18 Weeks

I posted this photo on Facebook this week.  After I made a remark about how I was looking more fat than pregnant, I got a comment saying something to the effect of...'You're growing a baby.  You only have a few months of this joyous time.  Enjoy it.'  Yada yada yada, blah blah blah.  Obviously, this is an acquaintance of mine and not a real friend and does not know me at all.  I would never say such B.S.  

Progression of my growing bump over the last six weeks.

I went to the doctor today and weighed in 10 pounds heavier than when I started all this.  Really, this should be no big deal, but it freaks me out knowing I've got 22 weeks to go.  I have been self conscious about my size, not necessarily my weight, for as long as I can remember.   I'm only 5'1" so every pound counts and shows.  I should be happy that I'm not bigger than I am at this point in my pregnancy, but I also don't think I'm looking very "pregnancy cute."  Unlike others I know, I'm not growing from my ribs.  Instead I'm growing from my pooch, something I'm super-self conscious of anyway.  I suppose I'm not growing from my ribs because I've actually got core muscles and they're still holding everything in.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  :)  But because it's just my pooch area, I thinking I'm just looking fat.  I've not had anyone I don't know ask me when my due date is.  I guess that's being polite, but it's certainly not making me feel any better about my size.

Gosh, I'm going to sound so insensitive here....to me, this pregnancy is a necessary evil to having a baby.  I've always thought I would want a baby; I just didn't want to be pregnant.  I'm missing my former life....clothes that fit, running, having energy, etc.  I shouldn't complain.  I'm having the easiest pregnancy.  But I don't know what happens when all of this is over, body wise.  I know I should be easily able to lose the weight.  Or at least that's what people tell me.  That's not as obvious to me.  I like junk food.  I live on junk food.  I'm a lazy b!  I'm not looking forward to counting calories again.  I don't particularly like core work or lifting weights.  I just want a magic ball to look into the future and see what's going to happen next summer.

I'm having a rough body image week.  I know I may be just talking crazy, but I'm allowed to feel this way.  I'm sure next week may be a different story.

October Totals

The weather got cooler in October.  My second trimester started in October.  And running was back in business.  Although my running is only a shell of what it once was, I have enjoyed keeping in motion with running and walking and the occasional elliptical workout.  I ran two races in October which were slow but fun.  I'm looking forward to keeping up with the workouts as long as I can and adding in some swimming too.  I see you, November!

Total - 45.7 miles

Grandma's Girl

Yesterday I lost my grandma.

My mom called me around 4:00pm and let me know she had passed.  I live right across the street from the nursing home where Grandma was, so I went over and said goodbye to her before the funeral home  people came.  For the hour I was there I cried and cried.  Finally it was time to go and as I was walking out I ran into the social worker from the hospice facility that was taking care of Grandma.  She looked at me and said, you were "Grandma's Girl weren't you?  We knew about you."

I have always had a close relationship with my grandparents, which has grown with my grandma since my grandpa died seven years ago.  I was the one who lived closest, so I would help out when she needed it.  I spent a whole month with her a few years ago helping with grocery shopping and hair appointments.  I learned how to work her oxygen tank and help her in and out of cars.  But mostly I visited and enjoyed my time listening to her stories.  My grandma was the best listener, only offering advice when it was needed and always telling the truth.  She was on my side in my darkest hours and she cared deeply for my emotional wounds.  She loved with her whole heart.  I loved her with all of mine in return.

I am one of nine grandchildren, third youngest, and the only one to not (yet) have a child of my own.  A few weeks ago I had dinner with my grandma and had the joy of telling her Dave and I were pregnant.  She was so excited.  She told everyone we ran into that day.  I guess she continued to tell people too because everyone congratulated my mom when she would go to the care center.  Last Monday, Dave and I visited Grandma for the last time.  We had been warned that she probably wouldn't know we were there or that she wouldn't know who we were, but that was not our experience.  She was happy to see us.  She not only knew who we were, she knew we were having a baby and that we had decided not to move to California.  She touched my belly and I showed her the most recent ultrasound pictures.  Then we got the joy of telling her the gender of the baby; the only other person we have told.  She promised she would not tell and she didn't.  She teased my mom that she knew but kept her promise.  Our child will be her 18th great-grandchild (she also has 16 great-great-grandchildren).  I am so sad that he/she will never get to meet her, but I am so blessed that she got to know about the pregnancy before she passed.

I am so grateful to have had the best grandparents in the world.

Goodbye Grandma.  I love you.

Step Up for Stefanie 5K 2012

I mentioned yesterday that my grandma has not been well, which has meant, pretty much, round the clock attention from my mom and my aunt.  My mom and dad had signed up to do a fun run/walk on Sunday called the Step Up for Stefanie, which was a 5K run or 2 mile walk to benefit the Stefanie Spielman Fund for breast cancer research.  My dad texted me on Saturday night asking if I wanted to take my mom's place because she couldn't make it.  She was signed up for the 2 mile walk and because it was not a "race", she never got a number.  Hmmm....I didn't want to do the walk, but did want to do the 5K.  So I told my dad I was in but that I would bandit the 5K.  (Although, technically, the price of the 5K and 2 mile walk were the same and my mom paid for her entry so I really wasn't a bandit.  I just wouldn't have an official time because I had no bib/chip.)

