Training Update - Week 3

Training is going ok.  It's hard to get all my runs in when I can't run early in the morning before everyone's day starts (still nursing and not about to pump in the wee hours plus Aidan usually wakes up 5am and nurses/snuggles with me until 6:30am or 7am). 

Last week I was able to get in this:

Tuesday:  30 minute HIIT (3.14 miles for the HIIT and 3.4 miles total) + some circuit training (25 minutes worth)
Friday:  4.93 miles with the jogging stroller + abs
Sunday:  Great 7.16 mile run by myself + abs

Total mileage for the week:  15.49 miles
Total January miles:  59.59 miles (if I had only known, I would have run an extra 1/2 mile)

Hopefully, the little man will start sleeping a little later and not feel the need to snuggle every morning so I can get out there and pound the pavement while my family is still asleep.  That would make things a lot easier.  One day it will happen.  I am trying not to rush it. 

Today is so nice, I am going to try to get in a couple of miles this afternoon with the kiddos.  Are you training for anything?  How is it going?

Training weeks 1 & 2

Today starts the first day of week 3 of training for a half marathon in March.  I wanted to get a weekly update to you, but I just can't find the time to blog anymore.  What is going on?  Oh yeah, 2 kids. 

So here is how week 1 went.

Planned/Actual

Monday
Cross-train/10 min. elliptical + 20 min. weights (Jillian Michaels circuit training)

Tuesday
Run 2 miles, easy/30 minute HIIT + abs

Wednesday
Cross-train/10 min. elliptical + 20 min. weights (Jillian Michaels circuit training)

Thursday
Rest/Played 3 sets of mixed double tennis (make-up from rainout)

Friday
5 mile tempo run/5 mile run with jogging stroller + abs

Saturday
Run 6 miles/Singles tennis match

Sunday
Rest/Mixed doubles tennis match

Total mileage:  8.43 miles :(

Week 2
Monday
Cross-train/Ran 5.76 miles on mill (@9:15 min pace) + circuit training

Tuesday
Easy 3 miles/Easy 3 miles on mill

Wednesday
Cross-train/Rest

Thursday
Rest/Rest

Friday
Run 5 mile speedwork/Ran 6.12 miles with jogging stroller

Saturday
Cross-train/Rest - I was a lazy bum here

Sunday
Rest/Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shed - Workout 1

Total mileage:  14.88 miles :)

I really lost my mojo in the middle of the week.  I am glad I was able to get a good run in on Friday.  Wednesday and Thursday were bad. 

What do you do to get back on track?

Did I achieve 2011 goals and what are my 2012 goals?

So here are the questions I posed one year ago. Let's see how I did.

• Get Hope into a "big girl" bed (hopefully Jan. 2011)
• CHECK - pretty easy transition except for climbing out of her bed repeatedly at the beginning and playing with her toys at night and nap
• Get nursery ready for new baby (again Jan. 2011)
• CHECK - but not until March really
• Clean out office/gym area and make it more defined and less cluttered (Feb. 2011)
• CHECK
• Birth a healthy baby (ideally without having to be induced this time) (March 2011)
• CHECK, went into labor by myself - 10 days early, had baby with no drugs
• Make a smooth transition from a family of 3 to a family of 4
• CHECK - Hope had little issues with her baby brother
• Develop a schedule where I can get in my workouts with 2 kids while still nursing (that is going to hurt those early morning workouts, any advice?)
• Kinda CHECK - I think I did pretty well considering no early morning runs really because I am still nursing (and hate pumping) and the lack of sleep until just recently
• Get back into pre-pregnancy running shape (no date because I don't want to try to over due it)
• Another kinda CHECK, I mean I did not PR, but some of my races were close
• Participate in the Race for the Cure 5k (this is in May, just 6 weeks after I am due, so I say participate instead of run, because I may be pushing a double jogging stroller in this one)
• CHECK - I started pushing the stroller, but it was so crowded the hubs ended up doing it so I could do a little bit of running
• Run the Peachtree Road Race (10k), ideally in under 55 minutes (PR is 50:02), but again, not going to push myself.
• CHECK - ran it in 52:26 (6.31 miles)
• Run the 13.1 Marathon in Atlanta in October
• CHECK, but after so much lack of sleep and poor training (due to lack of sleep), it was not a great race for me.
• Would like to run some more (3 new) local fun races (5k's and other lengths that aren't traditional)
• Ran 2 new races this year (a 4 miler in June and 5k in November)
• Develop a stronger relationship with my husband (see they aren't all about running)
• CHECK - we had a really good year, especially considering our family grew and we didn't sleep, can't wait for next year
• Have 110 blog entries in 2011
• FAIL - I got really bad at the end of the year, I am going to blame the little guy again. 
• Run 750 miles in 2011 (I would love to say 1,000 but with the whole pregnancy and giving birth thing, I think 750 is going to be ambitious enough)
• FAIL - I ran 680.92 according to my records which could be off, but not by that much.  I tried to keep track in my training log book and think I did pretty well.  Will try for 750 again this year.

