running while pregnant – Page 5 – Running Ruminations

FitFest at Title Nine (#T9FitFest)– and a bra giveaway for you!

June 10, 2015 Erin Comments 18 comments

Hello from the midwest — land of high humidity, super green grass, NO DROUGHT, and (most of) my family!

I was pretty surprised– and pretty excited– when Title Nine (T9), a women’s activewear and bra company, contacted me a few weeks ago to see if I’d be interested in participating in their 2015 Bra FitFest in the Bay Area. Though I had heard of T9, both from when I lived in Chicago and since relocating to CA, I had never actually shopped there. Among other things, T9 is known for their extensive bra offerings (sports bras, day-to-day bras, and lots in between), but I never felt like I needed to shop at such a nice store for my undergarments because those $15 sportsbras from Target (or those 2-for$20 offerings from Costco, or hell, *cough* those bras I might still have from high school or college 100 years ago *cough*) worked juuuuuuuust fine.

Well, please let me tell you a little secret: when you get pregnant, and consequently, when you breastfeed, your knockers go all sorts of wild. A-cup before? Bring on the Ds (plus)! Cheapy-cheap bras worked ok before? Kiss those babies goodbye!

So, yeah… it was pretty serendipitous timing that T9 contacted me right in the beginning of my third trimester because a) I’m pretty sure my boobs are growing still, b) once I begin breastfeeding, they’re only going to get even bigger, and c) I should probably stop wearing those cheapy-cheap guys I keep talking about when I run 30+ weeks pregnant and several cup sizes bigger than norm if I want my boobs to *not* hit my knees when I’m 32.

A and I headed over to the T9 store in Los Gatos for a fitting (me, not her). I had no idea what I was looking for — something more everyday or something specifically for running — and furthermore, I didn’t know if it’d make more sense to get a bra that’d fit my pregnant/breastfeeding boobs or the normal-sized gals. The T9 staff was super attentive, super patient, and super knowledgeable as they helped me figure out how things were fitting versus how they should be fitting and which type of bra made the most sense for my purposes. By the end of my fitting session, I kid you not, I am pretty sure I tried on at least 30 different bras.

Ultimately, I ended up with this gem from Moving Comfort because I’d be able to wear it now (very pregnant), running (pregnant and postpartum), and breastfeeding — the latter being the real kicker since the bra features nursing bra-like clasps and flip-down cups (and if you’ve ever BF, you know that having a good nursing bra is priceless). To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever tried on or merely *thought* about bras as much as I did during the fitting I had at T9. To boot, from what I’ve felt on runs so far, the bra fits great and has had minimal chafing (big win!).

While I’m sure you’re extremely happy for me and my breasts (thanks!), I am bantering on and on about my boobs and my bra fitting experience because T9 wants you to come on out to one of their FitFests at a local store — so you, too, can ensure that you’re wearing a bra that makes sense for your purposes — and best of all, they are providing my readers with a giveaway for a free bra! How awesome is that (my first blog giveaway!)?!

First, here are the details about the FitFests:

The idea behind the FitFest events is that the T9 bra experts want to make the whole process easier and more fun. They’ll help you find your perfect bra — based on your unique body shape, size, and activity– and therefore, get you goin’ toward a more comfortable existence (yay!) and workout (double yay!). T9’s FitFest events entail:

Personalized bra fitting advice from a “bravangelist” expert
An expanded assortment of bras (including nursing bras for my pregnant or breastfeeding mama athletes out there!)
Bras for sports, work-to-workout, everyday and date night
A “Bounce-ath-a-lon” for those who want to put Title Nine’s bras to the test, with stations like hula hoop, jump rope, run around the block, & burpees

Anyone interested in participating at a FitFest should RSVP at a local T9; I’ve screenshot the locations and events below. Go to the titlenine website to RSVP!

And! If the FitFest stuff isn’t enough, they’re also hosting a giveaway for one of my readers! It’s open to anyone in the US and includes a personalized fitting (in-store or over the phone, in case you’re not near a T9 store), along with one comped bra (really awesome!!).

To enter the giveaway, please leave me a comment below by Friday, June 19, telling me why this awesome opportunity is the right fit for you (get it… fit… bra… I am so clever…). My independent panel of judges will decide the winner, and I’ll notify you via email if you’re the lucky one.

For more information about T9 via social media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/titlenine
Twitter: https://twitter.com/titlenine
Instagram: https://instagram.com/titlenine
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/titlenine
Event Hashtag: #T9FitFest

Let’s have some fun with this! And thank you, T9, for the great opportunity!

Goes without saying, but the views expressed here are my own. T9 comped my bra, and it rocks, and I was really impressed with this company and their service and thus want to recommend them to you. If you can make it out to a FitFest, I’d encourage you to go for it, and even if you can’t, definitely check out T9 next time you’re in the market for a bra.

pregnancy & running update from the 3rd trimester

June 1, 2015 Erin Comments 9 comments

Pregnancy and parenthood can both be so very baffling. I distinctly remember being pregnant the first time around and hearing from already-parents little nuggets of ~~warning~~ joy like “enjoy the time you’re pregnant because once the kid comes, life will never be the same” or “the days are long, but the years are short. Before you know it, your newborn will be walking, running, in school, and then leaving for college, getting married, and having kids of their own.”