From 80 degrees on Thursday to 40s and COLD on Sunday, I bundled up for the race.  Dad picked us up at 9:00 (Dave would spectate and freeze his tail off) and we headed down to campus.  The race was LARGE with lots of pink.  We miraculously found a parking spot and a bathroom and waited for the start.  This race must have been bigger than anticipated because the start left a lot to be desired.  Dave told me after the race that the last of the people to cross the start line barely got out of there in enough time for the finishers to come through the chute (same area).  The start was on a tiny two lane road right behind the stadium, then a right hand turn and straight up a bridge.  Of course.  We weren't even a half mile in and I already had to walk.  But then things flattened out and I was jogging pretty steadily.  I hit the first mile in 10:30ish.  Nice.  The next mile had another incline over another bridge, which slowed me to a walk, but then it was all jogging from there.  I hit the second mile also around 10:30ish and the third mile around 10:00.  Wow!  I was doing pretty well.  It's so much easier for me to run in the cooler weather in this pregnancy.  My time via my watch was 32:34.  Another PR (pregnancy record).  Dave, dad, and I all found each other and headed out to the field at Ohio Stadium for a picture op.

I am signed up for one more 5K this year and probably will do a 4 miler at Thanksgiving, which will put me at 20 and 21 weeks pregnant and will top my "12 for 2012 Challenge" of 12 races in 2012.

Week in Review

Once again, I did not go 7 for 7 this week, but 5 out of 7 ain't that bad.

Monday - Nothing.  My grandma is not doing well and it was more important for me to go and see her instead of run.  Family comes first.

Tuesday - 2 miles treadmill - 1 mile jog, 1 mile run.  I had planned on doing four miles, with 1 mile jog, 1 mile walk, repeat, but a bathroom break in the middle revealed I was leaking a little bit of fluids and being this is my first pregnancy and I have no idea what the hell is going on, I decided it was best to just walk it out and abandon the plan.

Wednesday - 2 miles treadmill.  I felt uber-lazy today.  I didn't want to do anything.  It was beautiful outside so Dave and I walked to pick up our dinner, which was probably just shy of 1-1/2 miles round trip.  I was going to count this as my workout, but really, it wasn't that vigorous.  Dave had work to do that evening, so at 8:30, I hopped on the treadmill and pounded out 2 miles of walking in 28 minutes.

Thursday - 3 miles with Dave.  This was the last good weather day of the year and we wanted to take advantage of it.  We made it down to the park, turned around, stopped for a bathroom break, and then walked the rest of the way home.  Again, I was leaking a little.  Crap!  I don't know if that's normal or not so I decided it was best to talk to the doctor before running again (yeah, that didn't happen).  I'm afraid my running days may be numbered.

Friday - Celebrity Ghosts 5K.  And no leaking!!!

Saturday - The weather was crappy when I woke up and then we had the world's busiest day: checking out the YMCA, registering for our baby gifts, watching Ironman and the Buckeyes, and a big fat nap.  No time for working out.

Sunday - Step up for Stefanie 5K.  An unexpected and unplanned race.  More to come on that tomorrow.

Totals - 13.2 miles

Celebrity Ghosts 5K 2012

I love Facebook.  Maybe a little too much.  I am probably look at Facebook, maybe, 25 times a day.  Every once in a while, it is a good source of information too.  Like Friday, when I saw that the Columbus Running Company was putting on a 5K that evening in Westerville for an acceptable price, and well, I had nothing else going on.  I sent a text to Dave asking if he wanted to run it and he said yes but didn't know if he would make it home on time to do it (it was a 7:00pm race).  At 6:00 he texts me and said he was just now leaving work.  We would never make it; I was disappointed.  Nevertheless, I got into my running clothes and set his out; printed out two entry forms and filled them out; and got my checkbook ready to go.  He pulled in the driveway at 6:25 (traffic must have been great) and rushed in and got on his clothes.  All systems were a-go!

We got into Westerville in great time, but it was their community Halloween festival and traffic got worse as we got further into uptown.  Finally I just hopped out of the car and ran up to the running store to get us registered while Dave was finding a parking spot.  At 6:55, we were both registered, finding a bathroom, and heading to the start line.

This was a small race (less than 100 participants) and most people either looked like runners or looked like runners wearing Halloween costumes.  I was a little worried that there would be no walkers and I would be DFL.  The horn sounded and we headed off into the dark.  Dave ran his own race and well, I jogged my way along the course.  The course started through Otterbein's campus, past a graveyard, and then finally onto a very dark trail only marked by glow sticks.  I found it to be absolutely fun!  And surprisingly, I wasn't sucking.  I jogged most of the way, except for three inclines in which I needed to walk to keep my heart rate down.  Around the two mile mark, my bladder and the baby sitting on it decided I needed a bathroom break.  Unfortunately, there were no port-a-johns and I wasn't going to just go in the woods.  Finally we entered a park that had a bathroom, however, it was way off course and I was doing well and didn't want to stop and let those I had already passed go pass me.  Yes, I had passed people.  Chicked by a pregnant woman!!!  With a half mile left, Dave came back for me and "ran" with me until the finish.

I set a new PR (pregnancy record), 35:11.  And shockingly, I finished 6th in my age group out of 12.  The winning female time was 23:XX, which I totally would have crushed and won the race.  Next year, Gadget. Next year!

The Lord of the Ring

Dave and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last month.

