Cardio sucks

If it wasn't for all the medals hung throughout my house, I would argue that today felt like I've never done a cardio workout in my life. For the first time in months I hopped on the elliptical and thought I was going to die. It's all an effort to send a message to this kid that it's days are numbered and I'm ready to spend some time with an empty abdominal cavity. We are close. My freezer is FULL of frozen meals I've been stock piling since late summer. Furniture has been purchased and delivered. Construction (well outside of the never ending DIY home office) is complete. Weird areas of my house are clean. Hear all that #2?!?! It's time to make your grand appearance, get out of my belly! So in an effort to continue to make things uncomfortable for this kid I hauled myself to the gym after a terrible 4 hours of broken sleep and climbed onto an elliptical machine. It took all of 2 minutes for me to miss the pool and the weightlessness I've taken for granted during those workouts. Stuck with it though and got in a solid 35 minutes at what likely appeared to others at a leisurely pace but to me felt like an all out sprint. Pool and Fitness in the Park tomorrow and I'll be back on the elliptical this weekend. That is unless I'm at the hospital :) Wishful thinking, I know, but gotta stay positive here.

When? When? When!?!

I've hit the "maybe today" point. Yes it's early, but all signs point to things moving and shaking. I've had 2 providers now tell me, we don't know when...but soon...definitely before your due date. Man, for their sake....they better be right. The funny thing is when I think labor might be imminent I begin to freak about not being ready, it's not a good time, never mind this was all a bad idea. When things pass and I realize my body is just f*cking with me, I'm pissed that it's not time and lets get this done. I'm not sleeping, and not like before, like really not sleeping. Totally uncomfortable and often in a fair amount of discomfort. Clothes don't fit, almost called out of work due to not having any maternity shirts that fit. Oh and the best part, my god damn feet are puffy. It's gross. We aren't ready at home, but getting closer. So nothing left to do but wait and see. I did get my ass out of bed this am for a morning swim, even after 3ish hours of piss poor sleep. Cramping and contractions during my swim so I had some hope that this might be my last pre-baby workout, but I'm sitting in a coffee shop blogging (should be working, ah the joys of self employment) so no suck luck. That said, this was my best round of 50's yet. All under a minute and strong. So who knows, but I'm planning on 2 more swims and 2 fitness in the park classes this week. Swam for 45 mins today.

Still here

Still here, still swimming and still knocked up. Haven't posted for who knows what reason, I think the mad dash to get things ready at home is a major contributing factor. Doc and accupuncturist both agree (which for the record they never do) that this kiddo isn't going to wait til Feb so time for the procrastination to end. That said there have been several late nights where I've been up with contractions in a panic that I still don't have a bag packed but then the morning comes and I forget to pack. Denial, it's all about denial. So what am I doing for workouts? Swimming 3 days a week, I've mentally committed to the Save the Bay swim this July, 1.7 miles Newport to Jamestown across the bay. It's going to be crazy, but I have friends on board so bring it. The swimming is good, distance varies from a mile to a mile and a half. Still getting the 50's in for some fast stuff and I'm happy to report that I've been able to get them down to under a minute. Makes me excited for what these times will look like when my lungs can fully expand. I do know that after my first pregnancy I got much faster on the roads so I'd like to see these same kind of results this time around both on the road and in the pool. This week we were on a tour of pre-schools so didn't make it to Fitness in the Park, planning on hitting that back up for 2 workouts this week. I'm finding that I need to do alot of adjustments to get through this class. Anything that involves jumping is out, unless I want to be jumping in a puddle of pee. I'm also finding myself short of breath very quickly, chalk that up to lack of space for the both of us. That said I do feel a benefit from trying in that something is better than nothing and the kid enjoys going. I keep saying that I'm going to hop on the ellipitical on the days I don't swim but can't seem to tear myself out of bed and although I'd love to be one of those women who can brag about running right up until delivery date that is just not in the cards for me. I can almost taste my post-natal runs but I'm not there yet.

Fing resolutioners!

You know it's a bad sign when you roll up to the gym before 6am and the parking lot is basically full. It's an even worse sign when you walk towards the locker room and can see a little bit of the pool and it's full of chop and white caps. I'm all for people finding their motivation and deciding to workout, but please don't mess with the rest of us who have been getting up at the ass crack of dawn for god knows how long and have a routine planned. We don't deviate based on the weather and were here years ago and will continue to be here long after you have lost your motivation and have restarted the love affair with your snooze button. Go away. Find one of those fancy gyms where people don't really go to workout. Better yet buy some really nice expensive equipment and use it twice and then have it collect dust in your bedroom or basement. You can join us once you've been doing it solo for 3 months, then we'll welcome you with open arms. Maybe even engage in some light hearted banter in the locker room or between intervals. If you insist on showing up then park on the street, spots in the lot should be earned not given. And when one of the regulars shows up get out of our way. Get off our treadmill, spin bike or out of our lap lane and watch while we school you on how this is done. Can you tell I'm hormonal and overtired? PS - it's because of the stupid resolutioners that I had to circle swim and we all know how much I love that at 6am. Swam for 45 mins today

