38 Weeks Pregnant, Oh My!

Yeah, I'm still here and running and pregnant. My running has greatly slowed down, but that's fine. Below you can see a chart of my paces and a chart of my overall miles run per week during this pregnancy. My weekly mileage hasn't decreased too much, but my pace (over the last three weeks) has slowed by about two minutes per mile. Admittedly, the slow down primarily has to due with walking breaks. My actual running pace is still around 10 minute pace, but I'm also walking, which slows the overall pace. The pregnancy is progressing well. I've gained 21 pounds and with only 1.5 weeks left I don't expect to gain much more. The doctor is pleased with my overall health. So we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that about a week from now we'll have an uncomplicated delivery.

Running has definitely gotten more difficult over the last three weeks. I'm hypothesizing that the baby is sitting on my bladder, and every time I run I feel like I could pee my pants at any second. I haven't though, so that's a plus. I imagine that peeing my pants would make a mess of my beautiful treadmill. Other than my bladder being in a constant state of wanting to release, I don't have any complaints. My back doesn't hurt, my knees and hips are holding up nicely, and I'm breathing easy.

In fact, I received the nicest compliment from Nick last week. We finally had a week where the stars aligned and we were able to go for a four mile run together. It was about 80 degrees and ridiculously humid, but still great to actually get outside. When we started I could tell he was taking half strides, and it looked like he was trying hard to run as slow as I needed to run. After a mile, I was in my running groove and feeling good. We finished the four miler at 9:50 pace. Not even close to my pre-pregnant self, but I was still quite pleased. As we finished Nick turned to me and said, "I wouldn't even pretend to be in the same league as you as far as running is concerned, but it's a bit demoralizing running with you when you're almost 9 months pregnant. You're freaking amazing!" Isn't that sweetest thing you ever heard?

People also keep saying things "you probably can't wait to get that baby out." Truth is though, this pregnancy really hasn't been bad. I don't have too much trouble sleeping. My biggest issue is needing get up to pee a lot. Sometimes I have trouble sleeping because I feel some anxiety. Last time around the birth didn't go as smoothly as we would have liked, but everything that went wrong was just bad luck and completely out of our control. Which is partly why I feel anxiety. It's not like I have any lessons learned to make this birth better. There's really nothing we could have done to change things.

Oh, I do sometimes get swollen feet at night time. I've found wearing compression socks at night does wonders for swollen tootsies! I wake up in the morning and there's no swelling at all! So if any of you are pregnant out there, compression socks are awesome!

Click to view a larger more readable version.

Click to view a larger more readable version.

34.5 weeks pregnant

I've been on a blogging hiatus, but I appreciate all the comments on my last post. Because I never got around to addressing the comments, I wanted to mention a few things here. First, it seems a few other pregnant runners have the same calf tightness issue as me. I wonder if that's a common problem among pregnant runners and what might actually cause it? Maybe the big belly and the shift in center of gravity? There was also a question regarding if Nick and I run the same pace. And the answer is sort of. He really only runs easy, but his easy pace is what my easy is suppose to be. (If I run by myself I have a tendency to run faster than my paces dictate I should). As result, we make good running partners. Lastly, Michelle kindly offered to read my ultrasound (for the boy/girl debate) if I had the prized picture, but alas I don't. I did have another ultrasound last week though and the technician said "looks like a girl." I tried to look for the hamburger or turtle, but I don't know...I think I saw a hamburger (girl). I guess we'll know for certain in about 5 weeks.

Above you can see a picture of me at 34 weeks pregnant. Wow, I'm 8 months pregnant! That's just so crazy to me. Last time around, I had to stop running around 8 months because I was having asthma issues, but I don't seem to be having any breathing problems this time around. So yay, me!

I know I haven't blogged in a while, but I've still been running. The last couple weeks (instead of blogging) I've been in full on nesting mode, where I've been getting everything ready for the baby. Being the engineer that I am, I made a thorough baby to-do list that had 50-60 items on it. Everything but 3 - 4 items has been completed. Yes, we're now ready for the baby, I think. I partly wanted to get things done early because Kaylee's birthday is at the beginning of August and I want to be able to focus on that rather than baby stuff.

Okay, okay, I'll tell you about my running now. I'm getting slower. You can see my progressively slower paces in the chart below. Yes, I make charts of this stuff. People like me do that. Anyway, I'm still super fast compared to my last pregnancy. At this point last time around, I had to stop running, and the month prior to that I was averaging 10:20 pace. Needless to say, I'm pretty pleased with myself. To be honest though, running is actually easy when compared to chasing around a toddler while pregnant. I go to a parent/child Little Gym class with Kaylee and that's harder than running. They want me to hop around, gallop, and touch my toes. I can't even see my toes. How am I suppose to touch them?

