Wicked 10K 2012

With the commotion of finally being able to tell people about the pregnancy I totally forgot about my last race. C and I travelled down to Virginia Beach at the end of October so I could run the Wicked 10K one last time pre-children. I told my doctor about it a few weeks before and she is a runner as well so she was totally fine with me running it, but she said that distance is the tops for how far I should be going. And I am glad I listened because whoa...running pregnant is hard.

We got there Friday night and stayed with a friend of mine and had dinner at The Broken Egg Bistro, which was fabulous and I can't wait to go back. Chicken alfredo....yum.....

Saturday morning we got up and headed down to the oceanfront. Sandy was on the way in and it was a little ominous looking and rather windy out. It still wasn't as windy as last year, which was nice and it did not rain on us, so a few clouds were totally fine. Nothing sucks more than running in the rain. Unless you are doing it for fun in a bikini. Or scuba diving in the rain. That's actually pretty fabulous.

My friend R ran this one with me, and we had a blast. Running with a friend is a LOT of fun and something I haven't done since 2008. I now realize I need to do it more. The race goes faster and you don't overdo it since you are busy chatting away. Before the race started when we finally found each other in the mass of people, I told her that we had to take it easy today because I had an extra passenger riding along.

R: "Oh cool, where are they?" (looks around)

C and I looked at each other and grinned like pole cats. R looked back at our faces and suddenly it hit her and she freaked out. It was great :-) She has a little daughter who is about 5 months old and is the cutest little baby you've ever seen. We can't wait for play dates even though her daughter will be about a year older than my child by the time he/she finally gets here.

We were tired but excited. The chick in the background looks like she's about the sneak attack someone.

Running down the oceanfront boulevard with about 3 miles behind us.

Happily headed towards the finish line!

 This race would have been extremely hard for me had it not been for R. We took it easy but pushed each other just enough to finish strong. My body was sooooo not happy with me after. Near the end I really started to feel it in my lower back and legs. I have run once on my own since this race. I really want to start running more easy runs because I want to keep my legs in shape and my doctor says it makes labor easier. Definitely going to need a motivational pal though because the couch is just so tempting at the end of the day.

What do you use for motivation to work out when you just don't feel like it? Any experienced momma's have any workout advice for a new momma?

Worth the Wait

Why haven't I been running as much lately? Why didn't I do the Richmond half for what would have been my fifth year in a row?? Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words :-)

We're going to have a baby!! As you can tell from my Running Journey page, I don't seem to ever do things the easy way. Of course, this couldn't be easy either. Long story short, after 17 cycles and 2 IUI's, we are FINALLY PREGNANT! C and I couldn't be more over the moon :-)

 

 When I took my first test and found out I was pregnant, I went to the store and bought this bib. When C got home I gave it to him and told him we were going to need it in May!

 One of my best friends is due in December. I was 12 weeks here so we compared the big bump to the little bump!

I'm not really one for sharing ultrasound pictures...I think they can be a little creepy looking and are also extremely personal, but this was my first one at 7 weeks, where we saw the heartbeat and the baby for the first time. It was so tiny! The heartbeat was strong at 131bmp. Grow baby grow! The larger part at the top is not the head, it is the sack. The head is right underneath that.

We've had 2 more ultrasounds since then. The next was at 9 weeks and I started calling my baby "the blob" because that was all it looked like. The third was last Friday and it looks like a little person now. It was amazing. It was opening and closing it's mouth and waving it's arms all over the place. It also would not lay in a good position to get a profile picture, so we got a picture of it as if you were looking down on it. So it looks like a skull with a belly and 2 hands. It is all in there though!!

Next ultrasound isn't until January and that's when we find out what we are having. Can't wait to see if we are having a girl or boy and continuing to pray for a healthy baby!

I am going to try to run through this pregnancy though I know it will be few and far between. I've been rather lazy these last 3 months and have done a lot of sitting and eating. This kid tells me it needs food ALL THE TIME.

This will still be a running blog, but it will encompass a little more of my life outside of running, and how it all relates back to running and overcoming bumps in the road of life. I hope you continue on this awesome journey with me as I take this like I do everything else, one step at a time. :-)

Half Marathon Training Plan

So I have not been running and this is the first time in four years that I am missing the Richmond Half Marathon. I am a little sad over this but I know I will be back out there next year. Plus there is frost outside today which means that it will probably be really cold again on Saturday. No tears here for missing out on the cold.

A friend of mine was asking for motivation advice on Facebook last night because she is training for her first half marathon which is in March. I offered the idea of a training plan, and she liked that so I came up with this. Now, I am not a running coach, but I have run 5 of these things and I have also taken other plans and modified them to work for me. So that's what I did with this one. Enjoy!

Week    M         Tu        W           Th       F            S               Su     Total
1            R     2m easy    R      2m pace   R     1.5m easy       3m     8.5 miles
2            R    2m easy     R      3m pace   R     2m easy          4m     11 miles
3            R    2m easy     R      2m p +H  R     2.5m easy       5m     11.5 miles 
4            R    3m easy     R      3m pace   R     2m easy          6m     14 miles
5            R    3m easy     R      4m pace   R     2m easy          7m     16 miles
6            R    3m easy     R      3m p+H   R     2.5m easy       8m     16.5 miles
7            R    4m easy     R      5m pace   R     3m easy          9m     21 miles
8            R    3m easy     R      3m p+H   R     3m easy          10m   19 miles
9            R    3m easy     R      2m p+H   R     3m easy          11m   19 miles
10          R    2m easy     R      3m pace   R     2m easy          12m   19 miles
11          R    2m easy     R      2m pace   R     2m easy          Race! 19.1 miles



Key:
m = miles
p = pace
+H = run those miles and then run hills*
R = rest

Sunday you can run at race pace or you can take it easy and just finish it. Choice is yours. All that matters is that you get the mileage in.

*Hill Repeats-find a hill (doesn't have to be super steep but you don't want it almost flat either) and run up the hill for 10 seconds as fast as you can, then walk back down and do it again. Repeat this 10 times. It works different muscles in your legs than the ones you use for running distance and it improves lunge function. I actually really enjoyed these. Do them either before you run for the day or take a short break after your run if you want to do them after. If you just can't fit them in one day, don't stress, just make sure you get your mileage in for the day.

You can modify this plan to work more for you but this is a pretty good place for beginners to start. I don't worry about all the intervals and things that most training plans include, my life just doesn't have time for it, so I simplify plans so that they are easier to understand and easier for my lifestyle. Like I said, the important thing is to get out there and run the mileage so that your body is prepared for it on race day.