I ran and I ran and I ran....

Now that my first half is done.  :)  You can read my recap here...  and here.  I can settle into a regular running schedule.  Although I had such fun I am looking at a 5k or a 10k in February.  But I will be closer to 30 weeks then and well...  my midwife might frown on that.  :-) 

I did take a couple of days off though and then ran on Friday and let me tell you... it felt great.  (other than the fact that my pants kept falling down...  could be the size of my belly increasing.  OH MY!  :-)  But, I did an easy 3 miles and it felt good.  Now, if I can just keep that u for the next couple of month's, I'll be proud of myself. 

Five days and a wake up call

til my first half.  And I am giddy and nervous and excited and worried.  

I did my last long run yesterday and made it 10 miles and I was working in my new running shoes and trying out the "hammer" gu in Apple Flavored booger er  I mean apple flavor.  I had never used GU before

but I really needed a boost around mile 8 so this was suggested.  :)  

I set out about 9:00 am, I love the weather this time of year and started my run.  I can't tell you how much my time has improved since I stopped worrying so much about my heart rate.  I monitor how I feel and just go.  I can just enjoy my run.  I had my ipod on...  my runkeeper tracking even with the nasty lady who tells me how far and how fast I've gone and just enjoyed. 

I did really well until about mile 6 when I got to a point where the wind hit me.  And WOW did it hit me.  Couple that with the fact that the loop I thought would be 10 miles wasn't...  can you hear the wah wah wah waaaaaaaaah sound?  I made it for one more loop but not the 11 I was hoping for.  

SOOOOo...  this week I will do 75% tomorrow, 50% on Wednesday, 25% on Thursday and then walk a wee bit on Saturday.  Which means about 3 miles tomorrow, 2 miles on Wed and 1 on Thursday.  NOOOOO problemo.  :)  

I got my hotel room changed to include Friday night and sharing with mom and dad and Danielle and Todd to join us on Thursday.  yaya!  I'm excited.  

I need to find the right outfit for varying weather now...  I love skirts but don't want my legs to get cold.  I would love to do a skirt with the capri's under but man oh man they are expensive.  

Soooo I shall look this week.  :)  

Well I'll be gosh darned!

I was under the impression, from my midwife and from the internet, that it was necessary for me to keep my heartrate under 150 while running.  Well, I have just found research stating that that is an old myth.  

Well smack my ass and call me petunia! 

I just found this article stating that this is a myth!  That if you are a current athlete and have been doing an exercise for long periods of time, as long as you can still carry on a conversation you are good.

Artal said that, in 1985, he and another doctor used intuition and calculation to determine the 140 beats rule. Six months later, when actual testing of women in a lab proved them wrong, Artal said he asked for the 140 beats notation to be stricken from the guidelines.

"For some reason, people caught onto that and they never let go," he said. "Each time I get asked about it, I said forget about it. I think it should be ignored."

Wonder how this will change my training for my half in two weeks.  :)

Running... one bathroom stop to another.

I have noticed that the biggest challenge to endurance running isn't going the actual distance... it's what to do with yourself when you are in between mile 3 and 4 and about 3 miles from the nearest bathroom.  This isn't normally a problem for the normal person.  Normally.  However, when you find yourself knocked up er  I mean with child.. well... that need all of a sudden becomes a dire necessity.  

It has gotten so bad that I find places to run that circle my house or public restrooms.  I literally plan my runs around a restroom.  I go once before I leave and usually can count the seconds til I return.  Where is that running zen I so covet?  

I am slightly worried that in San Antonio I will be reduced to a port a potty...  and I will be ok, not ideal but it'll work in a pinch.  

Do you think they will notice me running with my own roll of charmin?  

think anyone would notice the dress made out of toilet paper? no... really....    ???

Seriously...  I still enjoy my runs...  but you know it's desperate when you wish you'd worn your grandmother's depends.  

