Here is what the fourth week of my “comeback” training looked like. The plan is still to basically just alternate days of running with days of cross training while slowly adding in a few back-to-back days of running as we go. By next week, I will be back up to 5 days of running!
When I first started documenting my training again, I had thoughts of posting my daily workouts to Instagram and then writing my weekly training recaps here on the blog. I don’t know why, but every now and then the *idea* of posting to Instagram really appeals to me, until I try it for a few days and I realize that feels both exhausting and entirely too forced. I had a follow up appointment with my doctor last week and he actually suggested staying off social media in general during the newborn phase. He wasn’t saying that I was on social media too much (he has no idea if I am or am not on what platforms), but rather just offered that as some solid advice that he gives to all new mothers.
Admittedly, I told him that I was feeling a little bit isolated and very overwhelmed with my new role as a mother. Being a mom is very hard work and I never fully understood that until now. I don’t think you can understand it until you’ve experienced it (and isn’t that the truth about so many things). He told me a story a mom who was crying one day, complaining about how her baby seemed to be feeding around the clock and wouldn’t sleep and then the very next day posted on social media about how she loved being a mom and that the baby slept through the night. Perhaps her baby did sleep through the night that night, but the point is that it is so easy to get discouraged if you are always comparing your normal days to someone else’s best days. I try to take social media at face value, knowing that people only post their highlights, but I appreciated and took this advice nonetheless.
He also told me that it was a great thing that I was being open about the fact that I was struggling. He said that a lot of the time, he doesn’t even know a mom was struggling until way after the fact and everything has gotten “better.” All those years of therapy must’ve paid off, because I can certainly let you know when I am not okay. Contrary to what you are currently reading, I try to keep that personal stuff off of the internet these days … but here we are … it’s part of my postpartum comeback journey and I’d be remiss not to mention it. I think that’s partly why I am so thankful to have running again right now. I feel like I *need* it in order to feel like myself again. Perhaps that isn’t necessarily a good thing, but there have also been times when I haven’t felt like I needed it, so I think that might just be part of the normal ebb and flow of my life.
Monday – Plan: 5.0 mile run Actual: 5.0 mile run (8:50 pace)
I started the week off with an easy 5 mile run on Monday. Since we switched some things up at the end of last week, this made Monday a back-to-back run day! My legs were sore from Sunday’s quality session, but it was a good sore, the kind where you can tell that you’ve put in some solid work, not a hurting type of sore.
Tuesday’s elliptical session was a tough one! The workout was written as 20 minutes easy, 5 X 2:00 hard with 1:00 easy, 3 minutes easy, 5 X 2:00 hard with 1:00 easy and a 20 minute cool down. The workout seemed way more than twice as hard as the one minute pickups than I have done the last few weeks. I haven’t done very much work recently where my heart rate gets up for over a minute at a time and I could definitely feel that during this workout.
Wednesday – Plan: 7.0 mile run w/ 6 X 30 second strides Actual: 7.3 mile run (9:30 pace)
I was a little bit tired on Wednesday, probably from that doozy of an elliptical session the day before. I got the miles in and ended up doing the strides on the driveway in the sand. They are supposed to be done at the very end of the run, meaning that if I run from home, I do them in sand. I wasn’t expecting them to be super fast (they weren’t), but I got them done and the effort was there.
Thursday – Plan: 6.0 mile run Actual: 6.0 mile run (8:40 pace)
My legs felt much better by Thursday and I got a nice six mile run in. Nothing major to report here except that all was well!
Friday – Plan: Walk Actual: Rest Day!
It had been a few weeks since I have had a complete rest day. I like to take rest days when they are needed and not necessarily “plan” them into my week. This week worked out pretty well though, as nothing was planned except for an easy walk. I have been getting a lot of easy walks with the stroller in the late afternoons during the week. It seems as if I have a baby that very much likes to be moving. Go figure!
Saturday – Plan: 9.0 mile progression run with fast finish Actual: 9.0 mile run (7:35 pace)
I got a second chance to work on the easy run with a fast finish that I botched last weekend. My coach broke this one up into three sections. The first three miles were supposed to be truly easy (8:00 – 8:30 range), the next three were supposed to be a bit quicker (7:30 – 8:00 range) and the last three were supposed to be a bit quicker (close to 7:00 or just under). It is already starting to get a bit warm out there. It was 78° with a dew point of 63° when I ran, which made the run a little bit more challenging than it probably otherwise would have been. I’m so glad that I got to try this one again though, because it went really well and gave me a much needed confidence boost! I averaged 8:13 for the first three miles, 7:38 for the middle three miles and 6:50 for the last three miles. Just what the doctor ordered!
I bailed on my elliptical “long run” on Sunday. Once I got started I realized that my body was tired and I figured that I needed more of a recovery session than an endurance session. I don’t think we will have too many more of these “marathon” elliptical sessions to begin with. They served a good purpose for the first few weeks of this comeback plan, but thankfully my weekly long run mileage is steadily increasing now. I loved the elliptical when it was basically my only option (i.e., during the end of pregnancy and early on postpartum), but now that I can comfortably run, I am not loving the elliptical nearly as much.
Totals – Running: 27.3 miles Elliptical: 18.75 miles (112 minutes) Walking: 11.6 miles
Thanks for following along with me on the comeback journey!
Here is what the third week of my “comeback” training looked like. The plan is still to basically just alternate days of running with days of cross training while slowly adding in a few back-to-back days of running as we go. I did two days in a row of running again this week. Insert happy dance!
Monday – Plan: 6.5 mile run w/ 6 X 30 second strides Actual: 7.0 miles (8:40 pace)
I got to do a few pickups on Monday! This was my first tiny little taste of faster running thus far during the comeback training cycle. The strides were 6 X 30 seconds for a whopping total of 3 minutes. Ha! I’m not going to lie, I was excited and a little bit nervous about those 3 minutes. I ran 5 miles like I typically would (at an easy pace) and then started the strides from there. I expected the strides to feel a bit clunky and awkward (they did!) and the goal was to only push to about 80-85% of what I would typically do for strides. The good news was A) I didn’t have any pain and B) my legs *kinda sorta* seemed to remember what to do! While the paces aren’t important, I’m putting them here {6:02, 6:23, 6:07, 6:20, 6:02, 5:55} so that I can look back and remember how my first “faster running” went.
Tuesday I had another elliptical workout! I did modified the planned workout just a touch once I got into it and ended up doing a 20 minute warm up, 5 X 2 minutes on/off, 10 X 1 minute on/off and a 10 minute cool down. I realized after the first few pickups that I was going so fast that the resistance on the machine was turning off. Because there wasn’t any resistance, my heart rate wasn’t coming up like it should and I wasn’t accomplishing the intent of the workout. This was an aha! moment of sorts and I think I might need to bump up the resistance for the entirety of my elliptical sessions from here on out. If I do that, I don’t think I will be able to spin the machine too fast and the resistance should stay at the appropriate level. We’ll see! I’m on a mission to test this theory later in the week.
As a side note: my coach was totally fine with the mid-workout modification since I was on the elliptical and there is little to no impact. I definitely won’t be adding a bunch of extra pickups during running workouts!
Wednesday – Plan: 6.0 mile run Actual: 6.0 mile run (9:10 pace)
Wednesday was my first run on treadmill since …. {checks Garmin Connect} … March of 2021!? Holy cow. I knew it had been a while, but had no idea it had been that long. My treadmill stopped working, apparently sometime last Spring, and we finally replaced it a few weeks ago! I asked for it as my “push present” after having Ward. Think about how bad it would look if my husband bought me a treadmill after having a baby without me asking for it. Ha! We found an awesome deal on a Sole F80 via Marketplace. We only paid 25% of the MSRP price for treadmill! It was a pandemic purchase for someone who had great intentions, but lacked in follow through [hey, I get it!]. The machine had less than 10 hours on it when we got it.