When we got engaged, Dave bought me a beautiful diamond engagement ring and then a matching wedding band, which also had diamonds in it.  Several years after we got married I took the rings to get clean and inspected and was informed that I had three diamonds loose on the rings.  They told me not to wear them to bed, to bathe, to sleep, to workout, etc.  So, I started wearing my rings only to work.  Fast forward to 2009 and the terrible running accident I had where I destroyed my ring finger. While I wasn't wearing my rings when I fell, thank goodness, my finger was so swollen for a year that I couldn't wear my rings for a very, very long time.  After that, though, I was working from home and stopped wearing my wedding rings all together.

For a while now, what seems like years, I have been asking for a plain, no frills wedding band that I could wear all the time and not worry that it was going to get damaged or have the diamonds ripped out of it.  Every holiday, birthday, special event I would ask for one, and each time I wouldn't get it.  (Although, I should mention that Dave is an amazing gift giver and always got me something awesome.)  For our tenth anniversary I thought for sure I was finally getting this ring.  I began opening my gift - some candy, a $25 iTunes card, and an aluminum covered candy ring.  You have got to be shitting me.  This is it?!  I got you tickets to the OSU football game!  But it was all a surprise; he the aluminum covered candy ring was a hint to let me know you had picked out a ring at the jewelry store and wanted me to come get sized for it.

The day of our anniversary I was still pretty early in my pregnancy and not feeling so hot.  We went out to dinner, which was just about all the energy I could muster, and then walked over to the Diamond Cellar.  Usually I don't mention names of stores, etc. in my blog posts, but I'm totally going to call them out on the service (or lack thereof) later in this blog.  We found the ring he had wanted; a cobalt plain wedding band.  Why cobalt?  Well it doesn't scratch, which is great for my active lifestyle (although, if it is dropped, it can shatter - tensile strength = bad).  Now, I am a tiny girl and my wedding ring size - a 4-1/2.  We ordered the ring, at a great price, and went on our way.

The next week was when I began all my blood testing for Baby Gordon.  The day I got my tests back with the mixed results, I cried a lot.  I mean, big crocodile tears, a lot.  And then Dave came home and crushed my spirits even more.  Turns out, the Diamond Cellar had called Dave and let him know that the ring we had ordered only came in sizes 6-13.  We took a trip down to the store where they tried to talk us into a gold wedding band that was nearly $400 more expensive than what we had bought.  I basically told the gentleman to go eff himself, that I could get a tattoo there for $50.  Dave said he would find me something cheaper online, but I didn't care.  My hopes were crushed and I had more expensive things to worry about, like my new high risk pregnancy.

Several weeks passed and I'm not going to lie, I was disappointed that Dave had only bought me a $25 iTunes card for our 10th anniversary.  I let him know it too.  I didn't really care what he bought me, but I really wanted something before Christmas.  Earlier this week he came home and told me to close my eyes and hold out my hands.  He laid a big, lightweight package in my hands.  I opened my eyes and it was a model rocket?  WTF?!  Dave and I are both engineers by trade and enjoy crap like this, but this was my anniversary present?  Yeah, thanks.  And then he pulled a small package from his back pocket and it was a beautiful, white gold wedding band.  I put it on then and haven't taken it off.  It's perfect.  He's perfect.

Thursday Thoughts - Halloween Edition

I have a confession.  I don't like Halloween.  AT. ALL.  Not one bit. 

I don't like that we teach our children to beg.  I don't like that we have children dress up and be something they're not (especially princesses-don't get me started).  I don't like that older "kids" participate and dress up inappropriately.  (I'm talking to you, Kim Kardashian!)  I don't like that kids gets pounds and pounds of candy that not only rots their teeth but contributes to the growing problem of childhood obesity.  And I really can't stand when a kid over the age of 10 dares to come to my door asking for candy.  

Dave thinks I'm crazy, but he's also talked about not wanting to teach future child about Santa Claus. 

What's your thoughts about Halloween?  At what age did you stop trick-or-treating?  At what age will you make your child stop?  Do you still dress up as an adult? 

16/17-ish Weeks

Tomorrow, Thursday, I will hit 17 weeks into this pregnancy.  Sure I know I still have a long way to go, but my goodness the time is flying!  I'm starting to feel like there's tons of stuff to do and not enough time to do it, especially with Dave traveling for his job and my usual slothness.

This is a picture of "the belly" from last week.  No hiding anymore, but at least the continual workouts and the tight abs are holding a lot of it still in.  I could look A LOT bigger than I am.

Baby Update

Now that we've made it through all our appointments this month, it's time for a baby update.  When we last left off, I had gone through a gazillion blood tests to determine (a) I had some low protein levels and (b) I had a gene defect.

We started off this month with an ultrasound and a test for Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, and Trisomy 13.   The ultrasound was cool, as always.  We got to hear the heart beat for the first time, along with new measurements.  The things that had made us nervous came out positively (like the child missing part of it's skull/brain) and everything seemed to look great.  Plus, the kiddo definitely is my kid.  Look at those runner's legs!!

There was more blood drawn for this test, which a week later came back with good results. The likelihood of Down Syndrome, Trisomy 18, and Trisomy 13 came back with the lowest percentage possible that the test could prove.

Just two days later, however, my regular OB called.  She had consulted with the high risk doctor and they had decided to put me on blood thinners - one 81 mg aspirin daily.  Two steps forward; one step back.

