 Baby Germain is the size of a Grapefruit- (Raise your hand if these fruit/vegetable sizes are not making any sense to you!) This week's craving: (See mom! I put in the apostrophe! If you're a grammar police, my deepest apologies... this is a one and done type thing. Minimal editing) Well... Other than that one night I REALLY craved a burrito, I craved a break. A big break. I had a really challenging work week and although I'm not able to do the more physical aspect of my job, it was emotionally draining nonetheless as my strict daily schedule was interrupted repeatedly. I had no time to crave food. I craved a break. This weeks' aversion: The phone and running. Food aversions are a thing of the past it seems... My back was sore from the half, so running was the thing I really REALLY did not want to do day in and day out... and guess what?! I don't have to! MONDAY- 75 minutes of Yoga: I got back to yoga class at Metrowest Yoga. So Sooo Nice. And very much needed after the high stress work day, personal day, and just my body feeling fatigued after the windy half marathon. Bathroom Breaks: 1 TUESDAY- 5 easy sister miles!- It was a pretty nice day and we had cold weather coming in. My back is still SO SORE at this point from the half without a support band (#fail!) and I thought this would give me a chance to loosen up.. Buuut that didn't happen. Not good. It was a nice run with Caroline though Bathroom Breaks: 0 But that's only because there was no where to stop. WEDNESDAY- OFF: I just didn't feel like running. I'm fat, sore, hungry and tired... and again, and extremely demanding work week. I had my ultra sound in the morning and I was just pretty focused on enjoying that after work since I rushed right from ultrasound to a student reevaluation meeting at work. I was super frazzled trying to catch up on the hour I missed in the morning and barely had the chance to take in the precious moment so I soaked it up on the couch when I got home. Raea was particularly snuggly and that was way more important use of my time. Bathroom Breaks: sadly, none. THURSDAY- 3 Fun Run miles with Steve, Figy and Barbara: Just stuck with the traditional Sandy Bar loop at Sneakerama. Steve continued to tell me how careful I should be and how all this running stuff is great but nothing is more important than family. Made me feel really good about my choice the previous day. Another snuggly night with Raea Bathroom Breaks: 0 FRIDAY- 4 Miles after work with Cat. I met her at her house since I get out of work before her. I bumped into my old friend Caitlin so I was able to tell her I dropped my phone... again... and have a new number.... again.... and lost my contacts.... again.... If you're reading, Cait, I'm looking forward to that Corner Grille date. Bathroom Breaks: 0 SATURDAY- 5 miles with Chrissy and Caroline This was my best run of the week... I was tired, Raea has a tiny cold, and it was freezing rain... but meeting people makes it easier. Bathroom Breaks: 0 SUNDAY- Nothing! I'm writing my blogpost so late because I kept thinking I'd run. But instead I cleaned crazy amounts in the house. Rearranged rooms, restructured closets, emptied desk drawers of all things I don't need, moved furniture to the garage, built shelves... Does nesting start this early? I just HAD to do this today.... and cleaning with Raea made it wayyyy easier... (said no parent ever) **TOTAL MILES: 17ish* Additional Training: Ugh, I suck this week. Does carrying around a grapefruit in my belly count as additional training?? C'mon, it feels WAY bigger than that! Lessons Learned: 1. Unlike when I'm NOT pregnant, I don't really feel bad missing runs right now. Guilt free laziness is nice. 2. Running is always easier with friends! (I didn't do a single solo run because running was my aversion this week) 3. For every one hater, there's dozens of people who love you. Looking Forward To: A break still! All the countdowns to Boston are little countdowns to my vacation! Gender Prediction: We had the ultrasound and although we didn't find out the gender and I didn't see anything suspicious (the tech turned off the screen at that part) I watching the baby move I feel much MUCH stronger towards BOY now. Movie Watched: Patriots Day- I was there, I wasn't sure how I felt about reliving... but it's like a Boston Runner requirement. It was well done. Very well done. Eerily accurate. I remember everything so clearly.... Ugh, the Watertown scene... I remember waking up to tweets as people were somehow listening to the police radio station. Horrific. Lots of F bombs, as you'd expect from Boston (yes, it really is like that around here)... and I'm pretty damn excited for Boston 2018 now. If I watched this in the beginning of the week instead of the end, maybe the week would have gone differently (but probably not)  
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 I was very on the fence about doing this race. I wasn't going to be a scoring member of the team like I could have been for the 10 miler that Raea and I got sick for, and 13 miles is feeling annoyingly long these days... BUT after quite a bit of snow, if I didn't go, I'm not sure what I would have done. New Bedford got significantly less snow than we did. It was actually mostly melted... and this is a rare race where they actually shut down all the roads completely to traffic. My big concern was that the forecast called for freezing rain and I didn't want to be caught in the ice where I might be subject to falling or something worse.... The last place I ran pain free pre-surgery was New Bedford. I was doing a course review and slipped on ice at the waterfront... SO, I was a little overly concerned about