The weather was iffy all week and while I don’t love running on the treadmill in general, it is really nice to have it when you need it. It’s also possible for me to get a run in during one of Ward’s naps during the day (whereas I obviously can’t just leave him at home and go run if Richard isn’t home). Richard has started going back to work some, which makes it more challenging for me to get my workouts in. Side note: he got 12 weeks of paid paternity leave (how nice is that?!) and we are alternating our weeks at home for the remainder of his leave so that we can keep the baby out of daycare for a teensy bit longer. Richard actually got more paid leave than I did! Things that make you go hmm …
Thursday – Plan: 5.0 mile run Actual: 5.0 mile run (8:45 pace)
As thankful as I am to have the treadmill, I did not want to run indoors on back to back days. I waited until late afternoon on Thursday to run, giving the driveway a bit more time to dry out. It was still a tad muddy, but I am somewhat used to that at this point. This was still only my second time running on back-to-back days and this week’s second run felt really good! I was really happy to get out and get some fresh air after a full day of momming!
Friday – Plan: 45 minute elliptical or go for a walk Actual: 65 minutes (11.5 miles)
I did an easy elliptical session on Friday. I went a little bit over my allotted time, but since it is just the elliptical and I kept it very easy, it was one of those no harm, no foul type of situations.
Saturday – Plan: 8.0 mile run w/ last 2 miles at “steady state” pace or 9.0 mile run without pushing the pace Actual: 80 minutes (15.0 miles) on the elliptical
My schedule got completely messed up on Saturday morning. I’m honestly shocked that this hasn’t happened more often than it has. Ward’s sleep schedule is very unpredictable at this point and that really makes it hard to “plan” much of anything. I was really looking forward to that eight mile run with a fast finish, so I texted my coach and asked if it would be okay if we just switched the Saturday and Sunday workouts. Thankfully, he was very understanding and totally cool with it. I will admit that I wasn’t *feeling* the elliptical quite as much on Saturday as I have been recently. I settled for the lower end of the planned time range (which still felt quite long!) and called it a day. I didn’t push the pace during this session either, as I wanted to try to save as much as I could for Sunday’s run.
I forgot how to pace myself. As noted above, I was supposed to do an easy 6 mile run with the last 2 at a steady state pace and instead I basically ran 6 at what my steady state pace should’ve been and then finished up the last 2 at a bonked, easy pace. My splits were 7:37, 7:16, 7:04, 6:57, 7:00, 6:37, 8:11, 7:46. When I started running, I felt amazing. The miles were clicking by and the pace, while faster than my usual easy pace, felt totally doable. I convinced myself that I was going to be able to run close to 7 minute pace for the entire run and that I would still be able to pick it up at the end. How cute. So yeah, the pace felt totally doable until it didn’t. The good news is that nothing hurt at all and this run was one of the first times that I actually didn’t feel like I just had a baby. I felt out of shape, yes, but like a postpartum runner, no. Obviously I am still a recovering postpartum runner, but I am taking it as a really good sign that I am running without consciously thinking of myself in this way.
In a totally random turn of events, I ran into someone I knew while I was out there and stopped to chat for a few minutes. She gave me a pair of fingernail clippers for the baby and I ran the rest of the way with a pair of baby nail clippers in my shorts pockets. I don’t know what it is about those tiny little fingernails, but I am so scared to cut them. The clippers she gave me are supposed to make it much easier, so we’ll see. She also told me that she didn’t cut her daughter’s fingernails until she was about 4 months old, which made me feel better. Maybe in the next two months I will work up the courage to actually trim his nails. I will keep you posted!
Totals – Running: 26.0 miles Elliptical: 39.25 miles (220 minutes) Walking: 7.5 miles
Thanks for following along with me on the comeback journey!
Here is what the second week of my “comeback” training looked like. The plan is still to basically just alternate days of running with days of cross training while slowly adding in a few back-to-back days of running as we go.
Monday – Plan: 6.0 – 6.5 mile run Actual: 6.5 mile run (8:40 pace)
I started the week off with a nice 6.5 mile run! I even ventured out off of the street we live on and did part of what I refer to as my “sailboat loop.” It was spring break in our county this week and the traffic was only a fraction of what it is on a normal weekday, which allowed me a bit more flexibility in my route choice and also made for a much more enjoyable run. I didn’t have the heavy or sluggish feeling, so that was a good sign. Things certainly don’t feel entirely normal yet (lots of things feel a bit “loose” if that makes any sense), but they do seem to be getting a little bit better each week. At this point, that’s all I can ask for!
I think the best part about running postpartum vs. running during pregnancy might be the lack of bathroom stops. I noticed that one of the houses on my route that was under construction while I was pregnant (such a blessing!) is now complete. Seeing that reminded me of all the bathroom stops that had to be made previously and also made me feel incredibly grateful that I no longer need those stops! It’s the little things in life.
Tuesday – Plan: 70 minute elliptical with 10 X 1 minute “on” w/ 1:30 “recovery” Actual: 70 minutes(12.5 miles)
Tuesday I did a “workout” on the elliptical. My plan called for a 20 minute warm up, 10 X 1:00 “on” with 1:30 recovery and a 20 minute cool down. I was really excited to see this pop up on the schedule, since it is very similar to typical running quality sessions that I have done in the past. I am slowing inching my way ever so slightly back to feeling like my old running self again and that, my friends, feels fabulous!
I broke this one up into chunks and alternated going forward and backward. For the warm up, I did 10 minutes forward and 10 minutes backward. Then for the workout itself, I did 5 of the pickups going forward and 5 going backward. For the cool down, I also did 10 minutes forward and 10 minutes backward. The pickups flew by and the only part that really seemed to drag out was the cool down, as I was really just wanting to have more pickups to do!
My average heart rate for the workout was 160 bpm and my max heart rate was 186 bpm. I feel like this is fairly appropriate for the effort we were trying to get in with this session. Strava gave me a “relative effort” score of 102 and said that this was “a stronger than usual effort.” Why thank you, Mr. Strava! It looks like the only higher relative effort scores that I have on Strava recently are all associated with my elliptical “long run” activities, which also makes sense, especially given the way the score is calculated. According to the Strava, “Relative effort is an analysis of your heart rate data. By tracking your heart rate through your workout and its level relative to your maximum heart rate, we attach a value to show exactly how hard you worked. The more time you spend going full gas and the longer your activity, the higher the score.”
Wednesday – Plan: 6.0 mile run Actual: 6.0 mile run (8:55 pace)
Wednesday’s run was a HOT one! I ran at lunchtime, so perhaps this should’ve been somewhat expected, but it was 82°F w/ 94% humidity while I was out there. This is unseasonably warm for lower Alabama! I typically listen to a podcast on my easy runs, but for whatever reason, I decided to run in pure silence with nothing but my own thoughts running around upstairs. It was actually a nice change of pace. The first two miles were a bit of a struggle, but once I got warmed up I settled into a good rhythm. The first two miles were also the hilliest two miles of the route, so that likely contributed as well. The last half of the run actually felt [dare I say it] good. I came back from this run feeling refreshed and not drained. Ahh, yes. I’m starting to remember how to do this!
Thursday – Plan: 3.0 – 4.0 mile run Actual: 4.0 mile run (8:35 pace)
Thursday was my first back-to-back running day of the training cycle! Woot. My coach actually had a back-to-back run planned for last week as well, but we scrapped that one after the first run of the week was a bit of a struggle. The first two runs of this week felt good, so we decided proceed [with lots of caution] with two days of running in a row. The second day was a very short run, but a run is a run. Am I right?! While short, the run Thursday actually felt really good … perhaps the best run I’ve had of this training cycle thus far! This was a big step in the comeback and tangible progress in the right direction.
