36 Weeks!

Today marks the end of my 36th week, and the commencement of what is the "last week before he is full term".  Yes, I am still pregnant; and I hope to be pregnant for at least 2 more weeks. While, yes, I am uncomfortable; I know that the longer he cooks the better it is for little man.

This week presented me with new challenges. I spent most of it sick with a nasty head cold turned sinus infection. It all started last Friday while I was working from home and all of the sudden around noon I started sneezing and feeling tired overall. Luckily I had managed to get in a quick walk early in the morning; so even though I was pretty wiped I was glad I got to move for a while.

On Saturday, hubby had his birthday (as well as my nephew), and we had the celebration at home. I tried as hard as I could to play hostess, but my body wanted none of it. I sort of slugged through it and after everybody left I retreated to my bed. Not only was I congested and feeling crappy overall; having this huge belly does NOT help. There are very few positions I can lay down on and after a while, it becomes even more uncomfortable. But I thought that it just felt like a regular cold; the more I rested, the quicker it would go away. Man, I was wrong!

By Sunday I was still feeling like death, so I stayed in bed one more day. I tried sleeping, sitting up, laying on my side, propping myself up with pillows; nothing seemed to work. I felt completely useless, which is never good to feel, but it just adds to the level of "helplessness" you feel this late in pregnancy.

Monday rolled around and I was still super congested, but with added pressure in my head, and absolutely no voice. Every time I sneezed I thought my head was going to explode, my ears popped each time I blew my nose, my throat hurt. It was then I decided to head to the doctor. Off I went and of course, like 9 out of 10 times they told me it was a virus... Need to let it run its course. Luckily for me, the doctor lady took pity on me and gave me a prescription for some antibiotics with instructions not to start taking it NOW; but if things did not get better, or I started having nose discharge that was anything but clear. Otherwise I was told to just take cold medicines; which is fine and dandy, but being pregnant there is a HUGE limitation to what you can and cannot take. Wouldn't you know that by the time I got home my nose discharge had turned yellow, so I went out again and got my prescription filled. 

As of today, I am feeling slightly better; still have a very congested head and by the time 6 pm rolls around I am really tired and ready for bed... This is sad to admit, but I have cried about this maybe one time (or two or three). I just want to feel better, you know? Late pregnancy is hard enough; I really do not need the added sickness.

On the good side of things, I have graduated to weekly doctor's appointments. Some of you might think that going to the doctor on a weekly basis is a hassle; and while I in part agree with that statement, I can't help but to be happy about it because it means that the end is near. Only 4 more weeks until I hit my due date; and hopefully we will get to meet the little dude soon.

Cozy saturday

I went out this morning for the one hour run that coach had put on the schedule for me. After the husband videotaped my running and we sent it over to Liz, she gave me some feedback and some technique advice. I had every intention of putting it into practice on my trail run. So I went for it. It was more difficult that I thought. Re-teaching your body how to run is no easy task and it does require a lot of concentration. Making sure you step the right way, pushing off purposefuly, avoiding arm crossover. That seems like a lot, doesn't it?? All of that while trying to keep your HR at a decent level...

The trail run was nice; except for one minor detail. The temperature was sub freezing! And my knees felt it, a lot. So, instead of running for an hour I decided to cut the run short to spare my knees some pain. Liz mentioned that the next 2 weeks are BIG training blocks, and I want to make sure I am in tip-top shape to perform at my best.

After the run, I drank my recovery drink and went off to run a couple of errands before the husband left to go golfing. I hit my favorite bakery (Great Harvest Bread), got some bread and then proceeded to go to the 50 dollar store (Target... it seems that every time we go there we spend a lot more money than we intended). I got there, grabbed the things I came looking for and as I am opening my wallet realized: SHIT! I forgot my card at the bread shop. I called them and luckily it was still there; so I hightailed back (in the opposite direction I needed to go to get home) and got my card.

When I got home I had already made the husband 20 minutes late; so pretty much as soon as I walked in the door, he left. Showered, made coffee and now I am here; sitting down in my PJ's covered with a blanket and wearing my "fluffy socks" as Megan calls them.