One day later, I had my regular monthly exam with my regular OB.  Things were looking good (minus the scolding I got for not peeing in the cup when I got up in the morning.  Seriously, what is the first pee of the day when you get up 5 times each night to pee?)  I got to hear the heartbeat again.  I was measuring well and had only gained three pounds.  The doctor said I was doing a good job with exercise and diet and gaining weight appropriately.  Music to my ears.  I had yet another blood test for my protein levels again.  I now had bruises in both arms from having my blood drawn twice in one week.  Have you lost count yet with how much blood they've taken?

Lastly this month we had our appointment with the high risk OB.  Honestly, I wasn't too nervous as I just had a feeling everything was fine, but tentatively we were both holding our breath.  The appointment started off with the longest ultrasound.  The technician measured EVERYTHING!!!  The diameter of the head, the circumference of the torso, the length of bones, the size of the eye sockets, and we even saw blood flow for both the heart and the umbilical cord.  It was complete!  And in the very end, we found out the gender of the baby.  However, you all are going to have to wait on that one as Dave and I have decided we want to keep that just between the two of us until the baby is born.  No one knows except us; not even our parents.  We went so far as to cut out the ultrasound picture labeled with the gender and the picture with the heart rate and put those in our locked firebox to keep the secret.

Look at baby sucking its thumb!

Finally, we met with the specialist and his fellow.  Both were super cool and educated us on my gene defect.  Turns out it doesn't mean jack crap, which is exactly what we had researched.  I guess 40% of caucasians have this defect and it really doesn't mean anything for pregnancy.  I guess there was a paper written in 1999 that scared the medical community about this defect, but, as they quoted, "millions of papers" have been written since that dispute this.  The doctor asked me a few more questions about bruising and the flow of my period (sorry), and decided to do a few more tests.  Yes, I had six more vials of blood taken at the very end of this appointment.  If you're keeping count, that's 32 vials of blood in four doctor's appointments.  And the doctor took me back off the blood thinners, saying I didn't need them.  Finally, we set an appointment to return to the high risk OB in December to have a growth analysis done just to make sure everything's okay.

Giving Back

Since my race schedule will stay empty for the next several months, I decided to give back to the community that's given so much.  I was lucky.  When I first started running I was part of a very small group that not only taught me everything I know about running marathons, but have become amazing ambassadors of the sport in Columbus and around the US. And now they're in charge of the Columbus Marathon.  This year the marathon partnered with the Nationwide Children's Hospital (we are so blessed to have one of the best children's hospitals in the country!) and have done amazing things with this partnership.  There were 26 children champions chosen; children who's lives have been impacted by the hospital.  These children each were designated a mile on the course where a station was set up with the children and some had their mile decorated.  Although I didn't go down to watch the marathon, I know mile 18 had thousands of origami butterflies strung throughout the mile.  How cool is that?  In addition, there were other champions who races thousands and thousands of dollars for research at the hospital.

Anyway, because I couldn't run the race and knew I probably wouldn't get my buns out of bed Sunday morning to watch the race (I had to work a wedding Saturday night), I decided to volunteer for the race.  I signed up to work a double shift at packet pick-up at the expo on Friday, meaning I was there from 11:00am until 7:00pm.  My job was pretty simple, ask those picking up their own packets for ID and verify that all the information matched inside the packet.  If the person was picking up for another person there had to be a confirmation email, an ID, and then the person had to fill out a little form saying they were picking up the packet for the other person.  All very simple.  Except, there weren't enough volunteers so at some points, I kid you not, I was covering about 8 tables all by myself.  A day of standing, running back and forth, and basically being "on" the entire time....I was wiped out.

Would I do it again?  Um, I don't know.  I certainly wouldn't sign up for a double shift.  I certainly wouldn't do it again while I was pregnant as there was not enough opportunity to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom.  And next year, I'd prefer to be running the race.

Week In Review

Well, it is only week one and I already missed two days of my Pregnancy Workout Challenge.  Who cares!  Five out of seven days ain't so bad.

Monday - 3 mile run walk on the treadmill.  There's not much difference between my "run" pace and my walking pace on the treadmill.  I do over 12 min/miles while running and just under 15 min/miles for my walking.  I think it took me 41 minutes to do this workout.  My stars!  That's a long time for three miles.

Tuesday - 2 mile walk with Dave outside.

Wednesday - Yeah, I have no excuse for not working out today.  I sat around and watched hours and hours of TV today.

Thursday - 2.5 miles treadmill.  1 mile run, 1 mile walk, 0.5 mile run.

Friday - 2 mile POWER walk on treadmill.  I finished this walk under 30 minutes.  I was moving.

Saturday - Nothing again today.  When I woke up it was pouring outside and because Dave was sleeping I couldn't get my stuff without waking him to get downstairs to the treadmill.  By the time the weather cleared, I had things to do.  We had errands to run, football to watch (duh!), naps to take, and then photo boothing.  Plus, I had volunteered at the marathon expo on Friday (more on that tomorrow-ish) and I was wiped out!

Sunday - Dave and I headed out together for a run today, although I let him do his own workout so he felt like he was actually working out.  He did 4.25 miles and I did 3.  I was pretty overdressed and had to slow down and keep taking walk breaks to keep myself from getting too hot.  Even with a bathroom break and some walking, I still finished before Dave.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

Overall - 12.5 miles.

This is the most amount of miles I've done in several weeks.  I'm hoping to stay between 10-15 miles and not going higher than 20.  I'm still hoping to get over to the Y sometime and get myself a membership so I can do some other workouts like elliptical and swimming to mix it up.  I'm feeling great and am mostly enjoying the running/walking.

