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What I can tell you about third trimester pregnant running

What I can tell you about third trimester pregnant running

I repeat myself a lot these days, and one of my common refrains goes something along these lines:

pregnancy can be is unpredictable.

listen to your body.

take things a day at a time.

Soon enough, I’ll only have one hand’s worth of weeks left in this pregnancy, in theory — though of course, we know that due dates are more like glorified “guess dates,” since they’re +/- 2 weeks — and it’s around this time in my first pregnancy when I stopped running.

Strolling down memory lane for a second, in no small part due to the fact that I’m apparently nesting like crazy (and hey, that’s a good thing), thanks to some old-school running log books I found and some old blog posts I had written way back in the day, I (eventually) remembered that I ceased running around the 35/36 week mark of my almost 41-week pregnancy because of lower SI joint pain. If you don’t know what that is, please let me assure you that it doesn’t feel very nice. Imagine the sensation of what feels like bone-on-bone grinding every time you walk, and running, ha, yea right!, um no way.  During my first pregnancy, my final double-digit run was about 10 miles around 29 weeks pregnant. Most of my runs were at 11:xx pace (and through the winter and early spring in Chicago, so throw some nice elemental variation in there … think ice, wind, snow), and surely my mileage wasn’t anything beyond 20 mpw, if I were lucky and reeeeeeeally being a baller.

maybe the day? afternoon? after that final double-digit LR during pregnancy 1, we went to Vegas for a 'babymoon.' Pic is from Red Rock Canyon, not my LR in Chicago (obvs).
maybe the day? afternoon? after that final double-digit LR during pregnancy 1, we went to Vegas for a ‘babymoon.’ Pic is from Red Rock Canyon, not my LR in Chicago (obvs).

This time around — and I’ll provide another mileage recap in a few weeks — I’m continuing to surprise myself by still running in the 8s on average, ranging from 8:teens (shorter runs)-high 8s/low 9s (recovery), maaaaybe squeaking in a sub-8 toward the end of my run (and if I’m on a downhill, ha!), and posting volume each week between about 25-40ish miles, depending on my schedule, if I’m “racing” (note the quotes — they’re important), how I’m feeling, what my sleep has been like, all that good stuff.

I’m not documenting this to humble-brag or anything like that; really, I’m not much into that. My point is merely to remind you, dear reader who might be a runner and/or pregnant or thinking about starting/resuming running and/or thinking about getting pregnant, that, once again, pregnancy is freaking unpredictable and its effects on your running are as good as anyone’s guess. You might be able to run until the day you deliver, you might feel so horrible or disinterested that you don’t run a single step for 40ish weeks, or hey, maybe you do a little one week or day but not much the next. You really don’t know how things are going to go or how you’re going to feel, and I’d wager that it’s impossible to guess or to know until you’re in the thick of it. Pregnancy is an incredible metamorphosis; it affects literally every ounce of your being. Very few (if any?) things in life mirror this profoundly-altering process.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again (I told you — broken record these days): running or not running during your pregnancy doesn’t make you any “more” or “less” of a runner than you usually are. I firmly believe it all boils down to YOU listening to YOUR body (and your practitioner’s advice) and doing what is right for YOU. It’s not about being a badass or being weak or trying to make a show of your running; you just have to do what’s right for YOU, what feels good for YOU, and what your practitioner says is advisable for, guess who? Yup, YOU! That’s it. Your pregnancy is a bit of an experiment of one, and you, amiga mia, are the lone, singular test subject.

and some days, the experiment of 1 involves seeing what a plank feels like super pregnant while your 4 year-old tries to decipher what the eff you're doing
and some days, the experiment of 1 involves seeing what a plank feels like super pregnant (and in a tiara, naturally) while your 4 year-old tries to decipher what the eff you’re doing

I thought *for sure* that my running during pregnancy dos would mirror my running during pregnancy uno, and it hasn’t: at all. It has been better — faster, higher volume, better “feel,” less perceived exertion, everything. Your guess is as good as mine. I have some theories as to why pregnant running this time around, as opposed to four years ago, has been so much better, but seeing as how I’m a) not a medical professional or b) not a coach, I’ll abstain in the interest of not putting more (possibly) unfounded garbage on the internet. If you want to know, ask.