This week was extremely weird. It was rest week, and i felt completely flat; exhausted and with absolutely NOTHING in my legs to get my anywhere. My eating has been good, so I did not understand what was up. Until yesterday; when I realized I had gotten my monthly visitor (sorry if tmi). I was not expecting it until wednesday! Sometimes I think it is stupid how the body gets so drained from doing something that it is supposed to do every single month. Know what I mean??

The husband came back from his trip on thursday evening. Megan and I were very glad to see him. Friday morning was going along just fine when I got a call from Daycare that megan had been crying all morning, complaining of a sore throat and an achy stomach. There had been some cases of strep at the school, so I thought it was prudent to make a doctor's appointment to get the munchkin checked out. The husband took her and it turns out she has "walking pneumonia". The doctor assured us it is not as bad as the name makes it sound. Some antibiotics and it should go away. I do feel a bit responsible about it though. After all, I missed the signs. Fever, phlemy cough, loss of appetite. I trully thought it was just a cold. I guess it is not "just a cold" if there is fever. If I had acted sooner she would be better by now, and that makes me feel responsible (and a bit of a bad mom). Lesson learned, next time (which will hopefully be a long time from now) I will know to act when the fever presents itself.

This afternoon, we are just chillin'. Enjoying the last 2 days of rest week. Some more coffee is in order, maybe a movie or two, a cozy blanket and a big dose of family time. Can't wait.

Inspiration

Yesterday Megan and I stayed home from school/work. She had been having a bit of a phlemy cough and I thought it was prudent to stay home and let her rest. Let me just say that the only time I changed out of my PJ's was to do a scheduled brick; and after that I went right back to wearing them.

The morning was a productive one; while I heard Megan play downstairs with a bunch of her toys (lately her favorite has been playing mommy); I went to my "creative space" and started a little "art" journal of my journey to Ironman later this year. Even though I am quite creative; when I saw the inspiration boad that Liz did with the magazine phrases I knew right away that this was a project that would suit me quite well.

So I started going through magazines and cutting up phrases and paragraphs that I enjoyed and somehow "spoke" to me; with the intention of accumulating a bunch of them to put in my little journal. As I said before (and if I haven't I'll say it now) scrapbooking is another one of the things I really enjoy; but lately it has taken third place (after family & training) simply because I do not have enough time to dedicate myself to it.

But yesterday morning was different. Here I was, at home, with a child that finally entertains herself (for the most part) and a bunch of free time. So I took out my magazine clippings, the journal that I was going to alter, some scisors, colored pencils, stamps, 3 different kinds of glue (because it is important what glue you use depending on what you are thrying to adhere) and went to work. Even though it is not the "best" of my creations, I am using the journal not only as a way to document the year leading up to the biggest race of my life; but also as a tool to practice letting go of things, to practice not being so self critical.

I am debating whether or not I will post the pictures of the journal here. Most likely I will, but I don't think I am ready yet. It will come, as everything does.

Change of plans

After much deliberating and a couple of good talks with Coach, we have decided that I would take the month of december off.

The past couple of weeks, I have been sick on and off. Cold, sore throat, sinus infection. I had them all. The body really took a heavy toll after all of these... And it needs rest.

It's not that I am not going to do "anything", I will be trying to get more muscular and lean; but I won't be "killing" myself or feel pressured about anything on the schedule. 

I am still undecided about the 1/2 marathon. A part of me wants to do it; because I know that even though I won't be able to go for my "dream goal" of under 2 hours I will be able to set a PR. I am in much better shape than last year. The other part thinks that I should take the entire month off, to properly re-energize myself with the want/need to swim/bike/run. Know what I mean?

So I guess I will play it by ear and see how I feel as the weeks progress. I will try to keep you all posted; but my life is not THAT exciting when you take training out of the equation.

Hope everyone is starting to get into the holiday spirit. We have started already, the tree is up; the Elf on the Shelf has appeared (he is one of Santa's helpers that comes and stays with us until Christmas, leaving every night to fly to the North Pole to report how Megan has been behaving), and Megan keeps repeating that we have to wait until Christmas to see the snow... 

