Somebody had their baby!

No, not me -- mine still has several weeks to finish cooking.

The second of the running-triing preggos I follow had her baby. Alili over at http://alili-tris.blogspot.com/ announced the arrival of her little one on Facebook. I won't steal her thunder -- but head over to her blog to watch for the updates!

Ride for 90 minutes, eat like you're riding for 90 miles

After failing to find any good resources on how to eat and train while pregnant, I decided to make it up. Inspired by the endurance athletes that I've met and what I've learned during my pregnancy so far, this is what I packed for this morning's triathlon bike workout:

My husband wondered if I was going on a picnic instead of a bike workout.

At 40 minutes I'd gone through nearly 1L of water and nuun and started into the Larabar and alternated between the Larabar and banana, eating every 7 to 10 minutes. At the 60 minute mark I took a Shot Blok (this is my first time with Shot Bloks and other than tasting a little soapy, I really liked them). By 110 minutes the banana was gone, only 1/2 a Larabar was left, I had refilled my water, taken 2 pee breaks and incorporated 10 minutes of core.

Most importantly, I felt AWESOME! No headaches, no cramping, no bonking. I adjusted the workout so that it was at an intensity that was comfortable to me. My max speed was 22Km/h, my max cadence was 95 (the 22Km/h was funny because it was during a set where we were to max out our speeds and others were hitting an amazing 49-53Km/h). I skipped the standing sets because my balance is out of whack. And with a bit of tinkering with my seat, I was able to ride in my brake hoods for most of the ride (which helped out my back).

For my least favourite discipline, I think I might just like these long group rides.

Trust Your Gut

While there are a lot of things that are tough about being pregnant, for me the hardest is listening to other people's advice on how to be pregnant and raise your children. This is often from either people that don't have kids or have never been pregnant.

Most recently this came up while I was talking to an active mom about how to best eat during workouts (like my posts earlier, this third trimester hunger is a beast that I'm finding hard to tame!) Her advice: eat more, workout less. Put my feet up and relax since it's the only time in my life where I can do it. And am I not worried about hurting the baby? Besides, some textbook written 30 years ago by male doctors advises against more than 30 minutes of physical activity for pregnant women. (the italics are my sarcasm). I think the part that upset me the most was the implication that I would selfishly harm my unborn baby. And after working so hard for 28 weeks to keep a positive attitude and putting aside my body image concerns so that I could stay active (preggos in spandex or speedos are not sexy and finishing last in races is humbling) I was just devastated.

My 28 week pre-natal appointment with my OB/GYN yesterday morning couldn't have been better timed. After the routine exam (blood pressure: low, fetal heart rate: strong and regular, fundus: measuring 28 weeks, weight gain to date: 25lbs (compared to my first pregnancy I was up 48lbs at the same stage), VBAC success: looks good because baby is now head down and no longer breech) I gave her a no holds barred summary of my exercise up to now (I'd been holding back from my GP about how many 1/2 marathons I had done, just vaguely saying that I was "keeping active").

Her response: More mom's should be like you. Tell Nancy Naysayers to shove off. Keep it up, I'm proud of you.

My point of view: labour, delivery and those first first weeks are physically and mentally demanding. Pregnancy is not a vacation. Parenting challenges you every day. Ironman athletes sometimes take years to prepare for their ultimate test of endurance -- moms get 9 months and there is no off season. I spent last night doing a 90 minute strength training circuit session with my triathlon team (which I modified to accomodate my belly). I did not waste 90 minutes watching TV, I invested the time in a healthier me and baby and family (because they benefit as well).

So moms and preggos out there who are getting rolling eyeballs from the Nancy Naysayers you know in your gut what is right.

The Pregnant Triathlete's Guide to Nutrition

Looking for a book that helps athletes balance pregnancy, nursing and proper nutrition? This is likely what you will find.

