Fitness

I've spent more hours at the gym since moving out here than I accumulated in probably 5 years in Memphis. This doesn't even  include time spent working in an office that happened to be housed there, either. And I've learned something about myself. I'm not a "fitness" person. I'm not talking about specific fitness here, such as swim, bike and run fitness. I want to find success in racing, so of course I want to gain specific fitness in those sports.

I guess I'm truly a triathlete, because it's this "general fitness" fitness I can't get into. Recently there was an article on the Science of Running blog about Crossfit. He had some really great points that I'd have never taken the time to research thoroughly or write out. And it got me thinking about the big Crossfit Endurance guy (I don't know if he developed it or what) who trained for and completed an Ironman and maybe a 50 miler? There are a lot of people who now subscribe to his theory that all you need is this program to make you strong enough to do it. I say sure, but most people could finish an Ironman or 50k given a few months and a little SBRing. But did they COMPLETE it or COMPETE in it? I would put this guy in the completion category. Which is totally fine, if that's your goal. That's not my goal.

I'm all for strength training to boost endurance sports performance. But I think there needs to be a lot of specific training in there too. When I was racing well years ago, it was nothing for me to pop out 10 pullups or bench press close to my weight, or any of these other things that the general fitness population feels is so specific to general fitness. What irony.  And I wasn't even doing crossfit or spending over an hour a week on strength training.

Core fitness is another big fad that's everywhere lately. Someone actually said to me yesterday about her half marathon, "My legs got so tired at 9 miles! I think I used my legs too much, and I should've been using my abs instead." What a rookie mistake to use your legs the whole time while running. What was she thinking? I did ask her what her long run was, and yes, it was 8 miles. So it's gotten into her head now that if you don't have a "strong core," you won't perform well in anything. Off she went to a 30 minute core specific fitness class. I promise I had a 6 pack from doing nothing but endurance exercise in the past.

I found a great article on the same Science of Running blog about exactly this, the fad of core training  (this might be my new fav blog-- they even reference my friends and professors' articles from grad school). They've summed up some research that shows that the core muscles are activated more by actually running than doing back extensions, for example. Again, not to say strength training is unimportant, but that there are better, more efficient ways to see benefits in the weight room. Like Olympic lifts. There's another point in the article about unstable surfaces for core training, which I am just now learning about. Maybe I won't waste my money on another Swiss ball anytime soon. But if someone's goal is to be the best cruncher in abs class, then by all means, keep crunching.

Since I'm defining fitness differently these days being pregnant and all, I've really started to appreciate how consistent my runs have become. I felt like the last two years were filled with regular training that produced random results. I never knew when I'd just melt down on a run or feel unusually fatigued on the bike, doing the same workout but taking 20% longer. These days I run my long run of 8.25 miles in almost exactly the same time every week, despite the weight gain (which is not so consistent lately, and mostly trending up sharply). Today was surprisingly an exception. I was sore from squatting and not feeling "on" for the run. I got to the first mile 30 seconds faster than usual and continued that trend for a few of miles. I ran 3 minutes faster than I have in months. I might credit the beautiful weather and the fact that I could wear a tank top and shorts. Maybe the smell of sunscreen does something for me.

While gaining weight I'm determined that some of it will be muscle.  I'm actually liking having a little more mass on me. I recall more than once when I've had friends (usually guys) comment on my slightly bigger size in a complimentary way. And thinking back, I was faster with that extra muscle. Recent browsing through old pictures gives me proof that I am actually scrawnier now. Time to fix that! I really enjoy TRX and Olympic lifts, so I plan to stick to it and start seeing some strength gains. 

Another encouraging trend for me is the way Jeremy's running has suddenly gotten fast. I think I had lost all faith in this whole "training" concept for a while, but now it's working for him. He's doing long training runs faster than I ever recall doing the distance in training. My faith may be restored!

What really makes my heart rate go up when running. Bear track or barefoot runner track?

Comparables

Since my reference levels of "normal" and "fit" have been somewhat distorted lately, I have made up my own definitions. And by my standards, I've been feeling pretty good fitness-wise. I do realize I'm only three quarters of the way into this pregnancy.

Side note: It occurred to me that I only started getting a real belly at 20ish weeks, which was 10 weeks ago, and have expanded rapidly since then. With 10 more weeks to go, I'm expecting at least that much more expansion. I'm religiously applying the Burt's Bees honey flavored scented belly balm, even if there is no evidence for it. It makes me crave baklava.

