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pregnancy & running update from the 3rd trimester

pregnancy & running update from the 3rd trimester

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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.

good times at SLO with this gang
good times at SLO with this gang at about 24 weeks preg

 

reppin' ZOOMA at A Runner's Mind in Burlingame a few weeks ago with Tricia (in the gray zip-up)
reppin’ ZOOMA Napa Valley at A Runner’s Mind in Burlingame the week after SLO with Tricia, in the gray zip-up [PC: Tricia]

 

a 6am 13+ run over Mother's Day weekend with my RA buddies along the Bayshore Trail, through Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale -- I hadn't run with them since my 50k training! (PC: RA)
a 6am 13+ run over Mother’s Day weekend with my RA buddies along the Bayshore Trail; I hadn’t run with them since my 50k training last autumn. I think this was about 6 1/2 months preg (PC: RA)

 

always a rad time going in circles
always a rad time going in circles with this one 🙂

 

my map from my dozen run on Saturday -- I was always within about 2.5 miles of home!
my map from my dozen run on Saturday; I was always within about 2.5 miles of home. This run felt incredible, like I wasn’t even trying — an 8:22 average, 180+ cadence, for 12.11 miles, ascending and descending a bunch of little hills. no idea… but man! that was awesome!!

 

sat stats

from Sunday's 7.5 mi recovery run -- this time, always within about 1.5 miles of home. My new challenge: make elaborate run maps
from Sunday’s 7.5 mi recovery run — this time, always within about 1.5 miles of home. My new challenge for the third trimester: make elaborate run maps.

 

Here we go, final 12 (ish) weeks! (and next stop, ZOOMA!)

Pregnancy and running update from the halfway+ mark

Pregnancy and running update from the halfway+ mark

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Hard to believe that I’m already past the halfway point with this pregnancy. I’m happy to report that all is well, and Kiddo Dos and I are both healthy. I don’t have a recent ultrasound pic to post, but last I saw, he/she looked good, and last I heard, the heartbeat was strong — all good things, all good things.

I thought it could be interesting to see what my running has looked like this far into the pregnancy. When I was pregnant with A, I wasn’t using dailymile or strava or Garmin to track my mileage — just an old school, pen-and-paper log — so I can’t easily compare mileage and such from pregnancy 1 to pregnancy 2. As much as I can tell, my pregnancy gestational weeks begin each Monday, so for the most part, the mileage coincides with my usual Monday-Sunday training weeks. It’s really more for my own entertainment than anything, so I’m not too worried about being super meticulous with my bookkeeping.

Here’s how it has shaken down so far:

Gestational week 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 3.2 (as of Monday)
total: 476.49

As you can see, pregnancy can somewhat unpredictably affect mileage and training. I say ‘somewhat’ because I assumed, based on my first pregnancy, that I’d allow my mileage to tank. When I’m in the throes of marathon training, I usually peak around 70-75 mpw, and the low-end of my base is in the 50s. I’m not marathon training, so I’m genuinely happy to be in the 20s or, if I’m feeling great, the 30s. Likewise, if I feel like ass — and as my little chart above details, there have been days and weeks when I have felt like ass and when sleeping > running — I’m not stressing about missing a run or two (or five or whatever).

I wrote it before, and I’ll write it again: it is so critical to listen to your body — and your medical professional overseeing your pregnancy– when you’re expecting. This isn’t a time for heroics. If your practitioner says you can run, and you feel well doing it (and afterward), by all means, have a blast. Don’t feel bad about yourself, or your identity as a runner, or god forbid, your pregnancy, if you can’t run or just don’t feel like running. It will always be there.

Being able to race the few times I have so far in my pregnancy has been a lot of fun, especially since getting A involved. Running without expectations has been mentally refreshing as well. I’m excited to get back to the grind of training and working toward PRs, but I am also delighted to be in this sweet spot of running for the hell of running (and to prep for that 1-hour labor & delivery I’m fantasizing about…).

I have been surprised at how strong I have been feeling lately on my runs, averaging in the low-8s for many of my weekday miles, and while I’m sure that won’t last for much longer, I’m enjoying it while I still can. I sometimes forget that inherent to every run these days is basically a weightlifting workout, since I’m hauling around 15 pounds +/- more than my usual weight, but dammit if this doesn’t mean that this kid and I are getting stronger with each mile we share. The unsolicited news on the street from mostly strangers is that I’m having a boy, based on the very scientific way that I’m carrying, because apparently, when most of your pregnancy is concentrated in your midsection, that means it’s a boy because he needs lots of room to forcefully kick and stretch his legs outward. Whatever. Everyone’s an expert.

That’s about it for now. Coming up next is a half marathon down in San Luis Obispo on Sunday with Erica! It should be a fun experience and a really pretty course. I have no idea how I’ll fare — I know I’m aerobically capable of running 13.1, though in terms of my pace, your guess is as good as mine — but it’ll be a blast regardless. These things typically are.