Almost There

23 days and counting! This baby will definetly be born on September 28th (I am having a c-section). I am so glad I am counting down the days now instead of weeks. The household is busy getting ready for the new baby, my girls are very excited to meet their new brother and I am excited just to be almost done.

My doctor and I already were talking about me getting back to running. He let me know I have only gained 25lbs with this pregnancy (yeah me!), so I wont have to worry about weight loss. I am already starting on planning my running routine. I will definitely be taking it slow. I am going to start with yoga and some short runs around the block a few weeks after the baby is born. Then I will just gradually add more as I feel ready. It stinks that I will be starting to run again in the fall. I dread the winter runs that will follow.

My sister asked me if I wanted to run the Hot Chocolate 5k in Chicago again, but it is the first week in November and I don't know if I want to deal with the hassle of carting a new baby in to the city. I haven't decided 100% yet though. They do have the best goodie bag ever and I wouldn't mind the new running jacket.

Anyways....time to get back to work. I hope everyone is training well and good luck to all of you running in the upcoming marathons!

Hanging in There

It has been forever again, but it is hard to post about running when I am the size of a whale. :) He he. I have 8 weeks to go in this pregnancy. I am looking forward to holding the sweet little baby and getting back to running. It is hard to do too much activity. I walk everyday and try not to be too lazy.

I hope all of you will hang in there with me until I can blog about the new baby and getting back to running. I hope all of your training is going well! :)

Fallen off the Earth

Wow, has it really been that long since I last posted? The last two months have been a total blur for me. About a week after my last post my dad passed away from cancer. He had been sick about a month and it was only about 2 weeks after the diagnosis that he died. It sent the family into a tail spin, like we have all fallen off the earth. He was only 63, I always expected my Dad to live forever. It has been an adjustment to get used to not seeing him sitting in his favorite chair or seeing his Vietnam Veteran hat hanging by the fireplace and not on his head. But I am adjusting, one day at a time.

His death was two days before the Shamrock Shuffle, so needless to say, I didn't run it. And I pretty muched just stopped running. I wasn't in the mood for it at all but lately I have really been missing it. Really, really, really been missing it. But I don't know if I can just start up again. I am now 22 weeks pregnant (with my first boy!) and I feel great. The all day morning sickness is no more and things have been going really well.

The most activity I have been doing is walking. I think I might try out the eliptical a little bit, just start out slow so I don't cause any problems. What I really want to do though is run and I want to race. My brother has been asking me if I want to do Disney in January with him. I would really only have about 10 weeks to train though. And I would be training in December, not my idea of fun. I also know that I won't be able to run the whole thing with that short amount of training time. He says that I can always walk it, and I have always wanted to do Disney. But do I really want to walk my first marathon? Disney is more about the experience I think and I am all about that. I am a huge Disney fan!!! But I don't know, I really just don't know what to do.

A Little Running

I have run a little bit....not as much as I would like, but hey at least it is something. I still have the nauseau. I go to the doctor next week and maybe we can figure out what else to do. I will also be at 12 weeks on Sunday so maybe it will go away soon. It never lasted past the first trimester with my first two.

I am starting to get excited about the Shamrock Shuffle. I can't believe it is just over a week away! I know I won't be able to run the whole thing, so my goal is just to finish. My sister is being very supportive about it, she said she will walk with me, but I really hope she ditches me. She has been training hard and I don't want to slow her down. I am more excited about the expo the day before and bringing my oldest daughter to Chicago with me. She can't wait to go swimming in Aunt Stacy's pool. It will be a fun weekend. I am looking forward to it.

Checking In

The Ultrasound on Wednesday went well. I am 9 weeks along, so the due date is October 4. I still haven't been running. I have all day morning sickness and it is pretty rough right now. The last couple of days have been a teeny bit better, I started a different prenatal vitamin. I am hoping that it continues to help.
I have to get back in to running so I can do the 8k with my sister. I have been hesitant to run because I don't want to be away from home just incase the nausea creeps up. I will probably stick to the elliptical for now. I don't want to be completely lazy. Hopefully I will have enough time to prepare for the 8k.

A Bit of A Break

So it has been about two weeks since I last ran. I was really sick. It was a terrible cold followed by nauseau that would not go away. I couldn't move without thinking about getting sick, it was terrible. I had to go to the doctor, I just couldn't figure it out. Well, surprise!!! I'm pregnant again. It was totally unexpected so I never even thought of being pregnant when I was so nauseaus, but now it all makes sense.

