Friday Love

Workout: 3.0-mile run on the treadmill

Good afternoon, graham crackers! Is everyone having a lovely Friday?

I sure hope you are because, well, I am. I slogged through another 3-mile run, finished the audiobook I borrowed from the library (“Best Friends Forever” by Jennifer Weiner) and got to eat lunch with my favorite boy.

Note: This photo is from Chicago and not from lunch today. I look like a bum today and Mark needs a hair cut.

How did I get so lucky?

Well, folks, it’s spring break! Get out the bikinis, grab your parents’ credit card and let’s go to Florida! Or, take the week to bask in lunch dates with your husband, a clean house and responsibility-free workouts. Denali – I’ll be seeing you on the 11th. As long as it’s above 30 degrees.

Who’s ready for some Friday love?

Food. Yesterday, my friend and I had lunch at the Cuban restaurant (mostly because of it’s proximity to my house, allowing me to give Denali a pee break). I usually get the Cuban but decided to go crazy with the Elena Ruz. The pressed sandwich had cream cheese, guava jam, turkey and lettuce. Delish! It probably wasn’t the healthiest of sandwiches but you could easily healthify at home. Just be sure to use real turkey breast and not the sliced stuff from the deli counter.

Fitness. Did I mention that Mark was on spring break and I can do whatever I want next week because I won’t have to factor in Denali? Oh, I did. OK. Nevermind then. I’m looking forward to some warmer weather next week that might open up the possibility of post dinner family walks.

Life. Mark and I have bought very few necessities for baby boy. And by few, I mean none. There is no crib … no diapers … nothing. He does have some fetching outfits with monkeys on them, which he’ll have to wear in the laundry basket that he’ll be sleeping in. Thankfully, as of yesterday, the laundry basket will at least be comfortable because someone picked up sheets and a pad. Three cheers for Grandma!

I hope everyone has a fantabulous weekend. Who’s doing something fun?

We’re hosting a teacher friend of Mark’s, along with his wife and 18-month-old daughter. I’m making gumbo and banana trifle. Should be a good time as long as Denali doesn’t eat the toddler.

Three Things Thursday

Workout: A barely-worth-noting 2ish mile walk with Denali

1. According to Jeff Probst, excuses are for losers. According to me, excuses are for people who don't run ... like me. I had good intentions of going out this morning if only to exercise Denali because Mark has parent-teacher conferences today and won't be home till late. Denali's extended "confinement" (we put him in the office) would be much easier for him if he had a good run and slept most of the day. Alas, I slept like junk, ate too much this morning and lost any motivation I had when Google ate a portion of a work project. So I walked. And made up excuses. At least I didn't blame being pregnant.


2. I have a pretty hot date ... and not with my husband. The lovely Holly and I are going to see "My Run." I won tickets from Zoe, and I am uber excited to bask in my nerdiness on a school night. It's playing in Indiana so I'm sure it's playing where you are - GO! Well, unless you are running 11 miles like someone else I know ;)

3. The house ... oh, yes. We received word yesterday that the sellers agreed to 5.5 of our 7 requested repairs, with a decision on one still waiting on an estimate to be received Monday. The only thing they wouldn't do is replace the roof because it does have a few years of life but they will vent it (that's the half) so we can't complain. It's now game on with a 30-day notice to the landlords, an appraiser going out next week and paperwork to follow. Tentative closing is April 29. Yay!

Weekly check-up: Feeling blue

Workout: 3.0-mile run with Denali.

Would it be wrong to decorate the nursery around a pair of running shoes?

I’m only being sort of serious. I swear. But when I saw this pair of New Balance (women’s shoes I might add), I got excited. The colors – the orange and blue – are the colors I had in mind for baby boy’s room in the new house. (On the house front, we got some unofficial good news.)

Tentatively, three of the walls will be painted blue and one will be painted orange as an accent. The furniture will be white, and I hope to do a fun, creative treatment with his name. 

 

Pregnancy: Week 25

Weight gain: Not tracking

Cravings: Milk and buttered popcorn

Crazy dreams: My mom (who’s dead) being pregnant

Running: Still going. 3 miles is about all we’re comfortable with and by “we” I mean Mark and my grandma. My pace is in the 10:15-10:30 range. It’s tougher but I don’t have that heavy feeling that I had been whining about.

Baby boy size: Eggplant – 13.6-14.8 inches and 1.5-2.2 pounds

Sea monkey features: That oh-so-handy sense of equilibrium is kicking in, and baby's learning to distinguish right side up from upside down.(From TheBump.com)

General feelings: I don't really have time to notice anything between my every 30-minute bathroom trips. Physically, I am more tired and I’m having a harder time getting up the steps. Emotionally, I’m a far nicer person than I was first trimester.

What a crock

Workout: 15 minutes upper body and 2-mile walk with Denali

A very special, much anticipated package arrived at my door yesterday.

I was so excited and anxious to open the package that I took 10 minutes to find my camera, stage a front door photo and then make Mark take a series of photos opening it like it was Christmas morning.

 

Of course, Denali had to be all up in the action – quite appropriate since it’s his doing that prompted the delivery.

A new lid for my slow cooker!