Pregnancy Workout Challenge

This week marks my 16th week of pregnancy.  I am feeling great, gaining very little weight, and only showing a little.  With that, I've still been able to exercise pretty well.  I remarked to Dave this week that I think I could realistically make it to my 20th week still exercising and that I hope to ultimately make it to 30 or beyond.  With four weeks to go until the halfway mark, I am giving myself a little challenge.  I would like to work out every day, in some capacity, until I hit the 20 week mark, starting yesterday.  Now, these workouts aren't exactly the same as when I challenged myself to run every day for a month.  These workouts will take the shape of jogging or walking or spinning or elliptical or swimming.  I just want to keep moving.  I know that continuing with working out will, potentially, make labor easier, is healthy for the baby, and will keep any extra weight that is not associated with baby off.  If need be, however, there will be exceptions.  If the doctor says no more working out, then obviously the challenge is over.  If I'm sick or something seems to be going wrong, then I'll stop.  And although I will try to push past the tiredness, if it's just too much to overcome, then screw it, I'm going to take a nap instead.

I hope to post weekly updates of the workouts done.  Challenge accepted!!!

10 Running Tidbits

This blog has been very quiet and very baby, and frankly, that's kinda is boring.  So, I decided to "borrow" this from Kyria over at Travel Spot to spark something new on this blog and get back to talking about running.  Don't worry, I've got a lot of thoughts in my head regarding running/triathlon/blogging/baby and should have some good posts coming up soon.

1. FUEL: Shot Bloks, GU, Energy Chews, Candy or Other?

I almost exclusively use strawberry banana PowerGel.  That's my favorite and I don't really like anything else.  I take A LOT of them during a run/race, like every four miles.  Last year when I was struggling with triathlon, Rachelle gave me a recipe for a homemade energy drink that has TONS of calories.  If I go back to triathlon, I'm going to try to use that on the bike.

2. Race Length: 5k, 10k, 1/2 Marathon, Marathon, Ultra or Other?

Oy!  The longer the better for me.  My favorite distance is probably the half marathon.  It's long enough to have to pace, but short enough that you can really race.  I would say I'm probably pretty good at the marathon, too, although it's been a solid three years since I've done one and not sure when there will be another one on the schedule.  I haven't done an ultra and really don't want to.  That's a whole different ball game and I think 26 miles is long enough.

3. Workout Bottoms: Skirts, Running Shorts, Capris, Pants or Other?

I am an old-school runner and run in running shorts.  My favorites are a pair from Saucony that are light as air.  In the winter I prefer to wear tights.  You won't catch me dead in a running skirt.

4. Sports Drink: Gatorade, Powerade, Cytomax, you stick to water when you run or Other?

I will only drink water while running.  I take water at every single water stop no matter what the distance - 5K or marathon.  In triathlon I've experimented with Gatorade, whatever the stuff is Ironman uses, First Endurance, and homemade stuff.  If water had calories, I would use it.  :)

5. Running Temperatures: HEAT or COLD?

My favorite temperature to run is between 40-50 degrees.  I guess that's cold for most people.  Winter, and specifically snow, is definitely my favorite time to run outside - quiet and peaceful and totally badass.

6. Running Shoe Brands: Saucony, Mizuno, Nike, Brookes, Asics or Other?

Saucony.  Only Saucony.  I have run in the Omni as my training shoe for YEARS!!!  I use the Kinvara as my racing shoe.

7. Pre-race meal: Oatmeal, Bagel, Banana, Eggs, Cereal or Other?

If I'm at home and doing a race nearby, I will eat a piece of toast or two with butter and honey.  If I have traveled to a race, I will usually eat a cinnamon raisin bagel with nothing on it.

8. Rest Days: 1x per week, 2x per week, never ever ever or Other?

Right now, there's a whole lot of rest days.  :)  When I'm training, I usually don't run over 5 days a week.  I cannot do high mileage, and I cannot run many days in a row.  Frankly, I don't think it's needed.  I've done just fine with low mileage, very specific workouts.

9. Music: Have to have it or go without it?

I used to be a purist and not run with music and used to get a little angry at those who did.  However, when I started working with a coach and began doing all my workouts alone, I switched to using music.  Now I rarely do a workout without an iPod.  I think the iPod Shuffle is the best invention ever.  More to come on that later this week.

10. #1 reason for running: stress-relief, endorphins, you love to race, so you can eat all the cupcakes you want, weight-loss, love running for social reasons or Other?

Excellent question!  I think I started running out of boredom.  When I graduated college and didn't have anything to study anymore and lots of time on my hands.  So I signed up for a marathon.  Yes, I went big right from the start.  And then I was addicted.  It helped clear my head; it kept me fit and skinny; and I loved beating people (I'm not going to lie).  I love that I've been doing this for 11-1/2 years and are still setting new PRs.  I hope there are still several more years of that to come.  I love the people I've met and the friends I've made through running.  My whole world revolves around running.  I wouldn't want it any other way.

So Complicated.

Last week I had a little blood work done. Okay, a lot of blood work. Yes, that's 18 vials worth of tests.

This blood work was being ordered by my OBGYN after consulting with a high risk doctor because of a family history of blood clots, DVTs, and a pulmonary embolism.