As I was running I started thinking to myself, “When was the last time that I ran two days in a row?” I knew it had been quite a while, but was amazed to later discover that it had been since Thanksgiving of last year (133 days ago)! The two days in a row around Thanksgiving actually included a decent amount of walking as well, so I don’t know if those can officially count as back-to-back days of “running.” I had to go all the way back to the end of October to find two days in a row where the paces actually look like true runs rather than run-walk combos. Either which way, it has been a hot minute. For someone that used to run [basically] 7 days a week for years, pregnancy and the subsequent comeback has been quite humbling. It’s also been really thrilling to see little glimpses of progress and to start to slowly get back to feeling like some version of myself that I actually recognize.
Friday – Plan: 40 minute elliptical or go for a walk Actual: 40 minutes (7.0 miles)
Friday was a purely easy session. The reason for this was twofold. One being to recover from the previous days back-to-back runs and the other being to rest up for Saturday’s longer run. Once I got started, I was super thankful that I had a recovery day because I was tired. Nothing was hurting (good news!), but I was not feeling very peppy.
Saturday – Plan: 8.0 mile run Actual: 8.0 mile run (8:35 pace)
I got out the door at a decent time Saturday morning for my longest run of the week. Saturday morning is the best time to run from home because the traffic is so much lighter. For whatever reason, my heart rate seemed to be a little bit higher than it has been on other runs lately, but I didn’t feel like I was working any harder. Of course, this could just be a watch fluke.
I only thought to check it after the fact because the performance condition that shows on my watch after the first mile or so was a negative one or “baseline” and every other run I’ve done In the past few weeks has been positive three to four or “good.” According to Garmin, “Performance condition metric is a real-time assessment of your ability to perform compared to your average fitness level. This metric ranges from -20 to +20 with each point representing approximately 1% of the VO2 Max set on your device.” The metric is a function of pace and heart rate.
I didn’t have this same watch (Garmin Forerunner 645) when I was training more seriously, so I’m not really used to seeing this metric on the screen. Pretty sure I’m going to want to turn this off when I start racing again, because I really don’t want to see a performance condition of “poor” show up on my watch on race day during my warm up. That would surely mess with my head!
I got in another longer, endurance building elliptical session Sunday morning! I had endorphins for days after this one. Well … actually I just got home from the gym … but I’m assuming I will have endorphins for days. They are REALLY high at the moment!
Totals – Running: 24.5 miles Elliptical: 35.5 miles (200 minutes) Walking: 12.0 miles
All in all, I’d say this was a solid week of training. I did a little bit more of each activity than I did last week, which makes sense as we gradually build back. Hopefully soon enough running will be the dominant activity once again! Thanks for following along with me on the comeback journey!
Seeing as how I have not been very consistent with my blog posts these days, I suspect there’s likely not too many new readers out there. However, I could be wrong about that assumption so let’s get started with a brief introduction. Brevity is not one of my strengths by the way, so buckle up.
I gave birth to a baby boy in February and am currently working on my postpartum return to running. I have been running for over 15 years at this point. What started as a casual hobby turned into a little bit of a more serious hobby as the years went by and I was running at a “semi” competitive level before I got pregnant. I had breakthrough seasons in the fall of 2019, running a personal best in the marathon (2:49) and in the spring of 2020, running personal bests in the mile, the 5k and the 10k (5:02, 5:19 and 35:45 respectively). I took a break from structured training in the fall of 2020 and in the spring of 2021. I stayed active throughout my pregnancy (from May 2021 through February of 2022), but didn’t do any sort of “quality” running sessions and wasn’t running much period by the end of things. The elliptical was (and in some ways continues to be) my best friend!
As far as current goals are concerned, the main goal is to build back up gradually and not get injured. Once we start adding back in some quality sessions, I think I’d like to find a 5k to race. After that, I am thinking that I’d like to find a fall or winter half marathon (depending on how things are going). I don’t think I’ve raced to my potential in the half and it would be fun to chase a faster time there!
I am working with Coach Brendon O’Leary for the comeback. He has worked with several mothers in the postpartum comeback phase and comes highly recommended by several of these women. I gave him a rundown of a few things pertinent to my life and training before we got started and it seems like it might make sense to share those things here as well!
I have a treadmill and an elliptical at home. I also have a gym membership with access to other cardio machines for cross training and whatever weights or strength training things I might need.
When I run from home, the first and last mile are on an unpaved dirt road that is sandy in spots, muddy depending on the day, rocky in other areas and very hilly. I have to drive somewhere else if we need just a purely flat or a purely pavement run.
I have access to a track when needed (it would be easiest to do that on a weekend day). It is a bit tricky to get over there before school starts, especially now that it is so dark in the mornings. It will be more doable in the summer months when school is out.
As far as previous coaches:
I worked with a coach for several years (circa 2015 – 2018). He was an extremely knowledgeable coach, but I didn’t really respond well to the super high mileage and high intensity training that he had me doing. It was not uncommon for me to be running 80 miles per week (or more if marathon training) with three quality sessions. Granted, I didn’t get injured doing this, but I also didn’t get any faster. I basically ended up getting burned out physically.
I worked with another coach for several years as well (circa 2018 – 2020). I responded very well to this training program, which was less mileage and one to two quality sessions per week. When I broke three hours in the marathon for the first time, I did that on a long run of 16 miles and a weekly mileage of right at or under 60 miles per week. That’s also similar to what I was doing when I ran 2:49 in Indy. Unfortunately, I feel like my coach was always giving me goals that weren’t super attainable. For example, I took an entire minute off of my 5k time while working with him, but because I never ran what he thought I was capable of (< 17), I was never really completely satisfied with my performances. The same was true for the marathon as well. I was thankful that he believed in me as much as he did, but I think I would’ve responded a bit better to smaller goals that I can meet along the way and work on in chunks. I basically ended up getting burned out mentally.
I am currently still home on maternity leave through the middle of May. After that I will go back to work full time. I work from home 4 days a week and commute 45 minutes to the office one day a week.
I live way, way down in Alabama (basically in the Gulf of Mexico), where it gets hotter than blue blazes and the dew point makes running feel more like swimming in the summertime. Pace adjustments are typically needed!
Now that you have some context, let’s jump into seeing what the first week of my “comeback” training looked like! I’ve been alternating days of running with days of cross training for the last couple weeks and the current plan is to continue that while slowly adding in a few back-to-back days of running as we progress.
Monday – Plan: 6.0 – 6.5 mile run Actual: 6.25 mile run (8:55 pace)
I went back to my old stomping grounds on Monday evening and got in a good old fashioned “olde towne” loop. My mom watched Ward while I ran, which was much appreciated! While I can run with him in the stroller, it’s nice to get out and have some alone time to just run and clear my head after spending all day with the little man. The run was okay, but I wouldn’t say it was great by any means. I still have a very “heavy” feeling while running. Heavy might not even be the right word, but it’s just a sluggish kinda blah feeling. I feel like it likely has something to do with breastfeeding, both because of the extra “volume” I am carrying around at any given time and because I have to eat so. much. food. all. day. long. I’ve never been this hungry in my entire life! It would likely be better to run in the morning immediately after a pumping session and before eating too much, but that doesn’t always work out. On the plus side, I am training my stomach to run with more fuel in it! That was always a bit of a struggle for me in the past as I would much rather run on an empty stomach, but when you are racing longer distances your stomach absolutely needs to be able to handle gels and other fuel throughout the race.
Even though I didn’t feel fabulous, it was a beautiful evening for a run and I was happy to be out there regardless! I had forgotten how hilly my old route was. Calling a route “hilly” is a fairly subjective thing. This run had about 300 feet of elevation gain over the 6 miles, so nothing too crazy I suppose, but also not “flat.” It took me about two miles to settle into a good rhythm, the middle two miles felt pretty good and then I started to feel pretty tired during the last two miles. It’s very humbling for me to struggle through a six mile run continually having to talk myself down off of a ledge of wanting to stop and walk every few minutes. My coach thinks that somewhere around 8 to 10 weeks the heavy feeling will likely go away and things will *hopefully* feel more normal. In the meantime, this is a good reminder to be patient and take things slowly as my body is telling me that it isn’t quite ready for full-fledged training yet.
