I ran into three people out at the San Diego 100 who said they read this blog.  Well, actually I talked to a man who said his wife read the blog and two men who said they’d seen it, but didn’t want to read it because they were men — who wouldn’t be getting pregnant.  Hmmm.  Maybe Brandy and I should change the title from “New Balance Team Pregnancy Blog” to “Huge Boobs and Fast Runners.”  Brandy just won the Turquoise Lake Half Marathon,  placed fourth at the Vail Pass Half Marathon, and second at the Mt. Washington Road Race.  And I’ve got huge boobs.  😉

Brandy: Today I am 18 weeks 4 days and my baby is the size of a sweet potato!

Liza:  I’m 22 weeks along and the baby is the size of a spaghetti squash.

Brandy: Well, the past 10 days have actually been kind of exciting. I jumped into the Turquoise Lake Half Marathon in Leadville last Saturday (June 1^st); literally, I just registered the day before the race. It was a race I’d always considered doing but had never fit in my schedule. The average elevation was 10,000 feet, the first 7.5 miles hilly paved road and the last 5.5 miles were on trails. The entire race had breathtaking views of 14ers and the lake. I ran the entire race comfortably hard and got a good workout in. The very next day, I decided to do the Barks and Belts 5K which benefited the Evergreen Animal Protection League with one of my dogs. (Ches-E)

Pre-race

Because I’ve always been so focused on “racing”, I’ve never actually done a race with her and wasn’t sure what to expect. It ended up being a blast and I learned she is a competitor too. We won the race and she finished in a time of 22:07—kind of slow for me, but not bad for a 9 year old black lab in the heat! She was a proud girl afterwards. Instead of deciding to drink out of the pools of water provided for her and the other dogs, she decided she would jump in (I thought to cool down); turns out it was to pee! It was pretty hilarious.

Champion!

The 5K got me wondering how fast I could run a 5K. So, last Wednesday, I did an individual time trial at a comfortably hard pace and was able to run a 19:34. I was pleasantly surprised with the effort as I really haven’t done any focused speed work this spring.  Saturday, I “jogged” the Vail Pass Half Marathon (actually 13.7) miles and really enjoyed taking in the scenery.

I have noticed I feel the altitude a bit more being pregnant. I am normally not bothered by it at all, but in the past two half marathons, both being over 10,000 feet, I definitely felt my breathing a bit more labored than normal.  I took a day off from running yesterday which was the first day off in quite awhile. I ran an easy 90 minutes on trails today and it was hot!! (Almost 80 degrees at 7 AM)  I’m “jogging” up Mt. Washington on Saturday for the Mt. Washington Road Race. Not sure what kind of time I can expect from my pregnant belly, but looking forward to the reunion of mountain running family. Because of the race, I’ll mostly run easy the rest of this week and maybe throw in a couple of faster miles mid-week.

Liza: I headed to San Diego last Thursday to crew and pace a friend at the San Diego 100.  I was supposed to pace 40 miles, but A. got nervous about having a pregnant pacer and found a second pacer to help out.  You’re the bride when you’re running 100 miles, so I made like a good bridesmaid and contented myself with 13.5 miles of pacing and lots of fun crewing.   I mention it only because I think A’s worry about what’s safe or possible during pregnancy is standard. (And not because I’m bitter about being dumped! ;))  And part of the reason Brandy and I are writing this blog is to share how the range of safe exercise during pregnancy is actually pretty broad.  I think most people interpret the “it’s safe to keep running at as long as it feels good” guideline to mean, “go ahead and keep jogging 30-minutes a day.”  And that’s what it might mean if your pre-pregnancy exercise was 30-minutes a day.  But what if you ran a lot more?  And your doctor or nurse mid-wife says you’re good to follow the “as long as it feels good” guideline?”  Well, then you might bump up against some social norms.  And, for the record, a pregnant lady would not be my first choice for a pacer for an important race — because there’s a chance she could feel “not good” and then she’d rightly drop her pacing duties like a hot potato.  Pregnant ladies can also be pushy around the aid station goodies.
Still, it was a strange experience to have someone else decide what my limits were.  I haven’t experienced that before.

(Total tangent: We land back in San Antonio, and a fellow in a colorful tunic  from Uganda in front on me steps onto the gangplank and groans, “It’s too hot here.”  You know it’s hot and humid where you live when the fellow from Africa is griping.)

As far as the actual running this past week: , I ran 60minutes-90minutes most days and paced for about 3 hours.