Pregnancy is not new to me. Trying to eat healthfully while maintaining a physically active pregnancy is. During my first pregnancy I was never hungry because I was constantly emotional over-eating. Although I did keep swimming a few times a week my food intake always exceeded my engery output, which explains why I topped out at 200lbs by 40 weeks (60 above my pre-pregnancy weight).

This time, with more experience and confidence under my belt, I've committed to staying as active as possible. The benefits are paying off: I'm managing my depression better, not (as) tired and my weight gain is half of what it was last time. But as I get further into my pregnancy, balancing good nutrition and the demands of training and pregnancy is a daily challenge. Here's why.

During my first trimester I wasn't very hungry and my favourite Lemon Bar Larabar was enough to get me through a run an a piece of fruit and chocolate milk was fine for a recovery snack. Now at 26 weeks I am almost always ravenous. It's OK if I don't have a big workout during the day because I'm able to keep my hunger under control with snacking on high fibre foods throughout the day. If you're an athlete, I don't need to spell out what a day full of high fibre foods + a high energy output workout equals. On a similar note, early morning pre-pregnancy workouts could be done on a gel or a banana and toast. Not so much these days.

My last three workouts have been pretty intense: Saturday's 90 minutes of swimming, Sunday's 90 minutes of bike and core and then last night's super fun 90 minutes of strength and core (check my workout log to the right for details on each). Each time I've made it through the workouts with a little bit of energy to spare, but dehydration and hunger headaches that knock me out for the rest of the day. On Saturday and Sunday it took a lot of carbs and protein and nuun to shake the headaches. Last night I was eating scrambled eggs with cheese and oatmeal at 8pm (that said, I feel fabulous today). I am completely underestimating how much food I need.

This is the plan that I have for the next few weeks of this pregnancy in terms of workouts and nutrition. I've ID'd hydration and protein as my major weak points.
Monday: 30-45 minute walk. Add more protein to help with weekend recovery.
Tuesday: Strength and core.
Wednesday: Personal trainer session (strength and core).
Thursday: 90 minute circuit and strength with triathlon team. Hydrate more during day. Bring bananas or Larabars. Add more protein during day.
Friday: Rest. Hydrate with nuun and H2O for weekend.
Saturday: 90 minute swim with Masters. Cheese, oatmeal, fruit for breakfast (which means an early morning wakeup since swims start at 7am). Bring food and extra nuun on deck and food for recovery right after practice. Hydrate more during day.
Sunday: 90 minute bike and core with triathlon team. Same nutrition plan but without the early morning wakeup.

Been in my shoes before? Leave your comments with tips and ideas!

Soul Fever

The only parenting book that I've purchased. Look it up, you'll be glad you did. I haven't gotten much further than the first chapter -- I'm either asleep by 9:15pm or tearing up so bad I need to put the book down.

About two weeks ago I started picking up on subtle changes in Newt's personality. As his mom, of course I'm going to brag that he's a great kid, full of spunk and thoughfulness and a wacky silliness that can only come from his dad. But he seemed to be moody, prone to tears, quick to temper and sleeping poorly. I was getting burned out and so was my husband because we simply didn't know what to do. I was reassured by moms everywhere that it was just a stage and every kid goes through something like that.

Just a stage is not a good enough reason for me.

The best thing about pregnancy insomnia is that it's one of the rare times when my house is totally quiet and I can be alone in my thoughts. And thinking back over the last few weeks this "stage" really wasn't a stage at all -- just our son getting caught up in the busy stresses of our grown up lives without a lot of one on one quiet time with us. As parents we were letting our number one job slide. So we cut out TV, juice, overprocessed foods, put more than half of his toys into storage, started taking family walks at night and started bedtime 30 minutes early so the three of us could wind down and talk about our days and read stories. Four days later he's sleeping better, eating better, more cheerful and even though the loud teary meltdowns are still there, there's always a clear trigger (and it's usually an empty stomach -- that he inherits from me).

