Training for two: week 20

It's like mile 13.1 in a marathon! Like the 50 mile point in a century bike ride! As in... you know you've accomplished a lot. But you're getting tired. Your muscles are starting to ache. You start fantasizing about hot food and cold beverages...
Yet still... There's. So. Much. Farther. To. Go!

Here are the workout details from week 20...
WE'RE PAST THE HALFWAY POINT!

Friday: 3 mile walk

Saturday: 2 mile walk

Sunday: 2 mile run + 4 mile walk
This week's run was as hard as last week's run was easy.
Every time I'd start running, baby took that as a cue to tap dance on my bladder. So, I'd stop at a restroom. Do my thing. Wash my hands. Get running again, and... 30 seconds later... feel like I needed to pee again. Even though, clearly, I didn't need to pee again.
(Baby, haven't you been paying attention to those pregnancy books we've been reading??? You're supposed to be lulled to sleep while mommy is in motion! What's that? Babies don't follow instructions? Sure... Now you tell me!)
After 25 minutes of this, I threw in the towel and walked.

Quitter?
Maybe.
But when's the last time you tried running with someone punching you in the kidneys? (Alma and Keyalus need not reply...) Plus, I didn't quit. I just slowed down.

Monday: 4 mile walk + prenatal yoga

Tuesday: 3 mile walk + squats and leg lifts (from fitsugar) + no-gear-needed upper body workout (from fitnessblender)

Wednesday: 4 mile walk

Thursday: 3 mile walk
(and maybe prenatal yoga later tonight)


THE TALLY:
23 miles walked, 2 miles run, and some legitimate strength training.

My household goods (read: furniture, housewares, weights, and fitness equipment) are were scheduled to arrive from Florida next week but now there's another delay... I may see my furniture and fitness equipment again sometime next month. I cannot wait to have weights again! (Or furniture, for that matter.) Yoga and home repair projects have not been a fair substitute for twice-weekly lifting sessions over the past two months. My formerly proud triceps are starting to look like lunch lady arms...


WHAT I *DID NOT* LOVE READING THIS WEEK:

Outside Magazine's piece "Is it safe to race pregnant?" was about the wishy-washiest piece of not-a-real-article magazine garbage I've read since the last time I picked up a copy of Cosmo.

Rather than cite actual research on the effects of exercise on pregnant physiology, Outside writers trotted out a bunch of vague notions, maybes, and possibilities.

In the article, Outside refers to "plenty of other studies" that have associated high-impact exercise with increased risk of miscarriage, but yet they link to only one study, in which the researchers themselves admit that no strong conclusion could be reached from their data because of flaws in the research design. In other words, in the one study cited by Outside, even researchers did not think there was strong evidence of an increased risk of miscarriage.

Seriously, Outside needs to stick to camping and high-altitude climbing articles.

(For what it's worth... The article "Baby Gate: Running During Pregnancy" in Women's Running magazine was much better. The short version: Don't start running after you get knocked up, but if you've been running and doctor clears you to keep running, you're probably A-OK.)


Public Service Message from Captain Obvious: These posts are not intended to be a set of week-by-week pregnancy workout guidelines. Every woman needs to do what's right for her and her baby, with a doctor's guidance, of course. I'd just like to keep y'all up to date on how things are going in my little world.