I got some work done Tuesday morning and went to the gym shortly after lunch. I am working on tax returns for family members while I am home on maternity leave. Side note: while not planned this way, I am not complaining one single bit about missing out on tax season this year!
Tuesday was an elliptical day. Woo to the hoo! Basically the elliptical currently feels like what I remember running feeling like in the past. I just pretend like I am running when I am ellipticalling and all feels right with the world. Ha! I typically do the elliptical at the gym on level 10 and choose the “random” setting that varies the intensity throughout. To keep things interesting, I also change directions from forward to backward every 5k throughout the workout. I use the first and last 5ks as a warm up and a cool down and push harder during the middle 10k. I’ve also found that keeping track of my “splits” throughout the workout challenges me, keeps me mentally engaged and makes me feel like I am replicating a running workout. My splits were:
5k: 18:24 (total time 18:24) 10k: 15:20 (total time 33:44) 15k: 15:03 (total time 48:47) 20k: 18:30 (total time 67:17)
Wednesday – Plan: 5.0 – 6.0 mile run Actual: 6.0 mile run (9:05 pace)
I got out the door at a decent time Wednesday morning. Thank goodness I went when I did because it was already 75℉ w/ 85% humidity at 9 a.m. Oh summer, please play nice (and also please maybe stay away for another month or two). A huge line of storms blew through Wednesday evening and it was very windy all day. The wind was over 20 miles per hour when I was out there! Even though the conditions were a bit challenging, I felt pretty good … better than Monday at least. Phew!
I ran from home and did an out and back route twice. Sometimes when I am not feeling as good, I run out one mile and then go back and forth on the flat, paved portion of our road several times before making the one mile trek back to the house. As I mentioned earlier, the first and last mile of every run I do from home is on a HILLY (> 100 feet of gain per mile), non-paved portion of road that is a combination of sand, dirt, gravel and rock. That road and those hills have definitely made me stronger over the years, but it’s a bit of a rude awakening when you are trying to get back in shape! Oof.
My schedule called for 85 – 90 minutes on the elliptical on Thursday “if I could stand it.” Challenge accepted! I made it 87 minutes and 16 miles. Boom! The idea is that these longer efforts will build endurance that will translate back over to running once I am a bit further along in the postpartum journey. For now, it’s really nice to be able to work on my endurance without pounding the pavement.
On Thursday I did level 10 on the “rolling hills” setting for the first hour and then took it down to level 5 on the “random” setting for the last part. I changed directions on the machine every 15 minutes instead of every 5k like I typically do. I didn’t keep up with my splits as I wasn’t really trying to push the pace as much as I was just trying to complete the “distance.” I felt a bit tired at about 45 minutes in, but caught some sort of second wind by the time I got to the one hour mark. The machine shuts down automatically after an hour, so you have to make a conscious decision to keep going. I thought I was going to be tempted to stop, but when push came to shove I restarted the thing and got it done. I had lots of endorphins after that workout! Who knew you could get endorphins from things other than running?!
Friday – Plan: 40 – 45 minute elliptical or go for a walk Actual: 43 minutes (4.0 miles)
Friday was a bit of a recovery day after Thursday’s long workout. I did 4 miles on my elliptical at home and called it a day! We were headed out of town for the weekend (our first family trip with Ward!) and I had plenty of things to do around the house to get ready. Traveling with a baby can be pretty complicated and while I was on a mission to keep it as simple as possible, I think that perhaps I complicated things in the process. Oh the irony!
Saturday – Plan: 7.5 – 8.0 mile run Actual: 8.0 mile run (8:45 pace)
I got to run eight whole miles Saturday! Not gonna lie, I was looking forward to this one all week. We spent the weekend with Richard’s family, which was really nice (and not just because I had plenty of people to watch the baby while I ran :)). I didn’t have to rush to get out the door to run and I actually wanted it to warm up a little bit anyway. I ran so few times this winter that I have zero tolerance to cold weather running at the moment. I’m all about soaking up some good Vitamin D during my runs!
The first mile at my in-law’s house is basically straight up hill. While typically not one to back down from a challenge, I really just wanted to feel good and enjoy my eight mile run so I decided to walk up the hill as a “warm up” and to start my run from the top. I ran 4 miles out and 4 miles back on a half paved road, half dirt road route. The dirt road by their house is WAY more compacted and WAY less hilly than our driveway though, so the run was actually much less challenging than what I am used to.
I listened to episode 503 of the Ali on the Run podcast with Dom Scott. I don’t recall hearing her on a podcast before, but she seems super friendly and very down to earth. It was a very enjoyable listen! The miles went by very quickly and before I knew it, I was back to my starting point. Thankfully, I didn’t feel heavy or sluggish during this run! I can tell that my running fitness is lacking, but that is absolutely to be expected!
Sunday – Plan: 40 – 45 minute elliptical or go for a walk Actual: 6.0 mile walk
After travelling back home and getting caught up on the household chores, I was more than ready to get out and get some fresh air! I opted for the walk option over the elliptical option. By the time I got out there, it was fairly late in the evening, but it felt absolutely wonderful out. I threw in a couple of spurts of light “jogging,” mainly in the interest of time and getting back before the sun went down.
Totals – Running: 20.25 miles Elliptical: 33 miles (204 minutes) Walking: 8.25 miles
All in all, I am VERY pleased with how the first week of training went. After a solid year and a half with no desire to really train for anything or follow a set schedule, the fire is definitely back and I’m stoked (get it?!).
Thanks for following along with the comeback journey!
Hi friends! Baby boy is here and the running comeback has commenced! Let’s catch up and then chat about the Spring Fever Chase 10k … shall we? Excellent!
First things first. Ward was born on his due date (2/22/22). And yes, we planned an induction for that day because there was no way that I was possibly going to pass up an all-twos birthday that also fell on a Tuesday (2s day!). I mean, how cool?! As far as the birth goes, I will spare you all the details. I was super curious to make an assessment of whether giving birth was more difficult than running a marathon. After having done both, I’m honestly still not sure because the epidural was a total gamechanger. I’ve never given birth without an epidural and never run a marathon with an epidural (side note: if there was a way to do that without having your legs go numb, that would be MONEY). Given those conditions, I will say that the “aftermath” of giving birth is WAY worse than recovering from a marathon. Of course, that’s just my not-so-professional opinion.
At one week postpartum, I walked one mile around the yard. Over the course of the next couple of days, I worked up to walking two miles, then three miles, etc. I walked 8.5 miles that week.
During the second week, I alternated walking with ellipticalling (is that a word? let’s go with it). I walked 20 miles and did 14 miles on the elliptical. I also threw in a few strides of running here and there when I was walking during the second week. The running intervals increased from a quarter mile, up to a half mile and then all the way to a full mile by the end of the second week.
At that point, I felt fairly confident that I could go for a full-fledged run and be just fine. During the third week, I did exactly that. I ran 5 miles without any walk breaks (I even ran up all the hills (someone please send me a gold star)). Believe it or not, that was only my second run of the entire year, bringing my yearly distance total to a whopping 10 miles [insert mind blown emoji]. That is pure craziness. In a typical year, by mid-March I would be well over 500 miles! I felt like I was so active (mainly ellipticalling) during the pregnancy that I tend to forget that I wasn’t running at all there at the end. Thankfully, the elliptical seems to have kept my fitness at as decent level!
How did we get from 10 miles all year to a 10k race you ask? Well, I had a follow up appointment with my doctor a couple days before the race and was “cleared” to run. I don’t know that running a 10k race is exactly what he had in mind, but that’s how I interpreted it! I went straight from my appointment to the local running store and filled out my race registration. Side note: several #motherrunners on Instagram recommended also seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist, which was great advice! She gave me some good exercises to work on strengthening and stretching the muscles around my pelvis, which have historically been weak and tight (even pre-pregnancy). Because I was not having any pain or any other “issues,” both medical professionals felt that it was fine for me to resume normal activities! Woo to the hoo!
