One month already?

Whew.  Everyone tells you that life will change, but you can't imagine the ways in which it will change or excite or exhaust you.  In a blur of days and nights with never-ending rounds of feeding and holding Riley, a month has gone by.  Amazing.  My respect for mothers everywhere, especially those with more than one child, has grown exponentially.

We had a beautiful week of May-like weather this week, so she got much more adept at time in her stroller as I walked as much as I could.  Things are still sore and I'm supposed to be limiting my activity, but it was so critical to just get out. of. the. house. even for 20 or 30 minutes.  And, as I write this, we are using the Baby Bjorn and Riley is asleep.  Suddenly, new worlds might be opening for me and my little one if she's willing to be portable.

Ya' see, Riley refuses to sleep anywhere but in my arms.  Not in her pack and play, not in her carseat, not anywhere.  So I've spent the last month sleeping upright with her in my arms, occasionally trying to trick her by laying her down after she's asleep.  That lasts about 10min before she's awake and screaming. 

My point here being that any activity (including blogging) has been extremely curtailed because even though she sleeps a ton, all that sleeping is done ON ME and I can't use the time to be productive. (You try typing, brushing your teeth, doing dishes, or making lunch one-handed)  My OB has cleared me to do some light upper body weightlifting even, but I can't do that since the only weight I'm lifting is a now-8lb 5oz ball of cuteness.

I'll admit, this has been wonderful but tough.  I shed more than a few tears one day last week -- admitting to enviousness at my husband for his runs and bike rides, while I simply sit holding our beautiful but headstrong daughter.  Even a friend who had a more normal birth ten days before me is already doing 2hr hikes while I sit with baby in one hand and tv remote in the other.  Patience.  I must have patience.  Running and biking clothes will fit again.  I'll get to move and the rest of the baby weight will go away.  Riley will occasionally sleep apart from me.

I know I'll miss this stage once it's gone, but really, if I can't do a 2hr bike ride or go for a run, is a few hours sleep too much to ask!?!?

Slow return to active life

I've learned that one of the many downsides of a c-section is that recovery can be that much more difficult and risky than a normal delivery.  Trickle down effect therefore being that my return to an active life is delayed even more.

Riley and I met up with a friend and her newborn yesterday for coffee.  Jen's son was born only ten days before Riley, and Jen has already taken 2hr hikes with her baby in a carrier!! Me....just this week I was cleared for "easy activity" and driving short distances.  Therefore, a few walks around the block and one major outing for a 1mile stroll have been the extent of my fitness efforts.

I know I have to be patient or all sorts of yucky, non-plesant things could happen that delay my recovery even further.  In the meantime, life is a lot like bedrest, except that Riley has joined me!  At least with spring coming, cycling and triathlon are starting to replace skiing on Universal Sports, so I'm watching Tirreno-Adriatico and replays of Ironman 2009 and dreaming of things to come.

I'm not as tired as I expected to be in general, but find that 9pm bedtimes work just fine.  Riley is slowly being adjusted to sleeping on top of mom to nights in her own bassinet, and isn't thrilled with that process or her carseat....but I've explained to her that she will learn since she doesn't have much of a choice!

The World is a Better Place

On February 21st, after 58 hours of unmedicated labor and a semi-emergency c-section, Riley Joan made her appearance at 12:15am.  Stuart and I are overjoyed, and think she's nothing short of perfect.  Strong and beautiful, she had to fight for a few minutes after her birth, so we know she's going to be one resilient baby.  We keep eyeing that baby jogger, and as soon as it warms up we'll be out on the trails first walking then running.  Mommy and Daddy have races this summer, and Riley will be fan #1.

Girls and Sports - evidence is there of its benefits

While STILL awaiting the arrival of my own daughter, some interesting reading from Monday's New York Times

As Girls Become Women, Sports Pay Dividends


By TARA PARKER-POPE

Almost four decades after the federal education law called Title IX opened the door for girls to participate in high school and college athletics, a crucial question has remained unanswered: Do sports make a long-term difference in a woman’s life?

