Running Pregnant: Week 31

Baby Germain is the size of a coconut.  
This week's craving: Gatorade. After the Worcester Firefighters Race I felt depleted for a few days (it was 90s on Monday and Tuesday which didn't help!)...and I just kept pounding Gatorade... Even though I typically rehydrate with coconut water, I just felt like a sugary drink, DAMN IT! 
This week's aversion: I'm good. 

MONDAY- 0 Miles-  I went to the Chriopractor and then did 75 minutes of yoga. It hit 98 degrees at one point in the day and our school has NO air conditioning... SO Hot Yoga seemed like a good way to cool off and also work out some tricky areas after the race. I brought the Orb with me because in this yoga class we always get the last few minutes to work on whatever we want and I chose to roll out. My awareness of tight areas that need extra TLC is super heightened after yoga, so this was a perfect way to get those areas in my hamstring/glute to release. SUCCESS! 



TUESDAY- 3 treadmill miles with Mosquitoes forcing a progression run: Note to self: When running on the treadmill after a day where it's 95% humidity and 92 degrees... CLOSE THE DAMN GARAGE DOOR AT NIGHT! I mistakenly had it open for the first mile, closed it, and then ran in a bug filled sauna for the last two miles forcing me into a faster pace because... well... I needed to get out of there. My last half mile was 7:40 pace.

WEDNESDAY 3.1 miles in about 11 minute pace with Caroline. Today was not AS hot, but I spent it all outside for Spree Day so I was pretty drained.by the afternoon. Caroline ran easy with me and we just looped fields. I could barely lift my legs. We took a dip in the unfinished pool after. My parents are rebuilding the above ground pool that fell after the record breaking winter 2 years ago. Can't wait for it to be done! Raea needs swim lessons though, she was a bit TOO comfortable with the water. 


THURSDAY: 5.2 Sneakerama Miles: It was On night at Sneakerama so my family came to support Matt, but none of them needed to run. Caroline did the first mile with me and then went back... I talked myself into a 5 mile run so that I would have (what I thought was) very little mileage remaining to reach my 26.2 for the next 3 days. My legs were KILLINGGG! The whole run I was in SO MUCH PAIN from CRAMPS! Matt massaged my legs at night but it barely scratched the surface of how bad my legs felt from standing and packing at work. ugh! 


FRIDAY: 3 of the hardest treadmill miles I've ever done... But Thankful I did them!: I had terrible TERRIBLE leg cramps Thursday and then again all day today. I stopped at the store to buy MORE epsom salt rub and bath salt since that's safe for pregnancy... I got Raea into bed surprisingly early... and then went to the treadmill. It HURT. I had to step off the belt to massage my legs a few times so although I stopped at 3.5, I only logged it as 3 (could be 3.2... but I'd rather low-ball it)

SATURDAY- 5 miles at a slow ass pace.  I thought I only had 9 miles left to make it 26.2 for the week, and I was feeling so proud... Turns out my memory of Mondays got confused... and I thought I ran 3... #fail. I couldn't imagine running a full 12 in two days... I just couldn't wrap my head around it because I was SO MAD at myself for screwing up (more than just my run on this particular day)... that I almost threw the towel in. Instead, I got out there and ran 5. Thanks so much to my husband for totally letting me have my moment of self pity. We started getting changed to go out to eat because I needed to do something to distract myself from failure... but instead Matt said "why don't I pick up dinner and you go run. It will be here when you get back"... and that's what I did. I'm so glad and proud I got out there. My legs felt much better today but the round ligament pain in the hip flexor area started acting up around mile 4 (this is why I keep mileage so low most days)

SUNDAY- 7 total with a 5 mile race(ish) effort pushing Raea:   After struggling to recover from the 6k, I made a decision to not push myself under 8:00/mi pace. I wanted to get as close to that as possible and just barely fell short of that goal. Had I not spent the entire first 4 miles weaving through slower people and trying not to trip people who have no awareness of their peripherals and also are listening to music so can't hear me... I probably would have been able to go under 8.... but maybe it was good that those people kept me in check. I'm REALLY pleased with the steady splits and consistent effort. The elevation played a role in slower or faster miles, but it's very consistent. 



**TOTAL MILES: 27.1** 
Another marathon down! Not sure if I'll stick with this goal or not. It's getting harder each week... Like I wrote about last week... I have ONE full week left of school so I'm hoping I can get 26.2 in this week and then after that it might get easier since I'll be done school...?

Additional Work: I installed 2 air conditioners, and damn it, I'm counting that (I'm not actually supposed to lift that much). Rolled out a few times.


Gender Prediction: I think Boy now. Most other people think boy.. "you're all baby!" apparently is "boy"... It could also be "I've been running and racing through pregnancy. 

INSTAGRAM: 
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!