falling. As the week leading up to the race went on the forecast changed from snow, to freezing rain, to rain, to just wind. It's always windy at Bedford, so I took the "just wind" as "just a usual day in New Bedford." My sister agreed to babysit for Raea at my house, so I was all set! My initial plan of running slow in my jacket changed as my adrenaline increased from just being in the race environment. "F*( |< it, I'm just going to wear my singlet and use this as a progression run." and that changed into "Maybe I'll beat my progression run time from last year" and then that became my goal. I tried to remember what I did before and emulate that. I ran with a group of teammates last year through the first half at roughly 8 minute pace and then I cranked as best I could. So, I tried to do that. Here is the mile to mile break down. Mile 1: Already looking for a bathroom. The line for the bathroom was too long and I figured since I wasn't racing too hard, especially in the beginning, I could hit up the first bathroom on the course. I figured there must be one in the first two miles. I feel like I see bathroom stops everywhere every year. 7:41 Mile 2: Still looking for a bathroom. Taking note of the unusual amount of wind in the beginning. In all the years I've run this race I've never noticed wind at this point in the course. It was a very strong wind. I'm not sure how the flag hung at the fire station (which was actually at Mile 1) stayed up there. 7:56 Mile 3: Some climbing, but I had bumped into Mel at this point (@fruitfulrunner) so it went by fast. Still need that bathroom but at this point I"m thinking it's at the 4 mile turn. There must be one in the first 4. 7:51 Mile 4: Last major climb until Mile 12, so I'm hoping to see a bathroom so that I can go before I plan to increase pace. Maybe it's all in my head and I don't need to go? .... No, I'm pregnant, I could go 3 times in 13.1 miles. I have to go. Gas stations everywhere... I'm seriously contemplating this... but they all look super sketchy. My ankle/arches are also starting to hurt. WTF. 8:06 Mile 5: This is the easiest section of the course, but having to go to the bathroom so badly at this point is not helping me out much. All I"m thinking about is where I can run off and relieve myself. Just at the end of this mile I tuck over to a gas station to go, They say there's no bathroom. SERIOUSLY I don't believe you. I plead that I'm pregnant, she points me to Subway across the street in the opposite direction of the course. NO. JUST NO. Lots of expletives. Police officer laughing at me but informs me there is one just a little down the road. 7:28 (not including failed bathroom break) Mile 6: BATHROOM! This is a big cheer section of the course, it's also the tail wind, and a slight decline. Easy section . I took note of all the people around me to make sure I caught up to them later. I 'm pretty sure I was first to use the bathroom. I'm not gonna lie, I took my time in there. I had cold hands and had to tighten my laces or I was going to have some serious problems with my right foot by the end. As any pregnant person knows, bending down to tie shoes is hard. I had a seat, I was keeping it until my shoes were tightened, no matter how unsanitary, I've been in worse. Judge away. 7:10 (but lost about a minute and a half in bathroom so closer to 8:40) Mile 7: Finally feeling better after the bathroom, taking full advantage of the downhill before the waterfront. I was sad when I blew right past the fuel station without being on the correct side of the road... I probably need the fuel more than most, but foolishly didn't plan ahead since I wasn't even sure if I'd race or run at all. Not fueling for a half wont kill me, though. 7:00 Mile 8: This section is normally a beastly winding section. The wind was whipping in all directions but sometimes even got a slight tail wind. It was manageable. Similar to previous years I've run if not a tad easier... But still hard, as expected. 7:28 Mile 9: I start to feel like "hey, almost half way through the water front and the wind is not so bad!" I can definitely beat last years time ... I later wanted to kill myself for that statement. 7:14 Sorry Global Photography This isn't worth the purchase anyway.... Mile 10: This mile. HOLY HELL. THIS MILE! The worst. ABSOLUTE WORST wind I've ever run through in my life.... and I've run through some hellish wind (usually in New Bedford... so that hasn't changed)... Looking at other people's splits, I actually held pretty well- most likely because I sandbagged the first half to ensure a strong second half. 8:00 Mile 11: Why are tall men following me? Why am I the one blocking the wind? Why did I decide to do this? I could have just done a long run spectating and avoided this. Why, Why, Why, Why, Why, Why, Why?!?!??! This mile took every ounce of strength to not walk and drop out. If there was a shortcut back, I would have taken it. I'm pregnant, I don't need this wind. 8:00 Mile 12: Shocking. Wind. At least only for about 3/4 of it. Then the final turn towards the final hill. Not much to say except I was super happy to be out of the wind and almost done. 7:39 Mile 13: The biggest climb of the course felt easy after all that wind. It seemed the hill was literally blocking the wind because as soon as you reached the top the wind was full force again. I checked my watch just at the start of this mile and realized if I pushed it a bit, I could break 1:40 (watch time- not including bathroom stops)... So I pressed hard for no reason other than pride. Nothing to prove, no PR on the line... 13.1: Tail wind for the last .1 just to get me to my goal. 1:39:57 watch time. I'll take it.
