Ending and Starting with a BANG! [My Running Year in Pictures]

I remember this run vividly. It was so windy but a "warm" day for January. We took our boys on a 14 mile stroller run!

I'm so excited to begin my 2016 running adventure. If I thought 2015 was a great year, I can only imagine what 2016 has in store. I'm most excited to see what I can accomplish while pregnant. The great thing is that I will have no pressure at all to perform a certain way! It's going to be awesome!!!

February frosty lashes! I never knew this was a thing until I lived in Ohio.

 

The planner in me is anxiously awaiting my first OB appointment (January 12th). I'm dying to know how far along I am with Baby Boo Deux. When I was pregnant with JD3 a.k.a. Baby Boo, I was in the middle of a "one race per month goal." Because I wasn't running very much when I got pregnant with him, I never really progressed to running more than 6 miles and only raced 5k's. This time around, things are VERY different. Most of you guys know how much I ran this year. I ran a grand total of:

 

2,072.49 miles!!!

A rare run with Kimberly. This was also a random afternoon stroller run with our boys. I didn't know the little stinker was pregnant at the time!! [March]

 

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April long run. I think this might have been Marion's first 20 miler EVER!

 

As of now, I have no time or mileage goals for next year. Once I get through this horrible first trimester, I'm sure I'll enjoy running again. Right now, I'm just trying to survive! Despite feeling like crap, I'm still able to run in the 7's....it just depends on the day. Not having a training program is driving me slightly crazy but I can't follow one right now. I just never know how I will feel. My only plan is to run when I can, run fast when I can, run slow when I have to, run far when I can, run 'not far' if I have to. Sounds pretty simple to me!

May, Flying Pig. Jackie's first marathon and my 3rd.

I am currently planning one race per month through June. Anything else is questionable based on my due date:

 

• January: Broke Man's Winter Warm Up- Half Marathon
• February: Warm Up for Boston- Half Marathon 2-Person Relay
• March: St. Patrick's Day 4 Miler at Kinsale
• April: Ann Arbor Half Marathon
• May: Flying Pig Half Marathon
• June: Columbus 10k

That time I convinced Marion to do a half marathon with me. VICTORY! [June]

 

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A rare run with the always sweet Debbie! [July]



I'm so excited to begin 2016 with Baby Boo Deux and friends!



Emerald City Half in August. The first time I ever yacked after a race!

My birthday run. Theresa knows how to make a birthday girl smile! [September]

October 10 miler in Westerville. The day I had an overdue 3.1 mile solo date with Jackie.

November stretching shenanigans.

That time in December when the weather was perfect and we all decided to kill ourselves by doing a 5k.

I Haven't Had Coffee in Three Days

I've only known for two weeks, and what I know isn't much:

 

1. I've taken three positive pregnancy tests.
2. I've been nauseous for 7 weeks.
3. I've been extremely fatigued for 2 weeks or so.
4. I have an appointment on January 12th to make sure all is well and when Baby Boo Deux was conceived.
5. Finally, I haven't been able to drink coffee the past three days (my biggest nightmare when I was pregnant with James).

 

 

What I don't know:

1. When I conceived. I thought I had my period on November 8th and that's what the doctor is going by as far as scheduling me for my first appointment. Based on my horrible nausea and when it began, I suspect I got pregnant in October and that my November "period" was something else. (side note: In the beginning stages of nausea, I seriously thought it was my GERD symptoms because I was convinced I wasn't pregnant based on my November "period.")

 

 

My days have been very rough lately. The nausea has controlled me. I was not this bad with James. I'm sick all day long with some relief in the early afternoon. Then it all comes back in the late afternoon and evening. Fun stuff. I'm having the worst time sleeping so that has affected me a lot. Fortunately, work has been extra slow which has allowed me to run during the day when I feel a lot better. With my running, I'm just listening to my body. That's why I've decided not to fully commit to any runs because I will likely back out at the last minute if I feel like crap.

 

At this time, Jimmy and I are planning to do like we did with James and NOT find out the sex of the baby. Therefore, it will be referred to as "Baby Boo Deux." We are very excited since I was at my wit's end with trying to get pregnant. I also feel this huge weight lifted off my shoulders because I have an answer for the way I have been feeling.

 

I understand we are still in the unsafe zone of potential miscarriage but I want to put this out there so you can all be praying for us through this time. I am anxiously awaiting January 12th so that we can hear a heart beat! I'm also anxiously awaiting to hear our conception date. Wouldn't it be awesome if I ran a marathon pregnant?! Even if that little booger was only 3+ weeks old.

