/15

Afternoon run today, after a nap because I was such a zombie.  The kids went to a friend's house and I went running (Neil was working at home, hence why I got a nap and he stayed with Luke while I ran) to try to make myself into some semblance of humanity by the time the children got home.  please, endorphins, help resurrect the mother they're used to.

Really tired.  I ran at the same pace  & route as Monday but I could tell that I'd had several nights of 3 hours of sleep pulling at me.

STATS:  4 miles; 9:15/mile

best part of the day

enough said with the title, right?  Long long long day, blissful run.  All I could think about the entire time was how peaceful I felt out there pounding the pavement.  I ran a new route with some good uphill and downhill, which was fun, and the weather was perfect--breezy and cool.  It was the kind of run where you feel so invigorated and totally in love with running--where you just want to keep going and never stop because it's so perfect and energizing and you feel like you could run forever. 

4 miles; 9:15/mile


forgot to write about last Thursday's run, which was kind of lame--it looked like it was going to storm, so I just ran 4 miles around our neighborhood (boring boring boring) while it thundered and drizzled.  no Midwest monsoon, so I might as well have run something fun.



***
In other news, I'm going to try for at least 3 runs this week (although my in-laws are coming Thursday so it may be tricky fitting the last run in) because I have GOT to get higher mileage--I'm worried that I'm going to start gaining weight, if I haven't already, because my activity level isn't nearly as high as it was when I was pregnant, and when I'm tired and up too late (baby who likes midnight) I eat too much sugary food.  And I keep baking desserts to try to say "I love you" to my family with food because I feel like I'm cranky and short on quality time with everyone.   

5/23

I'm trying to come up with a plan and I think I'm going to focus on interval training until I get my speed back up.  I'm looking for a 10K to run in the fall (much as I'd love to do a half-marathon I don't think I can swing it with a baby nursing every couple of hours, but we'll see how he does this summer--plus everyone we traded with for long runs is moving in the next couple of months) to motivate myself--and to lose those baby pounds (which means I should find a decent scale somewhere; mine isn't super-accurate but I think I have about eight pounds to lose to get back to my pre-baby weight). 

Intervals today:  3 minutes at 9:31/mile and 2 minutes at 9:49/mile.  Starting off slowly, but I don't want to burn out and I'd like to add in a 4th day of running as well...we'll see how things go.

STATS:  4 miles; overall pace about 9:38/mile (stopped once at 1 mile mark to check on Luke, then ran the remaining 3)

12/2, 12/6

Four miles on Thursday (no run Friday since it was a crazy day and we left for Chicago that afternoon; spent so much time walking around Chicago on Saturday that my knees and ankles were throbbing!!).

Four miles today, at about the same pace (alternating between 6.5 mph and 6.8 mph).

Both runs averaged just under 9 minutes/mile. 

12/1

So I think some of the stomach pain I've been experiencing is just round ligament pain from running (I know, I'm brilliant, it took me forever to realize this).  For the last month or so I've had a terrible stomachache four or five hours after I run, and I think it's just the stretching on the ligaments...I think I'm going to look into support bands, even though it doesn't bother me at all when I run.  The run itself feels awesome, it's just a few hours later where I start to feel this weird pain.  Anybody else experienced that?  Or have any brands of bands they'd recommend?  I'm having trouble finding one specifically designed for running.

STATS:  4 miles, 9:00/mile (6.5 and 6.8 mph repeats, trying to build up on speed again!)

11/29

Back on the treadmill again today...I didn't run Saturday because I spent the day curled in the fetal position wishing to be unconscious.  Moving on.

Four miles today, which brings my grand total for the month of November to a paltry 34.  Impressive, right?  All that bed rest.  I've been doing yoga two or three times a week on the other days.

Pushed myself a little (not much) harder today, now that I know that we are theoretically back in a safe zone.  Started out at 6 mph, gradually moved up to 6.5, and stayed there for the last 21 minutes of the run.  Still slow, slow, slow, but I'm just glad that I'm running.

STATS:  4 miles; 9:22/mile (avg)

11/24

First run in a week, after lots of bleeding, ultrasounds, and hospital visits.  Awesome, right?!  Some of the days I was on bedrest and some I just did yoga (3 times, I think).

Neil and I ran together today for the first time since the half--it was SO nice to run with him again.  Love that man.  We ran a trail that was my favorite all through high school--a couple miles of road, and another couple through a bog and woods.  About four and a half total; beautiful cold November weather and a bit of ice on the trail.  Lovely!!!

11/17

Saw my OB today, who gave me the go-ahead to keep running.  She told me she was impressed by my level of fitness, which made me feel so warm and toasty inside, especially since I haven't been feeling particularly fit lately!  She was so supportive, which was wonderful. 

I ran four miles tonight after the kids were in bed and felt fantastic.  I love running so much; I'm so glad that I can keep going for awhile!  I need to order a support band in the next month or so, I think--from what I've read they help you keep your speed up as the pregnancy progresses. 

Lately I've been reading natural childbirthing stories while I run, in an effort to educate myself more about the positive aspects of labor (as opposed to the horror stories that I have heard countless times).  I think it's a nice idea in the abstract, but the reality is that I keep laughing aloud as I'm running and reading particularly choice sentences to Neil.  Which is probably not going to help in achieving the desired effect of calmness and serenity (but really, when someone is talking about how all the midwives mooed with them and it was the best thing ever--seriously?)

11/12, 11/15

The running still feels good!  Hurray!  Last week I still took it a little easy--I ran 3 on Saturday in addition to the 2 Monday and the 4 on Friday, and then did yoga on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I am in love with yoga again; although I don't feel like it gives me the same kind of workout that running does, the stretching and the connection to my body are so good for me right now.  It's nice to take some time to just feel centered and relaxed and back away from my to-do list, especially since I always have some form of entertainment while running.