  Baby Germain is the size of a Sweet Potato- Which I think is really confusing. Sweet potatoes come in a huge variety of sizes... Or are those Yams? ... Whatever... It's bigger than a Turnip. This weeks craving: Nothing really! HOoray for feeling normalish This weeks aversion: Plain bagels. Suddenly the one thing I craved for 13 weeks is SO GROSS to me. SO BLAND. It tastes like being sick tastes. MONDAY- 45 minutes of Yoga: I had to do Yoga at home today since my husband had to drive to Rochester (6 hours maybe?) and my mom needed to pick up my sisters in various places in Connecticut. Everyone in a hurry before the storm. No babysitter means no yoga in studio. Sadly this was the last yoga class I paid for at the studio, so I have to buy some more classes with the money I don't have.... I NEED the yoga! Bathroom Breaks: 1 TUESDAY- ANOTHER BIG FAT GOOSE EGG!! 0 Miles!- It snowed all day and I was alone since Matt was in upstate New York. Raea and I were stuck inside all day due to the massive blizzard. She was terrorizing the whole house and just wanted to go outside, but when it's snowing sideways that's not the best option for a 1 year old. We got a little over a foot. Once Raea went to bed I tried to get to the treadmill but because of the drifts the mounds of snow in front of the garage were huge. I needed to shovel just to get to the treadmill. Shoveling was REALLY hard, it was super heavy snow! While running pregnant is safe, shoveling probably isn't the best thing. I did 45 minutes and called it a day. By the time I got Raea to bed, got myself outside, shoveled out a car and the garage, it was almost 10pm, so I opted out of the treadmill. I had worked out enough! WEDNESDAY- 50ish minutes 5.7 miles 4 x 800 @ 6:00/mi: Another snow day, but since I had shoveled the car out the night before I was able to get out and get over to my parents with Raea. I met my sister for her workout and we warmed up about 2 miles to the Willows Retirement Home where they do an AMAZING job taking care of the parking lot. The loop around the whole complex is .42 miles with a little incline and a little decline (and the usual wind) I was expecting to hit 3:10's but after hitting my first 800 in exactly 3:00, I knew pressure was on, I wanted to hit all of them. Then next repeat I stayed relaxed and ran drafting off Jane until the incline and then she took off on me. I was able to maintain the same pace as her once we got to the slight decline. BOOM another 3:00. I was cutting it uncomfortable close. The third repeat Jane and I agree was the easiest. The wind stopped for those 3 minutes and it was very appreciated. I ran similar to the other laps, drafted off Jane until the hill, and then fell a little behind and then matched her pace to the finish, 2:58, The final loop was the hardest for me as Jane took off immediately and I had to cut the wind myself. I also needed the bathroom badly at this point. I fought hard for this one and ended in a 3:00 high. We were using my GPS and a car as markers, turns out we were doing .52 the whole time, and DAMN IT, I'm taking the extra .02 per lap for the SUB 3:00 800's! Slush run cool down home... and then lots of pizza at the Corner Grille. Still no husband. Bathroom Breaks: sadly, none. THURSDAY- 3 Fun Run miles with Caroline and Barbara: Just stuck with the traditional Sandy (AKA snowy) Bar loop at Sneakerama. It was dangerously slippery so I was totally okay with running over 9 minute pace. Barbara is such a running badass. I love running with her, I'm hoping she makes a baller comeback. I was still unsure about running New Bedford as the forecast was bad and I'd feel so much guilt having Raea stuck in the cold... but Caroline stepped up and said she'd watch her at our house, which was AWESOME! Knowing at the very least I can use the roads to get in a nice long run was just awesome. Bathroom Breaks: 0 FRIDAY- 6 Miles after work with Cat and Caroline, 8:49/mi. I picked a route that was flat and that typically had good shoveling, and although most of the walkways were clear, people don't really understand that they should shovel continuously to the road. We ended up stopping and going a lot with the HUGE mounds of snow at the corner of each street crossing. I wore the support band for the first time... and then left it at my parents house. #fail. Bathroom Breaks: 0- Support band helped I think. SATURDAY- 3.4 Stroller Miles 30 minutes. It was actually pretty nice out. Birds singing, and snow melting. I waited until Raea was ready for a nap (which she never takes) and I took her to the parking lot at the school in town. We looped for 30 minutes and I LISTENED TO MUSIC! Which I've resorted to for these parking lot/ stroller loops... I can see why so many people use headphones (which I didn't, I had the beats just bumpin from the stroller).... but I think I still prefer my breathing 99% of the time. Bathroom Breaks: 2- I was trying to hydrate all day for New Bedford! SUNDAY- New Bedford Half Marathon 1:39:57 Watch time (I had a bathroom break... and damn it, I'm pregnant so I'm using my watch time NOT my official chip time... which was 1:41:34. Not sure what gun time was, probably about a minute