Only a half marathon to go!

So we are officially at the halfway point of this pregnancy.  Its so interesting, time seems to be going so slowly these days, literally dragging on between appointments and waiting for the next milestone, yet when I look back on it, I can't believe its been 5 months already.  Yesterday marked the end of 20 weeks, so I only have a half marathon to go!  When Chad pointed this out to me though, I had to remind him what a marathon really is - a 20 mile long run and a 10k gut-it-out-while-being-completely-miserable finish.  I think weeks 36-40 will be this final 10k.  Yikes.

I've (so far) had a very easy pregnancy.  I had about 3 days of feeling a bit nauseous around the 8 week mark and about 4 weeks of being completely wiped out exhausted, but this was the worst of it.  I've been told I'm lucky, but I'll take it!  With the exception of my waistline disappearing (what little waist line I had before this) and workouts being a bit harder, most days I'm not even aware that I'm growing a baby in here.  I haven't felt any movement yet, so I'm sure when I do, I'll be more aware.  My running has slowed down in a major way.  Right now I'm maintaining 2-3 times of running per week, at least one of those is on a treadmill.  The summer temperatures in central Florida are not conducive to this pregnant womn running any time the sun is out and my normal running partners are way too fast for me (though they're very nice and considerate, I hardly want to interrupt their training to keep 'slow katie' company on a 4 mile run).  This leaves my Wednesday Tioga running group which is a 3 mile outside run at 6pm, and maybe once more during the week when I have an empty hour early in the day, and treadmill running for the rest.  Luckily, I don't hate treadmill running, I like to zone out and have my pace controlled and the freedom of being able to run any time of day.  Even more luckily, one of my best friends moved and gave (!!!) me her treadmill so I have one at home.  Figured this will be a good way for me to ease back into running post-baby-birth (yes, I already have a running stroller also).

Though I've slowed down my running, I've been able to keep up my working out pretty regularly, 5-6 days a week which is a saving grace.  I told my coaches right away so they knew to expect a different Katie for a while and they've been wonderful.  I can still do pretty much everything that I did before, most stuff is just a bit harder and I'm a bit slower.  I did the "Hated Hundred"(100 burpees for time) about a month ago and my time is a whole minute slower than I was a year ago.  Pull-ups are harder, as are push-ups and anything related to jumping, but this is mostly just because I'm a good 12-15lbs heavier than I have ever been.  In.  My.  Life.  Its very eye-opening though and I'm thankful for this experience, confident that it will make me a more empathetic trainer and running coach for moms and those clients carrying around extra weight.  At the very least, I should feel very, very light when I'm back to my normal weight after this!  I'm also not maxing out any lifts these days.  The heaviest I'll go is a 3RM, which is still very heavy, but I'm able to breathe regularly through the entire movement.  I imagine there will be a time when I have to back it down further, and at that time I will.  I'm very happy to still be working out, and I keep telling myself that the more I do now, the easier it will be later.  Fingers crossed :)

     

                                     Pull-ups at 19 weeks, photo by Zoe Benjamin

One last thing before I wrap this post up.  We are not finding out the sex of the baby until the birthday.  We've always said we wanted to be surprised and we're sticking with that plan.  Though it seems to drive OTHER people crazy, we seem to be doing just fine with the planning and preparation without knowing whether to drown our house in pink or blue (not that we will!).  Green is my favorite color, and luckily its neutral.  Its so funny, people ask "How will you PLAN??" as if we can possibly plan with certainty for anything in this situation!  We don't know what the heck we'll be doing if its a boy OR a girl, so why does knowing that help us any?  :)

Oh, and I haven't had any cravings out of the ordinary.  I want frozen yogurt and smoothies like every single day, but that probably has more to do with it being a thousand degrees outside than the whole growing-a-baby thing.  And I'm only actually having frozen yogurt once a week maybe, though I am having a fruit protein smoothie for breakfast these days.  I'm also eating a lot of eggs, but I tend to go through these phases periodically in my life generally anyway, pregnancy notwithstanding.

I think this covers the answers to most of the questions I get on weekly basis.  All in all, I'm a lucky mom-to-be and couldn't be happier!

Another update coming next week, until then keep Running Happy :-)

                        

                     Trying hard to maintain BW dips as long as I can! Photo by Zoe Benjamin