Okay, this is kinda hard

Even though it feels good to get out and be active, giving birth and taking a 2wk break from exercise to heal really does mean I'm starting over. I expected it, but at the same time I'm disappointed. It was easier to run 38wks pregnant than it is now! I keep getting a cramp in my neck and feeling like I can't get my breathing under control. I think the constriction of the double bra might be a factor, but without that, I can't run at all. I haven't done any lunges and squats because the thought of being exhausted AND sore while dealing with a newborn and a 3yo all day just makes me want pull out my hair! Soon though.
My tummy has continued to pull in pretty well, even though I haven't lost any more weight. It's still pretty mushy under my navel. Patience.

First Run

I was enjoying myself, just sitting on my money-maker, nursing away my baby weight. And I have lost 17 of 26lbs doing nothing else. But over the weekend I started to feel an itch. I wanted to run. Insane, right?!
I talked with my midwife at our appointment yesterday and got the okay to get back to exercise! And then my son slept for a nearly 5hr stretch last night, so it was as if the stars were telling me I better get up and run. I did get up. Pulled two sports bras on over the milk jugs and stepped out into the 6am heat. I did intervals of speed walking and running for 1.5mi. It felt pretty good. I'm having a little lower back pain, but I figure that's from my abdominals not quite doing the work they should yet. I'll do some more stretching and some pelvic tilts and hopefully tomorrow will be even better!
Now, if I could just lay off the chocolate cherry oatmeal cookies, I'm sure that I'll finish off the baby weight and feel fantastic in no time!

Jinx!

I jinxed myself. It was cooler in my house this morning when I stepped outside to run. I keep my house at 80 degrees and it hasn't been getting there until 7 or 8am lately, but today, at 5:30, it was already 80-something. I ran, but checked out the 10 day forecast when I got home and the lows are just climbing higher. I was hoping I would have one last run Wednesday before ideally going into labor next weekend, but I'm done running outside. And a treadmill sounds like torture right now. So elliptical and bike cross-training for the remainder it is. I'll probably just swim Wednesday in place of my run. I'm sure my mother is pleased :P

No!

I had an interesting evening a couple days ago, the kind where you just feel so off that it crosses the mind that it could be a precursor to labor. But alas, it was apparently nothing. I maybe should have kept it to myself though. My mom asked me twice if I would be stopping the exercise/running now. >:0 No! How anticlimactic would that be!?! To quit with less than two weeks left, especially when the "off" evening happened on a rest day anyway! But according to my mom, my dedication to prenatal fitness is just a big sham to make sure yet another baby makes its way before she can be present. Yes. That was my plan all along. LOL.

Desert Heat

I woke up just before 6 today to run. But I let my daughter's pleas for snuggling keep me in bed and I didn't get outside until 7. OMG. Crotch-hot. I think it was already over 80, since the high for today is 109. I ran my 3mi, but that's the last time. I was dripping when I got home. I sat down, drank a sports drink and was still sweaty. I took a cool shower and once I dried off, beads of sweat were still collecting on my brow. I'd say that's too close to being overheated.
At least it was still early enough for me to see some rabbits and quail on my run.
Of all the reasons for a pregnant woman to stop running, I really didn't think the heat would do me in. But glancing at the forecast, it appears the days with lows below 80 are swiftly ending. I'll keep getting out there in the morning until they do.

Keep on keepin on

I flew back to my mom's for my little sister's graduation last week. Aside from that, my plans revolved mainly around where I would be stuffing my face.
But I wasn't too bad! While I did eat whatever I wanted, the fear of bloated, gassy, heartburn and that taut, "my belly is going rip open at the navel" sensation kept me from going overboard. And I dragged my mom with me to the gym every day.
On the day of my flight out there, I did not enjoy my morning run. So I had resolved to find more support or give it up for cross-training. While shopping with my mom I found a high-waist body shaper, not maternity, that offered some nice compression and came up over my belly button. And I figure I can use it post-partum too! I ran with it on under my running shorts, with my maternity support belt, and while the pressure created a more intense sensation like I needed to pee while I ran, I was pubic/groin/round ligament pain free! I'm too excited!
BUT... the weird spring we were having in Vegas is apparently over. It's hot. So if I'm going to run, it has to be in the early morning. So I haven't run since being back because my husband was out of town and I don't have a padded room in which to lock my three year old LOL
You win some, you lose some.

*Crazy* Pregnancy Strength

This morning I added 5lbs to the chest press machine. For a total of 5lbs. That's right, the weight of the equipment alone was all I could manage to get through 3 sets of 10. So watch out, I can now hurl a small cat across a field should it have the gall to piss me off LOL
I'm learning to ignore my "all or nothing" mentality. I find now that my heart rate barely gets up before I feel out of breath. I'm not sure why, since as recently confirmed, this baby is low in my pelvis. But somehow my lung capacity has been affected. Maybe it's hormonal. Anyway, part of me wants to either try to push past that or just quit because if I can't go harder than that "it's not worth it." So, I'm still on the bike, step mill and elliptical, going slower than I want to, accepting that the activity is still "worth it."

