I ran the whole way!

It's the small victories in life....I ran the entire 4.33 miles today! Yes, at the end I was going so slow the dog was literally walking beside me....but I was still running...haha.

Weight gain is holding steady at 16 lbs (26 weeks and 2 days). I actually lost 2 lbs since Eric and I moved in the house and stopped eating out for every single meal. I feel pretty good about that. We are trying to limit eating out to one time per week. If you know us well, that's a HUGE change for us! We usually eat out nearly everyday while at work for lunch and at least every 2 or 3 days for dinner. I went shopping today and stocked the cupboards so there's no excuse.

In other exciting pregnancy news, I ordered a breast pump. Joy. It seems like an evil necessity for me. I found a deal online for the Medela Freestyle that I couldn't pass up. Eric and I are trying to do "baby on a budget" and this price matched out needs. We are trying to buy lots of used things but read that we shouldn't do that on the carseat and breastpump.

We have an appointment tomorrow for the first time in our new town! We are going to visit the Nurse-Midwives at University of Nebraska Medical Center and see if they are a good fit for us. So far, I love what they are about....natural and active birth. Hell, I didn't work this hard or run this hard for nothing! It better pay off on delivery day or I want my money back.

Lake run

Eric, Charley the dog and I ran from the house to the lake and did the trail loop. I love it here! First, the weather was beautiful...sunny and 65 degrees...and our house is exactly .5 miles from an awesome running trail.

4.33 miles total...I probably ran at least 3.5 miles of that and we walked the other parts. I felt kinda slow today and took a couple of walking breaks whenever I got a cramp. Emmett likes to hang out on my right side and push his little body out when I run...which I of course appreciate. If I stop and poke him a bit, he usually moves back "inside".

Though the cardio is going well, I have been neglecting the weights. My goal for this week is to lift at least 2 times.

Also, I put a bid in on a Bob Ironman running stroller on Ebay! Fingers crossed for us on that one.

26 weeks!

26 weeks today! I like how I can tell people I'm 6 1/2 months pregnant...that sounds cool somehow. This was my first run from our new house. The house is still a complete disaster...I almost couldn't even go because i couldn't find my running shoes. But they turned up and I went running with the dog. I ran 3 miles today...pretty slow. It felt good to run outside in the sunshine even if it's still a little cold.

I also used a new app for my Droid called Buddy Runner. I figure I have to carry my phone with my anyway (as a pregnancy precaution) so I went ahead and put this GPS/mapping/pace calculating device on my phone. I have it set so it "rings" and tells me my distance and pace every .5 miles. My only complaint about it is that it doesn't sync with Facebook even though it's supposed to. Maybe they will fix that with an update.

Also, our new house is in a great location! The neighborhood is right down the street from a recreation area that has a 5K trail around a lake. The trail is nice and wide and paved so it will be ideal for the baby jogger stroller as well.

I'm so tired

We are in the middle of moving....we just got into our new house yesterday and are trying to unpack today. Unfortunately, we are going from a much much bigger house to a smaller one and it's hard to fit everything!!

I'm exhausted. I doubt I will be able to workout today.

Workout yesterday: Ran 4 miles on the indoor track. New personal "pregnancy best". I did 4 miles in 38 mins! That puts me right at 9:30/mile pace. Not too bad for Fatty over here.

Workout recap

Tues, 23 March - Ran 2 miles on the indoor track then did Ultimate Circuit workout class (60 mins). Great back and arm exercises today.

Wed, 24 March - 45 min spinning class (lots of long hills and strength work), then walked 2 miles on the indoor track.

It's starting to hurt!!!

No! I'm so close to the third trimester, I can see it just around the corner. I was hoping to keep running comfortably until at least then (and secretly hoping to be one of those Olympian types that wins a 10K while 8 months pregnant). But today, I hurt during my run.

Little Emmett was testing my bladder control ability as he insisted on sitting right on it for the whole 4 mile run. Eric and the dog and I ran outside...weather was fairly nice. I love running outside, however, the bathrooms are few and far between. I had to run into a gas station about 1.5 miles in. Even after my break, my bladder was screaming the whole run. I was definitely reduced to the shuffle-step gait too.

