We are expecting baby number 2!I shared my first trimester running experience with my first child here. I am TRAINING for a DIFFERENT type of endurance event this fall: Child birth!

Postpartum with #1:

I gave birth on 11/9/2017 and became a mom for the first time after running up until I went into labor at 39 weeks. I started running again about 3-4 weeks after baby, and I ran the Boston Marathon 2018 at 5 months postpartum in 3:42 in a hurricane. It was one of my slower marathons, but I ran negative splits!

By 7-8 months postpartum I ran a 18:47 5k & a 1:31 half marathon at Grandma’s. I was still a few seconds per mile off PRs, but I could feel my hard work was finally starting to pay off.

Around 9-10 months postpartum I ran a 40:48 10k, and that was my first PR postpartum!

By 12 months postpartum, I PRed in the half marathon & full marathon with a 1:27 half (Oct 2018) marathon & 3:13 full marathon (Dec 2018)!

I spent the next year (2019) focused on shorter distance races

1 mile- 5:39 PR (May 2019)

5k – 19:10, 19:19, 18:58 (May-Aug 2019)

10k- 39:59 PR (Sep 2019)

10 mile- 1:04:29 PR (Oct 2019)

halfs for ‘fun’- 1:34 & 1:29

Marathon for fun- 3:24

After about 1.5 years, we decided to start trying for baby number 2!

 

Journey To Get Here:

We wanted to have a spring/summer baby, but life had other plans. I got pregnant with a September baby after several months of failed attempts. About 5 weeks into the pregnancy, I got the flu. A few days later, I had a miscarriage. It was something I never thought would happen to me, and it was devastating to go through especially after months of trying to get pregnant. This current pregnancy dates back to 4 days after my miscarriage. I feel very lucky and have had a different (more positive) attitude this pregnancy compared to Chase because of that loss.

My Thoughts On Pregnancy Body Changes:

Having gone through pregnancy before, I have zero fear of “losing running fitness” or gaining 60+ lbs again. Last time I didn’t know what would happen “after”. As a first time mom people like to “scare” you. Yes. Having a baby changes your body forever, you will lose fitness, you will take time to feel like yourself again.
BUT….
Becoming a mom: you WILL gain more strength than you EVER imagined. You will realize strength & mental toughness you never thought you had. Parenting & pregnancy is one the the hardest but most rewarding things in the world! It really puts everything in life into perspective. I feel really lucky. Moms are STRONG  pregnancy doesn’t make you weak! It makes you STRONGER!!

3 Weeks

Positive test at 3w3days..which makes this pregnancy feel that much longer. Was very tired and took several naps this week. Had night class 2x per week which was tough. Kept most of the running easy but ran 6 days as usual. Running feels slightly harder. Random bursts of energy during the day but very tired and irritable/hormonal. Felt slower in general.

4 Weeks

Felt better this week because the cold went away. Energy was a tad higher. No naps. Minimal nausea but extremely hungry all the time. Already gaining weight due to continuously shoving my face. Running already getting harder. Lacking motivation to continue running when paces that were once easy feel harder now. Those pesky 15 seconds per mile can be a real damper on motivation. But feeling relatively good for first trimester! Night classes still going strong

Training Log:

Mon- 5 miles @ 8:05 pace & 3 mi @ 7:44

Tues- 6.5 mi @ 8:06 + LIFTING + 2.4 mi @ 8:00

Wed- 7 miles @ 8:04

Thu- 5.5 @ 8:04 + LIFTING

Fri- 6 miles @ 7:35

Sat- 5 mi @ 7:07 + LIFTING

TOTAL- 40 miles

 

5 Weeks

Felt like I was hit by a ton of bricks. Heavy nausea for most of all day every day. Going to night classes is the hardest part of this whole thing. I feel like I’m in a fog constantly & cant focus. Fatigue is extreme. Forcing myself to stay active and usually feel better if I am active but feel like I am cemented in a vertical position and literally cannot move. Running is becoming extremely difficult. Body is unimaginably sore. Taking it easy. HCG was 12,800 on Monday 5w3day

then 23,500 on Thursday 5w5day

Which is EXTREMELY high for this early in pregnancy & can feel it.

Training Log:

Mon- 6 miles @ 7:55 & 3.5 mi @ 6:58

Tues- 8 miles @ 7:35 pace & LIFTING

Wed- 8.5 miles @ 7:40 pace

Thu- 7 miles @ 8:02 pace & 4 mi @ 7:22

Fri- 7.5 mi @ 7:57 + LIFTING

Sat- 6 miles @ 6:39 pace + LIFTING

TOTAL- 51 miles

 

6 Weeks

Some days are really bad with symptoms where I feel like I will throw up all day and can barely get out of bed when I wake up the morning after a night class I feel SO sick and rush to the bathroom. I am also feeling a lot more out of breath and things already feel a lot harder with exercise. I used to be able to do 6 pull ups.. now I can barely do 1. I get winded when I just go up the stairs. I feel out of shape as my blood volume goes up and the hormones continue to rise body is working harder on making a human I suppose 😉

Saw heartbeat on ultrasound at 6w5days due date of 10/30 & told my parents which we have always waited to tell anyone until 12 weeks. Felt weird to tell people.