Strange, strange people

First of all, Happy Mothers' Day!
Now, this morning at the gym I opted to stay downstairs in the dedicated women's gym because climbing the stairs to the regular cardio area puts me so out of breath when I come in the early morning without having eaten much (the gym playroom opens later on Sundays, so I leave my daughter at home and show up nice and early by myself). There was this older lady in there, and the whole time I'm doing cardio, she's singing out loud to herself and cussing at the machines. Since she had earphones in, I don't know if she realized she was talking so loud, or if she thought we all really wanted to hear her self-narration. And then when I start doing my weights, she comments on my pliet squats. But again, loudly, and to herself. Apparently, she thought I was killing my knees. Squats can be hard on the knees, but I know I have great form, so... shut up old lady LOL And then she started contemplating the meaning of the initials on the rear of my cheer shorts. She correctly concluded that it must be a California University. By then I just wanted to get away from her. Luckily I was done, and so I did!
I'm not feeling as enthusiastic about my workouts anymore. My energy levels have seriously nose-dived. I feel like I'm back in the first trimester where I force it because I know I'll feel better for having done it. And I do feel better afterward and I of course enjoy the results, I'm just saying my gung-ho spirit has taken a hit LOL Just 10 more weeks. I can make it :)
Last, here I am post-gym this last Friday, about to go play at the park:

Taking notes...

So I am nearing the end of my second trimester. But I still have a couple weeks, and I want them and their energy entitlement! Why have I passed out between 7:30 and 8 the past few nights? Maybe it's the sugar withdrawal, so I'll keep eating well and hope that I still have some weeks of feeling relatively energetic ahead of me.
I still feel great during my workouts. Wednesdays have turned into a light day of walking and strength training because my pubic bone just can't take two days in a row of running.
A mom friend told me about a woman at her Y that ran and swam up until the day she went into labor and her "labor" was only 90min. And at 3wks post-partum, when she's regaling this tale, the only evidence of her pregnancy is a still visible linea negra (where's mine by the way? I don't remember when it showed up for Emberly...). I'm really trying to envision myself still running come 39wks, and 90 minutes from pregnant to baby is definitely an inspirational incentive!
Okay, so here I am, still looking pretty fit at 6.5mo. Please ignore my face. I hadn't been crying, I promise. I guess that's just what I look like at 7am after a night where pregnancy insomnia tortured me from 1-3am LOL





And yes, those are my snazzy christmas gift nikes, colors courtesy of my two year old ;)

Argh, the wind!

What is with this crazy weather?! Yesterday it was 80 and super windy. Today it's 55 and super windy. Cramping my usual outdoor workouts. My sinuses are killing me as is, so I've opted out of running in swirls of dust and pollen. Also, we're up against a deadline at work and when I'm on a roll, I hate to quit. So I've been brushing up on my OnDemand options after work! The ExerciseTV ten minute and twenty minute workouts have been fun and not that hard to modify for the burgeoning belly.

The Pain!

I was having a little hip pain toward the end of my long run a few weeks ago. But then last week, after 11mi, it really hurt. And didn't feel better for two days. Any time I put weight on my left heel, I feared my hip would come out of it's socket. And then it was worse yesterday after a shorter, 10mi run.
Of course, I'm not allowed to so much as wince after a run without my husband, the former track athlete being full of advice. I can't take any ibuprofen. I soaked in a bath. Iced it. Still hurts. Now he wants me to see a doctor. I know I should, but, I don't wanna! What if I'm told to stop running! It's not as if running is the only way I can work out and stay fit through this pregnancy, but I do feel very attached to it. The goal has proved to be much more motivation than I expected. The hesitation I had to really commit to an event, only to not be able to run in it, would really suck. But, I don't want to end up causing myself to be in horrible pain the remaining 19wks after the event. Or beyond!
So, I told my midwife, and asked for a referral to a physical therapist or chiropractor. She suggested a chiropractor first.
And I read a little online and my symptoms sound like simple overuse. Which is probably exacerbated by the hormone-induced loosening of my joints. So I'm trying to stretch it, ice it, and rest. And do a Pilates workout that seems to strengthen the surrounding glute/hip flexor muscles and relieve the pain.
My appointment with the chiropractor isn't until Monday. So my plan is to run on Sunday, but if it starts to hurt, I'll quit and move to the elliptical for the remainder of my extrapolated time.
In lighter news, my almost 3yo is really excited to go to our anatomy scan ultrasound in 2.5wks and see inside my belly!