At any rate, suffice it to say that I am fucking THRILLED that I can still do this stuff more or less as I wish to this far along. It is seriously like an unexpected present, and each day I get to re-open and re-experience this present — being just a little more pregnant than I was the day before, possibly a bit heavier, maybe a bit slower, whatever — it’s just the bee’s knees. To run without expectations while you’re pregnant, and to be SO SURPRISED and to CONTINUE to be SO SURPRISED by being able to continually enjoy the gift — because that’s what it is, kids — that is the ability to run warrants ALL THE CAPS because, at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, it’s exhilarating. Fucking exhilarating, people!!!!!!!!!!!!!

perfection
perfection [SJ style]
this is also sufficient. (Akron-in-a-soggy-and-wet-June style)
this is also sufficient. [Akron-in-a-soggy-and-wet-June style]

Being this far along in my pregnancy, and knowing the experience I had the first time around (related to the SI stuff), I actually feel like I’m getting kinda obnoxiously excited, to the tune of when I start each run, I’m a) excited that I awaken feeling great enough and rarin’ to run; b) I wonder (when I start running) if this will be my final run or one of my final runs during the pregnancy because I never know how I’ll feel once I’m actually out there, so I kinda proceed with caution until I have a good idea of how I’ll fare; and c) by the time I finish the thing, even if the run kinda blew because of XYZ reason, I’m still Cheshirin’ like a damn fool because I JUST RAN X MILES AT X PACE AT X WEEKS PREGNANT, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (again, all the caps. Told you).

With all of this in mind, then, as though it weren’t blatantly obvious, I’m happy to say that all is well in pregnancy and fetus land, though I’m beginning to wonder where exactly the fetus is going to grow for another 6ish weeks; much like the Bay Area housing market, my uterine rental space is quickly becoming increasingly difficult to secure. As far as measurements and weight gain and all those good variables go, everything is right where it should be (though I feel way bigger this time around than I did during #1), and in terms of the family, we’re all getting more excited with each passing day. A has it in her mind that she’s going to “catch” the baby when it comes out of my belly, and oh, by the way, she’s still pretty convinced that she’s going to be a big sister to a baby brother, who’s a girl, who’s named Aurora (the baby in her belly) or TinkerBell (the baby in my belly). Let that one sink in for a second … Oh, and on the subject of the baby’s sex, it has been almost unanimous — almost, in the sense of all but one single person over the past ~34 weeks has told me — that I’m having a boy, based on some cockamamie notion or another. Here’s the funny thing, though; that was my experience while pregnant with A as well. Just saying (though nope, I have no idea either)…

Anyway, my plan for the remainder of my pregnancy is to continue that which I’ve been doing for the past ~34 weeks — to listen to my body. If all’s well, I’ll continue to run, I’ll “race” the San Francisco Marathon’s 5k race here in a couple weeks (at about 36 weeks and change) and see lots of TSFM buddies over the course of the weekend (and Chicago Erin, who’s coming back this year to run one of TSFM races!), and no doubt I’ll continue to finish each run with that ridic Cheshire shit-eating grin.

standard Cheshire fare
standard fare

 

Much like during any training cycle, being flexible is critical, and this is especially even more true when you’re running while pregnant. That’s my MO — take things a day at a time and listen to my body. That’s really all I can do, so that’s all I’m gonna do; it’s really that straightforward.

life, in a nutshell – an update

life, in a nutshell – an update

It has been a bit since I posted about something other than “training” — pretend those are air quotes — or upcoming races or upcoming events to promote upcoming races, so I figured it was time for some non-running banter. Here we go.

Books! – many. The most recent ones I’ve read include:

  • Matt Richtel’s A Deadly Wandering – which will stay with you a long time after you’re done and might make you neurotic upon seeing other drivers texting/facebooking/tweeting/whatevering while they’re supposed to be driving (agh! freaking A, people!)
  • Dalton Conley’s Parentology – which, if you are a parent, will probably make you laugh and scratch your head a little bit and probably judge the eff out of him for his parenting ways. If you’re not a parent but still like some good ol fashioned social science reading, I think it’s still an enjoyable read.
  • Chris Cleave’s Little Bee – a quick departure for me from my usual nonfiction preferences and a book that has been out for a few years (?) now and, I think, has been pretty popular. It’s good and fast — think airport reading — but also kinda haunting. It contains lots of suicidal undertones from the unstable narrator, which can be (understandably) a bit unnerving at times.
  • Julie Tupler’s Maternal Fitness – homework reading. All about getting #laborstrong, baby.
  • Lisa Genova’s Still Alice – naturally, I’m partial to the protagonist’s name. I didn’t see this in theatres last fall, and generally speaking, I either read the book or watch the movie; I don’t do both because of how hugely disappointed I usually am. This handful-of-years-old novel is also a bit haunting and damn heartbreaking. As much as I know, I don’t have any familial connection to Alzheimer’s, but seeing the super-smart and super-talented and super-everything protagonist slowly succumb to early-onset AD just sucks (no spoilers there, promise). Truth be told, since reading it, anytime I fail to remember something, I automatically think that I am showing symptoms of EOAD, which is horrible because the pregnancy has given me swiss cheese for brains most days.
  • Amy Poehler’s Yes Please – I adore her. Just adore. Her autobio is a ton of fun to read not only because of her extensive Chicago experiences and comedic backgrounds but also because she just seems like such a cool human being. Her writing is more funny than serious, but she definitely has some great little nuggets of wisdom for readers, including my favorite — be more kind to yourself and talk to yourself as if you’re 90. In other words, whenever you’re unduly fretting about something, ask yourself if it’ll matter when you’re 90. No? Move the eff on, sister. It’s really that easy.

Disneyland! Oh, the magic of the happiest place on earth. Mid-month, my folks flew into SFO from Ohio, and the five of us drove down to Anaheim to meet my sister and her 3 boys, who had also flown in from Ohio, for a good 4-5 days at Disneyland and California Adventure. It was everyone’s (except our) first time at Disneyland, and it was amazing, especially since we were a party of 9 with four children aged 12 and under (3, 3, 5, and 12). Southern California gave us an abundance of sunshine (as usual), pretty perfect weather, and tons and tons of memories. My folks hadn’t been out to CA since Mother’s Day ’14, and my sis and her kids had never been out here, so it was just fantastic. I can’t wait to do it again. We have so many pictures from the trip, but I’ll just post these two because the look of terror/joy on the kids’ faces is just priceless.

splash mountain - 2015

space mountain - 2015

The pregnancy – all’s well. Some days I think that it is moving along really quickly, and other days I feel like I’ve been pregnant for-ev-er. I’m obviously really grateful that the pregnancy is healthy and that Kiddo Dos is well, but I feel like compared to the first time around, the novelty of pregnancy — for lack of a better phrase — just isn’t there. The first time around, it was all whoa! my boobs are so big! My belly button has popped out! look how huge my stomach is! This time around, those expressions of self-entertainment are more tempered with sentiments like fuck, how are my boobs already so big? or crap, I don’t remember being this big until my Xth month or whatever. At the same time though — and even though I said that I wouldn’t talk about running, I have to at least mention it — my running is way stronger the second time around. It’s just a different experience. I don’t want to say I’m “over” being pregnant because I still have a long way to go, and really, I have nothing to complain about, but I guess this time around it’s not something that I’ve been fixated on like I was the first time. I’m definitely not wishing it away because I know that life with two small children will be absolutely crazy, so I’m just reveling in the time that we still have together as a family of three.

take your kid to work day. she was the only mini software engineer in a tutu or leotard.
take your kid to work day. she was the only mini software engineer in a tutu or leotard.

midwest-bound! Pretty stoked that A and I will be going to Ohio for about two weeks in the beginning of June. This will likely be our only time out in the midwest this year (since my due date is August 17), and it’ll be nice to see my family again plus some extended family that’s scattered throughout northeast Ohio. What’s super awesome about this trip is that my brother and his family will also be coming in from Texas, so I’ll get to see my bro and his wife for the first time in over two years (!), AND I’ll finally get to meet my more-than-one-year-old nephew for the first time. A will be really stoked to meet her other cousin whom she has heard so much about for the past year. My BFF in Ohio is also pregnant, a few weeks ahead of me, so it’ll be great to see her in all her pregnant glory right before she pops, too 🙂 #babiesfordays

The #RinnStone wedding – Bay Area weddings sure are pretty. Attending this last weekend was just a delight. Erin was one of the few folks I knew out here before we moved and is a longtime friend from Boston/Chicago ’10 training, back when we both were living in Chicago.

rinnstone

That’s about it. Have a great weekend!