So back to feeling good about myself. I was chatting with a guy who told me about his friend's wife who got third in a major metropolis's marathon 3 DAYS after giving birth. Yeah yeah, so you say she is an elite runner and was running 10 miles a day through pregnancy, but THREE DAYS? Did you get "days" confused with "weeks" or even "months"? Still impressive, but really, does she not have a sane and caring husband that prohibited her from this? No doubt she went against any reasonable medical advice. I guess that pregnancy brain + postpartum hormonal thing really did her in.

Then of course there was the woman who ran/walked a marathon then gave birth that night, at 38 weeks. she says she ran about half, walked the other half, and finished in around 6:30. I obviously have no issues about running while pregnant. I just can't imagine doing something that boring. I've spent over 6 hours on a marathon course (at least Coeur d'Alene is beautiful), and I wonder why you'd want to do it on purpose? I don't need to prove that I can do 26 miles during these 9 months; I'm pretty sure I could if I wanted to. But why?

I read of women back in the '70s from the Eastern Bloc countries who competed in the Olympics in their first trimesters. I couldn't find any good proof of this. All I can think is, that combined with the drugs they were supposedly forcing on these athletes makes me scared for those poor babies. Recently, though, there was another better documented pregnant Olympian. A Canadian curler was 5 1/2 months pregnant when she was to be an alternate on the team. I don't claim to know much about curling, but it doesn't appear to be affected by extra weight, a larger waistband, or fatigue that could alter the speed, endurance, or balance of other types of athletes. The article says she is the third known competitor at the Games, preceded by a figure skater 90 years ago, and a skeleton rider(?) sledder(?) a few years ago. The latter must've been early in pregnancy, lying on her stomach on a hard surface while speeding headfirst through icy chutes.

Despite stories like these, I'm still feeling fit with my 25 miles a week of running with some spinning a swimming and maybe a little weight lifting thrown in. While my abdominals are getting nice and loose and stretchy, my leg muscles may even be seeing some strength gains from just running under these extra pounds. I'm using my weight and the extra drag all to my benefit. I'll be lighter, stronger, and faster by summer. It's almost guaranteed.

My pool buoy. The lifeguard told me that I don't need the one between my knees anymore. My rear end floats just fine.

One more hobby to occupy my time

I keep starting to write blogs, then think of other things I need to be doing, like cooking something edible for Jeremy, or finally doing my 3 weeks worth of laundry (it's amazing how infrequently I can get away with it when I'm not outside sweating all the time), or maybe vacuuming the pounds of cat hair out of the carpet, curtains, rugs, etc. There's a lot of stuff on my pre-baby to do list as well, but I keep putting it off since I have 10 more weeks. At least I hope I do.

The cat hair has become more prominent in my mind due to all the lying on the floor. This is caused in part by my discomfort in sitting too long in any position. The baby keeps curling up under my ribs on the right, and I get stitches while doing nothing at all. But I am also lying on the floor taking pictures. I got a new camera for Christmas (my first DSLR!, a Canon Rebel T2i), and while I still stink at photography, it's been a lot of fun. My roommate hairballs (the cats, not Jeremy) have suffered through hundreds of pictures this month, but they should know that when this baby is born, I may forget they exist and wonder who keeps leaving little mounds of partially digested cat food on the floor every so often. So enjoy it while it lasts, kitties. Instead of actually writing any more about this, I'm going to share some pictures of the last 11 days of my life.

My favorite new ornament. It's for the baby, made by his cousins!

Hairy Roommate #1, Sammy. She's always dirty due to a daily rolling on the porch floor.

 

I interrupt Sally's nap once again.

The Lady of the Mountain. With 2 week old snow in her hair.

I made Jeremy ride around the neighborhood with me at sunset

I'm trying to take a picture a day, as long as I can keep it up. They may start to get a little redundant.

Base Training

It's really 2012 already? My pregnant brain is slipping away and I had to ask Jeremy yesterday if it was New Year's Eve. I didn't mean to wait until a whole new year to blog again. The past few weeks just got so darn busy with Christmas shopping, Christmas present-making, and traveling back to the southeast. It was a great holiday to conclude a great 2011.

I painted two pages from the future classic Little Blue Truck  for Megan

I made a big photo monogram for Jenny

 

Now it's time to recap the year and focus on goals for the new one. Except that there's not much for me to sum up in the triathlon world. Maybe a couple of overall wins while pregnant to be excited about. I didn't even muster up enough long distance motivation to do a half Ironman this year, for the first time in 10 years. Instead, I did what I felt like doing at the time, which was riding my bike in the mountains and learning to really like running again. And I guess I started learning a little about pregnancy.

