I'm getting an Ironman tattoo!

About a year after my first was born, I ran a marathon despite stopping training the last 6 weeks due to shin splints. I ran with the mantra "I survived a 7 hour labor, I know I can run for at least 7 hours if I have to." My time was 6 hours 45 minutes.

Well, my friends, on Sunday around 2pm, little Graham joined us after 21 hours of natural labor. He is beautiful and healthy and was well worth the challenge. I look forward to sharing tales about our upcoming adventures. Thanks for the encouragement this entire pregnancy.

I will be posting my birth story on my blog in the next few days.

Thoughts at 40 weeks 6 days (a.k.a. Why I'm Carbo-Loading)

My due date has come and gone by a week.

I can't help feeling like I've signed up for an Ironman competition without knowing when it will be...I could be mid-meal or in the grocery store or watching Jon Stewart and the Race Director will suddenly shout "And GO!!!" and I'll have to roll into a 3, (or 5, or 8, or 10, or 15, or 40?) hour event. I'll have to find my team, grab my gear (probably in the middle of the night) and start this race without mile markers or warming up; without proper foresight to be well-rested or even fed. (Not to mention my photos will totally look like I'm an amateur competing on the Kona Course.) The anticipation is killing me!

Moms Who Rock

edit: link corrected

MOMS WHO ROCK! Pt. II

This week: Mama Sweat (a.k.a. Kara).

In her own words

This blog isn't about weight loss or acquiring the perfect body, it's about the absurdities we moms face when we're trying to be mom, wife, employee (or employer), daughter, sister, friend, and the many other roles we take on; while making fitness fit into our lives. As a former endurance athlete, I'm trying to stay in shape while I raise my three young daughters and infant son. Finding the time and the means to exercise isn't just about me, though. I also want to be a good role model and help my children grow up active and healthy.

I found this blog when searching for ways to cope with pregnancy without giving up running. I instantly fell in love with the following post after the first bulletin point:

Everything I Know About Coping with Pregnancy I Learned from Being a Triathlete

1. Ice is nice. After finishing my third marathon (Big Sur--a must run) I saw kiddie pools filled with ice water available for the runners. Because marathoners' brains are a bit addled after 26.2 miles, sitting in a pool of ice water seemed heavenly. And it was. Even better was the next morning, when I had enough spring in my step to walk the hilly streets of San Francisco. From then on an ice bath became my ritual after any run longer than 18 miles. Fast forward many years later, about midway through my first pregnancy--heavy with twins--it occurred to me one night that I felt like I had run 18 miles. And then I realized that an ice bath might make my aching legs feel better. Getting in the tub of as-cold-as-I could make-it-water wasn't quite as easy that time, but once there, and especially after, the benefits were worth the initial discomfort. So much so that I took an ice-cold bath almost every night until I had those babies. I've never had swollen cankles or circulation problems in my pregnancies. Am I lucky or is it my affinity for a polar plunge?

She had me at Ice Bath.

It goes on to cover eating, resting and preparation in terms I can understand (you know, using words like "workout" "training partner" and "modify").

So, thanks Kara, for the advice. You are definitely a Mom Who Rocks!

"Race" Update

Hello All!

Crumbs here - Back from The Land of Fatigue and Heaving (a.k.a First Trimester) and happily gliding along through Celebration and Energy (well, relatively speaking!).  I'm 22 weeks along in my 2nd pregnancy and have a renewed love of running quickly-paced waddling.

I've never been fast, but My Oh My, just 2 months ago it took me 45 minutes to force myself to go 2.5 miles.  The agony!  All because of this weird addiction that seemed like it was going to promise me relief in my rough months of sickness.  Really - food was intolerable. Advil unadvised. And a Mojito with a floater? Highly frowned upon by the masses.  I knew I was allowed to run, though.  And when I run, I get a Runner's High!  Sweet - Hook Me Up. Only, I couldn't really make it through the first mile so easily without getting dizzy and feeling like a 7 year old was taking drum lessons in my head.  I guess only being able to force down 500 calories a day meant there wasn't much in the bank for added exercise.  This, it seemed, was going to be a very, very long 40 weeks.  Weekly milage went from 25 to...well, 3 (or 10, if you count running to the toilet).

Fast forward to this week.  

I had slowly reintroduced myself to running over the last 8 weeks - first with the treadmill and then out on the street - week by week adding a little more.  I even completed a 5 miler in just 1 minute/per mile slower than pre-pregnancy.  HOPE!  HOPE, I tell you!  

So I signed up for a 5k in my old stomping grounds of South Miami.  (I'm back in town for a little while and what better to meet up with old friends than at a race?!  It's a fun way to let folks know about the little one, too!)  Anyway - I knew I wasn't going to set any records but I couldn't believe that I finished a cool 2 minutes slower than I did last year - right around old running buddies.  Just 2 months ago I had lost hope of ever having my runner's high again.  But there it was:  Baby and Me waddling through at a relaxed pace, waving to familiar faces, enjoying the course, passing the finish line with a smile and energy to spare!

Each day I get bigger. 

I know every run won't be that smooth. 

BUT it's so comforting to know that, even when I hit rough patches (be it morning sickness or injury or burnout), I'll eventually get my groove back.

Happy Running All!