A Quote I Stumbled Upon [and Your Best Workout This Week]

Yesterday, I was inspired to google the following:

• there's no whining in running
• no whining quotes
• no whining, no complaining, no excuses

 

Through this, I stumbled upon this quote and posted it to my FB running group:

 

 

Fortunately, my friends loved it, and it hit home for many. I've felt like complete crap most days the past 6 weeks. Honestly, there's nothing I can do about it right now so I just have to deal with it. I'm moving on with my plan and taking things day by day. I've learned recently that I can still have a successful workout even with my symptoms. Although I do believe that what is going on in my body is affecting the way I feel and the way I run, I'm not using it as an excuse to whine about my performance. My symptoms may be the reason I feel the way I do on any given day, but it won't steal the joy of running. I am in a phase and phases don't last forever!

 

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I've seen a lot of happy people sharing their successful runs this week. After a really tough track workout last week, I wondered if my body would allow me to do speed work. Today, I was able to complete my speed challenge! (I'm committing to posting a speed challenge each week to my running group) I did a 3 mile warm up, 4 miles @7:35 pace, and a 1.07 mile cool down (overall average of 8:02/mile)! This "0.07" was to make my yearly mileage even! LOL. I now have only 14 miles to complete my 2015 in 2015!!!

This is the face I make after every workout lately. It says "OMG. I can't believe I just survived that."

Tell me, what has been your best workout in the past week?!

Your First Run in the History of All Runs...

So many running firsts with these two! [Amanda, Jackie, Me]

I was thinking about how I got started on my running journey. I was a freshman in high school and my friend, Amanda S., was an AMAZING cross country runner at my high school. Our sisters played softball together for a few years so our families became very close. We were on a camping vacation of sorts during the summer and Amanda kept begging me to run with her. She wanted to see if I liked it so that I would join the cross country team with her. At the time, I thought to myself "The only thing I have going for me right now is playing the clarinet in band." I thought if I was a decent runner, I would be an athlete and get a boyfriend! (in case you were wondering, this thought process was WAY OFF).

 

So, on one of our camping trips, I decided to go for a little jog with my friend. I don't remember hating it, but I wasn't totally in love with it. I mean, have any of you been in love with running after the first one?! Sometime the following week, I told my friend I was going to our local track to run some laps. Unbeknownst to me, Amanda S. told her coach when I would be there. I arrived to the track, scared as all get out, and decided to kick my legs around and stretch because I was stalling the inevitable. As I was doing all of this mess, I saw a strange man come into the track area and sit on the bleachers. It was weird. I kept stretching until I ran out of muscles to stretch. This man would not leave. At that point, I was like WTH...JUST RUN!

 

I ran 6 laps around the track when I decided to stop. I have no idea how fast I ran...I just ran. When I sat down afterwards, the creepy man came up to me (side note: he's not really a creepy man...he was one of my biggest inspirations at that time in my life). It was the cross country coach. He told me that Amanda talked about me and he wondered if I was interested in joining the cross country team. It was this day that my running adventure officially began! I went from running 6 laps around the local track to running 2 mile cross country races and eventually 5ks then running my first full marathon 8 years later (can someone tell me why my crazy a$$ ran a full before a half?).

 

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My longest run since The Veteran's Marathon! Thankful for these ladies and thankful for legs that run...even if they were about to fall off during this run. [Back: Kim, Marion, Megan, Dani; Front: Karen, Amanda, Theresa, Me]
 

Quick update on me: No change in my symptoms. Despite the nausea/GERD crap, I'm enjoying my runs lately! I ran my longest run since my full a month ago (13.5 miles) and I'm only 34.49 miles away from meeting my goal of 2015 miles in 2015!!! What a blessing this year has been despite a tough ending!

Friends supporting friends. It's a beautiful thing. [Trevor, Me, Amanda, Theresa "the machine" M-S]

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Tell me about your VERY FIRST running experience!!!

Changing the Way I Think Lately

My friends and family are getting an earful. Nine months of trying to get pregnant and NOTHING. I talk it out with everyone because it keeps my mind off of it for at least a couple of days at a time. I was struggling a lot today because tomorrow is my "period day." I was freaking out about if I was going to start. If I do, I'm sad because I'm not pregnant. If I don't, I'm freaking out because I may start the next day or the next. It's a vicious mental cycle.

 

I have friends and family who reassure me that my freaking out is justified...that they understand why I'm feeling this way. I just feel lately that I have to post-pone everything I want to do until I know I'm pregnant. I can't plan vacations, races, etc. until I know the baby plan. It's AWFUL possessing the planning personality trait.