A large body of research shows that sports are associated with all sorts of benefits, like lower teenage pregnancy rates, better grades and higher self-esteem. But until now, no one has determined whether those improvements are a direct result of athletic participation. It may be that the type of girl who is attracted to sports already has the social, personal and physical qualities — like ambition, strength and supportive parents — that will help her succeed in life.

Now, separate studies from two economists offer some answers, providing the strongest evidence yet that team sports can result in lifelong improvements to educational, work and health prospects. At a time when the first lady, Michelle Obama, has begun a nationwide campaign to improve schoolchildren’s health, the lessons from Title IX show that school-based fitness efforts can have lasting effects.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 required schools and colleges receiving federal money to provide the same opportunities for girls as they did for boys. Relatively few students, male or female, participate in intercollegiate sports. But the effects in high school were remarkable. Just six years after the enactment of Title IX, the percentage of girls playing team sports had jumped sixfold, to 25 percent from about 4 percent.

Most research on Title IX has looked at national trends in girls’ sports. Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, has taken it a step further, focusing on state-by-state variations.

“I looked to see what it means to add sports to girls’ lives,” she said. “How does it change things for them?”

States with large boys’ sports programs had to make bigger changes to achieve parity than states with smaller programs. Looking at the state-by-state statistics allowed Dr. Stevenson to narrow her focus, comparing differences in sports participation with differences in women’s educational and work achievement.

So her study untangles the effects of sports participation from other confounding factors — school size, climate, social and personal differences among athletes — and comes far closer to determining a cause and effect relationship between high school sports participation and achievement later in life.

Using a complex analysis, Dr. Stevenson showed that increasing girls’ sports participation had a direct effect on women’s education and employment. She found that the changes set in motion by Title IX explained about 20 percent of the increase in women’s education and about 40 percent of the rise in employment for 25-to-34-year-old women.

“It’s not just that the people who are going to do well in life play sports, but that sports help people do better in life,” she said, adding, “While I only show this for girls, it’s reasonable to believe it’s true for boys as well.”

Another question is whether Title IX has made a difference in women’s long-term health. In a carefully conducted study, Robert Kaestner, an economics professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, compared rates of obesity and physical activity of women who had been in high school in the 1970s — as Title IX was taking effect — with similar women from earlier years. Controlling the results for other influences, like age and changing diets, Dr. Kaestner was able to tease out the effects Title IX had on women’s health.

He found that the increase in girls’ athletic participation caused by Title IX was associated with a 7 percent lower risk of obesity 20 to 25 years later, when women were in their late 30s and early 40s. His article was published this month in the journal Evaluation Review.

Dr. Kaestner notes that while a 7 percent decline in obesity is modest, no other public health program can claim similar success. And other studies have shown that even a small drop in weight can lower risk for diabetes and other health problems.

There is still room for improvement. Today about 1 in 3 high school girls play sports, compared with about half of all boys. And participation varies widely by state, according to Dr. Stevenson’s research. Southern states like Alabama, Louisiana and Tennessee still have big gender gaps, while Northern states like Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Vermont are closer to parity.

“While we have more girls than ever before, we still have far more boys playing sports than girls,” said Nicole M. LaVoi, associate director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota. “The research clearly states that when anybody, boys and girls, are physically active, they can reap developmental and health benefits. But we haven’t reached equality yet.”

And the wait continues...random thoughts

That's right, still no sign of our McNugget.  If I gave you a quick quiz asking how long pregnancy lasts, I'll bet your answer would be either 9 months or 40 weeks.  That's what I always thought.  Well, as someone who is now 9-1/2months (otherwise known as 41wks) pregnant, I'm feeling a little annoyed.  Seriously, this is one of the many many things that you don't learn until after you are pregnant.  Things that, if you knew ahead of time, might make you reconsider this whole having a baby concept!