2012 Goals

1. Run 750 miles
2. Blog more (110 again)
3. Increase Interval training/Tempo runs - aim for 4 times a month (30 min HIIT on 1/3 was 3.12 miles)
4. Increase bond between my daughter and son (it's important to me that they have a good relationship with each other, especially since they are not the same gender)
5. Enjoy my time with my children - try not to be so rigid with my schedules
6. Submit a recipe for a contest (there is one that is due the end of March, so I think I will try that hopefully)
7. Investigate an herb garden again (don't have to start it this year, so think about how to do it right)
8. PR a race this year (doesn't matter the distance)
9. Accept changes in my life and try not the dwell
10. Aim to do 10 races this year
11. Go on a date with my husband that is not a wedding, anniversary, or holiday party (yep, I am aiming for just one considering last year was one and that was before the little man came)
12. Continue to build a better relationship with hubs (I know, how subjective, right). 
13. Try to be a more positive person.
14. Abs workouts 3 days a week (abs are still very weak, but not sure they will ever get strong after 2 pregnancies).
15. Embrace my new roles (not going to get into this right now)

What are your goals?  Anything else I should add? 

One pot meal and August running numbers

So for all you busy people who don't have time to do a lot of dishes, here is a take on fried rice that only requires one pot.  It is also nice because it's a good clean out the fridge meal as well.

My One Pot Fried Rice

Ingredients

1 T dark sesame oil

3-4 cups fresh veggies, chopped (I used carrots, onions, broccoli, celery and red bell peppers) - frozen could be used as well

1 cup uncooked brown rice

2 cups water (or vegetable stock)

3 T soy sauce

A couple of dashes of hot sauce

1 T toasted sesame seeds

Seitan chick'n strips or rotisserie chicken (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oil on medium high heat in a large pan with high enough sides.
2. Add chopped veggies and saute for 4-5 minutes.
3. Add uncooked rice and toast the rice or another 4-5 minutes, until it starts to turn brown.
4. Add water stir to combine and cover.  If you have real brown rice, it will take 30-40 minutes to cook the rice.  If you have parboil, it will take significantly less time.  Stir occasionally. 
5. Remove lid and stir.  Add soy sauce, hot sauce, and sesame seeds in.  You can also add in your protein now, or just add it to the plate.

Serves 4. 

Lots of colorful veggies

Cooking the rice in the sauteed veggies save you on number of pots to clean.

Dinner is served!  I added seitan to mine and the hubs got rotisserie chicken.

Running Numbers

I am such a numbers person that I have to tally up my miles at the end of the month.  Despite the lack of sleep and not feeling 100%, I surpassed July's number (72. something ) in August with 75.29 (and one week I only ran 4.04 miles).  I hope to get up over 100 soon.  I just the little guy to do some sleeping (we did pretty well on Friday and Saturday, but he made me pay last night, it was bad).

Do you have any one pot wonders?  Happy Monday!

Training updates - 2 weeks worth

I have been battling with this lack of sleep for the past 5 months.  It's not getting a whole lot better either.  2 weeks ago, I was just not feeling well, so I just couldn't get a lot of runs in (only 1 to be precise).  Last week, I tried to get back into things and did pretty well, but struggled at the beginning of the week.  Not sure if it's due to my diet or lack of calories. 

