4/3

Yipes!  I don't know if I should keep running or not.  I'm back at the stage where I feel great while I'm running and the energy boost is lovely afterwards, but then I have a good 8 hours of hard, regular contractions afterwards.  I never ran faster than 11:31/mile today because that was about as fast as I could run through the contractions themselves (about every 6 minutes or so?).  Stopped at 1.5 to check on Luke (his monitor was shorting out and I thought he was crying), then at 2 for water before finishing out the 4.

So yeah...we'll see what happens with running.  I feel like I'm walking the fence between running keeping my endorphins high and my mood good so I'm pleasant to be around, but on the other hand, on nights like tonight where I have to go take a bath right after dinner to get the achiness soaked out and slow the contractions down, it seems kind of counterproductive.  Ho hum.

The other super awesome thing I'm dealing with right now that's making running a little more exciting is that my super-powered heartburn has progressed to random and spontaneous vomiting.  Nothing like running merrily along and all of a sudden your mouth is full of stomach acid and you're gagging...

36ish weeks

So Monday & Wednesday's runs went well, although I didn't run on Friday--my family was in town visiting and we took the children to Indianapolis to go to the Children's Museum.  It was a full day and totally wiped me out!  We hiked for a couple of hours on Saturday so I did get a bit of cardio (not very intense, but it was something).

Ran 4 miles today and it felt really good--I started out slow to warm up, gradually increased, and then spent the last couple of miles hovering around a 10:50 mile.  Slow, but hey, I'm going!

My mom commented several times over the weekend that I am the most agile and energetic 8-months-pregnant woman she's ever seen.  It's good to realize that even though I'm not very fast right now, there are lots of other benefits that I'm seeing from running--I didn't really think about that before, but while I'm slower, my range of motion is just about what it is when I'm not pregnant.  So if all these miles are doing nothing other than making it easy for me to pick up toys, swing my kids around, and get up off the floor easily...hey, it's worth it!

back again

After walking 3 miles on Wednesday and Friday, I'm back where the doctor said I could try running again.  Nothing fancy today--started out at 12:00/mile and worked my way up to 10:00 at the very end of the run.  I didn't have a lengthy continuous stretch (the longest was 1.5 miles at the beginning) just because the kids needed things and I had to start some stuff for dinner (the last mile I had to stop every 4 minutes to do things to the bread I was starting), but hey, I got in 4 miles of running!

35ish weeks--last run? Hopefully not!

So on Monday after I'd run half a mile, I felt a weird pop in my calf and then a lot of pain.  I stopped running and stretched and tried to walk it out, and it got bearable enough to keep going, so I thought I might as well run through it.  I finished out the four miles and it was still pretty achy and my veins were all outlined in bluish-purple bruising.  I ended up calling my midwife because I've had so many vascular issues with that leg and I was worried that maybe I was headed for a blood clot or something like that.  She told me to go into the ER; by the time I got there I was having noticeable contractions every 8-10 minutes, so I ended up having to go to labor & delivery and THEN the ER.  It was a completely awful night.  The verdict was a tear in one of my calf muscles, and the doctor told me to take it easy for a week or so.

I didn't exercise at all on Tuesday; today my leg was feeling quite a bit better so I walked at a gentle pace (18:40 mile) for 3 miles.  My leg felt fine the whole time (I was being really careful not to push off in a way that extended my calf, like I would if I was running) and I'm sure I would have been fine to walk longer, but I didn't want to push it.  So...we'll see what happens.  My hope is that I'll substitute another run or two with walking and then be back to running soon, but I'm not pushing it right now because I do NOT want to go see the orthopedic surgeon (like I'm supposed to be doing today).

34 weeks

And...we're one week closer.  Hard running this week; I've been sick (lots of coughing) and pretty low-energy, but I still sort of ran.  Today's run was definitely the worst of the lot; I ran a mile then stopped for water, and continued that pattern throughout most of the run.  The deviations were 2 walking breaks when my stomach was cramping so much that I couldn't run and had to walk for 2 minutes each time.

No faster than a 12-minute mile today; just couldn't crank it up AT ALL because I was so weak and in so much pain.

33 weeks

Another week down!  Still running slower this week; pace seems to totally depend on the day.  I was hoping to go a little faster today, but I ended up going to bed early last night with stomach cramps/contractions, so today was not a day to push it with running...I was still feeling some of the cramping even at a 12-minute mile.  I did manage to get it up to about an 11:20 mile for the majority of the run, and then was able to go up to 10:30 by the end, but nothing very fabulous.  Frustrating because my legs ache so much at the slower pace, and while my legs are thrilled when I run faster, the cramping starts at the higher pace and then I can't even walk.  Moderation in all things, right?

Anyway, usual 3 4-milers this week plus 1 session of yoga, plus I'm spending all day in Chicago tomorrow, so there's some good caloric burn there!

32 weeks

I've been trying to pick up the pace a little this week--it's going a tiny bit faster, but I just don't have the lung capacity right now that I used to.  Too many weeks of scaling back to avoid the cramping and contractions!  The last two runs I've started out faster, dropped down after 2 minutes, and then gradually climbed up to a faster pace.

Today I ran 3 miles, then stopped to help Jules (she had broken a bead necklace and was in tears).  When I started up again I started out at 8:49, which was faster than I was comfortable, so I gradually took the speed down over the next half-mile.  Then Isaac needed something, and I was glad of the excuse to stop and help him!  Started back up at 9:30 and that was much better.  Average pace for the run today was 10:27/mile, including all the stopping/starting.  Other runs this week were around the same pace; yoga only happened once (I have been doing tons of grading & projects the other days trying to get ready for the baby).  Walking .5-1 mile every time to cool down, depending on how much time I have.