I hope today was just an "off" day and I will feel better tomorrow. I plan to start going to some spinning classes though, just in case the continued running does not agree with me and Emmett.

Pregnant Saturday

I checked out my "new" gym today. Love, love, love the huge indoor track. Each lap is .4 miles! Also, the outer lane is designated as a walker/stroller lane! I will definitely be taking advantage of the stroller lane sometime this year.

I walked .5 miles, ran 4 miles and then walked .5 miles. I also did a few pushups and ab exercises. I am running almost exactly 10 mins/mile for my pace which I don't think is too shabby.

After my workout I went to the store for groceries. It was nearly a disaster...at one point, I had chips, ice cream, cookies, and candy in my cart. When Preggo goes shopping, everyone wins! haha....anyway, I managed to wrestle the junkfood away from myself. (Only because I had Girl Scount cookies in the freezer). We have been eating out almost every meal as we live in the hotel and wait for the closing day for our house. I can't wait to be in a house again!

My Super Sweet 16

I'm 24 weeks and 5 days today....and have gained a whopping 16 lbs. I think I will NOT stay under my stated goal of 25lbs gained for this pregnancy. Oh well. I will say, that I feel suprisingly good and not like what I imagined gaining 16 lbs would feel like. Pretty much, it's all in my belly and boobs...although Eric took the opportunity to inform me that my face was slightly fatter today. (Thanks Eric. At least I know he's honest) I'm OK with baby weight as long as that is what it is....no sneaky weight gain in my arms or legs or anything....haha.

I think I did feel all 16 lbs of baby weight on my run today. This is the worst I have felt so far...I only felt bad for the first 1/2 though. I did 4 miles outside with the dog. The weather was fabulous. I think I was holding steady at 10 mins/mile (I think)...pure guesstimate. My left foot and lower leg hurt. It felt like my poor foot was flattening out (I imagine the foot does not appreciate the baby weight). But after 2 miles out, I felt 10 xs better on the way back. In fact, in the last mile I felt downright speedy. The run had a few hills and stairs in it so hopefully got a decent workout.

Life is a little crazy right now!

I'm officially in a new state, new job and starting to figure out my new life. We are still living in temporary lodging and I'm counting the days until we can move into our new house!!! (I have still only seen the outside of the house....Eric picked it out). I'm very excited to report there is a lake with a 5K trail around it just down the street! And there is a playground at the end of the street which I imagine we will use someday!

I ran 3 miles with Eric yesterday (and Charley the dog). It was kinda cold and murky outside but ended up being perfect temperature for me and my built in heater. It was the first time I ran with the maternity support belt and liked the way it felt.

Today, I did a circuit training class at my new gym. It was an hour long workout with different stations and you did each station for a minute. Good workout. Also, our new gym has a .4 mile indoor track which will be wonderful on cold days. I did 2 laps on that track just to check out the new place.

In other news, I'm officially 24+ weeks! I can't believe I can tell people I'm "6 months" when they ask how far along I am. 6 months...really? Pregnancy has been a breeze in all honesty. I hope my good luck continues. My only complaint thus far is I'm starting to get some heartburn. I can't blame the heartburn entirely on pregnancy though. I haven't been eating the greatest while we have moved. Soda and chocolate and fast food....surprise, surprise...those are all 'trigger' foods for heartburn! The heartburn hurts enough to encourage me to change my diet!

Rainy run

Eric and I did 3 miles running outside in the rain. We took "Sausage" otherwise known as Charley the dog. She put on a little weight over the winter. We like to say she is "big boned" but really she is just fat.

Anyway, I felt pretty good on the run but stopped to walk twice for a few seconds as the little man was moving around and cramping me a little.

Body Pump

Anyone ever heard of "Body Pump"? It's an aerobics/sculpting class that is hitting gyms all over the nation. Try it out if you have it! I love what they are doing in the class. It's basically an hour of lifting that focuses on isolating different muscle groups. Good stuff.