Obviously, the connecting theme here is that during both these hugely, exponentially, profoundly life-altering changes in our lives — both being pregnant and subsequently having a child — time often can and does become something that seems to defy all logic and expectation. We know that, barring catastrophe, we’ll (probably) be pregnant for 40 weeks, give or take, and at the end of those +/- 40 weeks, we’ll have a baby in our arms, and life will forever be different as we know it. What exactly will happen in those 40 weeks, as well as all those other little moments in time thereafter, we can never predict.

In a way that’s perhaps a bit tenuous of a connection — but hey, this is a running blog, after all — it’s all kinda like marathon training; you have a plan, you more or less follow the plan, you envision what the big day will be like, but everything that happens between point A (starting) and point Z (the race) kinda remains to be seen. You can envision and daydream how you want things to go, but only so much of it is actually in your control. All you know, all you hope for, is that you get to the starting line healthy and finish the thing with a smile on your face, anticipating that your life will be changed in some way (though I can assure you that having a kid is just a tad more life-altering than running 26.2) 😛

Maybe the funny thing, however, is that we know life goes on and that changes will soon be a-coming, with marathons or with kids … yet somehow, when they do, as they do, we’re (I’m) suddenly taken aback and wondering: gee– how’d we get here already?! Where has the time gone?!

My rambling ruminations above are a bit unnecessarily and unduly histrionic, yet as I write this, I can’t help but chuckle to myself as I think about how surprised? entertained? baffled? I am that we are now in the third trimester — 28 weeks and change, baby! I guess in my head, despite all evidence and logic to the contrary, I thought I’d forever be stuck in the first trimester, feeling like ass, or the second trimester, feeling pretty much like myself but not really feeling I looked anything more than very bloated or very full. Nope, nope, and nope — this is the real deal. We are homestretchin’ our way to a life-altering finish line, kids.

As we’ve entered the third trimester and have since begun the final countdown (cue the air guitars), and as I’ve written before, I have been seriously blown away and enormously grateful by how well I’ve been feeling as I’ve been posting these “for the hell of it” miles. Of course, some days feel better than others — much as days do for non-pregnant runners — but by and large, my runs recently haven’t been reminding me that I’m pregnant and 20+? 30+? pounds heavier than normal. My pace often isn’t that far off from my usual training runs (something in the low 8s), my cadence has been fairly high (180+), and holy crap, I just feel wonderful. It fucking RULES, and man, am I grateful.

Here’s how everything has shaken out:

Gestational Week	Mileage	Notes
0-1	75.35	peak of 50k training
1-2	53.1
2-3	36.5
3-4	44.87	50k race unknowingly pregnant, though I had a hunch…
4-5	27.51
5-6	0	feeling like ass – hi, first trimester!
6-7	0	feeling like ass/family in town
7-8	0	feeling like ass/in the Caribbean with my family
8-9	16.8
9-10	0	feeling like ass
10-11	5.1
11-12	11.32
12-13	20.61
13-14	19.8
14-15	20.8
15-16	13.58	408k race
16-17	0	feeling like ass
17-18	25.41
18-19	21.27	5k s.i.b. race win pushing A!
19-20	28.36	5k wildflower race running/pushing A
20-21	9.1
21-22	31.51
22-23	12.3	in Disneyland most of the week with family
23-24	33.15	San Luis Obispo half marathon with a bunch of super awesome people!
24-25	22.91
25-26	40.53	13+ mi Long Run with RA in Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale — first time running with the gang since the autumn!
26-27	11.1	forced down week for some recovery
27-28	25.86	in Disneyland for Memorial Day
28-29*	32.16

total:	639 (ish) miles!

From the first time I made this table (at the 20 week mark) to now, I learned that I had been wrong about my due date, so things are off just a little here on the weeks — just by a few days — but I’m lazy and don’t want to adjust everything. All this stuff is more for my own historical recordkeeping than anything else.

What really blows me away is how much better I have been feeling as time has gone on (and the bigger that I’ve gotten). During the second part of my first trimester, even the mere thought of running a mile or two was nauseating and tiring. I would have never guessed that I’d be able to comfortably throw down a dozen or go “fun” a half marathon late in my second tri or even in my third. It goes to show that pregnancy can be — and is — often pretty unpredictable. As much as I can remember from my first pregnancy, I topped out at about 12 very slow miles at about the 6 month mark; I wouldn’t have guessed that I’d be able to go longer, and faster, later my second time around. Again: pregnancy is unpredictable.

My strategy has been to just take each day in stride and run (or not run) accordingly. So far, it has worked out swimmingly, and I’ve closed out the month of May (and the beginning of the third tri) with my highest monthly mileage yet in pregnancy. I’ll take it.