Running Pregnant: Week 27

Baby Germain is the size of a cucumber. I just have no words for the vegetable sizes. eggplant > cucumber. 

This week's craving: Nothing much... Just eating what feels good... sometimes that's a salad, sometimes that's ice cream...  
This week's aversion: Nothing.... No Hunger Strike this week. (see what I've done there? RIP Chris Cornell)

MONDAY- 0: Glucose Test, Pertussis Vaccine Shot, Dropping car off at the shop, Home Depot, and to Boston to drop husband off at the airport. Today was a planned day off from work and from running. Too many things going on and I wasn't sure how the Glucose Test would effect me throughout the day.... especially since I've been having digestion problems.

TUESDAY- 3.1 miles on Spencer Rail Trail, 34:04 10:53/mi: First fully solo parenting day. Up early to drive Raea to Day Care, off to work, work a full day, rush out after bus duty to drive 30 minutes to get Raea, then off to the Spencer Rail Trail... Which is only 3.1 mile out and back. I thought this would be flat and easy but it was really hilly and bumpy... and I imagine it gets really buggy later in the year because it was mostly wetlands. Wont be back here often unless I'm desperate. The run was slow but I did talk to Matt on the phone during it (without headphones). So I'm pushing the stroller, talking on the phone, running up hill. The 6 hour time difference is tricky! 
Bathroom Breaks: 1

WEDNESDAY- 3 with Jane in some weird industrial park in the middle of nowhere. 9:34/mi. Jane is home so she helped me retrieve my car at the shop. It was SO hot! I considered running to the shop but there is no shade coverage there, and I didn't want to do 5 in the 90 degree heat pregnant... It just seemed like a bad idea...so I opted out. My mom wanted to go swimming... so, Jane and I followed her out to some pond on the very edge of the town I live in (which is... in the middle of NO WHERE). We found this side road to run on that looked flat (which I needed because... I'm pushing the stroller all week)... but it led us to this strange industrial "no tresspassing" area... It was creepy and cool... although I'd never run there alone. I could totally see myself doing XC repeats there though! Mildly challenging terrain with the softer dirt... but the low impact was nice. 
 Bathroom Breaks: 1

THURSDAY- 3  8:46/mi Another Daycare Drop off and Pick up day, but having the fun run kept me motivated. the ONE day this week I didn't need to push stroller! Another 90 Degree day but it cooled off by the evening. I most likely ran 3.3 today but my watch never caught up to the run (cuz I'm so fast! hahahaha). I didn't realize that Geoff Smith, 2x Boston Marathon winner was running right behind me until he said something about not letting the pregnant woman beat him... SO we ran together. It was awesome. I normally am pretty good about keeping a running conversation going but his knowledge, experience, and workout he used to do are so far ahead of what I can even quantify as possible that I can't even say anything useful... I'm just in awe. The best moment was when I told him I was planning to do the 2018 Boston Marathon and he said he's in the 65+ age group now... and my response was "what is the qualifying time for you?"... a fairly normal question when someone enters a new age group... his response: "I don't need to qualify"... Yeah, I guess when you win Boston multiple times and go to the Olympics you have a lifetime pass. 
Bathroom Breaks: 0


FRIDAY- 3 on Rutland Rail Trail with Raea. I was DRAGGING! I set a goal to be under 10/mi and I JUST managed! . I had to bring my car to get inspected. But since I sort of have two cars right now, this has been a crazy juggling situation. Jane has been using my car all week but I wasn't going to make her do the errands for it. So when I got out of work, my normal window of opportunity to run stroller free, I had to take the car across two to get re-inspected at the same shop it failed at. Friday Traffic ruining my groove! I just decided to go right to rutland and not think twice about it. 3 miles. Anyone can suffer for 3 miles... and suffer I did. Raea had fun though! 


SATURDAY- 6 decent paced miles in some heat with Chrissy (and Raea) 8:34/mi  LAST day with Matt in Switzerland! Busy Busy day! I had so much work for school to get done but Raea was an angel all day that I somehow managed it all and was still able to get a run in before heading to Boston to pick up Matt. Really proud of how I managed EVERYTHING this week. But also really grateful I don't need to do this again for a while. 
Bathroom Breaks: 1



SUNDAY- 8 total 5k Race 22:56 official time, second place!! I raced with Raea and Baby today! I also hit my goal of running a marathon in the week. This was a very last minute decision since Matt double booked himself... but it was closer to home and closer to our hearts and way more baby/stroller friendly than the other option. I will be doing a full race recap later in the week but I chose to run with the stroller to keep myself from getting too competitive.... and that didn't work. I was just as competitive only I was pushing a stroller carrying a 28 week old baby bump like a boss. One thing is for sure, I can still get my ass movin' if I want to. I had this weird goal to break 6 minutes in the mile on the track in my third trimester... I think running this race puts that goal to rest. What for? To prove I can? Who cares? I'm sure I can, but I'm just going to keep doing things that present themselves naturally instead of forcing a time trial. This indicated to me that my fitness is still good... 12 more weeks! (an entire marathon training cycle more to go... which should put things in perspective for any runners out there that think I'm 'almost there'... I'm not even close) 


**TOTAL MILES: 26.4**
After last week I realized that running a weekly marathon isn't a bad goal. I almost gave up on it today because what's the difference between 25 in training and 26? Not much... but the difference is achieving a goal or not. SO I cool down after the race until I hit my goal. It was especially hard this week since most were pushing the stroller.

Additional Training: 
-I had no time for anything additional at all this week. Feeding myself daily and feeding my baby daily and keeping the house cleaned while fitting in runs and a full time job was enough! LOTS OF SQUATS! Cleaning up after and chasing around a toddler is no easy task
Lessons Learned:
Still Got it
Looking Forward To: Looks like the Vermont City Marathon might not be happening since relay registration closed before regular marathon registraion and we missed the cut off. It might be for the best. I'm still looking forward to that weekend though... like I said, teachers live their lives from one extra day off to the next. We have one *bonus* day left before the final countdown. 




Gender Prediction: A man a the lab who was also getting blood drawn was very convinced I was having a boy... and this week I tend to agree with him. I feel comfortable with either option now that I've settled on names for both! I'm pretty excited! 


What to look out for:
I will be doing a full race recap coming soon as well as a second trimester reflection. Stay tuned for those posts!  

If you don't already:  feel free to follow me on instagram. It's just another avenue I've used to keep myself motivated throughtout this process, and motivate others as well! 
You can follow me here: c_mom_run_fast 
My goal is to:
a. inspire, empower, and share my story with others since there is VERY LITTLE on running and competing pregnant out there 
b. Just to get my fat ass out the door each day and the more followers I have the more I feel like I have an obligation to go! Whatever works! Those of you following and commenting are helping me more than you know! 

Thanks again for your support!