If you’ve followed along for a while, you might recall that Spring Fever is one of my favorite races of the year. The race was cancelled in 2020 and 2021, so I was itching to get back out there on the course. This year was my twelfth time running this race. Even though I haven’t run the course in a few years, I still knew the route like the back of my hand. I remembered every turn, every tangent, every hill and every water stop along the way. While I knew the course, I obviously wasn’t trained for the race and I didn’t have a good gauge of what sort of time I could run or how much I should even try to push myself. My only goal was to complete the race with a smile on my face!
Lots of turns!
Race morning looked a lot differently this time around. Instead of planning it around warm ups, strides, porta potties, etc., it was planned around feedings, sleep schedules and diaper changes. We left the house with just enough time for me to pick up my number before the race and to do a short warm up if I wanted to. Deciding whether or not to do a warm up (or a cool down for that matter) was a bit tricky as the actual race distance itself would be further than I had run all year and I wasn’t sure I really needed to be tacking on any extra miles before or after. I ended up basically covering one mile, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a “warm up.” Either way, it didn’t really matter, and I was as ready as I was going to get!
I knew I had no business running under 7 minute pace (at least for the first mile), so I tried my best to take it easy and settle into a good rhythm. Right off the bat, there were a few other females both around me and ahead of me. The competitor in me had a hard time just letting them go ahead and I steadily worked my way up to second female by the end of the first mile. The first-place female was still a ways ahead and having her out there was a nice incentive to keep working hard (… but not too hard!). I felt like I was walking a fine line between pushing but not overcooking myself.
There are some rolling hills during the second, third and fourth miles. I felt decently strong on the hills. I could tell that I was making up some ground on the first place female, but not enough to reasonably expect to catch her without killing myself in the process. It was really fun to have someone to chase throughout the race. I pushed myself a little bit harder than I would have without that carrot dangling in front of me. I averaged 7:04 pace for the first three miles (21:13) and 6:47 pace for the second three miles (20:21) and ultimately finished about twenty seconds behind the first place female.
I got to see lots of friendly, familiar faces both before and after the race and it was SO NICE to be back out there at a local race. I was thankful to be out there period and also incredibly grateful that I am already able to run and push myself in a way that makes me feel so “alive.” The race was definitely not about the time on the clock, but I am really excited to use the time as a good starting point for my postpartum comeback! Now “all” I need to do is take a minute and ten seconds per mile off of my pace and I’ll be right back to where I was pre-pregnancy! Ha. All joking aside, I don’t know if I will ever get back to where I was (and I don’t think it really even matters), but the idea of working hard and seeing what happens is incredibly exciting!
Well, well, well … here we are with less than one month to go! I know it usually seems like pregnancy flies by to everyone except the expectant mother, but I gotta say this one seems to have flown by for me as well.
I am currently 36 weeks pregnant and am also currently recovering from COVID. How lovely?! Thankfully, I seemed to have turned the corner for the most part. I do seem to have some lingering symptoms that randomly make an appearance, but from what I’ve heard, this is normal (ish). As far as my sickness went, I got what I thought was either just a cold or allergies (well except for that I don’t have allergies (insert facepalm)) during the first week of January. I had a runny nose, watery eyes and was sneezing like crazy for a few days. Those symptoms went away fairly quickly (two to three days tops) and then I felt fine for a few days.
About a week after the original symptoms started, things took a turn for the worse. This time I had a sore throat, cough, headache, chills (but no fever), body aches and a lot of general fatigue. I tested positive on January 14th. Those symptoms hung around for about a week and now the aches and fatigue seem to make an appearance every third day or so. Granted, I don’t know how much of the aches and fatigue are related to being 36 weeks pregnant vs. recovering from COVID, but my guess is that it’s some combination of the two!
I debated whether to post the bump progress picture or not, but honestly I love seeing these when other people post them, so I’m just going to assume that others of you out there are also interested. Gotta give the people what they want! Ha.
I have a few thoughts about the growing bump and body changes in general that I will go ahead and over share as well. When I took the 6 week and 12 week photos, I legit thought that I looked pregnant. What in the world?! Perhaps there are some body image issues lingering around that I had no idea I was still dealing with pre-pregnancy. At this point, I have gained between 25-30 pounds, which is right within the “recommended” range. Side note: there are plenty of pregnancy weight gain calculators out there if you care to compare your progress that way.
I tried not to really nit pick the data as far as that goes. It gets really tricky sometimes because I truly love data and numbers, but I also know myself well enough to know that there *is* such thing as too much of a good thing on that front sometimes. I assumed that seeing the scale climb up and up (and up some more) would really mess with my mind, but I am happy to report that it didn’t bother me as much as I expected it to. The most important thing all along was that baby boy was growing appropriately and it feels really good knowing that I have given him a chance to do that. While I might not be in the best shape of my life from a fitness perspective, I actually do feel like I am healthier than I have ever been. I realize that probably sounds very cheesy, but I am okay with that.
This year-to-date, I have only run 22 miles. I have taken 9 complete rest days (we’re talking < 1k steps per day on those days). This is probably more rest days than I’ve taken during entire years in the past! While I still *can* run, it doesn’t feel good during or afterwards, so it seems silly to continue trying. For those of you who just don’t like running, I totally get it now. I don’t like it right now either! Ha.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to get back into running though. I haven’t expended a ton of mental energy on what the postpartum “comeback” will look like yet, mainly because I don’t really know when I will be able to get back into it. There are way too many variables that I can’t control! Whenever the time does come, I think I’ll be ready! After about a year and a half to two years of no “serious” training (as defined in my brain by my pre-2020 training logs), I am starting to get the itch to get back to it. The bottom line is that I’m excited about the fact that I am excited about it (if that makes any sense!).
This year-to-date, I’ve done 99 miles on the elliptical, which I guess isn’t too shabby. The weirdest thing is that in the exact same amount of time, I can do either 5.5 miles on my home elliptical (Sole E95) or 11 miles on the gym elliptical (Life Fitness 95X). They are different brands and the style of the machines varies slightly as well, but even after about 6 months of using both, the difference seems crazy to me! When I first got the home elliptical, I couldn’t stand it because I knew how many more miles I could get if I did the same time and for the most part gave the same effort at the gym.
Recently though, I have tried to really embraced the home elliptical for what it is. I still get a killer workout in! I would actually venture to say that I have to work harder to go half as far at home than I do at the gym. It reminds me of doing a tempo workout on a really hilly route or with a headwind or with some other perceived obstacle in the way. Your data might not *look* as impressive to the outside observer (i.e., the Strava stalkers), but in actuality you nailed the effort and your fitness is higher than it appears! It also reminds me of how vastly different treadmills can be. One can make you feel like a gazelle effortlessly gliding through the desert sands and the another can make you feel like a hippopotamus trudging through thick mud. Maybe the secret is to embrace our inner hippo in training and then run like a gazelle on race day!
Thanks to the aforementioned love of all things data related, here is a tally of all of the pregnancy activities thus far (mid-May through today (late-January)):
Walking: 124 miles (longest was 5 miles)
Running: 1,124 miles (most of these miles were in the first and second trimesters and the longest run was 14 miles)
Elliptical: 569 miles (longest was 17 miles)
Pilates: 17 classes
Whew! It’s been real. I’m more than ready to move on to the next phase of meeting and loving our baby boy!
For any of you mother runners out there who have worked with an amazing coach that was knowledgeable in all things postpartum, please hit me up in the comments with recommendations! Feel free to drop in some non-stressful advice re: raising a tiny human as well.
Hi friends! Coming at you today with a training update AND a RACE RECAP from my first (and likely only) race of 2021!
I kept an 18 year “racing” streak alive by running in the Battleship 12k (7.45 miles) a couple weeks ago. Over the last (almost) two decades, there have been years where I have only run one race, years where I have run over 20 races and years of everywhere in between. While there is still some time left in 2021, I have a feeling like will be a “one and done” year for me. I debated whether or not to even run a race this year (more on that to come), but decided that the chance of regret was really only present if I decided not to run, as I rarely (if ever) regret actually participating in race.