So I switched up the past 2 weeks of my Runner's World training plan, and hear is how it worked out. 

Suggested Monday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Monday: Rest

Suggested Tuesday: 4 mile easy run
Actual Tuesday: Rest

Suggested Wednesday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Wednesday: Rest

Suggested Thursday: 4 mile easy run

Actual Thursday: Tennis practice (1 hour)
Suggested Friday: 4 mile easy run

Actual Friday: Rest
Suggested Saturday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Saturday: 4.04 miles with the jogging stroller

Suggested Sunday: 4 mile easy run

Actual Sunday: Rest
Suggested mileage: 16 miles
Actual mileage: 4.04 miles

 
This past week was much better, but sleep, diet, etc. are still contributing making working out a struggle some days.
 
Suggested Monday: Rest/Cross Train

Actual Monday: Rest
Suggested Tuesday: 6 mile tempo run (warm, 4 miles @ 8:39; cool)
Actual Tuesday: 5.17 miles with 4.17 miles @ 6.5-7.0mph pace, ab wheel + pilate exercises
Suggested Wednesday: 3 mile easy run
Actual Wednesday: Rest

Suggested Thursday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Thursday: 3.01 easy miles with jogging stroller, Tennis practice (1 hour)
Suggested Friday: 4 mile easy run
Actual Friday: Rest

Suggested Saturday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Saturday: 5.16 miles with jogging stroller, ab ripper X
Suggested Sunday: 8 mile easy run @ 10:08
Actual Sunday: 8.34 miles @ 9:44 pace

Suggested mileage: 21 miles
Actual mileage: 21.68 miles

I am trying to eat more, upping my protein as much as I can, and eating whole grains.  Hoping this week, I have more energy, but the little guy is making sure I don't.  :)

Off dairy again and the stuff that goes along with it

Several weeks ago, during the time when the little guy wasn't sleeping at all, we also noticed he had some tummy issues. I did some research and found that moms consuming dairy whole nursing can affect their little ones. That was the only thing that had changed about my diet. I had limited dairy while trying to lose the baby weight and it seems to give me more energy too. Well after the baby weight came off and I was running more, I added dairy back in for the calories. I was able to maintain my weight, but the little guy didn't approve. So now I am back off dairy, and I thought this would be a good time to try veganism (so no eggs either). I got the book (from the library), Veganist. I read it cover to cover in just days (that's pretty good when you don't have a lot of free time). She doesn't think eating soy is bad for you (something a lot of vegans and vegetarians have opposite opinions on). She also has some sample menus which included a good bit of fake meat (another controversial topic). It appears to be her way to get the protein you need.

So I have been doing the vegan thing for the past several weeks (a couple of slip ups), but for the most part, I have done pretty good. I am pretty hungry and have a difficult time getting that full feeling. Thing were going ok, until this week. I had serious troubles with my run on Tuesday and was sore for 2 days, aka not recovering well all of a sudden. Also, some of you may know that after you have a baby, your hair falls out, well mine has been falling out still. I was reading a post from Matt at No Meat Athlete about protein consumption. He mentions hair falling out and having a hard time recovering from workouts. Now I am concerned I am not getting enough protein to sustain my lifestyle (nursing my son and running 20-25 miles a week, cross training 1-2 times a week). I am getting so much conflicting statements, do I eat soy and fake meat to get my protein up, and how much protein should I be eating? Any good tips on foods with proteins that are easy that I might not be eating? I know there are people more active than me that have a vegan diet and perform well.

I hope to get a lot of comments and advice.

Training Update

Lucky for me last week went well for training, because this week has been bad.  The little guy is killing me with his lack of sleep.  More about that in another post though.

Like I said, last week I stayed on track and got all of my runs in.  Not too bad.  I do well with training plans.  I am usually pretty diligent about getting all the runs in and then when it comes time to run the race, I feel very prepared and it's usually an easier race for me too.  I have started to change up my speedwork runs though because trying to do them at the end of the week made it tough to power through.  Doing them after a rest day is much more doable. 