Tuesday I got a call from the doctor (nurse) that they had the results of these tests.  She left a message that said they got my test results back and they were a little off and that I was being referred to a high risk doctor.  End of message and we never got a call back the rest of the day.  Dave and I were FREAKING out the rest of the day.  Wednesday morning I called the nurse again who called me back pretty quickly.  Test XXX - normal. Test YYY - normal. All of them came back normal except for two which came back "off", as they put it. I was now being referred to a high risk doctor who specializes in hematological disorders in pregnancy. The two tests that were "off", one was a protein that was low that can cause blood clots and the other was a gene mutation which doesn't allow the body to absorb folic acid and other B vitamins into the body. This mutation can cause heart attack, blood clots, or stroke, preeclampsia and placenta abruption, and neural tube defects in the baby. This scared the sh!t out of me. See, my sister lost a cost a child at 20 weeks due to a neural tube defect.

After crying a thousand tears in the last two days, I started asking questions and googling the hell out of it (and using the husband's expertise since he studied genetics in college).  While I understand the low protein will probably land me on blood thinners for the remainder of this pregnancy, I was more concerned regarding the gene mutation.  This mutation is quite common, actually.  Like 40% of people have this mutation.  There are two types: homozygous, which means you have it from both of your parents, and heterozygous, which means you carry only from one of your parents.  The homozygous is the one with more concern as it can cause the neural tube defects.  Heterozygous, according to one article I wrote (by an OSU doctor who works two floors above the high risk specialist I will be seeing) is "medically irrelevant."

So, where does this leave me/us?  With a lot of upcoming appointments.   We have an Ultra Screen on Monday which test for down syndrome and spinal bifida, although the false negative/positive percentage on this test is not all that great.  Next Thursday I have my regular appointment with my OBGYN, and then on October 16th I see the high risk OB.

What do I think about all of this? After the initial shock of thinking OH GOD! EVERYTHING'S FALLING APART!!  I actually have a lot of positive thoughts about it.

First, if things were really, really bad, I think the doctor would have sent me straight to a hospital or had me into her office.  Although I know the October 16th appointment with the high risk doctor was probably the first appointment, if it were truly an emergency they would be taking quicker action.

Secondly, I have always assumed that I have a vitamin B deficiency as I'm tired all the freakin' time.  Also, this same family member who has the blood clotting issues also has a B12 deficiency so badly, that she gets B12 shots from the doctor.  So I have been taking extra B12 vitamins for over year.  Plus, because we were trying to get pregnant I was taking prenatal vitamins for months before we got pregnant and before that I was taking extra folic acid vitamins for over a year.  My body has been pumped full of vitamin B for over a year which makes me feel better that it is unlikely our child has a neural tube defect.

Thirdly, the nurse said I had a "single mutation", which the way Dave and I interpret that to mean is that the defect is only from one of my parents, thus making it heterozygous and therefore medically irrelevant.  At least, that's what we're assuming.

Lastly, and most importantly, things have been going well.  I have made it to 13 weeks - one more week to go until the second trimester.  The sickness has subsided and frankly, I feel really good.  My body is growing and changing.  I truly believe that when something bad is happening in the pregnancy that your body has a way of telling you things are not going well.  Like you would be extra sick or you would have pains or fluids that were not normal.  To date, this pregnancy has been pretty easy.

If you're the praying type, say a little prayer for us for our upcoming appointments.  If you're not the praying type, just offer up a thought.  We appreciate all the positivity directed towards Poppyseed (that's what we call the baby). 

Pregnancy and Running, Thus Far

I always thought that when I was pregnant that I would continue to run until my body just wouldn't allow me to and really love the freedom of running without training.  I've had many friends run through their pregnancy, all the way through, and even had a friend run a 4:09ish marathon while 7 months pregnant.  However, I've got to let you in on a little secret.  So far, I have not really enjoyed running while pregnant.

Between weeks 6 and 10 of my pregnancy I battled "morning" (all the damn time) sickness.  And although I was never actually sick, I felt terrible.  It was hard to find the motivation to get out of the house and workout when I just wanted to be curled up asleep, fighting off the nausea.  Plus even slowing WAY down in my runs, I found myself getting winded rather easily and would spend more time walking than running.  So, I started incorporating a lot of walking.  Sometimes the workout would just be a walk.  I've been able to manage between 9-15 miles a week, mostly walking.  With the cooler temperatures now and quickly sliding into my second trimester, I'm finding it a little easier to run.  Last week I even managed to make it a mile and a half before I needed to walk.  And yesterday I ran three miles with only two walking breaks.  I'm hoping to run a few fun races in November.

When I decided earlier this year not to do triathlon again for a while, Dave and I quit our gym membership.  We had no idea what it was costing us but MAN!, it was expensive.  I have a membership to our gym at work, which only cost me $10/month.  I initially joined basically for the showers for when I rode my bike to work.  It has treadmills, ellipticals, classes, etc., but there are also strict rules regarding what you can and can't wear and there's loud pumping music there.  (Can you guess where I work?)  Lately, though, I've been longing to get back in the pool.  I think I'd really enjoy swimming while pregnant - easy on the body yet good exercise.  I want to be able to GO to a gym; I'm really lacking in motivation.  So, Dave and I are currently checking out the local Y which will save us over $30 a month from our previous gym and offer many programs we like for a future child.

And because some of you might care, and what's a blog post without a picture, here's the growing belly at 12 weeks, 4 days.

Our Planned Surprise

If you missed the memo from last Friday, I am pregnant - preggo, knocked up, with child, in the family way, whatev.  I posted this same picture on Facebook and received a crazy amount of feedback including almost 150 likes and nearly 100 comments.  Geesh, I didn't know I even had that many friends! One of my friends offered up congratulations but then said that this was unexpected.

