Month 3- This month was a total drag! I felt so pregnant! In and out sickness all day. The sick feeling was a very specific sick feeling that I have only felt during those first three months of pregnancy (for me, it usually starts around week 7 and goes to about week 11). Luckily however, running always made me feel better. It was always hard to get runs started because the first 10 minutes or so of any run or workout didn’t feel good (just weird sick feelings, sort of a combination so nausea and grogginess). Following workouts though, would always have a magical 3-4 hours of feeling great.
With Ramsey, I was anemic the first three months (which is very common during pregnancy), so I was incredibly exhausted the first trimester. There were multiple times that I slept up to 14 hours! This time around I was a pro, and got on an iron supplement ASAP. Of course, I was a little more tired than usual that third month (and the months before) but never enough to have it get in my way.
Food and eating during this month was totally weird and it was exactly the same with my first pregnancy also. Anything that had a hint of artificial ingredient or that was processed not only made me feel so sick, but even the thought of eating it made me feel sick. In addition, if there was not fat or salt in a food, it just wasn’t worth eating. Things that I loved before just didn’t taste good or seem appealing at all. My favorite thing to eat with Ramsey was a rotisserie chicken with BBQ potatoes chips, and for this pregnancy it was a taco salad from a tacarilla near my house called Mi Pueblo. I don’t really know if I would call it a salad though. It was more like a fried tortilla shell stuffed with sour cream, guacamole, re-fried beans, meat, salsa and a little bit of lettuce on top. Pretty much my body just wanted anything with fat. If I was feeling sick, fatty foods almost always made me feel better and if food lacked fat, it really just wasn’t worth eating.
As far as training went, I got some pretty awesome workouts in. I consistently met with Magda on the track and got a chance to work on some speed as well. (Kind of a funny time to work on it, but there were a few things about my form that I wanted to go over with some help from Tony Kauke, another fantastic coach/friend in the area who is a part of the Bay Area Track Club). I was able to maintain 60 + miles a week during this month with two workouts and also began experimenting with some of Jay Johnson’s strength routines. Granted that the workouts all went well, it was still in perspective. My heart rate was still very high this month, and my limits for times and pace have completely altered in comparison to my pre-pregnancy training and paces. Here is a sample week:
Week of September 12-18:
SUN- 74 mins with Madga from Skyline gate (I did half of her 22 miler with her!) @ 7:00 min pace. Felt great! 11 miles
MON- 7 miles on treadmill @ 8 mph while Ramsey napped 7 miles
TUE- WORKOUT! 3+ mile warm up and cool down with Magda from Cal’s track. 2 x (800,400,400,200,200,200,200 with 30 sec recovery, not supposed to be too hard).
Set 1 Set 2
800- 2:52 800-2:48
400-79 400-80
400-83 400-80
200-37 200-37
200-37 200-37
200-38 200-37
200-37 200-37
Jay Johnson Strength routines afterwards 11 miles total
WED- Recovery run on treadmill. 6 miles
THUR- 54 mins with the Jogger stroller. Ran into friend Brian Pilcher who did his outdoor Eliptical next to me (he is injured) that machine is crazy! Ran all over town by my house @ 7:30 pace (because I was pushing). 7ish miles
FRI- WORKOUT! 25 min warm up and cool down. Worked out at Drake High School. 3 mile tempo: Mile 1-6:10, Mile 2-6:12, Mile 3-5:53. Followed up with some Jay Johnson strength stuff. 9 miles total
SAT- 52 mins easy from my house to Deer Park trail (up the hill half way) and back @ 7:30 pace 7 miles
Ramsey and I hanging out at Evan's (Jeff's 11-yeat-old Brother who lives with us) Cross- Country Race. You can kind of see my bump getting bigger!
Month 4- This month I finally started feeling better. Less pregnant but still with very picky feelings about appetite. My running went well also aside from a small planter fasciitis flair up that lasted a few days. After a couple days in the pool, it went away pretty fast but I still have needed to stay on top of it. Especially because I have only been getting heavier! This month my stomach definitely started to blossom as there were a few times people had the nerve to ask how far along I was. Four months is pretty early on to get that question, so what they say is true about showing faster with the second! They also say that this is the time that your body starts to start producing more blood, which I was hoping would help with the heart rate elevation, but I pretty much felt exactly the same in that department. Nonetheless, I still had a fantastic month of training (for being pregnant) and things went very smoothly in month four.
Week of October 10-16:
SUN- 75 mins @6:50 pace on crown road. Felt Good! 11+ miles
MON- 61 mins easy (@7:30 pace) Felt tired. Ran at Skyline. 8 miles
TUE- 7 miles on treadmill next to friend Suzy in the Gym @ 8-8.5 mph 7 miles
WED- 70 mins with jogger stroller from house all over town (covered all bike paths and watched part of Jeff’s workout while running opposite direction at Piper park) Super hot out!!! 9+ miles
THUR- 55 mins on bike path from house @ 7:15 pace 7.5 miles
FRI- WORKOUT! 3 miles warm up and down (from my mom’s house in Berekeley to the track @ Cal) 10 x (400, 100 jog, 100 fast stride w/ 30-40 sec recovery)
400- 85, 100 jog, 100 stride 400- 82, 100 jog, 100 stride
400- 85, 100 jog, 100 stride 400- 82, 100 jog, 100 stride
400- 82, 100 jog, 100 stride 400- 83, 100 jog, 100 stride
400- 82, 100 jog, 100 stride 400- 81, 100 jog, 100 stride
400- 82, 100 jog, 100 stride 400- 82, 100 jog, 100 stride
3 Jay Johnson Routines and 10 miles total
Ultra sound picture taken on October 7th, the baby is Lying on its side. :-)