Before we get to the race part, let’s back up a tad and take a look at what my training has looked like since we last chatted.
Training Update
About a month or so ago (mid-October), which is coincidentally exactly where my last post left off, running stopped feeling quite as “good” as it used to. There were good days sprinkled in, but there were also some days that were just not pleasant and those days made me question why I was really even still trying to run every day. My main observation was that it was taking me much longer than to recover than it usually does. Given the fact that my body is doing A LOT of other things (you know, like growing a human), I guess this makes sense! Isn’t it annoying when logic and common sense mess up your plans? Ha.
My lower back and groin were also getting very sore after each run. I talked to my doctor about this and he basically told me that it would be strange if I wasn’t having at least a little bit of discomfort. He also said that as long as I wasn’t having contractions, it was fine to continue running. This made good sense, but later I started wondering what exactly a contraction feels like and if I would even know if I was having them. Things that make you go hmm … Once I experience them I will probably look back on this and laugh, but I mean how do you know until you know?!
I decided that the best plan would be to only run every other day and to sprinkle in some other forms of cross training on the in between days. The elliptical has actually become quite enjoyable, which has not always been the case in the past. Thankfully I have no pain before, during or after the elliptical! I like to “pretend” that I am running when I am on the elliptical and I keep up with my splits, etc. like I would in a race or workout. The time flies by and I really feel like I am getting in a solid workout. My elliptical “PRs” are a 32:58 10k, a 51:20 10 miler and a 1:10:46 half marathon. I mean, if only I could run that fast! As silly as it sounds, I’ve actually gotten a lot “faster” on the elliptical over the last month. It’s rewarding to see progress, which is one of the main things that I have always loved about running. Hopefully my cross-training fitness will translate back over into some postpartum running fitness. We shall see!
A typical week at this point looks something like 20-25 miles of running, 5-10 miles of walking and 25-30 miles on the elliptical. Oh! And one 45 minute session of Reformer Pilates! I’m still enjoying that as well. I am not pushing the pace whatsoever on the run. I’m running about 1:30 to 2 minutes per mile slower on my easy runs than I did pre-pregnancy and I also sprinkle in walk breaks periodically (if I feel like I need it). Interestingly enough, according to Garmin, my VO₂ Max is only down about 5 points from my “peak” in the Fall of 2019 and Spring of 2020. I have no idea if this is true or not, so take it with a grain of salt, but for now I am just going to pretend that it is accurate and be happy about it!
With all that being said, I know that my fitness is still decent, but I am not willing to push myself on the run. This made the decision of whether or not to “race” last weekend a bit tricky. Basically it came down to an issue of pride. Could I show up to a local race knowing that I am a) not going to give it my all and b) not going to win? The decision was harder than I would like to admit and more freeing than I realized it could be!
Race Recap
The Battleship 12k is a patriotic run on Veterans Day weekend to honor those who serve our country. I’ve run this race twice in the past (2016 & 2017). It’s a great race that supports a great cause! The race starts on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, runs across the Bay on the Causeway and finishes at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park.
My race plan was this:
Have fun!
Enjoy the beautiful weather (sunny and 43 degrees!).
Be thankful to be able to run.
Be appreciative of our veterans.
Bonus points to be awarded if I made it the entire way without needing a potty break (IYKYK).
Race day morning was quite different from what typical race day mornings have looked like in years past. I picked up my packet the day before the race, which meant that I didn’t have to arrive earlier than necessary on race day. I had no plans of drinking coffee or eating anything pre-race. There’s too much going on in my tummy as it is and unfortunately, I have discovered that the only way to run semi-comfortably is with nothing extra in my stomach. There was also no pre-race warm up on the agenda, as running 7.5 miles without stopping was going to be a feat in and of itself! With all that being said, I woke up around 6:45 and left the house just after 7 for an 8 a.m. race start. Once I got to the race start and found parking, the only other task to complete was to wait in line for the porta potty. The lines looked to be extremely long, but thankfully moved really fast. I made it to the start line with a minute or two to spare.
Lining up on the start line was definitely a bit strange. Instinctively, I went up towards the front of the corral before realizing that I had no business being up there. I expected to run just at or slightly under an 8 minute per mile pace, which would be a good bit slower than the lead runners, who I figured would run just under 6 minute per mile pace. I moved back several rows and hoped that I was far enough back that I wouldn’t have to run faster than what felt comfortable to avoid getting trampled.
The race has a gentle downhill start, which is really nice! I had to hold myself back a little bit during the first mile. The pace felt effortless, but we were running downhill and we had 6.5 more miles to go! My first mile split was 7:37. I thought about trying to maintain that pace the rest of the way, but I wasn’t sure if that was going to work out or not. I didn’t want to overextend myself or crash and burn, so I decided to go ahead and slow my roll a little bit.
Miles 2 through 5 were fairly uneventful. There aren’t a lot of spectators along the course, but you are running across the bay, so there is plenty of water and scenery to take in. We had to go over a few small bridges with only a very slight incline, but we also got to go back down the other side of each incline, which made it nice. I chatted with people almost the entire way. Some were people I have known for years and some were runners from out of town. The common question among the people that I knew was, “What are you doing back here?” Ha. The common question among the people that I didn’t know was either, “Do you mind if I pace off of you?” I was happy to be consistently ticking off the miles and more than happy to have people to run and chat with! My splits were 8:01, 8:09, 8:08 and 8:10 for those 4 miles.
Once we passed mile 5, I picked the pace up a little bit. Aside from being very overdressed, I felt amazing! The low the morning of the race was mid-30s, but it warmed up to mid-40s before the race even started. I’m pretty sure it was closer to mid-50s towards the end of the race. I definitely dressed warmer than I would have if I had been running harder, but even still I’m pretty sure I could’ve done without the gloves, the ear warmers and the long sleeve top. Miles 6 and 7 were 7:21 and 7:02 and my last half mile was 6:52 pace. I was thrilled to able to run those paces and not be out of breath at all. Woo! I was on a runner’s high after that for sure!
At mile 7 we turned into Battleship Park and there were volunteers at the last water stop handing out American flags for us to run in with. I really love this thoughtful detail. It’s really special to carry a flag across the finish line. I loved the race again this year and I would highly recommend it to anyone (near or far). There are so many men and women that sacrifice their lives to protect our freedom. Participating in a patriotic event on Veterans Day weekend is a wonderful reminder of just how much we have to be thankful for.
I finished in a time of 57:52 (7:46 pace) as the 122nd overall finisher and 28th female finisher. Going into the race, I honestly thought that I would be unhappy with however I placed, but as it turns out I proud of myself for getting out there and getting it done regardless of time and placement. I’ve always known that there is more to running than times, paces and breaking finish line tapes, but this race definitely helped to reiterate why I love this sport.
I got to visit with friends briefly after the race, which was also an added bonus of doing the race. It seems like everyone’s lives have gotten so busy or perhaps it’s just that we’ve just settled into our own routines and we rarely see each other any more. I guess this is somewhat of a natural progression as life changes, kids get older, etc., but it also makes the times when we do get to hang out (even briefly) all the more meaningful.
I hope you guys have a wonderful week! Have you ever run an odd race distance?
If you are silently finishing that sentence by singing, “Whoa! Livin’ on a prayer!,” then congratulations! You’re brain is the same as mine. On second thought, that might not be something that you want to celebrate. Ha! As a side note, I always sing that song in my head when I cross the halfway point in a race. I don’t know exactly when it started, but it’s a mid-race tradition that has withstood the test of time.
Let’s catch up on the weeks between my last post and now, shall we? Great!