Four miles today--felt fantastic.  Still running more slowly than I'd usually like, but as long as I stay under a 10-minute mile I guess I won't worry too much. 

11/8, 11/10

So here's the thing.  I stayed on bedrest through Wednesday of last week, at which point things were improved (i.e. no bleeding).  Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I took it easy, but not bedrest-easy.  Like still doing things around the house but trying to lie down for awhile in the afternoon and going to bed early.  I slept 12 hours both Friday and Saturday nights.

I felt awesome on Monday.  My sore throat was gone and my stuffed-up sinuses felt so much better.  And I thought about how the nurse said I could "gradually" work back up to more activity, including possibly running, at some point.

I know this may seem stupid, but I really feel like the bleeding was connected to the fact that I threw up and was coughing nonstop--which hasn't happened during my entire pregnancy to date--rather than my running.  You'd think that the half-marathon would have caused issues if the running was the problem. 

And then I thought about it some more and prayed about it too (yep!).  And talked to Neil about it and got his approval, and my mom, who is not a fan of running in the first place but agreed with my not running-but-sickness-inducing-bad-things reasoning. 

So...I ran.

Only two miles, and 10-minute miles rather than my normal pace.  Then I walked another 2 miles.  It felt GREAT to run again.  So, so, so great.  I had more energy the rest of the day and I slept much better that night.

So then I kind of waited to see if anything happened--no cramping, no bleeding.

So I did a prenatal yoga DVD yesterday. 

Still fine.

So I ran 4 miles today (the first two were 10-minute miles, but honestly, it was so slow that it was harder to run, so I bumped up the speed a wee bit and my overall average pace was 9:36/mile.  Still felt awesome.

Now we'll see what happens. 

I'm hoping that if I go to my doctor next week and say, look, I've been running--less than usual and slower than usual but still running--that she will okay it officially.  Whereas I think if I stayed on bedrest and THEN asked her if I could run, the answer would probably be no, because she isn't a runner and tends to be pretty conservative.  And then by the time I got cleared to run again (after the 20-week ultrasound would be the earliest date, I'm guessing?) it would be too late to start again.

So, I'm hoping that this works out and that I don't end up regretting running.  I'm not trying to outsmart the doctor, or sneak around my body's and the baby's needs, but I don't want to give up something that is beneficial if it's not causing problems.  It is still kind of nerve-wracking, however...

10/28

Whew!  The running is getting difficult these days--not the run itself, but just finding time.  The children--the blessed, blessed, saintly children--have started sleeping in until 8 am.  Neil leaves at 6 and I go back to sleep until 8, so I think I'm officially saying goodbye to my morning runs.  I loved having the run over and being ready to go early in the day, but the extra two hours of sleep is making all the difference in the world. 

So naptime runs it is, although I worry about running on the treadmill for the baby's sake, since it's so much hotter than running outside.  I run with the window open and the fan on, but I really hope that things are okay for the baby?  Anybody know on this?  I've thought about running in the evenings, but I usually tend to be pretty nauseated at that point, so if I leave the run until the end of the day, it's just about impossible to make myself go (plus I don't want to leave when Neil is finally home!)

I feel like I've said this before, but pregnancy running is challenging for me, what with the exhaustion, the nausea, and the generally lower energy.  Every run is a victory, which sounds a little odd, but it's true.  So even if I don't keep running as long as I'd like, I'm proud of myself for just making it this far.  And hopefully farther. 

STATS:  4 miles; 9:05/mile (slower today because I honestly felt pretty lousy). 

10/26

Bad combination:

1) Running 10 minutes after eating dinner (it was literally the only time all day)
2) Running uphill into...
3)...post-tornado watch winds.

Seriously.  What was I thinking?!  I honestly think I could have gone faster at some points walking than running into the teeth of that wind.  At least the maple woods were breathtakingly beautiful. 

STATS:  4 miles, barely under 10/mile by my kitchen clock when I left/got home

10/25

I've been exhausted lately--I fell asleep last night just after nine and slept until eight this morning and I've still felt groggy and dizzy all day.  Blech.  Running in the morning is so much better for my mood, but I am really struggling to get enough sleep, and I don't know if it would be an improvement to get up at 6 again to run.  So frustrating.

Another treadmill run during naptime.

STATS:  4 miles; 8:41 first 2.6 miles; slowed to 8:49 last 1.4 miles

10/22

Another treadmill run today; I was hoping to run yesterday but the kids were so sick & cranky all day that it never happened between going to the doctor, pharmacy, parent-teacher conference,s and the grocery store.  So I just went to bed early instead, which means I likely won't hit 20 for the week.

My knees were bothering me a fair amount after the race; they started to ache a little today too.  I'm wondering if it's still just post-race stress, or if it's pregnancy affecting my joints.  I guess we'll see.

STATS:  5 miles; 8:41/mile

10/20

Four on the treadmill this morning.  I need to figure out a good way to get my winter runs in; I don't like running in the pitch-black morning and cold that have now taken over my normal 6 am slot; it's not much better at 7.  Plus, let's be honest, I seem to need about 12 hours of sleep right now, so getting up before 6 is awful.  It may end up being the treadmill most of the time.  Which, while not my favorite, is an option I'm grateful to have.

I need something new to train for; I need that drive and motivation.  I want to keep running about 20 miles a week as long as possible through this pregnancy, but it sure helps to have a race I'm working towards.  Of course, all the winter races are in places like Disney World, which isn't really on our calendar at the moment.

STATS:  4 miles; 8:41/mile