Maybe I am looking at it all wrong...  maybe the zen I covet is really....

snicker snicker

5 miles and three weeks

My very first half marathon is in three weeks and I'm excited but also nervous. My longest run is 10.55 miles and although 2.5 more isn't that many.... My comfort level seems to be around 5 miles. I like to stay close to a restroom (as after about 3 miles I NEED one)...  and I prefer to run at the park and well... bathrooms aren't as prevalent there.  :-)

This week I am home alone... without husband or child... so I am hoping to get up early and go for a 7 mile run and then on Saturday I want to run for 11.  That means that I have two weeks to kind of sustain before my marathon. 

My sister and brother in law just completed their first half and gave me some good tips...  and I know in my heart that it won't be bad, in fact it should be a lot of fun...  but I'm nervous.  :)  Mostly nervous about keeping my heart rate low (below 155 and it creeps up after about mile 3) and finding that bathroom when it's needed.  :)  And let's face it, I'm vain... I want to finish around 2.30 which was my goal before I found out I was pregnant..... 

Wish me luck and if you have any tips... I'll take them.  :) 

10.54 Miles

I am forging ahead with my goal of long runs on saturday's.  This past Saturday we were in Lufkin, TX where my inlaws live.  I arrived late Friday night and Joe having had a nice two hour nap was ready and raring to go.  :)  

We finally calmed him down about 11 and went to sleep...  I was so exhausted....  I barely made it through one Bob Builder.  I kind of thought that since he went to bed so late, he might sleep a bit later but nope.  :-)  Which was fine.  I wanted to go for my run and Jason was taking Joe to his cousins soccer game.  

They dropped me off at Crown Colony which is apparently the safest and nicest place to run...  and it has a 3.5 mile loop.  I hate loops.  But...  if this was the safest...  this I would do.  

The weather was perfect and I started out.  It was a nice hilly run...  and about half way through the first loop I stripped off my sweatshirt and had reached a nice pace.  Slow and steady but faster than I had been doing so I felt great.  I finished one loop and needed a potty break.  Got into the car and drove to McDonalds and used their facilities.  When I got back, I reversed my loop which was a lot harder for some reason.  

You ron along a golf course and the country club.  It's beautiful and mostly shady.  

However, I completed two more laps making my total 10.54 miles in 2 hours 14 minutes.  That last mile and a half was a killer though.  

I had chafing on my inner thighs... note to self... wear spandex shorts.  

I had sore feet... note to self...  probably time for new sneaks before the half.  

I felt great.  :)  

lofty goals

I was never a fast runner.  In fact up until February of last year I wasn't a runner at all.  Little by little I have started though and have gone further and further and further.  Now I can say that my longest is 9.25 miles.  Not bad for a beginner, huh?  :)

I have bought the clothes.  I have bought the running shoes.  I even have a sweatband circa 1980.  :) 

I have never been all that fast and I'm okay with that. 

However, this pregnant 'time' is WAY slow and really hard for my ego. 

Crazy, I KNOW it is.  I'm lucky that I can still run at all.  I am lucky that even with a bit of morning sickness I strap on my shoes and hit the pavement with my ipod in tow.  But try as I might, I cannot get over that damn lady telling me on my runkeeper that my pace is 12 minutes 30 seconds.... or 13 minutes and climbing.  I hear her saying...  hurry it up you snail!  what are you, Lazy?  A granny could pass you! 

BUT... I also know how important it is to keep my heartrate down.  I've been mantaining a heart rate of under 150.  I have heard that with this training, I will eventually be able to run a 9 minute 30 mile. 

however, it's not so much about running fast right now but running in the first place.  So... with my very first half marathon coming up... I need to keep my goal in sight and not get discouraged.  Remember that it's about finishing, not about being first. 

So, me and Fiona.  (Fiona the fetus)...  we will continue to put one foot in front of the other and race on down the road.  :) 

8.96 miles

I try to keep my long runs to Saturday  mornings.  There is a group that runs at Trinity Park and they are great at motivating you plus they have water stations every two miles.  :)  

So, this past Saturday I got up at 5:30 am, ate some oatmeal and went to Fort Worth Running Company where the group meets. 

