Training Run 5k

It's common knowledge by now that my running has decreased significantly, both in speed and distance. I would be lying if I said this doesn't bother me at least a bit. 2015 was, by far, my personal best year of running. I worked really hard and that hard work actually paid off (who knew that can actually happen sometimes?! :)) and that's a hard high to come down from. Going from a year of successes to a year of uncertainty and not being able to keep getting "better" running-wise is a bit disappointing. BUT...the trade-off is definitely going to be worth it :).

In spite of the pregnancy, I was able to keep having decent race performances up through Canal Connection in November...and I guess the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day really wasn't too bad either. Once November was over (around 18 weeks pregnant) things tapered off even more and it became evident that I needed to accept that fact that running really HURT and it was ok to back way off. I had made an early goal of seeing if I could make it to 500 miles of running while pregnant, but things really stalled in December and January. Seeing as things had become genuinely painful running-wise, I decided to start listening to my body and "made peace with" a decreased goal of 400 miles. 

Then I got the crazy idea to try to run a mile a day of my third/final trimester starting on Friday, February 5th (28 weeks). That first week I ran 12.1 miles and a mile or more every day! The second week started off with a bang...on day one after sitting on the couch for 4 hours working through a tricky stats assignment for class (after working a full day) I didn't manage to get out and run my mile. Darn it all! Streak...RUINED! The next day, though (this past Saturday), I decided to punish myself by running 5k at a harder effort.

Lately I've been pretty satisfied with keeping my pace between 10-11 minutes for a mile. It's still SO weird to be "ok" with that, but it is truly all I can manage at this point (and even so I have often felt like absolute garbage after a run!).

Saturday was cold but clear. My first strides outside just felt GOOD. I'm truly grateful to be where I am...far past the halfway point in a HEALTHY pregnancy and still able to get some workouts in. I ran through the parking lot of our apartment complex and turned left on Linden to head toward the Constitution Trail. The trail runs under Veteran's there just about three tenths of a mile from our apartment.  I turned right on the trail to run out toward the silos.  Mile one was 9:53. Sub 10? Yesss! I decided at that point to fight for some negative splits (NEVER something that comes easily for me).

Mile two started and after just a minute or so I regretted making the mental goal to run negative splits. I found myself fighting to stay under the 9:53 pace that I had run that first mile in. Some gusts of wind tried to take me out as I ran on the portion of trail that has fewer trees. I turned around at 1.55 on my watch and headed back toward home. Mile two ticked off in 9:50, a bit of a struggle but under 9:53 (albeit barely).

Mile three started and welcomed me with more tree cover. I dug deep and tried to speed things up. Mile three things started clicking and I just felt GOOD. I even felt non-pregnant for a bit which was kinda awesome (not that I don't want to be pregnant of course ;)...but I didn't feel large and clomp-y ;)). Mile three wrapped up in 9:05...woo hoo!! It's been a while since I was able to pull that off!

I wrapped up my 5k in 29:45. Satisfied, I went inside the apartment and rolled my calves a bit on the foam roller...they've been TORN UP lately thanks to  this daily running nonsense and having to haul around 35+ extra pounds! My pregnancy mileage has made it up to 411.9...just 88.9 miles to go to 500. I have 10 weeks and 3 days to go until our due date so MAYBE I will hit my goal yet!

I'm planning to try to *run*/shuffle through our local St. Pat's 5k in about a month and am looking forward to seeing many of you there! My goals are as follows: (a) to FINISH!, (b) to NOT COME IN LAST! :) and (c) to finish in under 30 minutes. This training run gave me the confidence that these goals are well within my reach!

happy running! :)

HELLO {third trimester}!

Last night in my doc class, our professor reminded us that the best way to sharpen our writing skills is to write as much as possible. I do genuinely enjoy writing {even though I refrained from raising my hand last night during class when she asked us who likes to write...wimp ;)}. She encouraged us to get in the habit of writing (and reading!) more for enjoyment...whatever we like...and not just for "professional" purposes. So, here I am, blogging again and thereby practicing my writing for personal growth ;).

WOW! We are officially starting our THIRD trimester today...28 big weeks of pregnancy are officially complete! This is a *big* developmental milestone for our little guy and a *big* mental and emotional milestone for mama (and daddy...I can't discount his feelings and involvement :)). Every day, every single day that he "cooks" in my growing belly I am grateful for one more day of development before he meets us all on the other side.

Things are going pretty well! At our last big doctor appointment (January 18th/25w3d) checking in on Baby Boy Wells we got another peek at our BIG guy. He was estimated to be around 2.5 lbs at that point. Sheesh! Bigger than I expected...grow, baby, grow! Yesterday he discovered that the right side of my ribcage makes a pretty cool jungle gym. What an ODD sensation it is to feel him pushing on my ribs! Even more odd (to me) is the fact that I can no longer palpate all of lower ribs from the outside. Nice.

