1 1/4

So Sunday and Tuesday I was able to run 1 1/4 mile intervals without pain. It's not much - but for me its a new milestone - I was beginning to think I would never get over a mile. It's still at a snails pace, but I actually think if I was running faster it might hurt less. It's a toss up at this point because I try and keep a 'conversational pace' since I'm knocked up. Of course the only person I can talk to while running is myself and so its usually whispering under my breath so people don't think I'm a whack job - I also find that if I sort of murmur along to whatever music I'm listening to, my heart rate seems to lower. Could it possibly be that I literally forget to breathe? That probably won't bode well for labor....

On the pregnant front - not a lot to report - Im 17 weeks this week - E says it looks like I haven't gone to the bathroom in a few days, I know TMI, we really need to start taking pictures or something but I'd rather wait until I look a little pregnant rather than stopped up. We have a doctor's appointment this morning - I've finally broken and will be getting the H1N1 shot. I'm not at all psyched about doing this, and really would prefer not to, but everyone is pushing me to do it, so I'm gonna go ahead and get it...I've always trusted in my own immune system, and yes, I know the argument of having a compromised immune system when you are pregnant, but still. I prefer blind faith when it comes to getting sick - oh that and denial.

Next week is Thanksgiving and we are going to my parents, along with my sister, her boyfriend, and my brother and his family are coming to surprise everyone. Well my parents, obviously we know. My dad is the only one that doesn't know at this point - I'm going to just walk around and see whether he figures it out or whether he says I'm getting chubby....

Scratch the Record

Last week E and I outed ourselves to everyone - we're knocked up. We've known since the day before we went on vacation back in August, but we've kept it to ourselves since we've had a few upsets in the past. We are officially four months along this week. It's a boy - I'm too old for surprises so I figured its better to find out now. Looks like the meaning behind the 'B' in my blog title is once again changing - Boston/Bikes/Bambinos....

On the one hand - the timing is convenient - most of it will occur outside of the mountain biking season and snowshoeing and cross country skiing are safe activities to do while pregnant, but it does put off attempting the Leadville race (at least for me) for another year. My professional career is now delayed....

I've also started researching this whole 'relaxin' thing on ligaments and praying some of it goes to my IT band so that I will automatically be cured to never worry again once I do give birth. I live in a rosey colored world.

We've begun the myriad of purchases - jogging stroller, bike trailer etc., we've got our priorities apparently. To say that I'm not scared out of my wits would be an understatement. I'm not all that good dealing with the unknown - pain threshold, terrible two's, that sort of thing, but I won't be the first person on the planet who is faced with all of this stuff, definitely won't be the last.

It's an interesting spot to be at our ages - first kid, first everything but I'd wager to say we'll do ok. For me the biggest challenge is surrendering my body to the process - letting nature take its course with weight gain and things spreading and growing and moving and, well you get the picture. There are days when its extremely difficult for me to breathe through it, and other days where I believe in myself enough that it will all be ok and I will bounce back from it quickly. Again its the unknown with which I'm dealing. At this point I've been very consistent with exercise and nutrition so things are going well.

This is a completely different chapter in our lives, one that we're excited for and scared of all at the same time, but its good to know we are going through it together, I can't imagine going through it with anyone else.

The First Snowshoe of the Season

Well after the 42 inches we got last week over two days - we headed out for our first snowshoe. If I were nifty I would have taken pictures but I have currently misplaced my camera. I forgot how heavy those things make your feet feel - but on the upside when you take them off you feel like you are walking on air. I felt my left IT band a little during both the uphill and downhill but nothing that would stop me from doing it.

This weekend we also stopped by the running store so they could analyze my gait with the orthotics and the neutral shoe. She said I wasn't pronating at all so I can mark that off of the reasons why I might still be having IT band pain. She was also a bit surprised when I told her the shoe I used to be running in, apparently they over corrected me or something. That's two people now who said I was in way too much shoe.

I've run a couple of times since my last post - still with the walk intervals - and still with pain towards the end of the mile jog interval. I'm going to just plug ahead and mix up biking with pilates with running in hopes that it never gets to the level of pain where it was initially.

