Happy Friday!
Was this an incredibly jam packed week for anyone else? I fully plan on the next 3-4 weeks being like this, so I’m bracing myself. I’m trying to take on a whole “bring it on” attitude. I’ll let you know how that goes. 
So another week has passed, which means we’re another week closer to meeting this little baby. Tomorrow is officially 28 weeks, so I’m happy to announce my entrance into the 3rd trimester. Sometimes 12 weeks sounds forever away and other times, it feels like OMG it’s so soon.
It’s kind of how I waver between feeling not pregnant and feeling huge. It varies on the day and also on the time of day. Currently my feeling is not huge…ask me later, I may change my mind.
Now that I’m officially in the 3rd trimester, I feel like I can celebrate making it 2/3 of my pregnancy running. I have a goal of making it 8 more weeks, but we’ll see how that goes. Here’s a little recap on how it’s gone so far:
First Trimester: I was out of breath a lot. I had to slow down because I wasn’t sure why I was having so many out of breath runs. After I found out I was pregnant I did probably 2-3 weeks of intervals, running anywhere from 5-10 minutes at a time and talking walking breaks. After 2-3 weeks I went back to running anywhere from 20-30 minutes at a time, taking 1 walking break and then finishing up my mileage.
Second Trimester: For the majority of the second trimester (up until last week) I was running anywhere from 3-5 minutes with 1-2 walking breaks (2-5 minutes at a time). Last week it started feeling like I needed more walking breaks so I switched to interval running. I started running about 12 minutes at a time (sometimes 10), walking for 2 minutes and then repeating anywhere from 2-3 times. This is going really well right now, except yesterday’s run.
On yesterday’s run, I got really bad round ligament pain 2 minutes into my last interval of 12 minutes. I haven’t had too much of this, so as soon as I got it I started to walk for a couple of minutes. I tried running again but it kept coming back, so I stopped and walked the rest of the way home (pain free when walking.) I have to admit I was extremely disapointed, not because I felt like I was short changing my workout, but because I got a glimpse of why I would need to stop running. The round ligament pain is PAINFUL. I’m grateful I haven’t had much of it at this point at all, but if it keeps up during running, I’ll have to stop.
I know not everyone is a pregnant runner and I feel SUPER lucky I have been able to run until 28 weeks.
Here’s my plan for the third trimester:
- Continue to run 3 times a week, as long as I’m pain free.
- Continue to run 12 minute intervals, but reduce down to 10 or 8 minutes when needed.
- Take walking breaks whenever I need to.
- Try my hardest not to get disappointed when I have to stop.
- Continue to see my chiropractor once a week and increase to 2x a week if needed. (Suppose to help with round ligament pain.)
- Honor my body AND my baby by taking care of myself, not only by staying fit but by resting and giving it what it needs.
As far as the other days of the week, I’m really enjoying walking and continue to strength train up to 3 times a week. Hopefully staying fit will help my labor be a BREEZE (hah, but really…).
In other pregnant news, I’m still feeling really good 90% of the time. Occasionally I’ll get heartburn, but it’s mostly stopped after having it after every meal for basically 2 weeks. My biggest complaint is burning ab pain, but after talking with my chiropractor we realized I only get it when I’m sitting on the couch at night, hunched over. I basically am eating normal, but I do have nights where I’m practically in tears because I want nothing to do with eating dinner (last night it was brown rice pasta shells with broth and a boatload of grated cheese…).
So that’s about it! I’d love to hear how you stayed active during your pregnancy, or just your thoughts in general about all of this! And if you have any stories about how your labor was better because you stayed active…then you MUST share!
Happy Friday! Have a great day!
Big shout out to my mom who has been doing an amazing job on her own weight loss journey. She has been doing an amazing job staying active and exercising everyday. She called me this morning to tell me she did walk/jog intervals. I couldn’t be prouder!
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
You are amazing. Pregnant runners always look the cutest and I am always in awe!
Kelly recently posted..happenings
I’m 21 weeks and I do get some RLP, but it’s not too bad. I personally think you’re doing great and hope to still be running at 28 weeks. I bet you’ll know when/if you need to stop.
Victoria @ Running Peanut recently posted..From #Fitblog to Farris and Foster’s
I am in awe that you have kept running this long. I traded it in not long after finding out I was pregnant. Granted, I was still a newbie runner (only about ~3 months) … and honestly? I never really loved running. I was doing it for the challenge, but I wasn’t really heartbroken to give it up.
During my first trimester, Zumba seemed to agree with me best. Once I got over the first-trimester hump, I started rotating in some of my kickboxing, hi/lo, and circuit training DVDs (Amy Bento, Michelle Dozois’ Peak Fit Challenge series) while making modifications—no tuck jumps, ski jumps, high-knee jogs, etc., and cutting them short when needed. For yoga, I pull out Jillian Michaels’ Yoga Meltdown or Cathe’s YogaMax about once a week, though I’ve been playing with some prenatal streaming DVDs (e.g., Crunch Yoga Mama, available through Netflix).
Definitely grateful to have stayed active through pregnancy—and like you, I hope it pays off with an easier labor!
I’ve been lucky to not have been plagued by RLP or some of the other aches and pains of pregnancy (yet? I’m 25 weeks ….). For me, the hardest part about working out during pregnancy is that I have fewer options for relief from DOMS—no ibuprofen, no hot baths. Admittedly, there have been times when I would’ve begged, “Please, take him for about 20 minutes while I soak in a bath hot enough to boil my skin. I’ll gladly take him back when I’m done!”
I am loving this…we’re planning on trying for our third baby in January/February, and the one thing I desperately want to keep going is my running. So thanks for posting this. I’ve been bookmarking like crazy!
Melissa @ Live, Love, & Run recently posted..First Fridays: The Half Marathon Edition – Yours Truly
Awesome work so far, keep it up! I”m sorry you had round ligament pain, I had that at one point, but with a few days off, was able to get back to running and continued through the end of my pregnancy.
I DEFINITELY think staying active and strong helps in the labor… for one thing, you’re used to a little discomfort and I think you have a better pain tolerance that women who avoid exercise. Two, those strong muscles and the endurance really comes in handy when labor goes more slowly than you want or when you’re pushing for two hours.
I feel really blessed to have had a smooth, natural delivery, and I am confident my activity level had a lot to do with it. Of course, the only thing we can say for sure about birth is that it’s unpredictable, but I’ll be wishing the same for you!
I have found a support belt helps tons with the rlp! I got this one: http://www.amazon.com/Motherhood-Maternity-The-Ultimate-Belt/dp/B001M5PM82/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1343437937&sr=8-3&keywords=motherhood+maternity+support+belt and now I can’t run without it. I keep telling myself to just do what I can or else I’m looking at 4-5 months without running and I do NOT like that idea.
Renee recently posted..I’ll just pretend it’s fall
Are you wearing a support while running? You really should and then hopefully the pain will subside.
Wow, that’s so weird that you said that comment about being out of breath while running before you knew you were pregnant, because that’s how I was too! I honestly just thought I was ‘rusty’ because my running wasn’t consistent in the first months of the new year, but little did I know it was actually a baby growing inside of me that was making my running tougher haha.
Glad you’re going strong and no more pains!!
char eats greens recently posted..baby: 24 weeks