Anyway, that's where I'm at...still running, getting ready for the final stretch of being pregnant, and planning Kaylee's birthday. Good stuff.


Training Journal 6/28 - 7/04
Total Miles Run: 50
Total Time Running: 7:40
Average Running Pace: 9:12

Training Journal 7/5 - 7/11
Total Miles Run: 40
Total Time Running: 6:07
Average Pace: 9:10
Total Miles Walked: 7
Average Pace: 16:00

Training Journal 7/12 - 7/18
Total Miles Run: 40
Total Time Running: 6:12
Average Pace: 9:18
Total Miles Walked: 9
Average Pace: 16:00

6 months pregnant and a picture to prove it

Yup, that's right, I'm six months pregnant. Or 26 weeks, but who's keeping track? Right after I posted last week, I was ecstatic to learn that both Kara Goucher and Paula Radcliffe are pregnant too! Their due dates are one month after mine! It sounds like they're still training fairly hard too. I found this interview with Kara and she mentions doing 1 mile intervals. Not that I plan to go and start running intervals or tempos now, but it's just nice to read that their doctors have okay-ed some harder running. Also, I feel like if they can take time off from racing for their pregnancies then I don't feel so bad missing a whole year of racing. And it will just be fun following them over the next few months.

As far is running is concerned, last week was a good week. The two days I ran outside were about 50 degrees, simply perfect running weather, and I wound up doing one 8 mile run at 7:55 pace and my heart rate didn't go above 120! The other outside run was another 8 miler at 8:01 pace. It's really funny my outside runs are so much faster than my treadmill runs. I wound up running 57 miles last week the average being 8:40 pace, so my treadmill runs are much much slower. I'm not really sure why. I think my stride is shorter making it harder to run faster. Honestly though, it's probably why I'm not injured. I've been thinking about my running and I can't believe that I've been averaging more than 45 miles a week for 6 months now with no injuries! That's amazing for me. It must be the treadmill. That's the only thing that's changed in the last 6 months. Well that, and me being pregnant, but I'm pretty sure carrying around an extra 13 -14 pounds isn't helping me to prevent injuries.

This is a bit random, but running with a toddler around has become interesting. Kaylee makes all these interesting statements that are constantly making me laugh. Here are a few Kaylee quotes:

1. If she hears the treadmill slow down, I might hear "Mommy why are you slowing down, can't you go faster?"
2. If I try to pick her up after I run, I'll get the protest "Mommy you're all sweaty, you need a shower."
3. Sometimes after I run she'll say "Mommy, I smell you..."
4. More than once she's said "Mommy can you put your socks back on." (I'm missing several toenails.)
5. She'll do laps around the house and when she's done she'll say, "Phew, I just ran 20 miles."

Okay, below you can see a picture of me 6 months pregnant with my Kaylee meister patting my belly. She's super cute.



Training Journal 5/10 - 5/16
Total Miles Run: 57
Total Time Running: 8:14
Average Running Pace: 8:40

After Preggo Race Plan & New Preggo Pic

Holy cannoli, all the Boston madness is killing me! As a result, I've been fantasizing about a time that I can once again be training to qualify. Obviously that won't happen until after the baby is born, but I can still read about training, dream about training, live vicariously through others who are training. Do you see a trend here?

Oh by the way, congratulations to all those who actually ran Boston (as opposed to fantasized about running)! I was stalking tracking about 10 people throughout the day, including a couple people from my high school, one of which ran a 2:40! Go Pat Benson! He finish in the top 250! Just nuts! I also tracked a person from work and approximately 8 blogger buddies. I'm totally impressed with everyone!

Turns out Boston 2012 is on my birthday! When I nonchalantly mentioned this to Nick a few days ago, he just shook his head and said "I guess I know what we're doing on that day." To which I replied, "I don't know...I need to qualify first. But if I did qualify, wouldn't that be the most AMAZING birthday ever!" He just sort gave me this look. Like maybe he didn't agree with my ideal birthday plans.