Bedrest continues, but the restrictions have been eased slightly.  I'm allowed some periods of activity as long as I return to bed to bring my blood pressure back into the so-called normal range.  Sounds great, except after surviving two blizzards in the past 8 days, our neighborhood and friendly nearby trails aren't exactly passable.  Piles of snow are literally seven feet high!  In the meantime, any and every method of labor induction is being used, including acupuncture (which can actually hurt!).

Stuart got me out of the house and we did a number of random errands and had lunch in a nearby restaurant bar while watching the Olympics. 

First errand was to finally quit our gym.  Realizing we haven't been there all winter (which is normally our time of highest usage), we decided to save the $100/month and invest in some home gym equipment and occasionally a babysitter for Baby M so that we can do a long bike ride or two together this summer.  I went in prepared for the hard sell trying to keep us from quitting, but I think my gargantuan appearance scared them off and they meekly handed over the necessary forms. 

Second stop at our favorite bike store where, in an effort to make me feel less grumpy, Stuart was offering to buy me a new bike.  Seriously? I can't even sit on a bike, much less test ride one, and you want to buy one? He tried, but actually only succeeded in making me grumpier! Poor guy, he's trying!

A few more stops including lunch and then back home to continue watching the calendar and the clock.  I'm trying to get into the Olympics, but winter sports just aren't my thing.  Add in the incredibly tragic death of the Georgian luger, and my constant worries of blood and guts on the ski slopes or the speed skating rink (those blades are sharp!), and it doesn't provide the same motivation that hours of Summer Olympic or cycling or ironman coverage do.  Probably for the best, since right now it would likely only add to my crankiness and point out my continued incapacitation!

  Would a Valentines Day baby really be so bad? Hopefully she won't think so!  In the meantime, she's outlasted all the predictions as to her birthday - the last guess either on this blog or in the pool at work was for February 12th.  Sheesh, kid.  Enough already!

"Let's start at the very beginning...a very good place to start"

If you're like me, you grew up watching The Sound of Music every year on tv.  Thanks to the miracle of cable, it's actually now on a couple of times per year, and my musically inclined husband also likes it! So, even though I'm not a very good singer, I get multiple chances to sing along with Julie Andrews (even though I'm now far too old to pretend I'm Liesl with a secret oh-so-adorable boyfriend).  As a child, one of the first and only songs I ever learned was "Doe-a-Deer", and the opening lines of that song seem to reflect the completely different focus of 2010 than I had ever anticipated.

This was supposed to be the year of the M-dot.  It was all planned out, after years of dreaming and focusing on this goal, I was going to toe the starting line at Ironman Louisville this August.  Instead, someone I love has co-opted my goal and I'm facing an entirely different challenge...as soon as she decides to be born!  I've spent the last 9months both eagerly awaiting the arrival of Baby M, but also mourning the loss of something that had been an important part of my life and motivation over the last three years. 

The sadness has been two-fold.  First was the realization that if I ever do want to attempt an ironman, I need a new race.  You see, part of who I am is that I hate following in other people's footsteps.  My husband and our dear friend Julie have both done Ironman Florida - so while it plays to some of my strengths, it's a nonstarter for me.  And now that someone else I care about has adopted my long-held goal as their own, it's now off the table.  Admittedly, it hurts.  So, as I think toward the future and Stuart says "well, of course you'll still do an ironman, the goal is just delayed a bit", I struggle with the image.  I'd had multiple reasons for choosing IMKY, and now am at a loss.  As I sit here on bedrest, I occasionally peruse the websites of various ironman races (both M-dot and independent) trying to see if one truly speaks to me as the new focus of my athletic dreams.  A race that will give me the motivation to put in the hours sacrificing sleep and probably some time with my daughter during the training period.  It will need to be a race that inspires me.  I'm open to suggestions.

