Back in the Gym

Even though I feel like napping all the time, I am doing my best to keep moving. As long as its not early in the morning I join Josh at the gym here in our apartment complex. Josh usually runs and does some weight training. I either walk on the treadmill or work out on the elliptical machine and then do some very light weight lifting --- just upper body with the 2.5 pound free weights.

It feels pretty good to get off the couch, even if I am barely breaking a sweat. The important thing is raising my heart rate a little and just keeping my muscles moving. I do get out of breath a lot faster because I am carrying extra weight and my lungs are being squished by my ever growing uterus. What's funny though is that I still get the urge to push myself. As soon as I step on the treadmill I want to set it to 6.0 mph and run for at least 30 minutes, but today I settled for 3.3mph for 15 minutes. I did put it at a 1.5% incline though, just to add a little difficulty. But by the time I was finished my pelvis was ready to be done, so I am succeeding at not pushing myself too hard.

Thankfully the machines have a heart rate monitor so that I can keep an eye on my heart rate. The rates are: 1)warm-up 2)fat burner 3)cardio 4)peak high. I try to keep my heart rate between 'fat burner' and 'cardio' which is between 130 bpm and 155 bpm. That is the safe zone for my baby. Also if I allow it to go higher and I start to really heat up it can be very unsafe for my little James because he will heat up also and in the uterus the baby has no means to cool down, which is why I am not allowed in a hot bath or the hot tub for the duration of the pregnancy.

So long story short, I need to be careful and listen to my body, but I also need to keep moving  :)

On days that I don't go to the gym I am trying to do some prenatal yoga or prenatal Pilate's. Since that's in DVD or YouTube form it can be very difficult to get motivated and off the couch, but rest days are also very welcome :) 

I look forward to getting back to proper running once James has arrived, but in the mean time I am very much enjoying a slower pace :)

Back in the Gym.

Now that I am 16.5 weeks pregnant and past the first trimester I have started feeling much better. Nausea is a thing of the past (touch wood) and the worst thing I deal with now are the hormone headaches, some fatigue and nose bleeds. And trust me ... those are better than the nausea! My cravings are also lessening so I am making a better effort to eat healthy  :)

Today was my second day back on the treadmill. I have been walking with Pam for the past few weeks, but I've been getting the urge to run. When I went to the gym with Josh a few days ago I jogged for a total of 6 minutes and walked for 14 minutes. I just wanted to get a feel for running again, and I have to admit that it feels different now. My boobs are heavy and uncontrollable! And I did feel the extra weight in my knees a little bit. But other than that, it felt good to be moving again.

Today I jogged for 8 minutes at 4.1 mph and walked for the rest of the 30 minutes at 3.5mph or less.  I was hoping to jog for 10 minutes but had to listen to my body. I started getting some minor lower abdominal cramping, and so didn't want to push it. Though for me, its very difficult to stop due to some minor pain. I am used to pushing through it and I am used to going all out. To think that I am used to running 3.3 miles in 30 minutes and today I got to 1.75 miles in 30 minutes ... it's quite a change of pace.

But right now I am not running to better my times or to train for a race ... right now I jog because I want to stay healthy throughout my pregnancy and make it easier on myself to get back into running shape after Peanut has arrived. I have also read that the uterus vibrates while I exercise and that feels good for the baby. It also brings more oxygen to the baby and there are some studies to support a higher likely hood of an active/healthy/intelligent child when a mom exercises during pregnancy due to that extra oxygen on a regular basis. So I want to do it for myself as well as for Peanut :)

So jogging, yoga, whole grains and veggies ... I feel like I am finally in the pregnancy stride I envisioned myself in, and I'm feeling good :)

The Irvine Lake Mud Run.

The mud run, mud walk, mud stroll, mud slip and slide, mud swim and there was even some mud sit down time. I am so glad that I didn't drop out of the race just because of my pregnancy. It was so much fun! The original plan had been to just walk it and go around any obstacles that I felt uncomfortable doing.

But we ended up jogging quite a bit of it ... 'we' being dad and I ... and I didn't skip any of the obstacles. There were times when we had to walk because I just felt very out of breath, though the rest of my body felt like it could have gone on forever. I just basically listened to my body and dad listened to me.

We were told that it was a 5k race (3.1miles) but we passed the 3 mile sign a good 20 minutes before we crossed the finish line. So we are thinking it was closer to 3.5-4 miles. Our total time was 01:06:49. Over-all we came 447th out of 705 racers which I thought was awesome considering we weren't out there to get a good time or a good placing. Had I not been in the first trimester of pregnancy, we definitely would have gone a lot harder and I know that the next one we do one (after the baby is born), we will have a much better time because I won't be afraid of falling and harming my unborn child.

The next mud run in Irvine is March 31st. I won't be doing that one as it is 2 weeks before my due date, but dad and Josh are planning to do it. So I can stand on the side line with mum and cheer them on as Josh and mum cheered dad and I on this time  :) 

So even if you are not a 'runner', I highly recommend a mud run. I have never laughed so much during a race in my life! And it's all about team work. I cannot imagine doing a mud run alone. I think that experience is meant to be shared. Not only that, but there are times when you need help getting up a muddy hill ... I know I'd still be out there somewhere had I not had dad to help me!  ;)

The blog title?

You know, if you are reading this as someone who doesn't know me, it just occurred to me that I have never really explained the title of this blog. As far as I can remember I have not mentioned running of any kind in any of my blogs. So here it goes ... 12 blogs later, finally an explanation.

Before I became pregnant I was an avid runner. I was on the road or in the gym 5-6 days a week running a minimum of 5k (3.1 miles). I also did the elliptical machine, the StairMaster, the bike and rowing machine from time to time as well as light weight lifting. I like to think I did swimming too, but I don't think once every 2-3 months really counts.

Obviously since taking the pregnancy test which came up positive I have scaled back big time. I remember the last workout before the pregnancy test ... by the end of it I wasn't feeling well and had some abdominal cramping. I also read that if you work out hard for prolonged periods of time keeping your body temperature elevated you could be doing damage to your unborn child. Of course I don't want to do that, so I haven't been pushing myself as I was before. I had been working on improving my 5k time, but that can now wait.

For the past few weeks it has been difficult to workout anyway, due to the nausea and exhaustion, but when I do make it to the gym or out the front door, I just walk. My muscles feel like they are getting a workout, but I am not turning red and sweating buckets like if I was running. I sometimes lift lighter weights than before, but it has really come down to listening to my body. If something doesn't feel right, then I stop.

I do still have a mud run with my dad a week from tomorrow. I considered dropping out, but its only 5k. I figure we can walk/roll/skip/jog through the mud. We are not out to win, just to have fun. I signed up months ago and it wasn't cheap, so I'm still participating! I am not missing out on my chance to get dirty!