If you know anything about me and my type A personality, and he should, he's known me for 15+ years, you would know I don't do anything without a plan. This baby has been in the works for a LONG time, although we only really got serious about it this year.  As I'm now in my mid-30s I thought if I didn't have a child now it probably wouldn't happen.  I took things seriously.  I was taking my basal temperature and charting it.  I was using ovulation prediction tests.  But after a few months it was clear that things were not working as well as they once were.  The doctor speculated it could have been my age, or how much I was running, or the amount of vitamin D I was taking to help with my depression.  Basically, no one had any ideas. 

Running was going well, though, and I signed up for a marathon and started training hardcore.  Then we got hit with the news that we were going to be relocated for Dave's work.  And although we really weren't NOT trying to get pregnant, we were moving on with our lives and planning on the marathon and the move.  Life got busy and "sexy time" fell to the wayside.  Whatever.  We would try again after we moved.

Before we knew it we were packing to go to London.  Although we weren't taking this whole "getting pregnant thing" all that seriously anymore, I was still charting my temperature and noticed that when we went to London I should be on my period.  I swear, I am on my period every damn vacation I take!  The day before we left for our trip I even mentioned this to the girl who sits across from me at work.  (Yes, chicks talk about this stuff.)  So on the way home from work I picked up "supplies" and also grabbed a pregnancy test.  I had ZERO thoughts of why I would be pregnant but I thought, hey, if I don't have to pack supplies even better.

At 10 minutes until 4:00 Monday July 30th, I took the pregnancy test.  Although it says to wait three minutes, it came back positive in about three seconds.  I kid you not!  I would have thought when I finally saw a pregnancy test that I would be all giggles and happy and crying and joyous, etc.  Instead I said a few choice four letter words.  You have got to be kidding me?  Now!?  NOW?!

At 4:00 I had two realtor come over and tour the house.  I swear to god, I did not hear a single word they said.

As soon as they left, I called Dave.  I asked him when he was coming home.  He said why?  Umm...when are you coming home?!?!  Why?  Because Dave!  My pregnancy test came back positive.  WTF?!  He said, I'll be home in a few minutes.  We didn't hug.  We didn't say anything.  We just stared at the test.  Seriously.  Seriously?!  NOW?!

Of course, we didn't believe the test (you know, they're only 99% accurate), so I took another one Tuesday morning.  This one came back even darker and more clearer.

Oh my stars!  What is going on?  This was the day we were leaving for London so I called and talked to the nurse.  I had a few concerns....

I had no idea we were pregnant.  NO IDEA!  I really had no reason WHY we would have been pregnant.  So, I had gone about my business.  I had had a few drinks.  I had run a lot and fast (including one HOT 20 miler and two races).  And I was leaving out of the country in a few hours.  What do I do if I get sick over there?  PANICPANICPANIC!!!

**Sidenote...I had been told A LOT by many doctors that I would not be able to get pregnant because of the amount of miles I run and because my weight was so low.  To them I would like to show them my middle finger and tell them to F*Off.**

Here we are....11 weeks pregnant with a real baby.  So far, things have gone smoothly.  I have not been sick, I've been able to manage the "tireds" with lots of naps, and luckily, I have yet to put on a single pound.  We might have been really, REALLY surprised by our positive pregnancy test, but we are excited and are looking forward to our new adventures.

How I Started Training for a Marathon and Will End Up in the Hospital

So You Want To Know About London and the Olympics

(That is totally what I am going to name a band someday.)

It's been one month since we left for London so I guess it's about time to blog about it.  I'm going to try to do this in one post.  I just can't remember all the details and the daily things that happened to write multiple posts about it.  Warning, it's going to be long and it's going to contain a lot of pictures.

We had tickets to three events and were able to attend three (and tried to see a fourth event) free events.  We also did a little sightseeing.

Tennis
You might think that running is my favorite sport, but you are wrong.  Tennis, is actually the sport I most enjoy watching.  I am a huge tennis fan having been to the US Open in 2005 and attended one of the ATP hard court tournaments in Cincinnati.  One of my Life List items (and if it's not on the list, it should be) is to attend all four majors.  To go to Wimbledon is any tennis lover's dream.  Well, I may not have seen the Wimbledon tournament, but I did get to go to Wimbledon to watch tennis at the Olympics.  It was beautiful and much smaller than I anticipated.  We had tickets to men's and women's third round.  Our tickets started before we even got off the plane, so we missed our first match which was Serena Williams (eventual gold medalist).  We did get to see Novak Djokovic/Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis/Andy Murray (eventual gold medalist and Team GB favorite), and Caroline Wozniacki/Daniela Hantuchova.  I'm not gonna lie, I cried being at Wimbeldon and Centre Court.  It was so amazing to watch the crowd go crazy for Andy Murray.  And we got to have the ultimate Wimbledon experience by eating strawberries and cream.

Rowing
If you don't know, I was on the women's rowing team at Ohio State my freshman and the start of my sophomore year.  I love rowing.  It's such a neat sport - so tough and powerful and yet it looks so elegant.  The rowing venue, at Eton Dorney, was about an hour away from London.

As a side note, no venues were that easy to get to.  Eton Dorney required a trip by train, and then bus, and then about a 20-30 walk.  Most venues required a lot of walking!!