I watched the NYC marathon this weekend - well the last three to five miles of both the mens and womens portion. I have to say its just amazing to watch people with that level of talent. I would have loved to see Radcliffe move to third and Hall move to third, but overall it was a great showing. Meb was very emotional and its great to see someone at that level still appreciate what they have just accomplished - its something that I need to keep in mind for myself....

A Mile In My Shoes

Wednesday I ran two miles - one mile sandwiched between half mile walk breaks. By the second mile I could feel my knee - for whatever reason nothing has really improved and I can't for the life of me figure out why. The walk breaks helped the nagging disappear, but I guess I just figured I wouldn't feel a thing. I plan on trying it one more time to see whether it was just the day but for some reason I think I already know the answer to that one. I'll keep trying....

My Bike

For the two lovely ladies who I miss 'chatting' with in the BQ forum - almost as much as I miss running - you asked for a picture of my bike. This is the mountain bike, a Yeti 575 - I loved the orange color and it was WAY too much bike for me when I started riding it - eventually it just became 'too much' bike for me. Someday I believe the bike and I will be evenly matched. The components on this bike aren't the same as mine - when I went to the Yeti website I discovered they are no longer doing the 575 in orange. My frame is a year old - maybe 2, but you get the idea.

Currently my road bike (a Scott) is collecting dust in the garage - although I will agree watching the Ironman (although I only got to see the end) does inspire you to try and do something crazy and completely outside yourself. (What about that second place woman? She was hauling tail on the marathon portion) If I can get up to 3 miles running I might just think about doing one some day.

In regards to running - I'm up to 3/4 of a mile in between half mile walk breaks - at a heartbreaking pace - its really still only a jog. If I can get a few days of that distance under my belt this week I might try and do a mile next week between walk breaks. It's a slippery slope.

The weather isn't making riding all that palpable at the moment so I've started spinning on my own with some audio tapes, so far its working pretty well although its not outside and its not on a trail, I'll take it until I can whip out the snowshoes or cross country skis. I do think if I'm ever able to run any sort of distance, that it won't be the one thing that I do - I think my hips just aren't able to keep any sort of strength if I am only running. Who knows - it might work to my advantage.

I Miss Running

I miss training, I miss looking at my huge laminated calendar on the wall and seeing what I have to do that day - I kept that calendar up for six months after my injury - I don't know why, I just did.

I've been wogging a few times - still only a half mile jog at a time sandwiched between walking spurts. It's depressing to feel that everything that was there before is still there, even after breaks and pilates and everything else. The idea of running 5k's isn't appealing to me, although I'd take three miles at this point. There is a part of me that is tempted to put away the orthotics and go out and buy a pair of shoes - any shoe - not a stability shoe, not a neutral shoe, just any shoe that appeals to me and attempt to run in them to see whether I've 'overfixed' whatever is broken. There's also a nagging thought in the back of my mind that is begging for a second or even third opinion, someone to tell me that everyone I've gone to has missed a key thing that could fix whatever it is that is broken. I miss running.

Catching Up

Well I seem to have gotten a bit sidetracked lately. I'm still here though.

We went on vacation in September - Park City and Crested Butte - rode six days with a total of 120 miles. I have pictures I'll post later. It was really fun, and tiring - 30+ mile days. I may be suffering from a bit of mountain bike burnout.

I've started 'wogging' - basically its running a 1/4 or a 1/2 of a mile in between walking spells. My thought was I could work up to a three mile threshhold and run 5ks but sadly my knees (both of them now interestingly enough) and my left hip are still there - just whispering "I know what you're doing, I know what you're trying to do, watch it!" I can't believe after Pilates and not running and yoga and staying on a bike that it's all still hanging around. I miss running, the long runs especially, it's still heartbreaking to think about.

We had our first (and second) snow, on the last day of summer, and the day after. Living at 8500 feet is always a bigger wake up call sooner than 5000 feet. I believe we got a total of five inches, and it looked and felt like Christmas. We're looking at a 70 degree weekend though, so obviously its not here to stay. Makes me think the snowshoes and cross country skis are going to come out sooner than I thought.

Plenty more is going on, but I don't have the imagination to make it interesting at the moment. Try me again later.