So yeah, I did the Body Pump class yesterday. I had to go easy on some of the back exercises (dead lifts) but other than that, I felt good. My triceps are burning today.

Why I am motivated to run

I am a very bad person....yes, it's true. Try not to judge too harshly as I explain my motivation to run. (I want the record to show that I generally enjoy running and have other movtivations to run BESIDES the one I am about to reveal....but today, this was my motivation).

I am horrified by the seemingly common trend of pregnant women "letting themselves go" and eating whatever they want and doing whatever they want to their bodies. I believe, it's already hard enough on your body to make and carry a child....why should we be extra mean to ourselves and trash our bodies. I am very disturbed that gaining 40, 50, 60 + lbs seems to be the new norm in pregnancy weight gain. As a society we are WAY overfed and very underexercised. And so I run. And I also try to watch what I eat. And yes, I do both while pregnant.

Anyway, to wrap up a long story, I was going to work out today no matter what. We were somewhere in South Dakota at a hotel. My first clue that it was going to be an interesting workout was my room key did not let me in the gym. In fact, the card key did not work at all. The girl at the desk had to get a no-kidding key to let me in...at which point she confided to me that she had never seen anyone use the gym. Great.

So, I get on the treadmill and try to do my 5 min warmup walk. When I get to a comfortable walking pace, I look down and see the treadmill says it's going 8.0mph. If you have ever run on a treadmill, you will know that 8.0mph is pretty fast and NOT a walking pace. Clearly, the treadmill is well calibrated.

Suddenly, the display goes out. I now have no indication of time, speed, or incline.

Finally, I realize that every time I touch a button on the treadmill, the stupid thing shocks the sh&* out of me! That hurts.

No matter...like I said...this workout was going to happen. I cranked up the incline and speed as much as I good and ended up doing some light jogging for 30 mins or so. I hope I went about 3 miles. Wish me better luck at our next hotel tomorrow.

My last Montana run

4 miles total (walked .5 mile, ran 3.5 miles on the indoor track). I felt AMAZING. I'm not sure where today came from but I was just rolling along...lap after lap. My breathing was super easy and I don't think I was plodding along too slowly either.

So long Montana! I hit the road tomorrow.

I am the crazy pregnant woman!

I'm in Arizona for a few days for my Masters graduation ceremony. My dad and I found some great hikes in the Phoenix metro area. Both the hike we did yesterday and the one today were rated "moderate". In my mind, moderate means one step above walking on a perfectly smooth trail.

Well...things are a little different in Arizona! We hiked about an hour yesterday and then 2 1/2 hours today. I guess in Arizona, "moderate" means one step BELOW needing rock climbing equipment!!! In a couple parts, we were crawling up stone faces. The boulders were pretty big and the trails were surprisingly steep! So yes, I am that crazy pregnant women practically rock climbing at nearly 6 months pregnant!

I loved every second of it though. Hiking was much less challenging (cardio-wise) than my normal running...however, it was much more challenging muscle-wise. My legs were burning. The scenery was beautiful and most importantly, the weather was fabulous. Almost 80 degrees today!

I'm probably going to be a little sore tomorrow.

Arrived in beautiful Arizona!

The weather is gorgeous here...I kinda wish I lived here. It's a good break from the snow at least.

Managed to squeeze in a short workout before I left for the airport: 3 miles (2 on treadmill, 1 on indoor track). I ran the treadmill miles at 6.3 mph and felt good.

I also bought a maternity support belt today. I will try it out soon and report back.

Counting down the days in Montana

I am in my last week of living in Montana! We have loved it here but I'm ready to move on. Plus, Eric got a house for us in Nebraska and I can't wait to see it.

Workout for today: 4 miles total (1/2 mile walking, 3 1/2 miles running). I felt really good today. The running was pretty easy and I didn't feel too huge. I also got a pregnancy massage after work that was AMAZING. I hope I can splurge on a few more of those at our new location.