Second Trimester Training + Painful Pelvis

 Spring is here! It makes us all so happy!

 

Somehow I'm already close to the end of the second trimester! This week little baby girl will be 26 weeks. From my vast research on the subject (kidding), the second trimester is one where most people get lots of energy, food tastes great, and they love being pregnant. My food aversions have definitely subsided and I can eat most things put in front of me, but I still don't love food. I do crave a few meals: a certain chicken, rice, and zucchini casserole; grilled cheese sandwiches on my nutty sprouted wheat bread (the secret is grilling it in lots of butter); and strawberries.

My running was going well. I had a 10 miler in there at 8:30 pace. I ran the 10k and felt surprisingly good. Running from my house, it's hilly, and my usual average pace had gone down to 8:45ish, while on the flat river trail I could do 8:30s pretty easily. At around 20-25 miles per week, I could also get in a few hours on the trainer and maybe a swim here and there when I felt like it. My bike wattage increased as my weight increased, so no real w/kg improvement, but I'll take what I can get, especially when my wattage recently got back up to a usual pre-pregnancy average. 

The fatigue of the first trimester unfortunately for me just increased. I had so many days when I could have fallen over from tiredness. I still sleep just about as much as Hunter does. I don't know how he keeps going on such little sleep! I finally figured out how to take an iron supplement without upsetting my finicky stomach. And honestly I think the nice weather and sunshine helps too!

I had a few miles here and there of ligament pain, which required a slow down and stretching. My average run paces were getting close to 9:00. Then at 25 weeks almost exactly, I ran a hilly and slow 7.5 miler in the neighborhood and had low pelvic pain the rest if the day. I've been wearing my support belt for months now, which has helped keep my abdominals from tearing like last pregnancy. But it didn't do much to keep this pelvic pain away. The next day I felt fine, but running again caused pain again immediately. Hills are worse, up or down. Walking doesn't help. A new extra sturdy belt doesn't help. I'm at a loss. 

I self-diagnosed this as Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, for which there is a lot of contradicting plans for relief. The internet is a terrible thing for the mind when it's full of worst case scenarios. I knew I was just plain lucky in my last pregnancy running the whole way through with no problems. I guess I should count myself lucky for being able to run this long, and hopefully I can continue on the trainer and in the pool for the next 3 months. But I'll take it one day at a time and listen to any suggestions. Anyone??

Someone is still running just fine. And with a mouthful of food because we are safety conscious like that.

THREE

Three! My big boy is already three, and he couldn't be more excited about it. I just want to know how my tiny baby boy grew up so fast! Those feet started big, and still are.

His birthday week was a great time. We celebrated twice, of course. First Jeremy took the day off so we could just do exactly what Hunter wanted to do, which included eating our favorite buckwheat pancakes and playing with every single toy he owns.

Last night of two:

Then Nana and Grandaddy came over along with the cousins from down the hill to eat and play on Saturday. The cake had to be truck themed, which turned out easier than expected when I broke a chunk off accidentally while flipping it out of the pan.

  

Some of us burned off the cake with tackling practice (or rather, Jackson let the little ones knock him down and pile on top of him)...

  or following instructions on how best to fit inside small spaces (thankfully Nana took this one on).

 

Little Hunter is kind and generous, shy in crowds but never stops talking at home, creative and thoughtful, full of energy and determination, and he might have gotten a little stubbornness from an unnamed parent. He's sweet and funny and survived at least the "terrible twos" without a public meltdown even once. He loves to jump and throw things, and is terribly good at both. We are truly such lucky parents :)

 

Little Rock 10k & 22 weeks

The tiniest baby girl Harwood and I were registered for the Little Rock 10k this year, since I can't not participate in the city's biggest race. Plus Damie was coming in town for the half marathon and I wanted to run a race "with" her. So at 22 and 1/2 weeks, we set out Sunday morning for the race. Surely the weather wouldn't be as bad as last year's half marathon, and it wasn't. Instead of a 40 degree temperature drop, it was just cold and rainy. So we parked, went to a hotel next door, and Damie charmed a breakfast guy into giving us two floor-length, heavy duty garbage bags.

 

How can you say no to us? :)

The rain slowed enough for a nice mile-ish warm up and it actually felt pretty good out. I decided to overdress due to the fact that I was not going to be running at top 10k speed, heavy rain was possible, and as they say, you should be able to be uncomfortable long enough for a 10k, right? I include being a bit too warm in the uncomfortable category, but as it turned out, I felt perfectly comfortable.

I am wearing my support belt for every run now, in addition to a new "belly sports bra" under it. Basically the latter is a spandex material tube with not nearly enough support, even in an XS size, so I use it just to keep my belt comfortable and in place. I don't recommend it, at least at this point in my pregnancy, unless you can score a free one.

I was absolutely not allowed in Corral B, since I had to prove a 10k time of under 40 minutes within the last year for that, and I don't tend to run many races of that distance or speed lately. Damie and I had to part ways so I could go back a quarter mile to the correct starting line, after the security guy spotted my bib and yelled, "She's a C!!" I was caught red-handed. I moved forward significantly within C and tried to find Damie, but it didn't happen before the race began.

Going out at a nice steady slow pace was my plan, but I didn't look at my garmin except for the mile marks. I hit my first mile in 7:48, faster than I had expected. A sub-8 minute pace didn't seem possible beforehand based on my daily runs, and I was expecting to average maybe a little under 8:30 for the whole thing.

Small rolling hills kept me constantly checking in on my effort level, since as soon as I ran a few meters uphill, my breathing got heavier and I backed off. If the little one would carry a bit of her own weight instead of just sharing my oxygen, maybe these little speed bumps wouldn't be so bad. I was near a pace group for a while, but let them go as my pace slowed on the hills. Surprisingly, miles 2-5 were very steady, all between 7:39 and 7:44. It was a nice change to run at a lower effort level in a big race, since I could look around and chat and listen in on conversations...and call out the 3:30 pacer woman who was in the process of destroying her own race by going out way too fast. But that's a rant for another post. 

Thankfully those small rollers were the only elevation changes, nothing like the hills in my neighborhood that I nearly have to walk now, and the last mile was downhill. I ran it in 7:20, still not looking at my pace but just going by feel. I let a woman pass me around the 6 mile mark, because, well, the street leveled out and I just wasn't racing.

I'm apparently really bad at running tangents, because I came up a little long on the course. It seems I won the "5 months pregnant" division, and also my age group, since to be honest, most of the runners were doing the half or full marathon. And the little one and I got 4th (and 5th) overall female(s). Not terrible for being 22+ weeks, but it's no overall win like Hunter and I scored a couple times together. :)

These pictures just don't do justice to the largeness of my belly, whose muscles have all but given up completely. I find myself unintentionally holding them in, not quite ready to let this little one bounce all over the place. 

Besides my satisfactory "race" Sunday, I found a little confidence in my sudden jump in bike wattage this week. Of course then I thought about the per kilo calculations and realized that since I'm about 5 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight now, I've essentially negated any power increase. Ah you take what you can get. 

And since you asked, an update on the almost 3-year-old! He's so smart and inquisitive and the sweetest thing, but he has much stronger muscles than he realizes when he's pile driving me. He wants to be involved in everything I do, and needs details! While cooking with olive oil he said to me, "Mommy. Talk to me about oil. What are the ingredients?" Don't we all need to know things?

We may have more of this today! I promise he was having a great time :)