Who knows? Maybe this year we will have a white Christmas in the Carolinas, and it will be her dream come true...

Doctor's orders.

The doctor said:

"It sounds like a sinus infection. I will give you some generic antibiotics, so the prescription won't cost you too much. Also I would wait 2 more days before you resume your workouts. Get the antibiotics in the system and if in 2 days you are feeling good, you can restart your physical activity"

So, me, being the extra good listener that I am; will do as the doctor ordered and won't run until Saturday.

Hey, at least now I don't feel bad for not getting in my runs. It's doctor's orders!

Sickies

Not much has been going on around these parts. I think I have finally embraced the off season. I am pretty much taking everything very relaxed and not really pushing myself to do much; except keep up with my running workouts. And I am only doing that because I had this insane goal of breaking 2 hours on my upcoming half marathon.

I say "had" because I had a double case of the sickies. 

Last week I had a monster cold where I felt like I could not even lift a foot, and that lasted for about  4 days. On Friday I was feeling like my old self again, so I ran easy for 30 minutes and that felt super good. Saturday I spent the day with the family, relaxing, doing some shopping; and on Sunday I decided to go for an hour long run. Boy was it hard! My legs felt like bricks and I really struggled to move forward. I will say that the wind was not helping either. I think I might have started that run a bit underdressed, but after I was able to get a bot more shielded from the wind I was ok.

Then yesterday... That feeling of soreness all over the body; like you have been ran over by a train. I had chills, a sore throat, a headache. Could not keep my eyes open. I think I must have fell asleep at around 8.30 PM. 

Today I am better; but still don't think I am at 100% health. That is why I have decided not to pursue my crazy goal of breaking 2 hours in the half marathon. For some of you this might not seem like such a "crazy" thing; but my best half marathon time is 2:17; so it would be a 17 minute drop on my previous PR. And that is a big number in my books. I will do the race; just because running a half marathon at this time of the year is what got me into sports 4 years ago; and it is my little way of celebrating my own "tradition", and also because it is fun. (And between us, it makes me feel less guilty about the foods I eat during the holidays)

After the race in December, I will take a break from everything except swimming. During december I will swim 5x a week. Why? Because I will re-create my stroke. I want to be able to swim much more efficiently and I know my body is used to doing things the easy way. I am on a mission to accept it will be hard and to embrace the challenge. When January rolls around I will let you know how I did on that. 

For now, I just hope this case of the sickies goes away soon. Catch you later, dudes!

Without a title...

The week came and went. Full of training hours, work hours and mommy hours. I had some hard training sessions and some not as hard. Some breakthrough moments and some regular moments. I guess what I am trying to say is that this week was just an average one at best. Coach was on vacation, so I was more lax on updating my training peaks account. Not as detailed if you would... 

Didn't really had the energy to update blog world so I neglected it until I found the energy... I am almost there my friends. 

My body is tired, I am glad this coming week is both rest and taper week. I have an olympic next saturday and I am hoping I can accomplish some of my goals.

Yesterday I had a good training day. There was an open water swim at one of the local lakes, and I got to swim a mile. I wanted to break 40 minutes (yes,  I am still slow), but I sort of panicked the during the first lap around and ended up side stroking more than I would have liked. I came out of the water in 40:11, still good (my previous 1 mile open water was 42 and change) but not as good as I would have wanted it. I did however, identify some things I was doing wrong, and some other things I was doing right, so I will be implementing the good ones during my race next weekend.

Speaking of the race, I know Wes and Deedee will be there, as well as Ashley; so I am hoping I get to meet some of our fellow bloggers. That would be TONS of fun. Once again I am going solo. It is about a 3 hour drive from home, so I will be attempting to take a 1/2 day from work on friday to get there and do some driving around the course, as well as getting my race packet.  It will be a wetsuit swim, my favorite (not really); so I will be able to use my suit for the second time :) I just hope I do not feel like it's trying to choke me and that it does aid me on becoming more streamlined, hence faster.