Then I started thinking about marathon training. I've been running for a long time, competing for a long time, but running a half-way decent marathon hasn't happened for me. Yet. And when I say half-way decent, I don't mean to say anything bad about those who have run slower, but according to my most recent (pre-pregnancy) 5K, 10 miler, and half marathon times I should be able to break 3:20. Yet, I'd be pretty happy just running a 3:40, and even that has eluded me. Shakes fists in futile frustration. I try to remind myself that I've only run two marathons. Nick reminds me that perhaps a fall marathon isn't the best idea for me. I always get sick in the fall, which is what happened in those first two marathons. In my mind though, a spring marathon doesn't sound all that appealing either. You never know what the weather is going to be like in the spring. It can be much warmer than ideal. I think I might try for both a spring and a fall marathon. Give myself two shots at qualifying. (Nick is reading this right now and I'm willing to bet he's shaking his head and has a queasy sensation in his stomach.)

Just a brief sidetrack...Nick, my hubby who claims to despise running, came home on Monday and starting telling me all about the history of the marathon. How historians don't all agree that the fabled Pheidippides ran 26 miles to give that famous victory message. But he did find that before the battle of Marathon, Pheidippides was said to have run 150 miles from Athens to Sparta in two days and then back again to request Spartan aid. More historians believe this run actually took place than the Marathon to Sparta run and that he didn't die. Wow. That's all I have to say. He went on to tell me that often when they want to break the world record for the marathon they have pacers that the leaders follow until around mile 18, where the pacer steps out and the group races the last 8 miles. Pointing out that running a marathon requires more strategy than I've used in the past. I asked if he wanted to be my coach. He's declined the offer. He said there would be a conflict of interest. His interest would be me running less, while my interest is running more. But I digress...

Back to post preggo plans. Devising a racing schedule post baby is tricky. For one, I'm going to be tired. And Nick is going to be tired. And racing will mean spending time away from the family. As a result, I've designed a post baby race schedule that only includes 6 races in the first year. All of which are local. The worst one will be the Providence Marathon in May. Providence is probably approximately 1 hour and 14 minutes away (according to Google). So that will mean maybe 1.5 hour drive there, arriving an hour early, running time, and driving home time. Realistically, it's probably an 8 or 9 hour day. My hope is to enlist the whole family for help. Maybe I can get my parents to drive me around, while Nick's parents can help him out with the kids. That's the downside to running marathons. If you have a family, you need to have a strong support system to help you. And you're really asking them to make sacrifices for you, which I hate doing. Maybe I should ask for that for my birthday. Katie marathon day. No presents required, just 9 hours of time devoted to my desire to qualify for Boston.
The other races aren't so bad. At worst, the Hampton Half and the BayState Marathon are half day affairs. I live 20 minutes from the BayState Marathon start line. It doesn't get much more convenient than that.

My racing schedule has been planned such that I should be able to come up with a realistic marathon goal time. The first race will be a 5K taking place 2.5 months after the baby's birth. Honestly, I have absolutely no idea what to expect from that race. Expectations may vary widely depending on whether I have a natural birth versus a c-section. A c-section will require no running for 6 weeks, so you know...I might not be able to expect much if that happens. At least it will give me a starting point to work with though. Also, the race is 20 minutes from my house, so again, it's convenient.

Aside from just having a racing plan, I need a training plan too. I've started reading Advanced Marathoning and Racing Weight. I'll write about that later though. This is starting to get long, and I still want to tell you how last week went.

Okay, last week...was a good week. A solid 49 mile week. No aches or pains. I actually did one 8 mile run at an average pace of 7:52 per mile, which was a total shock. I ran outside and the weather was just perfect for running. I guess that's what happens when the weather is nice. I'm 5 months pregnant now, and below is a nice 5 month preggo picture for your viewing pleasure. My girth is still increasing. I've gained about 10 pounds now. Apparently all my running isn't preventing me from gaining weight, which is fine. According to all those pregnancy weight gain charts I'm right around normal, not a bad thing. Anyone brave enough to share their pregnancy weight gain?

Not sure why, but I look sort of hypnotized by the camera.

After Pregnancy Race Plan From November 2010 - October 2011 (My goals are WAGs and nothing more at this point.)

1. Turkey Trot 5K, November (goal 21:45)
2. Hampton Half Marathon, February (goal 1:40)
3. Providence (COX) Marathon, May (goal 3:40)
4. Chelmsford 4th of July 2 miler, July (goal: 12:40)
5. Moose on the Loose 10 miler, August (goal: 1:12)
6. BayState Marathon, October (goal: 3:30)

Training Journal 4/12 - 4/18
Total Miles Run: 49
Total Time Running: 7:02
Average Pace: 8:36
Total Stationary Bike Time: 1:47
Total Cardio Time: 8:49