Anyway, one thing each sport did a good job of was explaining the sport for the spectators.  Rumor has it, the Brits when given a chance to purchase tickets to the Olympics were put into a lottery and you got whatever sport you got.  So, each sport was explained at the venue.  We were about the only Americans at rowing but it was so exciting to be part of the Team GB excitement as we saw them win one or two gold medals.  We got to see a total of about 10-12 races that day including four or five gold medal races.  Total worth our money.

Weight Lifting
Of all the sports we were interested in seeing, you might be surprised to know that weight lifting was one on the top of our lists.  We specifically wanted to see the women's 75+kg as we had a local girl competing in it (Holley Mangold).  Again, we were really happy the sport was explained to us because we had NO idea how competitive weight lifting works.  It's a little like a chess match.  Each competitor gets six lifts - three snatches and three clean and jerks.  The athletes compete from lightest weight to highest and can change their weights at any point, even after missing a lift.  This allows them to screw with their competition and of course, allow them to lift the correct weight to get a higher score.  Speaking of score...you either lift or you don't.  There are three judges and they decide what's considered a lift or not.  This proved to be interesting as our girl, Holley Mangold, looked like she had successfully snatched a weight only to have the judges say no and therefore she missed that lift.

In the end, the Americans finished 9th and 11th (I think) and we got to see three world records broken.  Pretty cool.

Triathlon
Both the men's and women's triathlons were held in Hyde Park and were free venues.  Triathlon must be a really popular sport in England because Hyde Park was PACKED.  We were able to fight our way into a pretty good standing spot and saw half of the swim and a small section of the bike and run.  Being 5'1", I didn't see a whole lot, but at least it was something.

The men's triathlon, however, was a totally different story.  Being that the Brownlee brothers were expected to do well, and did, the venue was even more packed than the women's triathlon.  There was no way were were going to be able to find some standing room to see this race.  Instead we sat up on a hill to watch the swim and then basically just listened to the rest of it on the PA system.  I kinda wish we had stayed in the hotel and watched this one on TV.

Women's Marathon
The women's triathlon was a few days before the women's marathon, so we were smart enough to get our buns down to the race A LOT earlier than the start time.  We picked out our spot along the street where we would get to see the runners six times.  We got there over an hour before the start of the race and got a spot right along the fence.  Soon enough we were flanked by tons of people including these cute British children who said the cutest things.  I wish I could convey it words, but the accent was so important.  Let's just say, we waited a long time for the runners to come by and when they finally did, the little girl beside us in her cute little accent said, "Our patience is going to be rewarded."  Loved her.

If you watched the women's marathon on TV you know that it was pouring down rain for the majority of the race.  And we got drenched.  We wore our raincoats, but it did not protect our feet, our legs, etc.  And worse, we were going straight from this race to the weight lifting competition.  It was worth it, though, as the marathon was amazing and I really enjoyed watching the American women battle it out for most of the race.

I have been to the Olympic trials in 2008 and 2012 and am so happy to have seen the Olympic race.  Those chicks are fast too.  Faster than you think.  There was a girl who was WAY off the back of the pack for the entire race.  We didn't know exactly the mile marker we were at, but we were estimating the girl was probably running 8:00/miles and I thought, I could compete with her.  Turns out she ran a 3:22.  Even the slow girls are fast.  :)

Race Walking
We tried to see the race walking.  We thought it would be interesting and we thought not a whole lot of people would be out there.  I mean, come on, race walking?  Surprisingly, it was crazy crowded.  So crowded, it was like five deep the entire route.  We stuck around for a few minutes and heard the race come by, but I couldn't see anything.  We nixed the idea of watching this race quickly.

Sightseeing
As you can imagine, it was crowded in London.  Shocking, I know!!!  :)  The only place we actually toured was Westminster Abby.  It was cool to see where William and Catherine got married.  Beautiful!  It was also really cool to see the crypts (is that the right word?) of famous Brits like Newton, Darwin, Shakespeare and other writers, etc.  It was really crowded there and felt a little bit like you were constantly in line for a Disney ride.

Other sightseeing included Big Ben, Tower of London, the London Eye, Tower and London Bridge, etc.  Oh, and we also got to have dinner and watch some Athletics (track and field) with our friends Angelina and Shaun.

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Our trip was both short and long.  We jam packed those 9 days, but we were exhausted and ready to come home by the end of it.  There was a lot going on back at home (see last post)....

The Summer of Unexpecation

Okay, maybe unexpectation is not a word.  Maybe I should say, "The Summer of Unexpected Things".  Whatev.

I mentioned back in July that we were being hit with a swarm of highs and lows.  The high of booking our vacation to the Olympics (I swear I'm working on a post about this); the lows of some unexpected and costly medical and otherwise bills.  I also mentioned in the middle of that post that we had some big news regarding the husband's job.

Dave has always worked for a small company that has changed hands a couple of different times since he started there 11 years ago.  With the last management change, the company is now based in a different city and although they are keeping the office open here, the team he is on is now out in the San Francisco bay area.  Negotiation talks began and quickly we found ourselves looking to move.  Yep, this girl who has lived in the same town her entire life was ready to pack up and head 3000 miles west.  We had met with a couple of realtors here and had a timeline for when the house would go on the market.  We had decided we would move in January and come back in the spring to work the remainder of photo booth events we still had.  We started to clear out rooms by donating things and selling off other things.  The wheels were in motion.  Even though we were only a few days out from going to London, all we could talk and think about was moving.

But as our summer of unexpectation continued, everything changed....