Running Pregnant: Week 28

Baby Germain is the size of a cabbage? 
This week's craving: Ice Cream (bring on that Ben and Jerrys factory!)
This week's aversion: Nothing. 



How cute is this shirt? Running for Two! For Two Fitness!

MONDAY- 3 miles with Caroline: I had no intention of running on this day because I was planning to go to Yoga, but I try to take advantage of the days someone is willing to run my turtle pace... I also try to take advantage of days where Raea is not with me. SO I ran AND went to yoga. The run I felt remarkably smooth and comfortable considering the stroller race the previous day. Unfortunately, even though I really felt like I got a lot out of yoga, my right side was so tight that I really just created more imbalance in my body. My left side loosened up so much but I couldn't get my right piriformis to release. I left feeling a bit "off"... and this wasn't the first time this has happened in yoga. 


TUESDAY- 3 at Wire Village loops with Stroller: I was so happy to pick Raea up from work today, but she was not so happy to see me. I was only a tiny bit later than normal, but just late enough that they were heading outside... and Raea was MAD that I was there! She wanted to play so bad! I promised her play time after the run. Unfortunately she's less than two years old so she didn't understand. The fight to buckle her tightened my neck quite a bit... then the pushing of the stroller tightened it more... I didn't notice how bad it was until I stopped, so at least I got the run in. I let Raea play as promised, but my neck pain was super concerning....


WEDNESDAY- 0: The neck pain was so severe that I had to leave work early. I went right to the chiropractor. It helped, but only temporarily. I tried a lot of different topical creams to help.... and got some mild relief... but running was out of the question. It hurt to swallow it was so bad!



THURSDAY- 5 Fun Run Miles. I doubled down and went to the chiropractor again today. I felt MUCH better and ran 5 at the fun run in the rain. I ran with two people who were new to the fun run and I was glad they went the full 5 with me! It's so much easier with company!

FRIDAY- 3 morning Miles . I had to run in the morning today because Matt had to take the stroller with him early up to Vermont. He had to work the marathon expo so I almost wasn't able to go with him because I can't miss work anymore! My friends were going up too, and agreed to take myself AND Raea up to meet Matt! It's a 4 hour drive to Vermont... and Raea is rebelling in the car a bit more... I have nice friends!!  I wanted to alleviate the amount of STUFF Cat and Pat would have in the car but didn't want to miss a run simply because I didn't have the stroller... so morning run it was. Raea was up all night for literally no reason... So for the first time since she was maybe 2 months old, I had less than 5 hours of sleep... way less. Getting up early was not easy, but it was worth it!

SATURDAY- 6 Stroller miles on the Burlington Bike Path.  Today was a long day in the car and a lot of things out of my comfort zone. Traveling with a toddler ins someone else's car is stressful even when Cat and Pat continued to assure me she wasn't bothering them, she was bothering me! So whiny! I think since I was sitting in the back with her she was extra demanding! Then having to make executive plans without Matt to decide for me isn't my favorite thing. He loves to explore and plan and create and itinerary for food and runs etc. I hate it... but I did a good job! Unfortunately napping wasn't on Raea's agenda... but we did try. I was exhausted. I tried not to drink too much fluids on the car ride because of the bathroom breaks that would need to happen, and in the last mile of this run I felt the dehydration. I got really bad Braxton Hicks contractions... and they wouldn't stop for most of the night. I drank a bunch of coconut water and once Raea was in bed and I could relax they subsided. PHEW!


SUNDAY- 6.2 with Cat  Matt and I slept in and missed half of the Marathon... I totally expected Raea to be up all night in the hotel as she normally is... but I was VERY glad that I finally found a way to keep her sleeping. She woke up once for less than 3 minutes in the night. Parenting win! Unfortunately the reason I woke everyone up swearing in pain. I had stretched my legs out while sleeping and got a calf cramp from the depths of Hell. My neck also cramped up again1 I thought for sure running wouldn't happen, but again I attributed this to dehydration and pounded a gatorade and some water and hoped for the best. I managed to run with Cat and we ran along the marathon course after Pat finished. It was nice because the course was supported with water and spectators still... so it helped keep any additional cramping at bay and kept my mind focused on running rather than pain.I later iced my legs in Lake Champlain. 


**TOTAL MILES: 26.5**
It was a really, REALLY tough week with weird injuryish things popping up... but I still pulled off my marathon! Next week might be different though. I'm still quite sore after the long ride, but hoping some yoga tomorrow can help!

 Training: 
-Yoga
-Chiropractor
-Icing in open water


Looking Forward To: The Worcester Firefighters "6k". Two weeks! 

Gender Prediction: The girls who sold me Lemonade for a dollar (inflation!!!) said girl, but some random lady at lake champlain said boy. I think Boy this week. 


LOOK OUT FOR:
I started a blog post about my experience with postpartum training. I have a lot of pregnant woman following me on Instagram now, and some with their first baby. I was inspired by my return to the Vermont City Marathon to begin a post about training postpartum but then I realized... I should see what kind of questions people have... I obviously can't answer anything that a Doctor needs to answer, but I can offer my own personal experience if it's helpful! comment below, on my instagram post or send me a direct message! 

INSTAGRAM: I'm really enjoying instagram as an outlet for my pregnancy training. Training at this phase in pregnancy is not easy! And it's nice that a simple hashtag can connect me to so many other pregnant runners (#pregnantrunner #runnignpregnant). There's not a lot of research out there on how to do this, so we are all learning from eachother! 
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! ​