The second piece of my mourning over the last few months has been wondering how and if there will be room in my life for triathlon and fitness at all.  I know logically that we will somehow find time, but I know it will be different and not necessarily easy.  And as I feel blobbier and blobbier now on Day 12 of bedrest, I find myself worrying about needing to buy an entirely new wardrobe because nothing will ever fit me again. 

So, yesterday I took control.  Although it's not a tri, I decided to quit wondering and instead put my money on the table to kickoff my 2010 racing season.  On June 6th, I'll be at the starting line of a measly little 10K -- the Annapolis Zooma Run.  A few years ago I did the half marathon of this women's only event.  That seems to be pushing it just a few months after McNugget's arrival, but I figured a 10K would be a good jumpstart.  Next up, will likely be some sort of spring triathlon early in June or July.   

Yes, life is changing.  And in some ways it means starting back at the beginning.  But, I have a much stronger base of knowledge than I did when I ran my first 5K back in the 90s, or when we began training for our first sprint back in 2005, so hopefully I can quickly learn the lessons I once knew and leave The Sound of Music in the dust!

Girl Power

I spent 6th-12th grade attending an all-girls school, and never exactly excelled at fitting in.  As a result, I found myself throughout high school, and even into college and law school, bashing feminists and pushing against anything with a women-centered agenda.  No real reason, other than to rebel ever so slightly against an environment that I was less than happy in. 

And yet, twenty years later I find myself deeply involved in and thinking about the empowerment and opportunities for young girls.  My first exposure to Girls on the Run brought me to coaching, which has now brought me to a position on its Board of Directors.  I find myself in awe watching the girls I coach grow and learn and eventually mentor each other, wondering who they will be and if the lessons I'm trying to impart will still be making a difference when they are 12 or 15 or 20 years old. 

When I got my coaching certification a year ago, I did so with the idea of using it to help me continue to support and encourage my girlfriends and family to get involved in the sport of triathlon.  The name Tri for Joy reflects one of my primary reasons for participating in this sport -- the joy of achievement, the joy of hard work, the joy of the finish line. 

At the same time, I'm now sitting here waiting the imminent arrival of my own daughter - something I thought I'd never say! This is a reality that makes these issues even more personal and even more important to me, and it's something that Stuart and I talk about a lot.  How will we raise a daughter who embodies all those qualities that are so important -- strength of mind and body and character, self-confidence, kindness, compassion.

This week, my brother was in town attending and participating in a Sports Philanthropy Forum hosted by USA Today newspaper.  While there, he learned of a new initiative by the Nike Foundation to focus investment in projects across the globe that specifically target and benefit adolescent girls.  I wish I knew how to insert videos directly into my blog, but encourage you to watch the two short clips here on their website -- The Girl Effect and I Dare You.  

It's a movement, and it's spreading. 

Eating My Own Words

I was re-reading a post from October where I was bemoaning yoga as a "workout".  What I haven't admitted in the interim is that as I've gotten bigger, and my balance and breathing both took a nosedive from the beachball that is my belly, I really began to look forward to my weekly prenatal yoga classes. 

After four full days on bedrest, plus the previous week of "pseudo" bedrest, I was so excited to have permission from my doctor to attend the last session of my yoga class.  The instructor is fabulous, I'm actually really sorry that she doesn't teach regular classes.  Just coincidentally, almost everyone in the class is in their third trimester, so as the weeks went on, she spent more time on less challenging poses and more time on poses designed to stretch hips and back to prepare for birth and to relieve all the pressures that pregnancy has brought on.  In addition, simply the time for deep breathing and meditation has been great. She emphasized again today that if we can remember to take that skill into labor with us, it will make things infinitely easier. 

Spending days and days in bed has me losing any remaining vestiges of fitness that I had, but it's given me a lot of opportunity to focus on mental discipline.  Deep breathing, visualization and focus are all skills that any athlete needs, yet they so often get sidelined by the need to get our workouts in and move on with our daily lives.  I'm hoping that this lesson learned will stay with me as I move back into a more active lifestyle.