We set out at 6:30 and I moved back to the 12-13 minute per mile range so that I could keep my heart rate below 150.  I chatted with the pace leader and told him I was pregnant and had to keep my heart rate low and he said... keep at this and you'll be running a 9.30 mile in no time.  :)  Wouldn't that be nice?  :)  

It was an easy pace and I was really enjoying it.  The weather was PERFECT and even a slight bit chilly.  I had my water and had loaded up on my electrolytes.  I had used the bathroom and was ready to go.  I got about three miles into it and kablam.  I had to go to the bathroom.  :(  

There are no facilities on the trail.  :(  So... I broke away from the group and found a haven in a nearby Braums

and the guy must have seen my panicked look so he just pointed.  :)  

I then started back on my run...  and made it to the next water station so about 4.45 miles and turned around. 

By the end of my run I was starting to feel fatigued but determined to do 9 miles...  and I got so stinkin close.  I would have done another trip around the block but people had already started congregating back at the store and I would have felt silly.  :)  I know I know... my own issue. 

But, it felt great to do almost nine miles!  This weekend I want to do 9.25 and the exciting part is that I will be in New Orleans.  I LOVE running in new places!!!  Even if I did run there back in June...  it was so stinkin hot I couldn't do much.  This time... no alcohol the night before and better motivation.  Wish me luck! 

Mad at myself....

I am planning on working on my long run tomorrow because there's a running group through Fort Worth Running Company and it pushes me to go further.  So, I took today and yesterday off to prepare myself. 

I got all showered and dressed and walked outside and it's a whopping 77 degrees, overcast and PERFECT Running weather but ... oh well. 

Maybe I'll go for a walk later.  :)

My doc said....

So I had my first doctor's appointment this morning... a confirmation appointment.  We did the usual... pee in a cup...  talk talk talk...  stick me in the arm... pay your money and out you go.  :)  All in all, a good appointment. 

We will do the date confirmation in four weeks with a sonogram and OB appointment. 

Good news:  She's all for a VBAC (Vaginal birth after C-section).  I think with my healthy ways it will be a great challenge and one that I am up for. 

Bad News:  She told me that she doesn't love the idea of me running.  :(  I knew it was coming in my heart of hearts but I also don't believe her.  I feel like I have done a LOT of research on it and as long as I keep my heart rate under control (walk when I need to)...  I will listen to my body and forge ahead. 

I do have my dear friend checking with her doctor that she's on a first name basis with though.  She's battling a crazy Stage 4 melo something lymphatic cancer that's outside of her lymph system and she is amazing.  She leaves for Germany in a couple of weeks for her holistic protocol therapies.  And her doctor who is the head of oncology for the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota is the one she'll ask.  :) 

So... for now, I am going ahead.  I really want to run my half marathon.  It may be slow (to keep my heart rate under control) but I will finish it!  :) 

First time for Everything

Let me introduce myself.  I am a mom of one and one on the way.  I am an ex smoker who quit when she got pregnant with number one.  So, it has been four years since I smoked and although I miss it sometimes.. .I do not miss being a slave to that cigarette.  I have been married for five years and have always been relatively active.  

It was about February that I started running.  Not well mind you.  I started running a 3 mile loop and making it maybe a half mile of that.  I vowed that I would one day be able to run that whole thing.  It is now September and I have worked up to running 3-4 miles consistently and as long as 8.6 miles.  I have run my first 5 k and have signed up for my first half marathon in San Antonio, TX.  

Two weeks ago, Sunday I turned up with this.  

So, I start a new era in my exercise routine.  I am still dedicated to running my first half marathon but now, I will be doing it with Edgar.  (I call it Edgar the Embryo).  I am early.  I am VERY early but I quickly went from a 10 min 45 second mile to pushing a 12 min 30 second mile.  I hate the slowing but now I have to very closely monitor my heart rate.  I can't have Edgar getting overheated.  

I am hoping with all of my heart to run throughout this pregnancy.  I hope to remain fit and active.  I also am hoping for a TOLAC (Trial of Labor after C-section) AND unmedicated.  Hopefully with the right work, the right doctor and the right training... I can have the birth my body was meant to have.  

So climb aboard and join this fun journey with me.  In the words of my gorgeous three year old son... 

ALL ABOARD!