Suggested Monday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Monday: Rest

Suggested Tuesday: 5 mile tempo run (warm, 3 miles @ 8:34; cool)
Actual Tuesday: 5.2 miles with 3.35 miles @ 8:34 pace, ab wheel + pilate exercises

Suggested Wednesday: 3 mile easy run
Actual Wednesday: 3.2 miles on mill increasing speed (6.4-7.0)

Suggested Thursday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Thursday: Tennis practice (1 hour)

Suggested Friday: 3 mile easy run
Actual Friday: 5.15 miles with JS, Ab ripper X

Suggested Saturday: Rest/Cross Train
Actual Saturday: Rest

Suggested Sunday: 8 mile easy run @ 10:08
Actual Sunday: 8.43 mile run  with JS, little abs

Suggested mileage: 19 miles
Actual mileage: 21.98 miles
 
I am taking it easy this week and hopefully will be back on track next week.

Runing while it H-O-T! and some stats

Well, we have had heat advisories for the past couple of days.  Like it's not hard enough to get out and run, now it's just down right HOT.  I went out yesterday with the kids at 9:00am and got my 5 miles in.  But I can tell you I was drenched in sweat when we returned home (and I am not a big sweater either). 

I would love to go out early in the morning, but it's just not realistic with little A not sleeping through the night.  Hopefully, in the next couple of months his sleep will be a little more predictable and I will be able to get out there and log some miles while everyone is still asleep.  Right now, he is waking up at 2:00, 5:00-5:30, and then at 7:00-7:30am.  At 5:00am, he usually won't fall back asleep unless he is in bed with us, so that I what we have been doing with him (and by us, I mean me).  I feed him in bed and then he falls back asleep.  I guess I could get up then maybe, I am afraid he is going to immediately wake up as soon as I leave, and then I will get it from the hubs when I return that little A woke up and was hungry.  I don't know, maybe I will try it one day and see how it goes.  Any advice from the peanut gallery on this (yes, I am still BFing exclusively).

Some stats for ya
Little A turned 4 months old on Sunday and he rolled over for the first time on Sunday too.  He went to the ped yesterday and he thriving.  He is up to 14lb. 4oz (25%tile).

My stats
Last week I hit my goal range for pre-preg weight.  According to Dr. Oz's book (it was on clearance for $3.99 on bn.com), you should have a range, not just one specific number.  I have always had a range along with a number.  My range is the number plus or minus 2 lbs., so last week I hit my number + 1.6lb., so I have considered that to be pre-preg.   So I made it back to my pre-preg weight in just under 4 months.  With Hope it was 4 1/2 months (gained a little more weight).  But both times, I did it slowly and other than my mental breakdown at the beginning, I didn't stress about it, just ate well and exercised.  The last 4 lbs. though, I really relaxed about though.  I lost 3lbs. in 5 weeks.  I know some people see that they are so close and try to crash diet or starve themselves to get there, but I read somewhere a long time ago, that when you only have those last few pounds, take it slow (0.5 -1.0 lb/week) and they will stay off.  I have since adopted that mentality and it has worked for me.

Running
In June, I logged 69.68 miles.  If I had known I was so close, I would have tried for 70.  Oh well, I am still getting back into running/training mode, so I will let it slide.  And at the end of June, I had logged 315.19 miles for the year.  Not too bad considering on Jan. 1 I was 7 months pg and then had a baby and had to recover.  My goal is 750 miles this year and I know I can log a lot more miles during the second half of the year compared to the first, so I am feeling good about that. 

I am trying to figure out my races for the fall.  Any races you like that I should do?  Especially ones in the ATL?

Peachtree results

Well it was hot and humid. But it was a blast! My time was 52:26, but in my defense, I clocked it 6.31 miles so my average was 8:18, just 5 seconds slower than I had hoped. Complete race recap to follow.

Peachtree a coming

I am just a few days away from my second race post baby (1st 10K). I got my email confirmation and I am in Corral B. I was a little disappointed that I won't be starting the race when the gun goes off, but I am only 5 minutes later. This will be the first time i didn't start when the gun goes off since the first time I ran this race 5 years ago. The first year We ran, we did not submit a time and were in the 9th group I think. It was 9:00am when we finished and over 80 degrees already. After that, I ran the Buckhead Sizzler and got a competitive time and have been in the front ever since. I am hoping to have a pretty good time, but we will see. I will put it out there and say I want to break 51 minutes. That is my goal. I have trying to add in some tempo runs and some sprints in during the week to try to gain some speed.