I picked up a book on swimming... Total Immersion it's called... Apparently it will "revolutionize" the way I swim.. Honestly, at this point I will try anything to make me swim more efficiently. I will report on how it works after I read it and put it into practice.

For now my friends, I am going to go rest for a bit. I have been feeling less than stellar since last night, and I better recoup before Husband leaves for work this afternoon.

Laters!

The week that was

There has been so much going on this past week.

- I was out of commission for about 4 days.
- Managed to sort of work out 3 days
- My daughter has a case of the “I want to go somewhere mommy”; so we have been out and about everyday after school/work
- My friend from Virginia came to visit for the weekened and it was great to catch up and see her and her family.
- Todd has been working crazy hours and sometimes that makes me mad.
- I had a monster ride on Eleanor on Saturday. It was hard and I almost coughed out a lung.
- I discovered that the casssette on my bike is NOT meant for climbing, so I took the bike to the shop and changed it.
- I got the seat water bottle racks installed. So now I can hydrate properly.
- I discovered my stomach can handle powerbars and Cliff Blocks, and oddly enough I like them both.
- This was supposed to be a rest week, but since I was forced to rest last week, I think it will be hard training instead.
- I am still exhausted and on medication for my ear infection/strep.
- The medicine tastes HORRIBLE and kills my stomach.
- My eating habits have been sucking big time and I am having a hard time getting back on track.
- My body CAN tell when I am not eating healthy.
- One glass of whine will make me open up about personal stuff, especially when I share it with a friend.
- I wish my mom had been with me while I was sick, so she could have given me some TLC (yes, I miss my momma)
- Even though I try to ignore/brush off the people that make me mad.. they still manage to make me mad. I need to find a way to channel that energy towards something else.

So, as you can see this past week has been one full of ralizations, good times and not so good ones too. I am looking forward to this week; spending some time playing with my daughter and working out as hard as I can. Bring it!

On the mend

First of all I want to thank you all for your well wishes.

After a few days of being completely out of commission, I can say that I am finally starting to get better. 

I went to work yesterday, but still did not have the energy I am used to. This morning was different and I actually felt like training. I was not able to do it in the morning though, so I just got done with it. It felt great!

Tomorrow I am heading to the gym for an easy morning run and then on saturday I get to ride Eleanor outside for 2 hours... I am so excited!!!

Last time I rode her was saturday and we had quite some fun. We managed to ride pretty fast too; and that is always nice, don't you think?

I had a great email conversation with Coach today; and each day I am more convinced I chose the right guide for this journey. 

I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. My first tri is in 2 weeks and I can't hardly wait.

And the winner is...

The double ear infection and strep throat I got...

I went to the doctor this morning and she just glanced at my ears and said: "Those are not happy ears"... No sh!t Sherlock. 

Then looked at my throat and said: "It is a little pink... I won't even do the swab because I will already put you in antibiotics for your ears". Great!

So I left, with a prescription for horse sized pills, a NO swimming for 2 weeks (or you could lose your hearing) warning; and a whole bunch of contraceptive advice I really didn't ask for... 

I guess I have to understand... the lady is a doctor with teenage daughters who evidently are sexually active, and she just HAD to share how she makes "sure" her daughters don't get pregnant.

Just what I needed :)

What not to do when you wake up with a fever on saturday morning

1) Do not get out of bed and change into your bathing suit to go open water swimming.

2) Do not take Tylenol so the fever goes away for a while so you can get to said open water swim.

3) Do not drive 1 hour to arrive at the lake for the open water swim.

4) Do not swim in the open water even if you are feeling good.

5) Do not ride your bike for 18 miles after the swim.

6) Do not run for 30 minutes after you get off the bike.

Why? Because after the adrenaline stops pumping through your body, and the Tylenol has worn out... You will have an even higher fever, be achy all the way around, and will want to sleep for hours... Only problem will be, you are feeling so miserable, you can't even fall asleep. And that my friends is what my saturday looked like. 

I think I learned my lesson.