Running....Tonight I "celebrated" making it to the third trimester by running 1.5 miles after work. My goal was 1 mile and I decided that was just too pathetic ;), so I pressed on for 1.5 miles. My running-mileage-with baby is currently at 391.5. I've made peace with the fact that I won't make it to my initial early-pregnancy-made goal of 500 pregnancy miles. Sadly, running has become really difficult and (if I'm honest) kinda painful. Believe it or not, I've made the intelligent (I think ;)) decision to LISTEN to my body and have backed way off and I truly don't push it. I do run some occasional gentle miles and I'm still meeting my goal to work out on more days than I don't (between yoga+cycling on my indoor trainer+running). I am proud that I can still find the energy to do that. However, I would be lying if I said it doesn't bother me that I have had to dial back on the running.

"Comparison is the thief of joy" has never been more true for me than it is now. Mindlessly scrolling through pregnancy pictures on Instagram with hashtags such as "pregnantrunner" and "runningmama" and #28weeks or #whatever-week-of-pregnancy-I-am-at-the-time has been a REALLY bad idea (and Clint has yelled at me to cut it out a few times ;)). I get caught up in the "she's as far as along as I am and...her bump is smaller/she still has visible ABS!/she's running 7-minute miles/she's running 30-mile weeks/she's lifting heavy stuff/she's eating more healthfully than I am/she's doing crazier yoga poses than I can bust out/she hasn't gained even half of the weight I have thus far, etc., etc.

STOP! It. Doesn't. Matter.

What DOES matter? Doing the best I (We!) can to grow this baby and to finish out this pregnancy in a strong and healthy manner. Feeling this little one dance and kick and jab me and dreaming about what it will be like to hold him in our arms for the first time. Being grateful for this gift.

Do we have a name? Ha! This seems to be a common (fair :)) question. In short, no. We *thought* we had things "finalized" but now our list is somewhere around 5-6 names. We really have no idea. No, we aren't sharing the ideas yet either :). We figure we are indecisive enough as it is; we really don't need a bunch of differing opinions to complicate matters. We might surely lose our minds! I AM getting many helpful suggestions from students at school. Some of the names are simply the suggesting child's own name (love it ;)), some are the name of a beloved friend and some are...more unique. Zebra? Noted. Oh, and my niece thinks the baby's name is Kuyper {hope she doesn't hate him/us when she learns that is not his name}.

What is my plan for work? I've gotten this question a lot :). Currently I'm working full-time as the SLP at Metcalf and also have some after-school clients at Easter Seals. In addition to this, I am pursuing my doctorate in Special Education at ISU. I am not an idiot, I KNOW that things will change after the baby is here :). I won't be able to keep up the same schedule that I am currently (nor will I want to). Do we know what this will look like right now? No. Will I return to work? YES! I'm truly passionate about all three of my current professional outlets and would like to find a way to balance involvement in each post-Baby Boy's arrival. We will figure out what works for our family and we will go from there. Thankfully I have a hard-working, supportive husband who puts up with my ADHD-brain and workaholic tendencies while keeping me securely in check...my family does and always will come first.

Grossness...Really, I don't have anything I should be complaining about. This pregnancy has been pretty darn good (not that I have anything to compare it to ;)). However, I have been getting some gross reflux these past few weeks. Nasty-nasty-weird. Reflux is something I haven't ever had prior to pregnancy so when it started up I had no idea what it was at first. We've discovered coconut water feels good...but it is a temporary fix. Milk is another commonly-suggested remedy but it doesn't seem to work so hot for me. Apple cider vinegar, though, has been a winner. Gross-tasting, but it really seems to wipe out the reflux. On nights when it is more "mild," I don't force the ACV down and just sleep propped up on a big pile of pillows which helps enough.

Etc....
We have three baby showers in the works right now. The first is happening later this month and is being thrown by a sweet girl (and her mom!) that I see for speech at Metcalf. The second is in March, thrown by my right-hand-woman Jillian. The third will happen post-baby in late May or so and is being organized by my dear sister and mother. We are SO excited for these celebrations and for the opportunities to spend time with some important/special people! While what we covet the most is the love, support, prayers and advice of friends and family members as we navigate this transition in our lives...we aren't blind to the fact that Baby Boy is going to need lots of "stuff." We are very appreciative of the gifts, hand-me-downs, love and support he has already received. We've also been keeping our eyes peeled for bargains and have scored some great deals on Amazon. If you have any advice on favorite can't-live-without baby gear, please let us know!

Thanks to some AWESOME friends booking wedding pictures with our photographer because of our referrals (the amazing Christopher Cole Photography)...we are getting a free maternity session in March! As much as being immortalized in my "larger" state is kind of frightening to me, Clint and many others have assured me that I will look back on these sweet memories one day and be glad that we have pictures of this time. Regardless, spending time with Clint + Cole taking some pictures will be fun...so sign me up!

Daddy has committed to some BIG training/running goals for this year so we've committed as a family to supporting him in chasing these dreams. I have some ideas of my own for the second half of the year, but I know that my goals will need some adjusting as I learn what I can and cannot do (both physically and due to time prioritization!). We're looking forward to figuring out how to balance it all.

THANK YOU for loving and supporting us on this journey! We will check in again soon with more updates on Baby Boy Wells :). 28 weeks down, just about 12 weeks to go until we meet our little man!