The second trimester has been really good thus far. Seriously, it’s so much better than the first! Baby is now the size of a papaya. He weighed in at a whopping 14 oz. at our 20 week ultrasound. So close to a pound. Grow baby grow! He has all his parts and his heart and brain look completely normal. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to find all of that out. Growing a tiny human is a wonderful, but also a helpless feeling. It definitely takes a lot of faith (did I mention “livin’ on a prayer”), because pretty much the entire thing is out of your control. How lovely.
Baby and I are now fully vaccinated! When the vaccine first became available we had just had a miscarriage and I wasn’t entirely sure what to think about the vaccine and it’s impact on fertility in general. Obviously there is a lot of misinformation out there and everyone is encouraged to “do your own research.” I’m honestly still not entirely sure where exactly I am supposed to go to find said research. I know how to research tax law, but medical stuff … not so much. Basically, I got to the point where in my mind where the risk of getting COVID and harming the baby outweighed any perceived risk that I had about the vaccine negatively impacting his development. Of course, my doctor fully supported the decision, which was definitely a plus.
The vaccine itself wasn’t too bad. I did feel pretty crummy for a couple of days after the second shot. BUT … now I can now go to the grocery store, the gym, church, etc. without feeling like I am putting the baby’s health at risk and the peace of mind that comes with that was absolutely worth the [literal] headache of the vaccine. I also got a flu shot for the first time in my life (also based on my doctor’s recommendation). Might as well bring on all the shots while we are at it!
I had a bit of an unexpected “turn of events” during week 15 and by “turn of events” I mean a turn of my ankle. I rolled it pretty badly coming down the stairs. I was in a hurry (more on that in a minute) and not being as cautious as I likely needed to be. When it rolled, I kinda just sat down, so thankfully I didn’t fall or anything crazy like that. The ankle immediately looked like there was a tennis ball under the joint, so I knew it was at least a decent sprain. For a couple of days I thought I might’ve torn a ligament, but I don’t think that ended up being the case. I did about as much RICE-ing (rest-ice-compress-elevate) as humanly possible for about a week and that seemed to do the trick! I know your ligaments get looser during pregnancy, but this was a bit much. Sheesh. No more quick descents on the stairs! Lesson learned.
I was actually in a hurry to come outside because I had really good news to share with Richard. The good news was a bit clouded by the ankle incident, but was good news nevertheless. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it yet, but I started a new job (WORKING FROM HOME!) in July. The timing of this was absolutely incredible in so many ways. I have wanted the option to work from home for quite some time (i.e., many years). During the past two years it seemed like the everyone in the entire world except for me was able to work from home, which was really silly and also very frustrating because my job could easily have been done from home the entire time. To make a long story at least a teensy bit shorter, I decided to change jobs. I am now a supervisor at the 40th largest accounting firm in the United States (quite the change from the family-owned, five-person firm that I worked at previously). I interviewed and accepted the new position before I knew that I was pregnant. We actually found out during the last week of my two week’s notice. I took a week off in between the two jobs and Richard liked to joke that I was “pregnant and unemployed.” He wasn’t wrong.
I started the new job knowing that I would be out during my first tax season with the firm. Eek! To make matters worse, the firm policy regarding maternity leave is that you have to be with the firm for at least one full year to be eligible for any maternity leave. No bueno for a newly pregnant new employee. I let HR know on my first day and asked what, if any, options I had. Unfortunately at that point it seemed like there wasn’t much that could be done. I sat with this for a while (for eight weeks to be exact) before deciding to pursue whether or not I truly had any other options. During those eight weeks I was able to “prove myself” so to speak and I got a lot of positive feedback from the people I was working with.
I decided to put myself out there a bit (definitely not a comfortable feeling!) and I sent an email to my boss stating my case and asking for a prorated maternity leave. I basically asked if I could have 8/12 (2/3) of the normal maternity leave as I will have completed 8 months of the first year when I have the baby. This seemed reasonable to me, but it also kinda seemed like a shot in the dark as rules exist for a reason. A couple of days later, my boss set up a conference call for us with the HR representative to discuss (and I quote) “what she hoped would be good news.” It ended up being NOT good news, but INCREDIBLY FANTASTIC news! They are giving me the FULL PAID maternity leave. I was and still am blown away. To take it one step further, they have actually decided to change this policy companywide going forward. Y’all. That’s a big deal! If you don’t advocate for yourself, who will? I asked for something that I thought I deserved and ending up helping other women get what they also deserve in the process.
And that my friends, is the very long-winded story behind why I was hurrying down the stairs and turned my ankle. Now that we are back from the rabbit trail, let’s talk about running! I did a long run of 14 miles during week 14. In hindsight I am even more thankful that I got that in when I did because the whole ankle debacle went down the very next week. The expiration date on running the number of miles per week would’ve been very short-lived anyway, but I thought I might be able to take it to a run + walk combo and get a few more weeks out of it. One and done was probably for the best!
It took the ankle a week or so to get back to its normal size and it was a tad stiff for another week, but after about two and a half weeks it seemed to be completely back to normal. Thank goodness! I know that I likely will not be able to run throughout the entire pregnancy, but I really didn’t want it to end at 15 weeks. The longest run I’ve done since then is 11 miles and I doubt I will go much over 10 miles from here on out. Running still feels pretty good, but it definitely getting a bit more uncomfortable each week and it takes a bit longer for my body to recover at this point.
At this point I feel like I am (very slowly) running a metaphorical marathon and while I may be halfway there, there is A LOT more than half of the work yet to be done. Fortunately, I got a sneak peek at the finisher’s medal this week and it is BY FAR the cutest prize on the entire planet. I can’t wait to cross that finish line and have him hug my neck.
For those that are interested, here are the weekly deets:
Week 14: 54.4 miles + 45 minutes Pilates Week 15: 22.4 miles + lots and lots of RICE-ing Week 16: 36.3 miles + 120 minutes elliptical Week 17: 51.4 miles + 45 minutes Pilates Week 18: 45.0 miles + 45 minutes Pilates Week 19: 47.0 miles + 60 minutes elliptical Week 20: 44.5 miles + 60 minutes elliptical + 45 minutes Pilates
In case the title didn’t give it away … we are having a BABY! Woo hoo!
Shortly after my I posted my last training log in June, we found out that we were pregnant! I had just started adding back some quality workouts and I planned to do weekly training log posts, but as soon as I found out, I immediately switched over to only easy running. There’s only so much to say about an easy run and since most of the people who are interested in those details follow along on Strava, I didn’t really see the need to continue the weekly posts. Also, we weren’t planning to “announce” the pregnancy until the second trimester and it would’ve been really difficult to write a post and not say anything!
I mentioned this previously, but in case you missed it, we experienced a pregnancy loss in February. It was far more devastating than I could’ve imagined. When we found out we were pregnant again, we were obviously super excited, but at the same time, we were a bit guarded. Right off the bat, things were looking a lot better. At 4 weeks and 2 days, my hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin (i.e., the pregnancy hormone)) was 3,589! As a reference, last time at 4 weeks and 2 days, my hCG was only 49. The high hCG level this time around was a REALLY good sign!
I got the hCG numbers back on a Tuesday. I had to do a double take when I opened the email with the results because it was so much higher than I expected. We were able to let our guard down ever so slightly when we got those results. As soon as we did that, on Friday of the same week, we had another scare. As a warning, some of these details might be TMI, so if you don’t care to read about baby stuff, feel free to skip this one! At 5:30 p.m. or so (of course these things don’t ever happen during regular business hours), I started bleeding. This time was different from last time, as it was a gush of blood with no pain, instead of light spotting with cramping. We went back and forth about what to do and ultimately decided to go to the hospital.
At the hospital they did bloodwork and an ultrasound. My hCG level was 11,273! What?! I was blown away. I thought for sure that it would be lower. The levels are supposed to double approximately every two days, which meant that I was still right on track. The ultrasound tech was able to find the baby and a very faint heartbeat. It was very, very faint (not measurable) and only visible if I held my breath, but that made sense given that I wasn’t even 6 weeks along yet. There wasn’t a good explanation for the blood, but otherwise everything seemed to be okay. Phew! They told me to take it really easy for a few days and to follow up with my OB first thing on Monday.