What are you doing for the 4th? Who else is racing?

Peachtree a coming

I am just a few days away from my second race post baby (1st 10K). I got my email confirmation and I am in Corral B. I was a little disappointed that I won't be starting the race when the gun goes off, but I am only 5 minutes later. This will be the first time i didn't start when the gun goes off since the first time I ran this race 5 years ago. The first year We ran, we did not submit a time and were in the 9th group I think. It was 9:00am when we finished and over 80 degrees already. After that, I ran the Buckhead Sizzler and got a competitive time and have been in the front ever since. I am hoping to have a pretty good time, but we will see. I will put it out there and say I want to break 51 minutes. That is my goal. I have trying to add in some tempo runs and some sprints in during the week to try to gain some speed.

What are you doing for the 4th? Who else is racing?

Running updates and other tidbits

I don't have much to report. I have been chugging along. My legs are starting to feel heavy during parts of the week. What do you do when you have heavy legs? Do you think it means my legs aren't strong enough yet? I have been trying to add squats, step ups and hamstring exercises to gain more leg muscle. Do you think it will help? It may just be that i am doing too much these days. Yoga hasn't happened in a couple of weeks. It has been replaced with tennis (mixed doubles). Hubby joined this team last season and had so much fun that he insisted I join now that I don't have a little person inside me. I have to say I was reluctant. I have had some bad experiences the past few seasons with tennis and the time commitment is tough when you have small children. But I am having fun and I am 2-0 so that helps too. I wonder if I am trying to do too much too fast. I just want to be ready for the fall racing season. This week my 30 minute HIIT was just an easy 3 mile run while increasing the speed a little every 0.5 mile. Below is my workouts from this past week. I will be taking it easy some this week since the Peachtree is next Monday.

Monday - 100 squats while holding little A, 5 x 10 push ups
Tuesday - 5 mile run with JS on a hot Tuesday morning, aka sweaty and tiring
Wednesday - 3 mile run on mill (9 min mile average)
Thursday - rest
Friday - 5 mile run on mill, 1 mile warm up, 0.75 mile @ 7.2mph followed by 0.25 mile recovery @ 6.5mph, repeated 4 times., planks, step-ups, hamstring exercises
Saturday - 1.75 hours of mixed doubles tennis, I won!
Sunday - 6.15 mile run (4.15 with JS)

Total miles - 19 miles

What are your thoughts? Should I be switching it up more? Advice?

Other stuff
I am down another pound and am less than 3 lbs away from my pre-preg weight. Like I said before, I am slowing down my weight loss with these last few pounds. I am not in a huge hurry and I have worked hard to lose the first 20 pounds quickly. I also know these last few pounds are vanity pounds anyway, although I would love for my tummy to tighten up faster but I know that will take time.

I am in a dinner rut. Summer in the south means it's so hot, I don't feel like cooking much. What do you cook a lot in the summer? Keep in my mind I have 2 kids and the hubs is not home for dinner. He eats later.

Some days are like that, even in Australia

Well this has a couple of meanings.  Yesterday, overall, was just a terrible, horrible, no good very bad day.  I hadn't planned on running or even working out, and if I had, probably would have been a better day.  I won't bore you with the details of yesterday, but it wasn't fun for me at all.

The other part of no good, very bad days for me includes my runs.  Obviously, not every run can be awesome or amazing or a PR.  Last Saturday was the first very bad run for me since little A was born.  I didn't drink enough water the Friday before (after running a 5 mile tempo run on the mill when the temperature was in the mid 70's in my house) and then I didn't eat particularly well (birthday party which included salad, pizza, cake and ice cream, and half a beer).  Saturday morning rolled up on me, and I felt awful.  I think I was dehydrated when I woke up.  Well I had already told myself I was doing 7 miles, and my father-in-law would be joining me so I had to go.  We also didn't leave the house until 9:30am.  Yep, it was H-O-T, hot out! 

We survived but not by much.  I vowed to drink more that day, but I think it took me a couple days to recover from the heat. 