This is where the Soul Fever comes in. At the same time I was having this revelation that Newt was just overwhelmed, I found Simplicity Parenting on the shelf at my local bookstore. What a relief to find a book that reaffirmed exactly the nagging little thoughts that I was having and the source of Newt's upset. There is a chapter titled Soul Fever - which explains as parents we are programmed to pick up on all of the signs and symptoms of a physical fever but often overlook a Soul Fever because we get caught up in our daily stresses without (or forgetting) the impact those stresses have on our children. Often it's because as parents we're struggling with our own Soul Fevers (which is why my training NEEDS to happen). The signs and symptoms and treatment for both the soul and the physical are the same -- strip away what's not needed, hold them close and cherish them.

Treating Newt's Soul Fever often includes baking. Here we are on Monday night making Martha Stewart's cherry cheese strudel together. Cooked at 400F for 60 minutes ensures that anything on the wheels of his cars that were making race tracks in the strudel dough gets burned off (or disguised with other crunchy bits). I think strudel making is an essential skill for all 3 year old boys.

So this is the off season?

Off season for most normal triathletes is an opportunity to scale back training and plan for the year ahead.


Since Friday, I've logged more Ks in the pool and on my bike than I did during the entire race season. I am clearly not normal.


Motivated by a confession session and a switch up in my strength and core routine with my personal trainer, I cut cheques to my Masters Swim Club and Triathlon Team and jumped feet first into a chilly training tank on Saturday at 7am for a solid 2700M then was on my bike the next day for 90 minutes capped off with 30 minutes of core. And other than feeling a little sore (a long breast stroke set is to blame for the pubic bone pain) I feel fabulous.


The thing that I love about my Masters team is that no matter how long I've been away from the pool (roughly 3 years, give or take a few swims here and there) is that my lane mates always welcome me back. I've only dropped a lane in speed. I was able to still do flip turns. I even managed some fly sets.

The bike workout I was really nervous about - so much that when I woke up this morning I wasn't even going to renew my membership this year. Instead I showed up at practice and paid for a full membership with a plan to attend Sunday bikes and Thursday strength circuits. The bike ended up being very good and my fear of falling of my trainer was unfounded (but I also skipped the standing sets for that reason). But because my torso is about as short as my top tube, leaning over was very uncomfortable with a 25 week fetus in my way so most of the ride was spent sitting up -- definately hard work but on the bright side my core was engaged pretty much the whole time. The bike workout was topped off with 30 minutes of my new and improved core routine courtesy of the personal trainer (most of it is on all fours which I'm hoping will also be good to turn this breech baby around). My only big mistake this morning was not packing food or extra nuun. I was toast by the end of the workout and spent the afternoon with a dehydration hangover type headache.

What I need from the blogosphere are tips to keep as comfortable as a pregnant lady on a road bike can be. Do I need to raise or lower my seat? Buy a wheel rest thingamajigger that raises my front wheel up higher? Or sit up for the whole time? I've got another 15 weeks at a minimum (and a crazy goal to have my 15 week bike total to at least hit my run total) and I really want to minimize the number of lame excuses that I can make up to avoid getting on my bike.

253.9KM

My 24.5 weeks run totals. Not bad for a pregnant lady.

On June 15, 2009 two faint little pink lines showed up on my home pregnancy test and I made a promise to the little person I'm baking to try to be as fit and healthy as I could be. I lived up to that promise - for the next 20 weeks I racked up 253.9KM on the running scoreboard, mostly through racing.

On October 31, 2009, at 24.5 gestation, I hung up my runners for the rest of this pregnancy - on a high note I add. The few runs I managed after my 22K trail race were good, but my last run on Saturday, fittingly with Ms. Caddywumpus, was not. From top to bottom I was sore and uncomfortable.

I'm glad that I was able to make this choice on my own -- instead of having to stop because of injury or doctor's orders. Now what? The triathlon off-season has started, I've got strength training sesssions lined up with my personal trainer and another 15.5 weeks left in this pregnancy to make the most of.