more): If I took a poll of everyone that ran the race; Sum up the Half Marathon in one word, I'm sure 90% IF NOT MORE would answer WINDY. I've never experienced wind like that before. My face still hurts. There were literally times that if both feet were off the ground I was blown into the cones. I was tripping over my own feet from the wind blowing my feet into each other! Cones flew across the street at top speeds! It was insane! Most of the race was managable, but 9-12 were just insane. My goals were as follows a. beat last years time when I did a progression workout (1:37:57) I was on track to do so until I got bitch slapped in the face repeatedly by Mother Nature.... b. break 1:40 c. finish When I was running through the wind at mile 10 and then 11 I contemplated life choices... primarily the one to run the notoriously windy half marathon... which I think this year was a wind breaking record. I think we will hear about this one for decades to come! Bathroom Breaks: 1 failed attempt (damn gas station didn't have a bathroom!) and then 1 successful one where I also took the opportunity to tie my shoes. **TOTAL MILES: 31ish* Additional Training: Shoveling... and very minimal band drills. Gotta get back on it! Lessons Learned: 1. Shoveling is harder than easy runs 2. Snow days are not as relaxing as they used to be... Love my girl, but wish she'd nap! Especially since I can't seem to sit on the couch without falling into a deep nap of my own. 3. Hater's gonna Hate (hate away.... I'll still be here grindin') Looking Forward To: A vacation with my husband... even for just a few days! Love him so much and we barely saw each other this week because he got snowed in in upstate New York... and any day he was home worked opposite hours of me... Gender Prediction: I think I referred to the baby as "he" this week... so that's obviously what my gut intuition is saying, but I've been emotionally feelin' like it's a girl lately! I'll be so grateful for just a healthy little thing, but wouldn't it be cute for Raea to have a sister! I know how much I appreciate having sisters (I ran with one of my sisters three times this week and then another day I had a sister babysit... I'd never trust my brothers!)   This was a good race considering all the unusual circumstances surrounding it. First, DAYLIGHT SAVINGS (I hate you Daylight Savings) Second, When windchill was factored in it was below zero. Fun. Third, and probably most importantly, I am *18 weeks and 0 days pregnant. *For those following my weekly recaps, I include Sunday in the previous week even though TECHNICALLY Sunday is the start of a new week of pregnancy... But lets be honest, at the end of of this journey one day doesn't make a difference... how many kids do you know were born on their due date?.... its WAY easier for me to record my training weeks the way I do for my running log.... SO.... although this race was included in my Week 17 Recap, it's technically week 18. Getting Dressed: I'm registered to run for Team Sneakerama, I represent the local running specialty store for local races, so long as they don't also conflict with SISU Project USATF-NE team races. I have two singlets, one on the larger side, and one that fits non-pregnant-me perfectly. I couldn't find the larger one... and for some reason I was really stressed that I was wearing a shirt that couldn't cover or hide my bump... and I was also stressed it was pink. Afterall, I was here to have fun, right? I wanted my orange singlet so I could ALMOST be festive! Why this was so important? I'll never know. I'll just blame hormones.... but I eventually found the orange one and could move on with my life. I put on the green St. Patty's day socks over my tights, and tied a green bow in my hair. I thought I was overdressed with the long tights and Under Armour. In hindsight, I don't know why I thought that. Before The Race: I'm trying really hard to be chill. This is fun, Right?!, But I've never raced pregnant, and I'm really competitive. I'm thinking "can I get top 5?" "can I get top 3?" "Can I run under 21 Minutes?". It's a bit of a different vibe when I race for Team Sneakerama. These are some of my favorite people, but they are here for mostly fun and my husband and I are way too serious. In a weird way I get more nervous for these small races that I have an actual chance at placing in... USATF races are so competitive I know no one will even notice me in the field of amazingness. We get there an hour before the start but can't get our numbers until 10 minutes before because one of the members of the team had them, and like any normal person doing a Fun 5k on a freezing ass day, he didn't feel like waiting in the cold for an hour before the race. I didn't really worry about this too much, but it effected my warm up because I didn't want to be warming up and then not be at the meet-up spot once he arrived. I did less than a mile warm up... more because I was too cold to strip down and I had so many layers on I could barely move. I went to the bathroom a million times and contemplated camping out in a Port-a-John until the start... NO WIND IN THERE!  