Then, there was today.  My legs were feeling heavy yesterday from doing some squats the day before, and they still felt heavy this morning.  I put little A down for his morning nap and then head for the mill upstairs.  I started with my 1 mile warm-up (6.3 mph currently) and then bumped it up to 7.0 after that.  Now, I was interrupted by little H a couple of times so I had to stop and get off to help/assist her.  That didn't help.  I told myself at one point, if you are not in it, then don't finish it.  I didn't want to resent runnning.  So that was a big step for me.  I am so into schedules, and today was supposed to be a 5 mile tempo run.  I ended up finishing and did parts of the run at my tempo pace, just not the whole time like I had planned.  My time was 45 seconds off of last weeks's run, so it wasn't a total wash, but I was happy I finished. 

Of course, knowing that I wasn't feeling it today may hinder my weekend run some.  We will see.  But tennis has started again and I have already played twice this week and am playing tomorrow.  Wish me luck!!

This week's workouts:

Monday - Tennis practice
Tuesday - 5.04 mile easy run with the JS (except for mil2, this was a good run), squats, P90X ab ripper, push-ups (5x10)
Wednesday - 30 minute HIIT on the mill
Thursday - Rest (first since last Thursday)
Friday - 5 mile run (kind of a tempo run)
Saturday - Mixed doubles tennis match
Sunday - ??? Maybe a light run

National Running Day and weekly workouts

Very exciting that last week I ran a total of 20 miles. Yeah, I think that is a good place for me right now when I am not in a real training plan.  I have been adding mileage every week so this week I will cut back and then return to my 20 miles a week.  I also have a race on Sunday, so that is another good reason to cut my mileage this week.  Here is how last week looked:

Monday:  Jillian's Yoga Meltdown and squats, 3.04 mile run with JS
Tuesday:  5.06 miles with JS
Wednesday:  Abs and push-ups
Thursday:  30 minute HIIT followed by 2 mile run on mill (5.1 miles total)
Friday:  A little strength training
Saturday:  7.09 mile run alone (9:51 average)
Sunday:  Rest

Total miles:  20.29 miles

Tomorrow is not a typical running day for me, but it's National Running Day so I guess I will have get some running in.  Check out the website and remember to run tomorrow. 

Working out - getting into some groove

Kinda.  I am trying to find some balance in my life.  And that is hard with 2 small kids and a husband who works long hours.  I am trying to go slow but working out makes me feel good.  My current weekly goals are:

1. Run 3 days a week, 3-5 miles at a time.
2. Do 40 minutes of yoga once a week.
3. Do an ab workout once a week.

I know that doesn't sound like much, but with lack of sleep (a growth spurt I believe), I don't want to put too much pressure on myself and set myself up for failure.  Last week, here is how it went.

Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 17 minutes of yoga, ran 3 miles with the jogging stroller
Wednesday - 40 minutes of yoga
Thursday - Ran 3 miles with the jogging stroller
Friday - Rest
Saturday - Abs, walked 3.4 miles
Sunday - Ran 4.5 miles all by myself

My thought is to keep this up, with slowly increasing mileage, adding speed work, etc. 

The weight is slowly coming off too, slow and steady wins the race.  :)

These 6 weeks have flown by

I can't believe my little boy is already 6 weeks old already.  He is growing so fast.  Even me, who sees him everyday, all day, can see the changes in him.  His cheeks are getting so full and round; they are adorable.  His legs are also starting to fill out (he started off with some real bird legs), but the boy still has no butt.  Don't know where he gets that from.  :)

So I had my 6 week post-partum appointment as well.  All is good.  I checked out just fine and am good to go.  So of course, I celebrated with a 3 mile run.  I an tell you that I had been taking it easy after my OMG moment I have to lose all the baby weight and get back into running shape immediately.  I had only been running a couple of times period since then.  I feel much better that I have to.  (Thanks for all the great comments).  I am going to try get back easy.  That is going to be hard.  I am an all or nothing kind of person.  I feel like I should work out everyday, but I know that is not possible right now.  I am going to be make a goal to run 3 times a week, and of course, it won't be for long runs at the beginning.  I am also try to do some yoga.  I will keep you posted.

