23 Weeks

Last night the kid was SUPER squirmy, and she's getting strong! At some point around 2am I woke up and felt kicks near my belly button. Up to this point she's been really low, so it's weird to feel stuff that high. I got up to pee, and maybe gravity pulled her back down because she went right back (I can feel and see this hard bump where she is when she's low).

This past week I ran 19.5 miles in 4 days, rode twice and lifted three times. I can still keep just under a 10 min/mile pace without feeling like I'm working too hard, so I'm hopeful that the 10k in a few weeks will still be under an hour. But it is a month away I guess. At any rate, I can't complain about where I am and how I feel, it's been different and easier and a lot less scary than I anticipated pregnancy to be. I'm pretty confident that I'll be back in shape fairly quickly come spring. My goal (better to admit it, maybe I'll feel held more accountable) is to eventually (maybe by September when I want a new half marathon PR) end up about 10 pounds lighter than where I started this pregnancy (about 6-7 pounds lighter than my all-time low 2 years ago). And I want to improve my biceps...I had serious bicep envy a the diner yesterday with Fred when I saw a woman in her 40s with a school-aged kid with killer biceps. It's a product of the area I live in (rich, white, shamelessly superficial) that there are a lot of really fit women, and now especially when I see one with a kid, I gain a little confidence that I can do that too. (The rich part, not so much.)

One of my runs this week was without my ankle brace, because I had a scab on my Achilles' from wearing it with low socks a few days before. It was ok...I noticed that it wasn't there, but the ankle didn't hurt. Felt a little weak maybe. I'd have to say the RA has not given me anything to complain about (or even notice) beyond the usual sore wrists (due to past bone damage rather than active disease) after lifting.

Teachers go back to school tomorrow...I always go into this with mixed feelings, as by this point in the summer I am bored and feeling like I don't accomplish anything during the day, yet - well, I have to go back to work.