New Year, new goals

Happy New Year! It's time for some goal setting, a bit funny seeing as how I type this from a chair with my laptop pushed so far out to make room for the baby gut that it's almost hard to type. We were out and about today and talking about fitness goals and I have plenty I want to accomplish in 015, but to get there I have to get through 2014. I'm going into this year with some low expectations for running. If you know me personally you know that my motto is that going in with low expectations almost always ends with being pleasantly surprised. First and foremost I need to get this kid out of my belly. We have anywhere from 4-7 weeks to go, of course I'm banking on 4 or less and I don't want to hear crap about how 40 weeks means fully cooked. I'm done, get it out. New babies mean no sleep and an infant and a toddler mean total insanity but I miss big glasses of wine, pants with buttons and being able to tie my shoes without huffing and puffing. Lets get this done. After surviving labor and delivery there will be a period of recovery. After the kid I ran about 3 weeks out, who knows when my first run/workout will be after deuce but it'll happen and will likely hurt but also be totally energizing. Getting back on the running train will require that I master the beast AKA: the double jogger. It's huge and intimidating and heavy and no joke and I will make it my bitch. When people ask what are the baby accessories I couldn't live without my BOB is at the top of the list so the double BOB will be right there. Thankfully I have a great support system of friends who will run right along side us and I'm ready. 2014 will include some races. Not sure what will be first but I'm guessing a spring 5k. The kid was born in June and my first "race" was in August, so if we follow that same time frame I'm looking for an April/May debut. I'd like to also return to the tri world. No 70.3's in my plan book for this year but maybe cranberry tri fest, that's always been a fav of mine. And we'll wrap it up with a fall half marathon, currently thinking one on the Cape but we'll figure out that detail as it approaches. And yes, I want that half to be a sub 2 hour. I know, I said low expectations but this 2 hour road block has been a thorn in my side for years. Even with a swollen pregnant gut I know I should be able to grind this out in the fall. My fitness base remains at an all time high so no excuses. I've also been missing yoga and hope to complete a 200 hour teacher training program. I teach at a shelter currently with kids but am ready to expand and do some work with adults. I love love love the idea of making yoga accessible to populations who aren't going to go to the typical studio class. This may or may not interfere with the above half marathon goal but I'll figure out those details. This will take priority over the half for a number of reasons but I am hoping to be able to tackle both. Lastly I've become a pool rat lately and really enjoy it. I've mentioned before not wanting to abandon this post baby. Currently I'm in the pool 3-5 times a week. That will surely scale back some but keeping at least 1 morning a week would be nice. Too lofty? Maybe but if you don't have goals that are hard to reach, what's the point? Fitness was part of our lives before parenting, stayed front and center when we grew to a party of 3 and with one more addition I'm going to fight to keep it there. Swam 45 mins today.

sweating it out in the water

I can honestly say today that I worked up a sweat in the pool. Can't say for certain that this is the first time but today was definitely a bit of a killer. Nothing special other than when we did our 50 meter repeats I was given a 10 second head start. The issue goes back to me being the slowest during our swims which I'm not worried about currently given that I resemble a manatee and my lovely swim partners are rocking some banging bodies. Typically they do a lap or 2 more than I do and we all start together but during the repeats they likely need a bit less rest than I do and you know that I'm not one to sit out while they keep going. To solve the problem I was given a 10 second head start while they kicked and then took off. Now it's not a race but there is no way that I can be bringing up the rear with a 10 second head start, buddha belly or not, so I was hauling ass each time. Very suddenly the pool wasn't nearly cool enough and these felt almost as terrible as a track workout. That said it felt good to get it done, even better to sweat a little. Suddenly no guilt over any amount of Santa cookies consumed later this evening. Swam for an hour today.

Hanging in and not following direction.

Forgive the sporadic posts, blame the holidays and travel. I didn't work out today but wanted to update the old blog for fear that if I don't it'll be 2014 before you hear from me. We had a bit of a scare last week that resulted in some time off and several stern reminders to not do too much. I'll fully admit that those reminders went in one ear and out the other. I can't hear you when I'm running after a 2.5 year old and the husband's job thinks it's no problem to send him here there and everywhere leaving us to fend for ourselves. Call his boss, have a logical conversation with my toddler and then we can talk. That said I'm pushing the water and trying to be mindful of my limits. Still getting in about 5 workouts a week with primary base being in the pool. It would be lovely if I could remember how nice these swims are and totally get lost in the world of running post baby. I'll tell you speed work in the pool is nicer than repeats on the track in the heat of the summer, things to remember...things to remember. As for baby, we've hit the 32 week mark and I'm 32lbs heavier. Aches and pains abound but nothing that acupuncture, the chiropractor and whining can't handle. We are no more prepared home side for this kids arrival than we were weeks ago, it's like we are in a state of denial. I started to panic a bit last night and found that denial is a happier place to live so I've shifted back there. It's funny how different things are the 2nd time around, I just can't stress about it. This poor kid will arrive with no name, no place to sleep and a big brother who is becoming quite territorial about the 350 hot wheel cars that inhabit our playroom. Good luck kid, good luck. Goals are to survive the next few weeks and end up with a healthy kid while maintaining everyone's sanity....sounds easy, doesn't it?