Bedrest has also given me the chance to throw a few extra prayers "northward" as I worry for a friend's preemie, another dear friend's husband who is having unexplained neurological issues, and a family member who is "boots on the ground" in Afghanistan right now.  I've been lucky to be inundated with emails, Facebook notes and even responses to my blog postings that keep me entertained, but so many of those emails also seem to contain "say a prayer for..." messages. 

Health-wise, the upside is that bedrest seems to be working.  We'll see what the doctor thinks tomorrow, but my monitoring is showing that it is back in the normal range as long as I'm in bed.  And Ms. McNugget remains crazy active.  I've had one or two random contracts, but otherwise, nothing to indicate that she's ready to vacate her current home any time soon.  It's not too late to guess a date for her birth.  FWIW, my own husband had picked today....guess not, sweetie!

Serious slugging

We're within just a few short weeks from Baby M's official due date...but I knew things had gone too easily! Last week we noticed a rise in blood pressure, and as of my visit to the OB on Tuesday, I am now on bedrest until she arrives.  It was either this or inducing to avoid developing full-blown toxemia, and this definitely seemed like the lesser of two evils.

I'm feeling good, and she's doing well so for the moment I'm just sucking it up.  Lots of bad tv.  Might catch up on a few of my USAT-required continuing education stuff to keep my coaching certification current.  Back issues of Triathlete magazine and a good novel are sitting by the bedside. 

Meanwhile, I think I've found my initial come-back race, the Zooma 10K, with a plan of a sprint or oly distance tri later in June or July.  Stuart, ever the optimist, continues to talk about the ironman I'm going to do in 2011.  If I believe it's possible, he's committed to supporting me in making in happen.  We'll see! A girl can dream, right?

There are days like that

Today's Facebook status update -- "Nothing stops pregnancy hormones like a spoonful of peanut butter stuck deep in a bag of chocolate chips. (oh yeah, good friends and a great husband help, too!)"

Needless to say, triathlon nutrition isn't top on my mind at this moment in time.

Place Your Bet

Well, apparently the window has opened for birth to be on everyone's minds....the office pool has begun.  So, feel free to play along at home and post your pick for Baby McNugget's birthdate.  No decision yet on what fabulous prizes are in store.  The guys at work think that they are playing for "naming rights".  Yeah, keep dreaming on that one! 

Data points so that everyone's on an equal playing field here.

DUE DATE: February 7th

Other factors or old wives tales...
* I've been measuring two weeks ahead since October
* Most first babies arrive at 41wks and 1 day as opposed to at 40wks
* There's a full moon on Jan 30th.

Any takers??

Not just another new year

It's that time of year, everyone is making plans for tonight and resolutions for the new year.  I'm finding myself doing neither.  New Year's isn't a big holiday for us typically, although it is the night on which Stuart proposed, which was ideal actually since I totally wasn't expecting it.  But I digress.

As I was saying, with just that one exception, it's normally a pretty quiet night for us.  Maybe a get together with another couple.  No big blowouts.  No massive January 1st hangovers.  And I typically don't make new year's resolutions, since I think that decisions about shifting your life in new directions shouldn't be made just because the calendar says so (yes, I appreciate the irony considering my current state!).

Even still, this new year's seems momentous.  I'm looking forward to being asleep well before midnight, partially because I know that I will see far too many midnights (and 2a.m.s and 3a.m.s...) in the months to come.  I still haven't made a "2010 Race Plan" like I have every year for the past five or six years since starting triathlon.  And I know that when I stop to think about the unknowns facing us not just in the next month but in the next 18+ years, it takes my breath away.  December 31st 2002 changed my life forever in ways I would have never foreseen when I willingly and happily agreed to become a wife and stepmother.  In the same way, the dawning of 2010 is bringing about a change greater than I can possibly fathom.  I stand on the edge of this year filled with excitement and fear, anticipation and nervousness, joy and the knowledge that there will be heartache, too.  