The first three months of 2012 I have covered as far as goals are concerned. This specific training leads to a culmination in the form of an ultra-endurance event, the likes of which I've never experienced before. The fun part is that I don't even know the exact date. How do you taper for that?

For now it's all about the base training. I'm not using a heart rate monitor for exercise these days. Dr. Clapp says it's pretty much useless; your HR will vary tremendously just given the stage of pregnancy. I have considered using it just because I'm curious what my heart rate is while panting up a small incline at a 10+ minute pace. Plus, one extra strap cutting off my lung flow shouldn't matter when my sports bra is squeezing my poor expanded rib cage while the belly band is mashing my bladder. It's really comfortable.

As soon as I hit publish on my last post, my running pace took a drastic turn for the worse. I have a hard time keeping a 9 min average now, even though I still warm up and start feeling pretty good about 25 minutes in. Returning to sea level for 11 days made me feel super fast, despite the Little Rock inclines and the stomach bug I picked up from the family (Jeremy got it too, as did about 14 other people to date). I didn't gain as much weight as I had thought I would thanks to the late night puking, but I continue to reach new highs on the scale. I'm up about 13-14 pounds from my low point now.

So it's all about the slow and steady. I really like zone 2, which I've determined, based on my RPE, I spend most of my exercise time in, and when I get a little antsy to go faster or harder, I get a quick reminder from my poor rectus abdominus why that is a bad idea.

Never before have I seen ripped abs in a magazine and been envious. I'm not sure I've even really noticed them before, but suddenly I find my attention caught by those damn Victoria's Secret commercials with their flat (and in comparison to mine, super defined) abs, and I wonder if mine will ever again resemble anything other than their current bowl full of jelly. No really, my stomach jiggles like Jello when the baby starts doing his flips.

Honestly I'm really enjoying the base training. I love not worrying about time and knowing that I'll get even slower yet. Plus I figure with a good 8 or 9 months of it, followed by a slow return to normal exercise, I should be ready to race some long stuff in the fall. I hope I'm not overly optimistic in thinking I'll be ready for a half Ironman in September, because I'm getting the fever.

 I did some recruiting for my 27 week picture

Happy New Year!

Pregnant Performance Ponderings

I'm going to use the term "performance" loosely for the next, oh, 6 months at least. But it is all relative, and I'm trying to keep tabs on what I'm doing and how I'm feeling while pregnant just in case I find myself in this position again.

There are a lot of general guidelines about pregnancy involving exercise, weight gain, nutrition, and whatnot, but I really went into this unsure of what exactly to expect. The general population probably doesn't exercise even as much as my slacker self has the past couple of years, so I feel like I have to come up with my own averages for pregnant athletic types based on articles, books, and blogs. I've had a lot of help from one book in particular, Dr. James Clapp's Exercising Through Your Pregnancy. I can't recommend this book highly enough. More on it later. (I love the 80s clothing.)

The first few weeks of being pregnant, before I knew, I won a small triathlon but felt a bit slow and out of breath. My training was just starting to pick up for the summer since I had an Ironman scheduled for November. I found out I was pregnant just before going to Italy, where morning sickness hit and travel interfered with training; I kept running as best I could those 2 weeks. Until about 16 weeks along, I was sick and losing weight. So it was rough for a while.

But since then, I've felt good and have been keeping track of what's going on in my "athletic" life. I'll be 25 weeks tomorrow, and things are changing quickly. But so far:

Swimming: The first thing I noticed at a few months was the feeling that I had this bobbly floating buoy in my belly. I instantly looked more pregnant standing shoulder deep in the pool, not that anybody could see me. Obviously, I also look more pregnant just wearing a swimsuit. While not looking at my times or doing many intervals, I know I'm slower. It's probably more a lack of swim fitness than anything, but hey, it's a potential excuse. My feet cramp a lot, in the pool as well as at night. Must be my lack of potassium (haha, kidding). So far I have a couple of swimsuits that still fit, but I keep threatening the lifeguard that I'll be breaking out the 2-piece soon. And doing lots of backstroke.

Bike: I was still riding regularly, from an hour all the way up to the mountainous metric century, while the weather was nice, but now it is quite a bit colder, and I realized that two waistbands that both hit at an awkward spot is just not worth it. There are fears in the back of my mind of falling or getting hit by a car and the potential placental abruption following, so combined with discomfort, moving indoors was the logical solution. Teaching a few spin classes when a sub is needed, or just taking the class has kept me feeling somewhat comfortable on the bike. I wear super old, stretchy shorts that I can move up and down, and have only had a few pains in my abs when going hard. Probably not coincidentally, I had this same pain the last few times I was outside on my bike, while climbing a small hill. My doctors and I attribute it to round ligament pain. I tend to get really out of breath early on in spin class, but my HR settles later; I really should start getting to class early to warm up when I'm teaching so my huffs and puffs aren't broadcast through a microphone.

