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| (Soon to be Momma and Proud Poppa) |
It has been awhile since my last entry. But things are definitely
changing in my life and body for that matter! For those of you who do not know,
my husband Levi and I are currently expecting our first child! So far things
have been going great. I was lucky enough not to have any morning sickness
during the first trimester and I hope things continue as smoothly. I am
approximately 18 weeks along now and finally starting to show.
The biggest change for
my life thus far (not counting the bigger numbers on the scale) is my approach to
my running and training. Exercising during pregnancy has been proven to be
beneficial to both mother and baby and in many cases can make your labor and delivery
“easier.” Studies have found that a woman can safely continue exercising while
pregnant if she was used to the activity beforehand. For instance, I have been
a runner for many years, so running longer distances for me is not something
that is going to harm my body. However, I definitely listen to my body and
notice I am getting slower and wanting to run less distances.
I do not necessarily
think this is all due to the growing human inside of me (though that does take
a lot of energy!). I feel it is my changing state of mind and my focus being on
a baby and not my athletic endeavors. For the first time in my life I do not
have hard track workouts to look forward to (yes I actually love doing workouts!)
or races on the horizon or PR time goals for this year. I now am simply
exercising just for health! What a strange concept.
I know a lot of women
who continue exercising at their previous volume (maybe just cutting out
competitive racing or workouts) when pregnant but I noticed I have definitely been
slacking in this. I think some of it was different for me since I did not start
out at my peak level of fitness. I was just recovering from an MCL tear so
still hadn’t started doing workouts yet and was just starting to build my
mileage back up past the 40s and into the 50s. Right now I am lucky to hit 30
and some weeks 20! But I am o.k. with that. I am adding in other types of
workouts, flexibility and strength in the weight room, spinning, and when the
weather gets nice probably more swimming and hiking.
I have a completely
different focus this year and I am confident that I will be able to slowly get
back to my previous level once the baby is born. I am not giving myself a
deadline for this but know to just take it a day at a time. I have zero
experience in this department. I have come back from injuries and major
surgeries but having a baby is going to be different and I do not want to put
added stress on myself to keep some nearly impossible fitness goal while
pregnant or worry if it takes me months or even a year to feel normal again!
I do have several
elite running friends who have had babies and are still amazing athletes and
moms so I know it can be done and luckily, I have plenty of people to look to
for advice. If you had asked me months ago what I envisioned my training volume
to be like in the first and second trimesters, believe me, my little naïve brain
would have envisioned myself doing a lot more! But every woman and every body
is different and the key is to find your balance that keeps you sane, healthy
and happy. And right now for me that entails running with friends, going for
walks, and taking naps, lots and lots of naps.
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| (At my brother John and dear friend Jane's wedding. Being silly. But my belly is starting to show!) |