With only about 5wks to go, I think I'm about as ready as I'm going to get.  Stuart thinks I'm more ready - mentally, emotionally and physically -- than I realize.  I hope he's right!

Christmas 2009, 34wks pregnant

Pre-Christmas Blizzard

Less than 7wks until the McNugget's scheduled appearance.  That's like 48 days.  A month and a half.  I.e. practically tomorrow!!!  I'm still feeling great and very appreciative for that fact, so I'm not in "I hate being pregnant" mode despite getting very impatient about meeting her.  Random nervous thoughts regularly flicker through my head -- what if she's 10lbs and I've decided on natural childbirth.  what if we can't find good and affordable childcare.  what if the dogs don't deal well.  what if I never have time for another workout ever again.  what if we don't like being parents. what if. what if. what if.

I'm trying to be practical, and tackling the things that I can control.  Take this weekend, for instance.  DC-area got slammed by a blizzard.  Started Friday night and ended early Sunday morning.  We got about 20inches of snow!  As a general rule, I hate the cold and really don't like snow.  But I decided that being trapped in our neighborhood was a good excuse to make some progress on the list of pre-baby honey-do's.  And, there is something magical about a walk in gently falling snow, and there's something in the honest exercise you get from shoveling your own driveway and sidewalk.  Needless to say, I've never attempted either while 7-1/2months pregnant. 

The walk on Saturday morning was great.  At that point we had "only" about 8inches.  The dogs had a blast bounding through the snow, but the extra effort of kicking our way through it definitely got my attention.  I slowed, and took a few breaks on our walk as opposed to trying to race Stuart and the boy-dogs to the top of the street.

Later that afternoon and into Sunday, I was reminded that pregnancy is indeed a limiter as I stayed inside and washed baby clothes and baked cookies while Stuart did all the shoveling.  I did come out to provide moral support and snap a few photos!  The next session of prenatal yoga classes was cancelled, and we pretty much just hunkered down for a few days of getting into the Christmas spirit!

Birthdays and Swimming Shouldn't Mix

Well, I'm another year older.  Normally I'm one of those people who adores their birthday.  I mean, ADORES.  I believe in making it last for days and days, lots of cards and emails and preferably presents, too.  I think it should be a law that your birthday is a paid vacation day for you.  That's how much I love birthdays.

This year though, with so much happening surrounding the imminent arrival of McNugget, it sort of snuck up on me.  Stuart was wonderful, with gifts on both Saturday and Sunday, then waking me this morning with a very sweet card.  We left work early for our 32wk appointment with the OB, and got news that all is looking great for both me and the baby.  From there, though, Stuart detoured for my next birthday present. 

As he's been starting to get back into Ironman base training mode, he's been dreading his trips to the pool, and is convinced that he'd like it more if I started going again.  So, we headed for the local swim store to buy an extra extra large swimsuit.  The very sweet college-age girls who worked there were great, and helped me find something that contained all my roundness even if it didn't hide all the newly forming cellulite.

I probably did less than 1500 yards,  but it was my first time in the pool literally since August or September.  All those people who say that swimming while pregnant is great are nuts.  I didn't feel "weightless" and "free" and "unencumbered".  I felt like a walrus.  Granted, a walrus getting a workout, but a walrus nonetheless.  I'm not a great swimmer even when I don't have 25+lbs dragging me down.  No long sleek line in the water for me!!

All in all though, a good birthday.  I got the aforementioned calls, emails, Facebook postings, and presents, including a very awesome and thoughtful gift from my stepson if we can make it happen - entry in next year's Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon.  And my night is ending with a bowl of Coffee Heathbar Crunch -- the gold standard of all ice cream.  No wine with it this year though, but little miss Baby M kicking and squirming is a pretty good substitute for this year.

Is it bad....

...to say that one of my lessons learned from pregnancy is that I never want to be really overweight? I know it sounds obvious, especially probably to most of you who read this.  I mean, I'm worried enough about losing all the baby weight, and hopefully the ten extra pounds that I already had slowing me down pre-pregnancy.  But I mean, seriously overweight.  I. never. want. to. be. here. again. 