::Cue happy dance::

We’ve been sans lid for a good month or two because, if you remember correctly, Denali was all up in the mix one night and knocked the lid off the counter as he tried to smell what was for dinner. Like he was going to get any of it anyway … NOT.

Now, I’m totally in search of an uber new (to us), uber fab recipe to celebrate the return of my favorite kitchen appliance.

Who’s got one?

Diaries of a preggo exerciser: Motivation

Workout: 25 minutes stationary bike, 20 minutes elliptical and 1-mile stroll (not walk) with Denali

I woke up at 6:05 in the middle of a dream about euthanasia, Taylor Lautner, vampires, vampires eating people and my father-in-law holding the vials of anti-venom to keep vampires from eating people.

Welcome to pregnancy, my friends. Welcome.

Despite my strange nocturnal shenanigans, I felt rested. I wasn’t necessarily energetic or enthusiastic about the day but I was rested. I got up, went to the “little room” and took my prenatal vitamin. And then, in a snap decision, I put on the workout gear that I had laid out last before. Energy and case of the Mondays be damned – I was going to the gym.

And so I did. And because I did (and my workout was just that – a workout), I’m going to talk a little bit about how I stay motivated to workout during pregnancy.

Self esteem. First and foremost, I know that if I workout – even just a little bit – that I will feel better about myself. I don’t like the feeling of being lazy or sitting around for too many days in a row.

Normalcy. From the hormones to the changing body to the frequent doctor visits, it’s hard to feel like yourself, the healthy self you knew preconception. Breaking a sweat, logging miles, lifting a weight reminds you that you are still you. Even if everyone now calls you mom and asks about the baby before asking about you, you are still you for that time on the trail or on the bike.

The big “D.” It should come as no surprise that Denali bugs the heck out of me motivates me to exercise. If all I manage to do is walk him, it’s still a couple miles and a good 40 minutes on my feet  … and a few hours of sanity saved.

Being an example. Sometimes, when I feel really unmotivated, I think about how I want my child to see me and the stories that I want to tell him. I want to tell him that I ran into the third trimester. I want him to see me as the cool, fit mom. I want to do things that inspire him, make him proud of his mom.

Post partum. Size 2 pants, running (not power walking) the 4-mile Fort-4-Fitness course and my BOB Ironman stroller – working out now will make all of those things more possible and more fun in 6 months.

2012. When things start to seem discouraging, I think of one thing: 2012. October 2012. My comeback. Next year, in October, I plan to run the Chicago marathon – my first. I think about training for the race, running through Lincoln Park, Mark and baby boy cheering for me. Each run now, each workout now, will make it that much easier to achieve great things then.

Healthy mom, healthy baby. While I hate to admit that these perks are not immediate motivation, it does make me feel good to know that exercise is doing both of us some good. According to BeFit-Mom, “fit women experience easier adaptation to the lower-intensity endurance activity of early labor; shorter first and second stages of labor; enhanced pain tolerance; increased stamina for labor and delivery, with less perceived exertion during labor; lower incidences of intervention during labor; substantially fewer caesarian births; and good pelvic muscle tone-resulting in fewer episiotomies/tearing. … Also, fit moms give birth to leaner, stronger, healthier, and even smarter babies, who may even have better motor-functioning, cardiovascular capacity, with a greatly reduced risk for developing obesity, diabetes, and other related health challenges as adults.”

Besides the perk of the the whole shorter labor, smaller size baby thing to get you going, this list isn’t too different from a list I would have made 25 weeks ago. I ran to feel good about myself; I ran to feel normal or get some “me” time (always the perk of a solo tempo run); Denali always wanted to go; new pants were always nice; and a big race was always a goal.

What motivates you to exercise? Let me know, and I can post the suggestions later in the week.

Bitten by Jack Frost

Workout: 3.01-mile run

It was after Mark’s fourth “just half, please” margarita at the luau last night that I knew we wouldn’t be getting up at dawn to run.

Nope. No, siree. And, let me tell you , I’m so glad we didn’t.

Once again, we had winter-esque temperatures - 23 degrees at 9:30, and I can only imagine what it was at 7:30 a.m. when we got up. (You can take the pregnant lady out of a long run schedule but you can’t take the long run schedule out of the pregnant lady!) We ate breakfast, I helped Mark grade papers, I peed 300 times.

About 9:30, Mark said he was ready. And as long as I could go, we were going. Then.

I got dressed in winter gear – again – but learned my lesson from Friday. I wore a compression top, lighter quarter-zip, vest, tights, gloves and a regular hat rather than a knit cap. It ended up being perfect. And very pregnant looking.

As you can see, it took several tries to get a photo and Denali refused to cooperate for any of them. Right after the second photo, Denali pawed me in the babymaker and, in the third photo, the only reason he is looking at me is because I had a Teddy Graham in my hand.

Anyways …

Today’s run was OK … and just OK. It was chilly and the wind was brutal. Seriously up in my face for the first half. I hate you wind. On the positive side, we did take the trail up to the campus, making for a nice change of scenery, and I didn’t pee my pants. Too bad I can’t say the same for Denali. Wuss couldn’t even make it a half-mile.

Now, if you’ll excuse me. I spent too much time this afternoon watching “Hoarders,” and I’m feeling the need to go through my boxes o’ shoes.

Anyone watch “Hoarders”? What are you doing this afternoon?