TThe Start: I stopped being a baby and I took my jacket, sweatshirt, and hat off. I freed my legs from the bulky sweatpants. I switched to sleeker gloves and put on a thin headband to cover my ears. I tied my On Cloud-Flow's up nice and tight for maximum ankle support. I did some strides... and I suddenly felt like I had arrived. I eyed the competition with my husband. I didn't see anyone for him to worry about, but I noticed Sonja Kent so I was relieved I wouldn't be racing for the win... She's regularly sub 18... so not going to even be close. I didn't want to kill myself for a local race. BUT this race kicks off the St. Patricks Day festivities in Worcester. It runs the route of the parade so LOTS of spectators come out... and many of them people I know! I like to do well .... Again, this is for fun, RIGHT? Mile 1: Well, all the fooling with my gloves had my GPS watch set to a different setting than normal, and there was no way I was taking my gloves off to change it. I planned to use the moving pace to help me keep my first mile at 7:00 pace. My plan was to start there and then do a progression run. All plans out the window, so my next plan was to let a lot of girls in front of me so I took myself out of the competition, and just make sure I had really stable and slow breathing. It's hard to know what pace I'm running because I've never done this before. I don't actually know how much pregnancy will effect me... and on regular runs I'm barely cracking 9 minute miles... So I assumed it'd impact performance a lot....?! I caught up to Megan Proux. She recognized me... and then I knew I must be faster than 7's. Split: 6:33 Mile 2: This mile has a hairpin turnaround since the course is out and back. I planned to break the mile into two parts staying at a steady pace until the turn and then gradually pushing it. At this point I realized 7:00/mi was way underestimating what I could do. Megan and I were still running together. We were 4th and 5th at the start of Mile 2 but at this point I thought maybe we were 6th and 7th? I was trying not to keep track. I didn't want to get competitive. I thought "I'll run with her till the finish and she'll out kick me... but at least she can help me keep a steady pace." We caught another runner just before the turnaround. I'm counting the girls coming back in the other direction. Sonja, obviously way out in front... and then one other making Megan and I 3rd and 4th. For the first time in my running career, I thought about the hardware. I know there's a plaque for top 3. I hit the turn and surged. Bye Megan, that's my plaque. I wanted it for the baby. The headwind was strong and not fun. Split: 6:36 Mile 3: The girl in second place was pretty far ahead of me... but I was a bit disappointed to see her struggling. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN!! Damn you girl for making me get competitive! At this point I was happy with third.... unless I could get second... and seeing her struggle with a mile to go, I knew I could. Damn. I have to work harder than this. I had plenty of real estate to catch her even though she was pretty far up. I didn't need to do anything dramatic. So I just pushed slightly. Of course I caught up to her at the slightest incline... NOW, I would 100% classify this as a pancake flat course, but I'M PREGNANT! the tiniest bump in the road felt mountainous to me, I'm carrying some extra weight, and at this point I have to pee, my core is getting a bit tired so I'm not supporting my bump as well.. Yeah, that 4ft of incline was a hill to me. I pulled up beside a man who pulled up beside the 2nd place girl hoping she wouldn't see me and I could just coast by her... but the man didn't seem interested in passing her with me, so she responded with an amateur surge. Whatever. I checked my watch to see that I still have .4 miles to catch her... The finish looked closer than it was so I knew she couldn't sustain. So I waited until her surge ran her out of gas and then I surged past her. IN HINDSIGHT I should have just sustained the increase in pace, but I was trying to be responsible and not to put myself in the red zone (even though I was reassured several times that I was safe to race as hard as I could comfortably do without pelvic pain... it just felt weird to push to the point where I couldn't breath comfortably... even though it would be less than 2 minutes).. so I returned to my previous pace after the surge and just coasted. Split: 6:24  Last .1 At this point I was just not going to give up second... But I knew that I had enough in the take that if the other girl had a sudden last minute response, mine would still be stronger... I waited for her response, but couldn't hear any footsteps. The announcer said "Here comes the second place girl, followed closely by the third"... but I could tell from her announcement that she wasn't catching me, otherwise I feel it would have been "this is a close one" or something. I looked for the clock (weirdly never thought to check my watch for cumulative time... the settings were all messed up so I didn't know what I was looking at half the time)... But in the last few strides I saw the clock at 20:0x... and I was like "what?! Ahhhhgggghhh!" Mad at myself for not squeaking under that barrier. It would have been nice to say I broke 20:00 pregnant, but 20:04 is still pretty good (and technically I was pregnant when I ran 18:09). WAY better than 7:00/mi.  