After a couple of days of nothing but rest, I was going stir crazy! Why does the idea of rest seem so appealing until you are forced to do it?! Thankfully, on Monday my doctor gave me the A-Okay to go about my business and carry on as usual. My hCG level at that point was 36,067. Another great sign!
At 8 weeks, we got to hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. It was STRONG, clocking in at 170 bpm!
At 10 weeks, we did bloodwork to find out the gender! Richard’s sister and her kids were in town and we wouldn’t see them again until Thanksgiving, so we wanted to surprise them with the gender while they were here. As it turns out, we surprised not only them, but also our parents. They knew we weren’t supposed to find out for a few more weeks and at first everyone was super confused that we were trying to tell them that we already knew we were having a BOY!
At 12 weeks, we did more bloodwork. This time the test was to analyze the genetic information that was in my bloodstream from the placenta. It screens for certain chromosomal abnormalities that could affect the baby’s health and development, such as trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) and sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs, abnormal numbers of X or Y chromosomes). I’m super thankful to report that all of the results were within the normal, expected ranges. Praise the Lord! We’ve got a ways to go, but so far it seems like Baby Allen is very healthy and we couldn’t ask for anything more.
Baby and I have run 592 miles together so far! We’ve also walked 39 miles, done 10 hours and 15 minutes on the elliptical, done a decent amount of strength work and been to 5 Pilates classes. While I’m trying to stay as active as possible while I can, I am also trying to take it easy and not push myself too much. Pre-pregnancy I was running 60+ miles per week, so this is actually a decent cutback!
For those that are interested, here are the weekly deets:
Week 01: 51.5 miles Week 02: 55.6 miles (coincides w/ Training Log – 06/06/21) Week 03: 61.9 miles (coincides w/ Training Log – 06/13/21) Week 04: 44.1 miles (coincides w/ Training Log – 06/20/21) Week 05: 21.0 miles + 35 minutes elliptical + 45 minutes strength Week 06: 38.2 miles Week 07: 43.5 miles + 20 minutes elliptical + 30 minutes strength Week 08: 32.8 miles + 140 minutes elliptical + 30 minutes strength + 75 minutes Pilates Week 09: 40.5 miles + 125 minutes elliptical + 30 minutes strength + 75 minutes Pilates Week 10: 53.8 miles + 30 minutes strength Week 11: 45.8 miles + 30 minutes strength + 45 minutes Pilates Week 12: 53.0 miles + 45 minutes Pilates Week 13: 47.8 miles + 30 minutes elliptical + 45 minutes Pilates
Since I didn’t know I was pregnant until 4 weeks, the first few weeks were business as usual as far as regular training goes. I started adding more cross training in during the next few weeks. At one point, my plan was to alternate running w/ the elliptical during the work week. For example, I’d run on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and on the weekend days and I’d do the elliptical on Tuesday and Thursday. That plan worked well for several weeks, but unfortunately the COVID numbers in our area started really ramping back up and I felt like the best decision was to avoid crowded indoor spaces. We found a pretty nice elliptical on Marketplace last week, so I actually have that as an option at home now as well. I haven’t used it much yet, but I am glad to have it.
So far, running is going pretty well! My average “pregnancy pace” is around 8:50. I did run one sub-7 minute mile during week 12 (a 6:58!). I felt really good one morning and I surprised myself by running a sub-8 minute mile without consciously increasing my effort at all, which of course got me thinking and wondering if I could easily dip under 7 without too much effort. I was able to do it, but I was definitely working a bit. I don’t think I’ll make a habit of that by any means, but it was fun! I’ve been doing a “long run” of 10 miles pretty much every week. Last week I increased that a little bit to 12 miles. I’m tossing around the idea of doing 14 this weekend. It would be 14 miles for 14 weeks pregnant. You know I love a good play on numbers!
That’s it for now. Thanks for following along! There’s going to be quite a lot of changes over here in the months and years to come. I have a feeling this is going to be the biggest, best adventure of them all!
Here is what training looked like the week of 06.14.21 – 06.20.21:
Monday – Easy: 7 miles (8:25 pace)
I ran after work Monday and it was quite the struggle! It was hot, yes, but I think the main problem was that I was still not recovered from Saturday’s quality session. I managed to get 7 miles in, but it wasn’t super pleasant.
I was supposed to do a workout Tuesday morning, but given how bad my legs felt on Monday afternoon, I thought better of it. Until I get used to having quality miles sprinkled back into my weekly routine, I’m going to need more time in between the workout days. Typically 2-3 days would be fine, but for now it will probably be more like 3-4 or 4-5 days in between. I struggled again Tuesday just to run easy miles and several walk breaks were needed. Argh.
It has been a few weeks since I have done legs at the gym and I had a sneaking suspicion that Gabbi would have that in store for me this week … and I was right! How wonderful. Legs are already trashed? Seems like as good a time as any to make sure they truly felt like garbage. Ha! We did kettle bell squats, walking lunges with weights, a single leg kneeling to standing exercise (also with weights!), the hip abductor and adductor machine, the leg press machine and a couple other things that escape me at the moment. It was a good workout and oddly enough, I don’t think my legs were any worse for the wear afterwards.
Wednesday – Easy: 7 miles (9:04 pace)
I met friends again Wednesday morning for some nice recovery miles. I think (at least I hope) this might a consistent staple in the weekly routine for the time being. Yay!
Thursday AM – Quality: 9 miles (7:14 pace) + PM – Strength (45 minutes)
I finally got my workout in Thursday morning! As an added bonus, it was COOL when I walked outside. Of course, cool is relative. It was 68° w/ a dew point of 62° and compared to what we’ve been dealing with, let me tell you that this was a real TREAT. My workout was a two mile warm up, 6 X 1k at threshold with 2 minute recoveries and a two mile cool down.
With the workout distance in kilometers, this one would’ve been well suited for the track, but I decided to program the distance into my watch and run on the road instead. For whatever reason, I have a really hard time getting out the door earlier than usual to drive to the track. I used to live within running distance of the track, which apparently spoiled me. Now that I don’t live within running distance of the track, it seems that I simply can’t be bothered to make it happen. Ha. Thankfully, there is a nice, flat stretch of road that has minimal traffic that is currently within running distance. That spot has definitely become my go-to spot for workouts. The plan was to aim for around 6:15 on these and either stay consistent or progressively get a tad faster. My splits were 6:23, 6:06, 6:07, 6:11, 6:02 and 5:55 pace. I’d say that the goal was accomplished!
After work I went to the gym for a 45 minute group strength training class. I got there a little bit early and did a few minutes on the elliptical to kill the time. For the class we did three sets of seven different exercises for one minute (pushups, planks, battle ropes, step ups, wall ball, wall sit and spin bike). It was a good workout and the time really flew by!
Friday – Easy: 4 miles (9:20 pace)
After a big day on Thursday, I wanted to make sure to take it really easy on Friday. I did a couple miles on the driveway before work and that was it. Overall, I was feeling pretty tired and run down, but I guess that is to be expected.
Saturday was a total washout thanks to Tropical Storm Claudette. Not gonna lie, it was really nice to have a legit excuse to stay in pajamas for the majority of the day and alternate between reading and napping. I read an entire book and think I took three mini-naps! By late afternoon, however, I was a bit stir crazy and so I decided to go over to the gym for a few minutes for some light cross training. I didn’t really want to do too much, but I did want to do at least something … so that’s pretty much exactly what I did!
Sunday – Easy: 7.7 miles (8:25 pace)
I was supposed to do a quality session Sunday, but decided against it. My legs were finally feeling back to normal, which was nice, but I still didn’t want to really push it. I settled for a “sailboat loop” from home before going to church with my dad. I got in a short walk with my mom after church as well, so all in all, it was a solid day of family activities!
Totals – 41 miles running 3 miles walking 70 minutes elliptical 90 minutes strength