I saw my OB yesterday and she ok'd running, she even encouraged it. I can't do the half marathon though. She doesn't want me to be training for any new distances, she just wants me to stick with what I already have done. So I will still do the 8k at the end of March, that I am excited about. I am still pretty sick, so I am not sure when I will head out on the road again. Maybe in a few days and I will probably start out with a short distance, just to see how I feel afterwards. I am grateful that I have an OB that doesn't mind that I run. I will keep you updated on how everything goes and whenever I get my next run in.

On Wednesday I get to go to my first ultrasound to see how far along I am. I can't wait to see that little dot on the screen. :)

Happy Running everyone!

Lazy, Excuse Maker, Whiner

Yep, that is all me. I didn't run at all this weekend. I was too lazy to run 8 miles. I didn't want to run 6 miles with the group because I knew no one would want to run as slow as me. I whined about running (in my head) all weekend. I used the excuse of how busy this weekend was also. I have to stop it! I am getting really bad.

I did hit the eliptical this morning. I really wish I had a treadmill at home. I also ran up and down the stairs 25 times (to help build my muscles for those hills) and I did some core work. I guess that is good right? I know its not enough to help me with the half marathon though. I have to run. I have to run. I have to run. (I keep repeating that to myself.) Ok, so I will stop whining out loud now. My next chance to run is Wednesday night. I will be talking myself in to it for the next two days.

Girls Night Out

I totally had the best run last night. It was about 3.5 miles and I ran with a group of girls from the local running store. We had a blast! It felt great to get out with other runners for a change. I have been a lonely runner lately. It was a nice change of pace. The soup they served afterwards was amazing also. I will share the recipe as soon as I get it. It was awesome!

Tomorrow I will be meeting up with the Saturday morning group. They run about 6 miles. My long run this weekend is 8, so I was thinking I might run the two miles there and have my hubby pick me up after the run. Hopefully that works out, but you never know since he has to drag the kids around with him. Plus I can very easily talk myself out of runs, so I will probably just drive there for the 6 miler and call it a day. I need to train with a drill sargent who will kick my butt. Anybody know a good one?

7 Miles

Yippee! Yippee! Yippee!! I ran 7 miles. I can't believe it. I actually did it, and it was all on the treadmill. It was freezing once again. The temp was about 5 degrees and the wind chill was below zero. I had to get that long run in though. Thankfully my Mom has a treadmill and she wanted the whole family over for dinner. So I got my run in with a lot of distractions while on the treadmill. It made it so much easier. Now I only wish I could have those distractions when I run at the gym. :)

Next weekend 8 miles and the weather looks like it should be good. I am crossing my fingers.

I'm Terrified

So yeah, I ran another 6 miles today. It was tough and I know that if I want to run farther I will need help. So, I already put on my calendar the next group run on Saturday so I make sure I get there. I will need help to go 7 miles.

Today I also drove about a 7 mile route that encompasses the last 6 miles or so of the March Madness half marathon. Holy Hills is all I can say! They are more like mountains. A couple are straight up, I might as well try running up a wall. This race is going to be really tough. I have to finish on 3 hours, which is a 13:45 pace. I don't know if I can do it.

I plan on running the 7 mile route a few times before the race, but are there any workouts I can do at home on my strength days to help prepare my legs for the hills? Any hill advice you can give will be greatly appreciated! Oh and any prayers. I think I will need that too.

6 Miles

I can't believe it. I actually ran 6 miles on Sunday. I won't lie though, it was hard. Really hard. It had snowed the day before so I was running on it. That was not easy. My entire body has been sore the last two days. I feel like I slipped on the snow, my back aches and my thighs hurt every time I take a step. I need to go 7 miles this weekend. I know the snow will still be around then. I think I will make friends with the treadmill because I tried to make friends with the snow and it just wasn't nice to me.

I Really Dislike Thinking of Titles

Ok, so I said I would be good and instead I was really bad. I blame the holidays and a warm week in Florida. I have been running though (not very long distances), but I have been running. Oh, and I signed up for two races. The March Madness half marathon on March 15 and the Shamrock Shuffle 8k on March 29th.

I have 9 weeks until the half marathon. I am going to revamp my training schedule that I am on so I can make sure I finish the race. I was originally going to add 1 mile to my long run each week, but that will leave me no time to taper and I want to make sure I am strong for the race. I think I might add 1.5 miles per week and then hopefully I can taper properly for it. My goal for the half is just to finish. As of right now I really have doubts that I will.

On that note, my biggest supporter, my brother Jon is running the Diney World marathon this weekend. Go Jon Go! I wish I was there with you.