Run:  Most surprisingly to me, running has been pretty enjoyable, with just a few adaptations I've had to make. The first was having to pee every mile or two. Luckily the route I almost always take goes through a pretty undeveloped neighborhood with tall bushes, and as a bonus, they're recently closed one main entrance to all traffic. Aha, privacy to squat. It's amazing the feeling of having to go right now so badly, then finding that it was approximately one tablespoon's worth of urgency.

I've kept up my "long" run, trying to do an 8.25 mile loop every week. Thanksgiving week, I actually hit the 35 mile mark, which is definitely more than the average winter week for me. Back in town and adding spinning and swimming in, I do 5-6 miles every other day or so, hitting 20-25 miles/wk. It's slow, but steady. Going the usual out and back route takes me uphill for over 2.5 miles, which means I'm crawling, especially since it takes 25 minutes for me to feel good lately. But a few times I've negative split a 6 mile run by 3 or 4 minutes. The extra weight + gravity can help sometimes I suppose. I can average a 9:00-9:10 pace for most of my runs. While in flat, closer-to-sea-level Tempe, I ran part of the IM course several times. one day I decided to do a few 1 minute pickups, while wearing my Garmin, and was really surprised to see my fast minutes peak in the low 6 min pace range. I was sure the Garmin was malfunctioning, but it was so consistent. I'll take it.

The last couple of weeks, as my ab muscles continue to s-t-r-e-t-c-h, I've felt more stitch-like pains, especially in the lower abdomen. The baby tends to settle low when I first start running, so I've started faithfully wearing a belly band. It seemed a little early to me to start wearing it, but the difference in comfort is amazing. Plus I look super cute.

Strength Training: It's been on and off, with the main difference being my weakened, separating rectus abdominus. It really limits pushups and pullups, and I try not to stress it or encourage any future herniation.

General: With my last set of labs I found out my hematocrit was low, and immediately felt tired the rest of the day. :) But honestly I haven't been very fatigued, even in the 1st trimester. Some days I sleep a bit more or less (which not having a job helps me accomplish).

Weight gain is an interesting topic for me. Having never faced an inevitable,  somewhat uncontrollable, imminent gain in my future, it was a scary thought at first. I've never been overly concerned about my weight, since Ironman training has always kept it pretty regulated for me. I was at a normal summer weight when morning sickness first hit me upside the head. From there I lost somewhere around 4 pounds. After about 16 weeks I leveled off and started the uphill gain. From that low sickly point, I am currently up about 10 pounds--mostly in the belly and butt, of course. Normally in the winter off season I tend to put on a few pounds, so this weight is only about a pound more than where I often am. I know the next 15 weeks could add up to another 15 pounds+, but I feel more prepared now, especially knowing that I won't just wake up one morning 8 pounds heavier (well, fingers crossed). I am running out of running and gym shirts that cover the entire expanse of my stomach. Luckily the shorts and tights are just fine. Now if my feet will stay the same length and still fit into my 8.5s.

Back to my Clapp book. The first time through, I skimmed it. I'm not sure what I was looking for exactly, but I didn't find it very specific, much like many reviewers. No, it doesn't say "do this, not that." So I started at the beginning and read every word. Really it takes some common sense and putting together concepts.

A lot of the research is pretty exciting (wish I could've been in on something like this in grad school). Exercise and pregnancy adaptations do compliment each other. Increased blood volume, improved oxygen transfer, better thermoregulation, and an increase in maximal oxygen uptake by a small amount are some of the additive and overlapping effects of exercise in pregnancy. There are definitely some risk factors, especially for abnormal pregnancy, but in general Dr. Clapp is very liberal in his approach to exercise. I am careful to check that the baby is moving within a half hour of my exercise, and I try to keep fueled at appropriate times. While I don't believe it would have been ok for me to do Ironman Arizona, (sorry "coach" dude who told me it was too bad I withdrew since I have so many performance enhancing adaptations-- yeah that may be part of the story, but I also have extra weight, two people to supply oxygen to, stretched muscles, the works, not to mention the potential negative effects on the baby from raising his HR for 11 or 12 hours), I do feel good about the exercise I am doing, and I hope that like Clapp says, I'm helping make him a stronger baby.

So where my exercise goes from here is just a guess, but for now I'm sticking to my loose schedule as best baby lets me.