Training Log:

Mon- 7.5 mi @ 8:00 & 5 mi @ 7:18 pace

Tues- 8 miles @ 7:45 pace & LIFTING

Wed- 7.5 miles @ 8:10 pace

Thu- 7.5 mi @ 8:05 pace & 3.5 mi @ 7:12

Fri- 6.5 mi @ 8:04 pace +  LIFTING

Sat- 5 miles @ 6:46 + LIFTING

TOTAL- 51 miles

 

7 Weeks

So. Hungry. All. The. Time. Feel like crap. Hard to get up in the morning or any time from my desk and all day nausea. I eat constantly but I’m never full. Outside of running, I spend a lot of time on the couch. COVID19 has all My night classes & races cancelled and everything on lock down so it works out nicely in my favor lol so thankful for this opportunity to do nothing 🤣🙌🏻

Training Log:

Mon- 8 miles @ 8:30 pace & 4.5 mi @ 7:29

Tues- 8 mi @ 8:23 pace + LIFTING

Wed- 8.5 mi @ 8:25 & 3.1 mi @ 6:48

Thu- 8 mi @ 8:05

Fri- 6.5 mi @ 7:58 & LIFTING

Sat- 5 mi @ 6:30 pace & LIFTING

TOTAL- 51 miles

 

8 Weeks

Feeling a little tiny relief this week. This pregnancy is already very different from Chase. With Chase I had minimal symptoms until 8 weeks. Now, I had intense symptoms right away and feel better at 8 week. Pregnancy is weird. Still very very hungry and eating a lot. Running has remained the same hard 🙁 5k virtual race 3.1 miles @ 6:07 pace

Training Log:

Mon- 8 mi @ 8:08 pace & 3.1 @ 7:50

Tues- 7.5 mi @ 8:10 pace & LIFTING

Wed- 8 mi @ 7:58 pace & 3.6 mi @ 7:57

Thu- 8 mi @ 7:57 + LIFTING

Fri- 7 mi @ 8:45

Sat- 3.1 mi @ 6:06 pace 6 mi total + LIFT (5-10 seconds per mile off current PR)

TOTAL- 51 miles

 

9 Weeks

The belly BLOAT is making an appearance! Very bloated and on/off nausea again all day. Spend most of the day on the couch. And doing nothing- good thing we are on quarantine anyways. I barely have energy to read emails or focus on anything but this has been the case for 3 weeks now. Made the decision to cut back mileage & do no hard efforts this week and into the future.

Training Log:

Mon- 8 mi @ 8:07

Tues- 8 mi @ 7:53 + LIFTING

Wed- 6.5 mi @ 7:52

Thu- 8 mi @ 7:47

Fri- 8 mi @ 7:54

Sat- 5 mi @ 8:08 pace + LIFTING

TOTAL- 43 miles

 

10 Weeks

Helllllo feeling somewhat human again. I actually have energy to move around the house of help clean again. However… Feeling difficult to run. Bladder is already being pushed on. Waking 4-5x a night feeling like I have to pee. Time to get used to this again & train the bladder lol! Legs feel like lead and soreness is sticking around for a long time after runs :-/ have had days where I think I should just give up running because I’m just not motivated. Virtual 10k @ 6:55 avg

Training Log:

Mon- 10 miles  @ 7:52

Tues- 6 miles @ 7:54 + LIFTING

Wed- 8 miles @ 7:46

Thu- 7.5 miles @ 8:11

Fri- 6.2 miles @ 8:08

Sat- 6.2 miles @ 6:55 pace + LIFTING (30+ seconds per mile off current PR)

TOTAL- 44 miles

 

11 Weeks

Runs are feeling much harder this week. Legs 🦵 feel like they are working harder. I do not feel light or graceful when I am running at all. Maybe it’s the extra 15lbs I have gained from racing weight 🙉 lol. Heard the HB 165BPM!

Training Log

Mon- 10 miles @ 8:13 avg

Tues- 8 miles @ 7:58 + LIFTING

Wed- 7.6 miles @ 7:54

Thu- 6.2 miles @ 7:40

Fri- 7.2 miles @ 8:18 pace

Sat- 6 miles @ 7:52 + LIFTING

TOTAL- 45 miles

12 weeks

Feeling more human each week. Less bloating and nausea. It’s crazy how much better I feel than a month ago. It was pretty bad those first 9 weeks! Running still feels hard but that is expected. Starting to lose abs as the belly expands and uterus moves upwards. It is funny this time around knowing how big your body really does stretch, so when I compare to those 8-9 month pregnancy vibes, I can clearly see I am not showing at all LOL yet. I showed a clear belly around 24-28 weeks with Chase. We will see this time around!

Training Log:

Mon- 8.2 miles @ 7:40 pace + LIFTING

Tues- 8 miles @ 7:58 pace

Wed- 9 miles + LIFTING

Thu- 5 miles @ 7:33 progression

Fri- 2.2 miles 8:10 pace

Sat- 13.1 miles @ 7:49 + LIFTING (75+ seconds off current PR)

TOTAL- 46 miles

 

13 weeks

Feel as normal as I will probably feel all pregnancy with less nausea & fatigue. I’m still pretty tired though. I never got my energy completely back with Chase until after he was born. I’m definitely looking like I just ate way too much food for the past few months. In that awkward state of pregnancy where you can’t actually see a bump but you can tell something is going on lol. We are inching closer to the honeymoon stage of the 2nd trimester. I typically find the first trimester symptoms can linger until week 16-18 when the placenta completely takes over. The first trimester is so tough for different reasons than the end of pregnancy, but I try to stay as active as possible for as long as possible to make those last few weeks of pregnancy less miserable

Mon- 7.4 miles @ 8:10 pace

Tues- 8.1 miles @ 8:08 pace + LIFTING

Wed- 5.6 miles @ 7:50

Thu- 8.2 miles @ 8:17 + LIFTING

Fri- 5.1 mi @ 7:33 avg

Sat- 6 mi @ 8:04 avg + LIFTING

TOTAL- 41