Lessons Learned: 1. Running postpartum was actually harder for me than running pregnant. This is me 7 months postpartum in ideal conditions running 19:46.... BARELY ahead of my now pregnant self. Granted, I had taken 2 years off of running for injury, surgery, and a baby.... but 7 months and still barely under 20! (I thought for sure I'd be under 19 by this point... I'm not the young chicken I used to be! Lesson 1b.)  2. The faster I run the less "pregnant" I feel... at least until my core gets weak. I think when I'm running slow I don't engage my core muscles as much, and because of that my core does not support my bump as well. This is why the last mile got a bit uncomfortable. While my breathing was still okay, the need to go to the bathroom and the extra weight were much more noticeable. It's not like 20:04 pregnant was easy for me... it was easier than I thought but still hard enough to cause some breakdown in form and fatigue. From here out I'll work on engaging core during regular runs even if they are slow. 3. No matter how much I hate it, I run well in the cold. Up Next: I'm considering running a progression run at New Bedford Half Marathon next weekend, but at this point in time it depends on weather and babysitter. What Matt does is more important than what I do, so I'm going to support him the best I can. For daily updates on my thoughts and emotions on runs you can Follow me on Instagram OR if you're more data driven you can follow me on Strava Special Thanks To Scott Mason for SO MANY awesome photos throughout the years. Finally bought one, I want to tell the baby about going to Nationals and running the Celtic 5k someday!  Baby Germain is the size of a Turnip- (How many doctors does it take to figure out what a Turnip is without google?) This weeks craving: I've satisfied my Dorito craving thanks to my moms house. I craved fruit a lot this week, so that's a big improvement! But I mostly think I've been thirsty and in need of those good sugars. Matt and I have discussed adding Salmon back since I can't have nuts, and THAT Sounds Amazing!. This weeks aversion: Food tastes much better these days. I'm actually feeling like I can get back to a "normal for me" diet... Which I say that way because I am insanely picky as is. I never will touch an onion (and Turnips, by the way, look like onions) and I don't care for mushrooms. I'm not able to eat nuts at the moment (but after Raea's trip to the allergist, I feel confident after pregnancy I can give them a try under supervision of a doctor. So the short answer is simply: My diet is not normal so I say normal for me. MONDAY- 75 minutes of Yoga: At Metrowest Yoga with my mom and Caroline. I felt GREAT this week! It was the first time I didn't position myself right at the back next to the exit. I wasn't the first there and everyone was putting their mats toward the back so I was forced to the front. I've gotten to know the teacher after each week of going so I didn't feel bad if I had to walk through everyone to go to the bathroom (which is why I put myself next to the door). I felt much more in the class physically and emotionally. I had an awesome flow going and it was very much needed! Sadly I'll probably have to miss next week since I wont have anyone to babysit at all after work. Everyone will be gone. Bathroom Breaks: 1 TUESDAY- BIG FAT GOOSE EGG!! 0 Miles!- Last week I put in a fairly typical week of training for a decent non-marathon non-pregnant runner (with the obvious difference being my pace, but effort was there). I pushed myself pretty hard to keep on adding miles and after being sick I wanted to get right back at it! My ankles and shins started hurting Tuesday of last week and I switched shoes at one point... but it didn't make much difference. My joints are more flexible, my arches are feeling a big more weight (I haven't gained much, but I've gained enough that I'm running with more weight than I've ever run with minus the first few weeks postpartum with Raea) I spent this day (and the next) reevaluating why I want to run during pregnancy so bad. Do I want to do it so that I can say yay! go me! I trained through 40 weeks of pregnancy!I Or do I want to do it so that I can stay fit and prepared for some ass kicking after the baby comes? Well, Obviously, It's the latter. Ass Kicking. I want to do some Ass Kicking. At least to the best of my ability. So, realizing that I'm likely going to lose 3-4 months of solid running at the VERY LEAST, I made the decision to focus more on strength training in my weakest areas this week. I did some serious drills for my shins and happily did zero miles. WEDNESDAY- 45 Minutes of Walking 2.5 miles: It was a nice day! I still wanted to be easy on my shins so I went to check out the West Boylston Railtrail for the softer terrain. If you follow me on Instagram and checked out my lame story, you got to see the quicksandish mud I was stuck in. So I walked. #TimeonFeet. I also let Raea walk a little. God I love this kid!