 

One of the things that is guaranteed to make me happy and keep my mind positive is running/working out. Post marathon training, I told myself I was going to significantly decrease my mileage because I thought it would help me get pregnant. I had my doubts about that being a factor but my doc put it in my head earlier in the year that it MIGHT have an effect.

 

I was discussing the whole training less thing with another friend and determined it might be rubbish. Yes, everyone is different, but she brought up a point I never thought of before: if my cycles have been regular (and they have since March or April), is running really affecting me getting pregnant? Isn't getting pregnant about our cycle?! The thought blew my mind. I've been struggling, wondering if my training has been the reason for me not getting pregnant, and I'm beginning to think it's not. That is such a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.

 

No, my friends and I aren't medical doctors...but we are educated women. With this epiphany, I will likely research this and go about my life as normal until I get word that there's a baby. I can't continue with this thought process of not planning because I "MIGHT" be pregnant. It's driving me nuts.

 

To my runner friends: How has running affected your cycle or affected you getting pregnant?

Westerville Sertoma Rudolph Run 5k

[Theresa, Me, Amanda] Everyone else was taking a whiz.

 

We all know that 5k's suck. The suck is minimized when you invite all of your friends to be tortured with you. I was motivated to do this particular race mainly because of the cheap registration fee...only $20 if you signed up in groups of four! Since I have a lot of friends who are easily peer pressured, I knew I could snatch at least three more people.

It has been gorgeous so far this December and today was no exception. Low to mid 40s, minimal wind...the sun even decided to make an appearance (Thank you, Dani, for the sunglasses!!!). We met up early and went for a 2 mile warm up. My only concern about today, of course, was keeping my GERD symptoms at bay. I felt alright-ish this morning but decided to take a Zantac in hopes it would prevent any symptoms during the race. I felt ok during the warm up as far as the nausea, but I was burping a lot.

Part of The A Team pre-race! Highlight of the photo: Marion's stance. [Amanda, me, Theresa, Amber, Debbie, Dani, Marion]

At the start, my runner friend, Tamara, noticed there was no timing pad which lead us to believe the start was gun timed rather than chip timed. What did these serious b!t*he$ do? GET UP FRONT, of course! Seconds mean a lot during a 5k!!

The first mile was mostly around the Chase building. We did a little loop around the area before heading up (literally up) Heatherdown Drive to State Street. The rest of the race went up (yes, up some more) State Street to County Line. There were definitely some flat sections mixed in there. I can't say the course was hilly...not at all. It was just a gradual incline with two tiny hills (the one in mile one and the one at the finish). I probably would have PR'd if we went the opposite direction!

Mile one [6:44]. I knew I just needed to keep my other miles in the low 7s to get sub 22 minutes. Despite that, I wanted to try to keep my miles just under 7 minutes. The first mile felt ok regarding my GERD symptoms but when we hit that hill and my breathing increased, I noticed it was becoming harder to breathe (did anyone else just sing Maroon 5?!). I tried to block out what I was feeling because I knew I had something special coming up. Jimmy and James were going to be cheering me on just after the mile mark!!! I was so excited to see them. It meant so much to have them there. When they saw me, I heard Jimmy tell him "There's mommy!" When James saw me, he had the biggest smile on his face an started clapping. OMG, so precious!!! It brought temporary tears to my eyes.

At this point, my legs felt amazing but my chest and throat were in so much pain (at least I wasn't nauseous). I kept looking at my watch and couldn't seem to get my pace faster than 7:25. Even the parade crowd didn't seem to give me that extra boost I needed to go faster (in case you are lost, there was a Christmas parade that followed the race...it was definitely a plus to have the crowd there). Mile 2 [7:21]. Mile three was the same story. Fresh legs that just couldn't make themselves go because my chest was hurting so bad. UGH. It's very frustrating that I can't seem to control these symptoms. Mile 3 [7:20].

The race was spot on for the distance. My Garmin read 3.11 miles. My last 0.11 was at an average 6:09 pace (this is where we had that final incline/hill). As I was approaching the finish, I noticed the clock read 21:46. I thought I had a chance to make it under 22 minutes. If it weren't for the hill, I'm sure I would have beat the clock. BOOO! My official time:

22:04!!!

A strong finish! [Pic courtesy of Theresa]

I'm still extremely proud of my time. My second fastest 5k finish!! Although I'm incredibly excited about how I'm able to tolerate racing with these awful symptoms, it is very frustrating that I can't run to my fullest potential. It's frustrating to run a race and have your legs feel good but not be able to go faster because you feel like you are going to die of chest pain. BLAH! Until this crap subsides, I will continue running happy because it's a blessing to have legs that run. At least this is all going down in the winter when it sucks to run, anyway!!

