When Its Over

Friday morning I went out for a walk.  I went to my favorite 3 mile loop around the lake.  I strapped on my new support belt, filled up a water bottle and headed out.

I walked for the first 2 miles, then jogged for about a half a mile before I got too freaking HOT and had to walk again.  I guess the support belt helped... but it can't do much for the interior movements of my uterus, so it still felt like my baby might come falling out.

I'm pretty much done with running for the rest of my pregnancy.  Unless I can find a place that is 60º and take frequent breaks.  It's disappointing, when I see other women that ran up until the week before they gave birth.  But every woman is different and every pregnancy is different and if it's uncomfortable, it's uncomfortable and I'm not going to be more uncomfortable than I have to be.

So... my blog is going to be pretty boring for the next few months.  Sorry.  I'll understand if you don't come back, because all you'll be getting is bump updates and then MILLIONS of baby pictures once the little girl is here.

I'm just warning you now.

Holiday

This Saturday is a Utah state holiday.  And right now, the countdown is on... I get off work at noon and have a 3.5 day weekend!  I am SO excited!  I have no plans, other than I'm going to enjoy myself.  If that means that I'm camped out on the couch all day tomorrow, filling my day with a Harry Potter marathon, or I get in a "nesting" mode and decide to clean the house from top to bottom... or if I decide to rack up some debt and go shopping for something for the nursery (can you believe that the ONLY thing I've bought for my little girl so far is boxes of diapers and wipes?  I need to start buying hairbows, so she can have one for every day of the year!).  Or maybe I'll go for a walk/run.

I haven't run since the 10K.  I keep thinking that I'm going to... but I don't.  I've been doing my weight training for 2 weeks now, but that's all.  I don't know if I can handle running any more.  After the 10K, I was sore for days... in an area that most of you don't want me to name, but I'm going to anyway.  BIRTH CANAL.  Sorry, but there you have it.  During a run my swollen uterus pounds on said BC, and it is VERY uncomfortable to say the least.  I might try it one more time (I did buy an awesomely fugly support belt that I need to test), but maybe I'll just content myself with walking. 

I ran for the first 20 weeks of my pregnancy and I pretty much ROCKED all of my races this year.  I am VERY happy with my accomplishments (so far) for 2010.

Cankles

I had my first experience of swollen ankles last week.

It scared me.

It sickened me.

My ankle bones had disappeared in a matter of minutes.

My husband laughed at me and started calling me "Cankles".

I told him to find a new place to sleep.

Get Back

Oh, Paul... you are so incredibly amazing!

10 points to whoever can name this athlete (L.B. I'm looking at you!) that we met as we were leaving.

Band on the Run

I haven't run since that 10K over a week ago.  I'm waiting for a support belt/contraption to be delivered this week... but in the mean time, I've decided to start lifting weights.

On Saturday I started up ChaLEAN Extreme again.  It's a 90 day program that focuses on weight lifting to build muscle that will in turn burn fat and make you look lean and toned, without bulking you up (at least, that's the sell to women who don't have lots of testoterone to help them bulk up).  And I've been feeling mighty flabby lately.  I need to get my muscles ready to handle my 15 lb baby that I'm sure to have.

Seriously!  Look at this ginormous belly!!  Who looks that big at only 21 weeks without being pregnant with multiple babies?

You should all be jealous... we're going to Paul McCartney tonight!

Photos from the 10K

I just saw these pictures and thought that I would share.  (Yes, I know there is a copyright on these... but I'm just sharing.)

Standard face that I throw out to the photographers.  Pretty cute, eh?

Baby bump!

Sprint to the finish!!

P.S. WHY do they have to charge so FREAKING much for race pictures?  I would gladly buy them if they were reasonable.  I mean, come on!  This isn't Disneyland!

Riverton Country Mile 10K

Before I tell you about the race, we had our 20 week ultrasound on Friday.  Here's a picture of my little girl - waving at you.

The ultrasound was a really neat experience.  I loved seeing her little heart beat on the screen and to watch her legs and arms move and twitch (and to feel those movements, while watching them was really fun).

So Saturday morning, I ran a 10K with my dad and one of my sisters.  My only goal was to come in under 1:10 (giving myself plenty of time, since I've slowed down and the course was going to be hot and hilly).  I did better than 1:10.

NEW P.R. OF 59:13!!!!

Can you believe it?  I can't!  I had no idea that I was doing so well (when I look down at my Garmin in a race, I almost never look at the total time, I just check what my pace is).  I came around the corner for the finish and was looking in the crowd for my husband and family, but all that I saw was my sister and she started to point at the timer above the finish and I saw that it was at 59:08!  I yelled out - NO WAY!!  And started to sprint.  It was AWESOME!!!  Not even a minute later, I saw my husband come running up and he says, "We saw you sprinting to the finish line as we were driving up!  I can't believe you have a new PR!"  And then he patted my stomach and said, "Good job, Baby."

I'm sort of in shock about it.  I walked twice on the course - with both water stops.  The race had 700 ft of GAIN (and loss, since it ended at the same place that it started).  My sister ran with me for the first 5 miles and then she took off to catch my dad (who also has a new PR of 57:20-ish and he was hoping to come in under an hour).  It was a fun race and I'll probably have to do it again next year, to see how I do without a baby bouncing on me for 6.2 miles.

The doctor told me to keep running, if I feel up to it.  I think that I do, but I'm going to cut my mileage down to 4 or under.  It starts to hurt too much after that.  But I'm glad that I can keep doing it.  Hopefully, at the very least, I can for another month.  I don't know how far into my third trimester he will let me run or if I will even want to when the baby is even bigger. 

Oh, and I've got to find some support to run/walk/exercise with.  I have diastasis (which is that my abdominal wall is separating right down the middle... and it BURNS).  It's pretty common, but I hate it.  I guess if it's the only thing that I've had to complain about in my pregnancy so far, I should be happy.  I'm halfway through and have only 4.5 months left until I get to see my little princess!

Will 2011 Be the Year?

Here's the thing: I am seriously considering running a marathon next fall.

Since I started to run, I have ALWAYS said that I would NEVER run a full marathon.  Why would I want to put my body through the kind of torture?  Why would I want to run for 5 hours straight (because I'm sure that is how long it will take me)?  Who has the time to run for 4 hours every week or two for training?

Earlier this year, I was inspired to do run a marathon by Christy.  She invited me to do the DisneyWorld Marathon with her again in 2011 and I was seriously planning on it and working towards it - and then I found out that I was pregnant.  I was disappointed about the marathon, but excited for the baby (since we had been trying for a year and I was about to go visit my doctor about it).

Within the last month, the idea of running a marathon has kept coming back to me.  I would really like to try it, at least once... just to say that I did it, and then I can go back to half marathons (I love the distance - it challenges you without putting SO much strain on your body).  And I've thought about it so much, that I've already picked out the race that I want to do.  The St. George Marathon.  It's a lottery to get in (you apply in April, I think) and if I don't get in... I already have a back-up race in mind.

The only thing that would stop me is the fact that I will have an infant for all of the training and the race.  It won't be easy to train.

So - anyone out there that has run a marathon within a year after giving birth?  Is it not as hard as I think it will be or is it harder than I think it will be?  Should I go for it or should I stick to half marathons and save it for another couple of years down the road, when I won't be working full-time plus staying up nights with a baby?