I broke down . . .

and ran.  I know it's early, but I was going crazy.  I ran slow (12 - 12:30 minute miles) to make sure little Aidan's head wasn't bobbing around and of course I wanted to go slow for myself.  I know there are plenty of people who want to flame me, but I felt ready, so I went. 

I ran 2.5 miles yesterday with Aidan and 2.21 miles today with both kiddos.  And I felt great both times.  I had been feeling a little down, not the baby blues, but feeling down that I can't get more done during the day.  Aidan isn't sleeping well so I am pretty tired  during the day.  Aidan is also a snuggler which is great because I love to hold him but I can't get much done while holding him (I am currently typing one-handed).  Running has actually given me more energy. 

On the food front, I started reading "The Four Hour Body."  It was back in December, when I was reading a post from one of my favorite blogs that I was introduced to Tim Ferriss.  I was intrigued by the post but didn't want to immediately go out and buy another health book.  So I went to see if the book "The Four Hour Body" was at my local library.  The good news was that it was, the bad news was that there was a long waitlist.  I was ok with a long waitlist since I was pregnant and not into becoming superhuman immediately.  Well I got the book last Friday.  It is quite interesting because it is broken up into different sections.  He just asks that you read the 1st two sections that spell out some of his philosophies and what he is all about.  I did and then I read the first section "Burning Fat."  He calls it the "Slow Carb Diet" and claims that if you follow it you can lose 20 lbs. of fat in 30 days.  What???  I had to read on.  Oh yeah, did I mention he said without any exercise. 

So here is how it breaks down:

1. Don’t eat white foods.Or any foods that can be white. No bread, pasta, rice (including brown), sugars, flours, etc. Cauliflower is fine.
2. Don’t drink calories.No juices, pop/soda, milk, etc. Stick to no-cal beverages — mainly water.
3. Eat the same meals over and over.The idea is that if you simplify planning, the diet is easy to follow. So you map out a few meals and just repeat them over and over. Tim gives three major categories and suggests choosing something from each category to create a meal:
   Proteins:
   Egg whites with one whole egg for flavor
   Chicken breast or thigh
   Grass-fed organic beef
   Pork
   Legumes:
   Lentils
   Black beans
   Pinto beans
   Vegetables:
   Spinach
   Asparagus
   Peas
   Mixed vegetables
4. Don’t eat fruit.I don't agree with this but this is his thing.
5. Take one cheat day per week.No holds barred. On Saturdays, Tim pretends he’s in a big, gross eating contest. This isn’t a perk; it’s a requirement. I won’t explain the science, but let’s just say that I agree with the many benefits of a cheat day from both research and personal experience. I’ve annihilated buffet lines in the past during cheats and still lost a bunch of fat. It’s amazing.

After tracking my calories, I noticed I was lacking in protein and even fiber on some days.  So while I am not someone who requires a lot of protein (I know this from experience), adding in cottage cheese, eggs, and beans would probably be beneficial.  I tried  to follow it more carefully for a couple of days, and gained 2 lbs.  Like I said, my body just doesn't need that much protein. 

Since then, I have been eating more salads with beans and some lowfat cottage cheese.  I think that works best for me. 

Ugh and ouch

I wasn't able to get my Monday run in so I decided to do some yoga.  Well Monday (well actually Saturday, Sunday, and Monday) I was in a horrible mood.  Don't ask me why, but I was easily irritated.  I felt awful.  I have been kicked in the ribs for the past 7 weeks, I felt huge and starting to get uncomfortable.  So basically, just plain miserable, so not getting my run in really hurt me.  I did 30 minutes of yoga and cursed the whole time (I did Yoga X to mix it up).  I wanted to get more done, but that just wasn't going to happen.  I have also been eating pretty crappy which also doesn't help.  It makes me feel awful and I lose a lot of energy by not eating well.  It's just one of those things, I have been so good the whole pregnancy, that in the past week, I have just really "relaxed" my eating habits.  I know, that's a terrible thing to do, but that has just been my attitude. 