Great group of successful ladies...and where is Tamara?! [Front: Amanda, Marion, Me, Theresa; Back: Debbie, Dani, Emily, Megan, Amber]

Shout out to all of my friends who ran today. Everyone put on a great performance! We need to torture ourselves [together] more often.
 

Disconnecting + Update + Random Pictures

My silly boys.

What have I been up to since my Thanksgiving 5k? I'm sure all 40 of you are dying to know, and, well, 20 of you probably already know. I'm still running only 26-30 miles per week and on track to meet my 2015 in 2015 goal!

My mommy.

 

Since the race:

• Friday 11/27- 5 miles on my parents' mill, 8:35 average pace. Progressed from 8:57 to 8:20 min/mile. I needed this easy run to loosen up all the tightness from that race. That trail and those hills had my muscles confused!
• Saturday 11/28- 11.14 miles in Winchester, VA, 9:11 average pace. I met the sweet Karen earlier this year when I was visiting my parents. I didn't want to do my long run alone. I decided to hit her up again for this trip. I LOVED running in Winchester again!! It's a beautiful city with unavoidable hills.
• Monday 11/30- 5 miles, 8:40 average pace. Easy treadmill run at the Y. I had a break in the middle of my work day so I'm sure my afternoon patients appreciated my aroma.

James and Grandma making funny faced selfies!

This brought me to the end of November with a total of 124.08 miles. My lowest of the year! Yay! To celebrate my month of taper/recovery/rest, I did my first speed workout today. 6 miles, 8:00 average pace: 2 mile progressive warm up, 1.5 miles @7:30, 3 min recovery, 1 mile @6:57, 3 min recovery, 0.5 miles @6:39, recover to 6 miles. My legs handled it well considering I did Body Pump this morning. I thought for sure my legs would fall off.

 

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"Donut Worry, Be Happy."

 

My health...mental and physical. It's been a mess. As I've mentioned in recent posts, my GERD has exacerbated in full force. My nausea has gotten worse the past week and has not subsided. If I hadn't had my period the day after Indy, I would think I was pregnant. The nausea is unbearable and lasts all day long. At least it's intermittent but I can't identify if anything is helping it to go away.

Dressing up for the occasion?

 

Nausea, pregnancy...this leads me to my mental health. I'm beside myself with this trying to get pregnant thing. It's driving me absolutely crazy. I think about it daily. I analyze everything I feel in my body and wonder if I could be pregnant. I've taken a bazillion tests just to be disappointed a bazillion times. I knew it might take longer the second time around. I mean, we got pregnant with James in the second month of trying. It's been 9 months and I'm mentally done. I want to forget about it and just let it happen when it happens, but my personality doesn't allow for that.

 

I'm a planner. In my mind, I can't plan anything until I know when I'll be pregnant. I can't plan family vacations, races, etc., until I know when a little one will be arriving. I also remember how miserable I was having James in the winter. Sure, I had 10 weeks off of work, but that 10 weeks sucked butt because it was in the middle of an often single digit winter. In my world, I am not allowing that to happen again.

 

As you can assume, my head starts doing math. OK...I have to get pregnant by December which means I'll find out in January and that will give me a baby before October hits. PERFECT! Except that I'm not pregnant yet. Now, in my mind, I have a deadline which, of course, increases the pressure and stress. UGH.

 

As I told my close friends when I shared my struggle, I'm not looking for advice. I know I need to chill out, enjoy it, not care when I get pregnant, God's timing not mine...BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. That all may be true but it's not how my brain works and it doesn't make me feel better.

OBSESSED with lights. I can't wait to take him to Wildlights at the zoo!

Because I'm going nuts with this crap, I've been trying to disconnect myself slightly from Facebook. My goal has always been to put myself out there, be completely honest, and let others know that they aren't alone in their struggles...whether big or small. I don't know if this disconnection will last days, weeks...I'm shocked that I've made it two days with minimal Facebook contact. LOL.

 

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I'll certainly continue to share my joys and struggles with y'all through this baby making process and through my health issues. I did get a phone call from my PCP yesterday stating that they approved a referral to see a specialist for my GERD. I'm expecting to hear from the specialist this week about an appointment! As of know, I'm struggling with nausea and chest pain. It sucks. It hurts. I would love relief but I know others struggle more than me so I'll deal with it and try not to whine too much about it.