Here’s one of the speed workouts:
Tabata Sprints
10 minutes warm-up
8x20seconds hard effort
10 seconds recovery
10 minutes cool-down
And here’s one of the short strength workouts:
10 box jumps
15 push-ups
20 Air Squats
30 ball crunches

Brandy: There’s really nothing I’ve completely eliminated. (Minus the beer and wine and coffee which no longer tastes good.) However, I did recently discover Jamoca Almond Fudge Ice-cream tastes pretty darn good, so it may be my “new” coffee substitute for awhile.  Because I’m vegetarian, I don’t have to worry about eliminating processed meat/lunch meats as some articles/doctors recommend. I’m trying to be more conscientious of how much cookie dough I consume when I bake cookies as salmonella wouldn’t be good for anyone! It is also recommended us pregnant people don’t consume any unpasteurized cheese. At first, I thought this might be a challenge as I do like cheese, however, I have yet to find a cheese that hasn’t been pasteurized. I do find myself looking at food labels a little more scrupulously and trying to avoid foods with too many ingredients, GMO’s, or ones I can’t pronounce!

Liza: The only food I’ve eliminated is lox.  I used to eat a lot o’ lox.  I didn’t really eat many other mercury, listeria, or bacteria-laden foods.
I still drink a cup of coffee a day.  I haven’t read anything that says that much caffeine is dangerous in the second and third trimesters.  (And don’t send me any well-researched articles that say otherwise.) And I’m not sure my marriage or my 5 year-old could take me pregnant and caffeine-free in the morning.
Which brings us to alcohol.  After my first trimester, I decided I would be British and follow British Heath Department guidelines.  Their guidelines have a The Most Interesting Man in the World feel, “We don’t recommend you drink alcohol, but when you do, limit it to “one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week.” (A 4oz. glass of wine is 1.5 units.)  Honestly I don’t have much of a taste for wine anymore, so it’s just a bit of cold beer at the end of a 98 degree day.
Here’s an article that does a nice job talking about abstinence versus moderation guidelines during pregnancy.

Brandy: I still have quite a bit of research to do in the baby world. We haven’t even started our nursery yet  However, I have started a list of ideas/items I think we might need. To be honest, it’s quite overwhelming.  I’ve almost downsized my two closets into one, so my husband can move into my overflow closet and the baby can have his/her own!

I know I definitely want a nice baby jogger. I’ve heard good things about both the Bob and the Chariot. I need to do a bit more research before I decide on the right one. I am definitely open to suggestions! I also hoping New Balance can come up with a line of baby gear for both of our babies.

Liza: Baby jogger.  Asa hated riding in the baby jogger with ever fiber of his being, so I got rid of it when we moved.  The boy’s wailing and gnashing of teeth scared other runners.  “Is he okay???”  (Subtext/Catholic guilt: Why are you selfishly torturing your tiny child???)  The jogger was also a purple 1980’s Craig’s list model, and the breaks didn’t work so well, so I’d like to try something a bit more plush this go around — maybe with earplugs.

Brandy: I’ve always been a person who is early to bed and early to rise. My personality can be a bit Type A combined with ADHD, so I’m always going, going, going all day long. By the time I hit the pillow, it is rare I have difficulty falling asleep. Prior to being pregnant, I usually slept fairly soundly most of the night unless one of the pets woke me up to pee, throw-up, etc. (I’m thankful for my 6 pets and their occasional interruptions of my sleep as I know it is only a foretaste of what is to come.) Once in a while I’d wake up and have to pee. Now, I can’t remember the last time I haven’t had to wake up and pee at least once (but usually 2-3 times which isn’t much fun when camping.) I’ve also read in quite a few books it is best to sleep on one’s side preferably the left while pregnant because of blood flow for the baby, so I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to sleep on my side, but can’t guarantee it is always my left!

Liza: I get pretty tired in the afternoons now, and I’ve taking to napping with Asa for 45 minutes to an hour.  I’m also enjoying some amazing indigestion this pregnancy, which keeps me up some nights.

Brandy: I’ve had a few more emotional break downs this week. One of them involved having to turn down the opportunity to race in Switzerland in August. The other was after reading an article about what really happens “down there” after delivery. YIKES!! I’m not sure I am ready for that discussion/reality yet!  I also feel the need to stop and pee at least once on every run. (Thankfully, I do run on trails!) I’m trying to embrace/enjoy pregnancy as much as possible; however, I really am looking forward to this little baby’s arrival and having my body back as my own!

Liza:  My thighs rub together now when I run, and I’ve had some adventures in thigh chaffing these past two weeks.  Must buy Body Glide.  And remember to apply it.  Ow.

Also having boobs is totally overrated.  It’s hard lugging these things around during runs.