THURSDAY- 3.2 fun Run Miles with Chrissy: Just stuck with the traditional Sandy Bar loop at Sneakerama. I got my Winter Polar Challenge Sweatshirt for doing all the fun runs this winter, and I got new Spenco Inserts for my shoes with the help of the store owner, Steve Genatossio. My feet and ankles and shins thanked me. I'm going to stick with the drills but this should give me another few weeks of painless shins so I can keep some mileage in there Bathroom Breaks: 0 FRIDAY- 30 minutes-3.2 miles on the treadmill: This.Was.Hard. Every day this week was hard but this was the hardest. I missed too many days this week to miss another but man did I want to! Matt was gone over night so it was just Raea and I and wayyyyy too cold to push the stroller. I didn't get on the treadmill until close to 9pm. I started at a 10 minute pace and that felt comfortable so I said to myself "just stay here.... remember, Time on Feet"... but that got boring so I moved to a 9:30-9:15 second mile, and then did a gradual increase from there for the rest of the 30 minutes ending with the last 3 minutes being at 7:30 pace. It felt hard. Very Hard. I thought "man, I'll be lucky to break 7:00/mi at the race on Sunday... but I'm cool with that Bathroom Breaks: 1... SATURDAY- 3 Miles 29 minutes. FU mother Nature.. MORE WIND. It was so bad I wanted nothing to do with running of any kind today... I just wanted to snuggle Raea and her billions of stuffed animals...but I needed to get some blood in my legs for Sundays race so I thought "just 15 minutes"... and since it was so cold I thought "better do more because your blood is still ice..." not sure how much benefit I got out of this run, but I did it. Bathroom Breaks: 1 SUNDAY- 6 ish miles total, 5k Race: 20:04, second place female: More about this in the overall race recap that I'll try to get to tomorrow or Tuesday. But in short, I felt really good actually and wish that I thought to check the time and try to break 20, but truthfully I had a competitive race moving from 5th, to 4th, to 3rd, to 2nd gradually throughout.... so I was much more focused on place. Once I felt I had a good leg up on 2nd in the last quarter, I threw in surges to keep her from making any counter moves, but not an all out kick I kept thinking to myself "are you being irresponsible? If you red-line does the baby red-line?" So I'd say I Red-Orange-Lined in this race, but for sure had the extra 5 second effort in there that would have gotten me under 20 had I known, I just honestly had no idea I could possibly be that close! My hands and face were too cold to put the extra effort into checking my watch. Also, My husband won! WOo! Last year we were 3rd and 4th (me third) this year we were first and second! Bathroom Breaks: 0 in race but a bunch before and reallllly needed to go in the last mile when things got quicker!
*TOTAL MILES: 18ish* Additional Training: 3 times a week of shin and calf drills 2x20 lateral band drills 2x20 medial band drills (sitting) 2x3:00 Stability Balance 2x20 calf raises straight leg 2x20 calf raises bent knee (soleus) Lessons Learned: 1. Winter is not over... Looks like I'll learn this lesson next week too. 2. Listening to music helps on the treadmill A LOT! 3. I'm only 20 seconds slower than my 6 month postpartum self Looking Forward To: MORE BABY KICKS! This week was the first time Matt could feel the baby as well. I can see the little kicks and movements now.... but they are still so tiny and infrequent. I love feeling the movement. It's reassuring that I haven't killed the kid yet with all this running (even though I know it's fine... Sometimes I picture the kid getting whiplash or something in there...) Gender Prediction: New this week, I"m NOT finding out the Gender. I frankly don't care. If I have a girl, COOL I don't need to get anything new... and Raea has a sister! If it's a boy, it's something different and we already are very set on our boyname (still working on the girls)... I've thought boy since day one.... but this week, for some reason, feeling the kicks I've shifted to maybe another girl... Applicable Movies and Shows: Also new this week but maybe wont happen every week. Matt and I just watched the movie Extraordinary Measures. Wow. He heard about the story on a podcast and what a difficult yet amazing parenting story with some serious sisu from both the kids and parents....Some tears shed with this one. I.can't.Imagine.  Baby Germain is the size of an avocado (which I feel is smaller than a navel orange... but what do I know...) This weeks craving: Doritos (which I TOTALLY and SHAMEFULLY had a few little kid bags of....) and also McDonalds plain cheeseburgers... which, I obviously did not have. I'm still vegetarian, and still don't consider McDonalds food (or Doritos, but whatever) This weeks aversion: Nothing too noticeable.... dark greens are still tough, but I'm forcing myself to eat them! MONDAY- 75 minutes of Yoga: At Metrowest Yoga with my mom. I was still feeling pretty sick but after a long day at work (first day after vacation) with a new student... I was very grateful that my husband took Raea for the night so I could have some me time... especially after both of us being sick. I meditated on healing and felt very focused and centered this time. I had an OBGYN appointment just before and it was so nice to hear Baby Germain's heartbeat after the stressful