There are times when I forget this huge bulge that is my abdomen, until Baby M gets in one of her whirly swirly kicky moods and my abdomen begins to sway and bulge every which way (which is often!).  But, it also hits me when I drop a pen and realize that if I'm sitting down I can't just bend over and reach the ground to pick it up.  Or, if I park in a tight parking spot, I have trouble getting out of my car.  Or when I bumped into the door of the elevator because it hadn't yet opened wide enough to fit all of me.  Or when rolling over in bed takes energy and a vocal "oomph" as opposed to just blithely turning.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about the fact that there are people who live like this every day.  Although I've gained a healthy amount of weight, if I weren't pregnant the standard BMI index says that I'm officially obese based on my height and current weight.  It saddens me to realize that there are people (including some close family members) who don't value their long-term health and short-term comfort enough to put the time and energy into being fit. 

My own motivation has occasionally lagged in the past, and it sometimes scares me as I realize that life is changing very very soon and how will I fit it all in.  But I know that remembering this experience of being plus-sized will spur me to somehow make the time and the choices to avoid living in a body this size ever again.

"That Girl" at the gym

Circulating out there on the web are all these sarcastic lists of the "types of people you see at the gym".  The meatheads, the sorority girls, the guy who wanders amid the machines for an hour but never actually lifts a weight.  You know the list I'm talking about...it's pretty funny since if you've ever spent any time in a gym you recognize these caricatures.

I worked a half day from home on Friday and then decided to jump over to the gym to get a little exercise in before family and friends descended for a fun weekend (GOTR Race and baby shower!).  Anyway, I think I became THAT GIRL when I walked in the gym at 2pm on a Friday.  Seven months pregnant, my non-maternity race t-shirt stretched tight over my belly, I strolled into the weight room like I would on any other day.  Never in my life have I ever felt so many pairs of eyes surreptiously peeking at me in the mirror as the 12 or 15 male denizens of the gym altnerated between shock and curiousity and probably some fear.  It was actually pretty funny.  Walking towards the water fountain in between exercises, one guy practically jumped trying to get out of my way. 

Despite the absurdity, I was actually laughing inwardly ...that's right all you big muscle boys....this is what happens when you have S-E-X!!!!  I was imagining the run on condoms at the local store before they all headed to happy hour later that night.  My little contribution to population control in Arlington County.

Yet another athletic first

This time, though, it's not one I'm proud of.  Those three dreaded letters that no athlete ever wants to see -- DNF.  That's right.  The Perry Township Rotary Turkey Trot 5K in Canton, Ohio humbled me into the realization that sometimes even your best just isn't good enough.  Or, isn't necessarily the smartest thing to do. 

Cold Ohio morning perfect for a Thanksgiving race.  We were signed up together with our nephew Brandon and his girlfriend Jennifer.  At just shy of 30 weeks, Baby M scored yet another race bib, although this time the race volunteers seemed a bit confused, "Um, do you need a timing chip, too?"  "No, thanks.  We'll just share one."

See me squeezed into a non-maternity running jacket.  I LOVE stretchy material!!

We lined up at the starting line and things were already feeling just "tight".  Not painful, but not comfortable.  I was surrounded by other walkers, and so know that I would have been right in the thick of things, but about half a mile in I just stopped.  Stepped to the side to see if the tightness in my abdomen would subside.  Thought about how I could just tough it out.  But, I'm 30wks pregnant.  Now is not the time for an ego and to "tough it out".  So, I did the toughest thing I've ever done in a race and something I thought I'd never ever ever do - I quit.  Head down, I trudged back toward the start/finish line and tried to get myself psyched up to watch for Stuart and Brandon.  Not too long after, I saw them both running shoulder-to-shoulder.  They weren't running in a "I'm going to kick your ass" kind of way, but looking like family in stride with each other.  Their finish times were 5/100ths of a second apart.  This was only Jennifer's 3rd race and she did great, too.

