The Half

In a previous post I mentioned that I don't like seeing a race pace with a 9 in front of my mile times. Never mind...yesterday's Fairfield Half saw me walking up ALL the steep hills (there are SO many) and my chip time put me at a speedy 11:00 per mile pace! If I'd realized, and hadn't had to stop and pee (but only once!), I would have squeaked out a 10:59. Oh well. A far cry from my half PR last fall with an 8:42 pace...of course, on the Fairfield course I've never even broken 2 hours, so I at least should compare apples to apples. At any rate, I felt good after, not nauseous and pukey like last year, and I'm not even sore today. It was nice to take it easier, not have any mental pressure of "Go faster!" but rather find me telling myself "Slow down!" I did squeak out a few consecutive sub-10 minute miles in some of the middle, flatter stretches of the race. Later talking to a friend whose sister is a gynecologist, and complaining that I feel like I shouldn't be slower or feel so much going on around my uterus because I'm not showing, she said her sister told her that even when a pregnant woman isn't showing, she does move differently. That made me feel better...because it's true for me. There are all these ligaments I never knew about before, that I can feel now, when walking or running, and it's just....different.

I'm posting a picture I took this morning so I can keep a little bit of track of when and how my belly changes. So far, not much. This is 14 weeks. In the morning. By afternoon, I definitely look fat (not pregnant).

Six months vs Nine

So I was thinking yesterday that if I'd known going into pregnancy that the first 3 months would be easy, that I wouldn't be showing or gaining any weight, that I'd still be working out and running (slower, but still running) and cycling and lifting, that a lot of the fears wouldn't have been there. Nine months sounds like a long time to put your life on hold, however good the reasons for it may be. Six months (or, dare I hope for 5? 4?), that's doable. At almost 14 weeks, today I went on a 37 mile bike ride and Sunday I'm going to do a half marathon. And I just feel...normal. Good.

This video is inspiring (at least to a pregnant girl afraid of becoming too fat):

I'm gonna "run" the half...

So the weather for Sunday's Fairfield Half Marathon looks cool (60s and 70s), not hot and humid like the last 2 years. So I'm going for it. Friday I ran 11 miles..sort of. I had planned to run almost 7, a favorite route in North Stamford and New Canaan I haven't run in a LONG time. After about 4 miles is an elementary school where in the summer I used to stop and pee and get a drink (both more important than ever now!). Well, it's not summer, and with school still in session the school was all locked up against intruders. So no pee, no drink, and I just walked the last 3 miles. Later that night I met a friend to run a 4.5 mile loop. It was great, she's a little slower so I ran slower (which felt good) but she pushed a little, and we walked the last mile too. Then today I ran into another teacher who has run it before, and she said she and her boyfriend were going to run just for fun...run when they felt like it, walk when they felt like it. I'll start out with them, maybe stay with them, maybe do my plan of walk for a minute at every mile marker. I've wanted to try that strategy before, but always felt like it would slow me down (despite evidence to the contrary). So why not now, when my only goal is to finish and feel good at the end?

I'm still probably two months away from needing maternity clothes, but maternity running/workout clothes are so scarce. I don't understand why the big companies don't make them...how can there NOT be a market?

Still normal

I was spinning yesterday and in class was a woman who used to go to the boot camp class I take. When I asked where she'd been, she said she was pregnant. "Me too!" I said (I forgot the "Congratulations" part til later), and she said "And you still go to THAT class?" Well, yeah. She's older, a month further along, with her second, and I guess her doctor told her no jumping. Hmmm. Well, maybe there are reasons for her, but I'm jumping away until it doesn't feel good anymore.

With a week or so to go until the official end of the first trimester, I've been pleasantly surprised at how normal things seem. Normal in that I don't feel or look "pregnant." I think we (or at least I) have always been fed the messages like "Pregnant women get fat," "Pregnant women get nauseous," "Pregnant women shouldn't lift heavy things," and basically "Your life is over, accept it." I suppose, not having any real frame of reference, I bought into that. And yet, when I really stop and think about the pregnant women I have known, the nausea wasn't an issue for many, those who started out thin stayed thin, those who started out fat stayed fat, and there are plenty of pregnant women lifting and running. Like anything, I guess it is what you make it. I wish I hadn't been so worried, and I wish I wasn't currently so worried about what's still to come. It's just the unknown and the not being totally in control that I don't like. And I guess you just live in your reality and accept it.

I should have more faith in myself. It's very rare that I've ever been unhappy with anything in my life, and when I have been, I've found a way to change it or make it better. And I really am excited to see the kid...

The kid...12 weeks