week of the flu. Bathroom Breaks: 0 - Not surprised, I didn't drink enough water at work because I was so busy with the new student. I made up for this with many bathroom breaks throughout the night. TUESDAY- 6.5 miles with the stroller, unintentional progression run 50:40: If you follow me on instagram, I already gave a pretty in-depth recap on this day. Raea was clearly much better but still had a slight cough. It was really nice weather still. Matt had her with him for work all morning but out in Methuen (the store he used to work at, Whirlaway, is very happy to have her visit when he comes). He had to go to Lexington at night and we live an hour from there... so I drove out to him, met him at the rail trail just as he finished his run with Raea... and then I took her on a run with me. Poor kid spent 12.5 miles in the stroller... and she started crying 3 miles out from the car with me. I BOOKED it home! She only cried for SOME of the way back to the car, but I was afraid to slow down. My last mile was 7:04. I guess this confirms I can still run that pace. Bathroom Breaks: 1- just at the start. WEDNESDAY- 5 Miles of Tempo 40ish minutes: My mom had Raea for the entire day, so it was really nice of her to let me get an extra 40 minutes so I could just get my run in. It was windy, but super warm. 70's! I packed poorly and ended up in a sports bra. I did a 10 minute warm up, then 20 minutes of Fartlek. I used the traffic lights and major intersections as stopping and starting points. I was happy with this workout! My longest interval was a quarter mile, and I was able to do that in 6:06 pace. You can check out my laps here. Bathroom Breaks: 0  THURSDAY- 8 miles of wind 4 solo, 4 fun run 9:15/m: The wind was so bad today a man actually died from a tree falling on his car... but I decided to run somewhere where there aren't many trees. It wasn't nearly as windy as I prepared for. I ran 4 easy miles from sneakerama, then ran 4 more with Barbara and my sister Caroline while Raea hung out in the store with Lisa. Bathroom Breaks: 1 FRIDAY- 5.1 Miles of wire village stroller loops with Caroline, 9:06/mi: Some Fridays I just REALLY don't want to run. My new student had a pretty long tantrum today which I actually feel pretty good about because I know I'm creating change when these things happen, but exhausting none-the-less. I dreaded this run before I got to work because I'm getting really tired of the stroller in loops, but I knew that's all I could do. I had THREE people ask to run with me today, fortunately I could make it work with my sister. She made the loops go by faster, but MAN it was cold and I was tired. We averaged so slow, but believe it or not we progressed each mile! Bathroom Breaks: 1... SATURDAY- 7 Miles, 4 with Chrissy 8:07/mi. MORE WIND. It was so bad I was bleeding when I got back to the gym. The headwind was too strong to fight for an entire 3.5 miles, so I just did out and back with Chrissy then out and back again with a bathroom break in there. After two days of paces slower than 9:00/mi I thought my days of "fastish" running were over... This run made me think otherwise. We did some core/stability after. Bathroom Breaks: 1 SUNDAY- 10.5 miles: The team run was on the Boston course today, and we had no babysitter. I felt it was more important for Matt to go since I'm training for... nothing... so I did my run with Chrissy near home on the Blackstone River Bike Path. I didn't think the wind could be worse than yesterday... but I was wrong. It was 7 degrees when I woke up with a wind advisory. I felt more concerned about Raea in the stroller than myself... Next time I'll worry about myself more! Raea was toasty warm, but my hand on the stroller was painfully cold even with HUGE sweater gloves! My 16 oz water and my gel froze in the back of the stroller within the first 45 minutes. I really needed fuel today... and the water. I wanted 10-12 but this was good enough without any fuel. Bathroom Breaks: 2  Additional Training: I failed to do any Kinetic Revolution, but I rolled 3 times this week and did the stability Saturday. I realize this needs to be more an area of focus as I put on more weight. Lessons Learned: 1. As I gain weight I will need to wear more supportive inserts. I'll be getting spenco's soon 2. Pushing the stroller in the wind.... SUUUUUCKKKSSS! 3. Eat more. A weekly lesson. Eat more. Looking Forward To: Stroller miles on the Rutland Rail trail where I don't need to turn often and my wrist doesn't hurt.  |
Hello!Welcome to my blog! I've been blogging for a long time on various platforms. My intention has never been to reach the masses, but rather to give myself a chance to reflect and journal. I feel it at least challenges me to be somewhat coherent, however you can expect ramblings and grammatical incorrectness here!
I've recently been diagnosed with CECS and fPAES and had it treated with BOTOX of all things... So I suspect to see more and more people looking for answers with that in the future and hope to continue blogging so there will be easy to access follow-ups as that was helpful for me. NOTE: Apologies that some of the pictures incorrectly load sometimes. I try to keep up with the glitches, but can't always! Hope it doesn't impact the blog experience for all the PAES visitors. 
My Past
January 2023
The Beginning |
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