I'm disappointed.  There's no getting around that.  It has me thinking about the implications of this major change in our lives and its impact on how I define myself, but that's a musing for a whole separate post.  In the mean time, I put on my best smile, congratulated my family and headed home to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the family.   I know there will be other races.  But knowing that my last race for quite some time is already a month behind me is hard. 

Goblin Gallop Photos

Ok, I'm posting the link just because I'm laughing at myself in these pics.  Why not, right? 

 Goblin Gallop 5K photos

Goblin Gallop 5K

Not much to say, except that Baby's first 5K went MUCH better than her first 10K.  Cool morning with lots of sunshine.  This is a very family-friendly suburban race.  There were close to 2000 runners/walkers but that included people in costume (Wonder Woman, an electric banana, and a cat among them), people pushing strollers and even a dog on a leash or two.

We signed up for the Goblin Gallop as a way to do one last race together with Erin before she moves to Germany in December.  And, since none of us are going to be here for Thanksgiving, we knew we had to find something else.  E's been an amazing friend and support the past few months especially and we will most definitely miss her!  You probably can't read my hat in this photo, but it was a thank you gift from my boss for convincing her to sign up for her first triathlon.  It reads "Run You Mother!"

Once again Baby M scored her own race bib, this time courtesy of Nikki, #1600.  So we lined up at the start and I wished Stuart and our speedy friends well.  Not much to say, other than, dang it takes a LOT longer to walk 3.1 miles than it does to run them!  But, I managed to pass more than a few people during my lovely little jaunt and then of course ran the last 50yds to the finish line smiling for the official photographers.  Why not, right!?

Reporting in to my OB the next day got another look of amazement, but he was cool with it...and with the idea of a Turkey Trot at Thanksgiving if I'm still feeling up to it.  yay - race season still might not be over for me and the McNugget. 

Yowza! Getting bigger and bigger.  Here I am at 25wks together with baby daddy Stuart.

Working out without running - is it a workout?

As part of my new, non-running workout regimen, I decided that I should again give prenatal yoga a try. You always hear that it's the greatest workout ever for expectant women, but truth be told, I've never really seen your basic yoga as a 'workout'. And I don't expect that late in my second trimester that yoga dvd will be telling me to prepare to kick butt and work up a serious sweat! Nonetheless, it was cold and rainy out, so I spread my yoga mat, shooed the dogs away and popped in the dvd.

I was right, this wasn't exactly a calorie blasting, sweat inducing workout, but many of the stretches felt so much better than they otherwise do. Although I'm seeing my body change daily, I'm not always consciously aware of the impact that has on muscle tightness and my already pathetic flexibility. At one point, I felt like making sure I told our childbirth instructor that I was doing this - she'd be proud.

I also did a fairly good job of not feeling like I was in competition with the instructor to stretch further, breathe more deeply or hold a stronger and longer plank pose. Again, even for someone who isn't a star athlete, the lack of competition is another flaw of yoga in my book. This is part of the reason I avoid yoga classes, usually, it's not fun to compete when the others in the class don't realize that we're racing for the deepest downward dog!

The one piece of any home yoga workout that I don't get is the mental element. First, because I sent Stuart to the store while I did yoga, I got no less than four phone calls -- "Where are the frozen berries?", "Which organic yogurt brand do you want?", and my personal favorite "They don't have quinoa, can we use kiwi instead?" (although he was kidding on that one!). Second, is the aforementioned dogs. So, instead of making my way through the guided relaxation they proscribed, which involved me laying on my side, instead Ally the spaniel wandered over and plopped in my lap and we spent ten soothing minutes cuddling and petting. Definitely a relaxing activity, so I think it counts.

Overall, this wasn't as satisfying as a run in the rain with Nick the dog, but I'm going to try and make it a regular part of my week at least until Baby M makes her appearance.