Well I woke up on Tuesday (which I actually slept pretty well for once) and felt ok.  I dropped Hope off at her Mother's Morning Out program and grabbed my iPod and went for a run.  It has been a while that I ran outside without the jogging stroller.  My plan was to run around 3 miles in my old neighborhood (it is really close to the farmer's market I was going to hit afterwards).  Well from the first step, I could really feel my groin pain, but I pushed through it.  I mean, I am far enough along now, that I am not too concerned about going into labor (I mean it is March).  And being a runner, you learn very quickly to push through pain, or you would never get anywhere, right?  Well the first 2 miles were really good (other than the groin pain).  I mean I was slow, but that was my plan, just a nice easy steady pace.  The weather was wonderful, sunny and 50 degrees.  Of course, by mile 3 I had to pee, so it slowed me down and started to irritate me some, but I finished 3.11 miles which was at least faster than my jogging stroller times (yeah, you will never know exactly how slow I am). 

But the rest of the day, my mind felt much better.  I wasn't irritated or easily set off like I was the day before.  I got a lot of nesting done afterwards too, which was good.  But my groin pain was pretty bad the rest of the day.  So bad, that I don't think I will be able to run today (which I had planned to do).  I think I might try the elliptical trainer, if I can motivate myself enough to do it.  It's hard.

I am also getting uncomfortable, something that is new for me.  My little Hope was smaller (although not much smaller) than this one and I was on modified bedrest so I was forced to not do much and encouraged to eat all that I could, so I don't think the weight gain affected me as much.  Now here I am 8 1/2 months pregnant and have a toddler and not on bedrest and I don't know what I should be doing and what not to do.  It's like it's my first time.  And because of this, my patience is shot and I am easily irritated.  I probably should be resting more, but if I rest how will everything get done.  For moms out there, how did you feel those last few weeks and how did you take it easy or did you?  What did you change about your routine, whether it be your workout routine or your home routine? 

I fought the run . . .

And the run won.  Yesterday, I had set out for a run outside with the jogging stroller.  We were going to run to the library, get some books and come back.  There are several routes to get to the library, but I thought we would do the longer hilly neighborhood route on the way there, and then the more direct flat route (on a busier street) on the way back, so 2/3 of my run would be complete before we got to the library.  Well being 8 months pregnant and pushing the jogging stroller up some of these crazy hills, well let's just say it was bad.  It was embarrassing.  I must have looked pretty funny at the passersby.  I was pretty spent afterwards too (3.6 miles total btw).  It really got me thinking.  When do I call it quits on running during pregnancy.  I only have a few more weeks left.  Do I keep on going or do I change it up and just walk or do the walk/run thing?  I feel so privileged to have been able to run for this long.  With Hope, I had to stop all workouts at 26 weeks, so be able to run at 8 months is great.  But my energy has taken a dive in the past couple of weeks and I haven't really compensated for that.  At night, I just hit a wall and can't do as much as I used to.  My dinners have not been impressive.  I feel like I am in new territory with this whole exercising late in pregnancy thing and I am not sure when enough is enough.  Thoughts?  Advice? 

Weekly Running Report - 1/23/11

Well not much to report.  I had planned to run on Saturday, but Friday afternoon, I strained my knee a little squatting down to pick something up, so I rested on Saturday and my knee was feeling better on Sunday.  I am hoping my groin will hold up for tomorrow's run.  I didn't hurt today but it hurt afterwards.  I think the "strain" was just my body "loosening up" from the pregnancy.  Luckily by Saturday evening, it felt much better.  The weekend was pretty low key, and tonight we are moving Hope to her "big girl bed."  Should be interesting.  Here is how the 7 month pregnant lady worked out this week:

Monday - Ran on the mill since it was MLK and I had the little one with me, 3 miles - easy, walked 0.3 afterwards
Tuesday - 15 minutes of yoga, 20 minutes of weights
Wednesday - Easy 3 miles on the mill
Thursday - Rest
Friday - 3 miles on the mill - incline 5%, ran at 6.2 for 3 minutes, then walked (4.0) for one minute, repeated until I ran 3 miles, walked 0.35 afterwards
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Ran 3.11 miles outside, hilly neighborhood route

Total running - 12.76 miles

I do have a running log book that I have been logging all my miles in.  I think it will be fun to look back at it when I am not pregnant and compare. 

Have a good evening!