So Relieved!

I am so relieved that I can finally talk about my pregnancy. It has been so hard writing and not to be able to tell you why I was having a hard time getting my weekly workouts in or why running was becoming more and more difficult.

So here it is! My excuses! I have had and still continue to have extreme exhaustion. And it is not like I am not sleeping. I am sleeping so much right now I am almost confused why I am so tired, but I am. I have to remind myself that I am doing 2 things at once right now. I am still nursing Collin and I am making a whole new baby. That takes a lot of energy and it is just zapping me and knocking me on my butt, more than I thought it would. And to accompany that I have had horrid morning sickness which means I am not eating as much as I probably should be to support nursing and making a baby. In the beginning I was trying to eat what I knew I should and I was getting so sick to my stomach after ever meal that I finally figured out that I needed to just eat more meals during the day but smaller amounts. Once I did that, the morning sickness has gotten better but I still have days where it is just, nothing looks good to me at all and I have to force myself to eat. And hunks of meat don't go well for me right now. I can't just eat chicken or beef. I have been enjoying rice and soups mostly, oh and eggs. Eggs are my staple right now. We are going through 3 dozen eggs a week right now. And I have now started drinking a tea that has been helping me with my morning sickness so I am excited for that to work. But I just can't wait to get past the first trimester and be done with all this morning sickness and exhaustion!

But other than that, I have been doing pretty well. I have times where I actually feel pretty good and forget I am pregnant, or start to worry if something is wrong. And per usual every commercial on TV right now gets me crying or anything sappy I am a total water works!

As I said on Saturday I am still planning on running my 10k on Sunday and also the 10 miler next month. I know I can do this, but I just have to be safe about it. I am still in the danger zone of being pregnant, but from my past experiences I know that there is nothing I can do to continue a pregnancy if it is not meant to be. So I have been wielding faith with every footstep. Saying a prayer, ever run I do, that the baby and I stay safe and that we finish happy and healthy. The days that I have done my long runs, I am pretty much out for the count the rest of the day. Or at least most of it. The 7 miles I did 2 weeks ago, I was dealing with my feet hurting from the shoes not working well, which made my legs hurt more than they should so I was pretty roughed up from that run. But I have my old brand and year back now and I am excited to break in my new shoes. (more on the shoes later this week!)

Pregnant In Running Shoes...AGAIN!

Can you believe it? Can I believe it? NOPE! I think I am still in shock at seeing that second line on the test!

~So was this planned? Not this early! No, we knew we were going to have another child, and that it would be close in age to Collin, but we never, ever, LIKE EVER! Thought it would be this close to having Collin. Collin and Baby #3 will be 16 months apart. I was hoping to get pregnant around March-May. But apparently the big guy up top had other ideas for us.

~How did you find out? At the beginning of Jan we went to Collin's 6 month check up and he had lost weight. So I was really pushing nursing like crazy with him. Then all the sudden I wasn't producing like, anything. Kid was crying at the end of every nursing session because he wasn't getting enough. 2 days later of this and being exhausted, I sent Matt to the store to get some tests because I just didn't feel right. I felt off and I wanted to prove that pregnancy was not in the picture. I was still nursing. No way I could still get pregnant. WRONG! I took a test that night, it was a Friday night. And I got a super faint line. I told Matt and he said that he wouldn't believe it till it was "morning pee." (morning pee is more undiluted pee and is supposed to give more accurate results.) So the next morning I took another test and the test was a little darker. (not much but there was definitely a line.) Matt then said he would believe the test on Monday morning after waiting a few days. "It could be a false positive!" he would say as he and I were in utter and complete SHOCK!

Monday morning rolled around and I took another test. The line this morning was much darker. I was concerned about nursing and wasn't sure about continuing nursing or even if my progesterone was at the right levels to sustain a pregnancy. (I had to take progesterone pills with my other pregnancies to sustain them) So I called my OB/GYM up that day and they decided to see me the next day.

I went in. Got an exam and check up and had my blood drawn. That evening I got the results of my test, called personally from my doc which usually isn't a good sign, and he said that it was 27 and that that could be normal for a very early pregnancy and for me to go back on Friday to get a second draw to make sure it doubled in that time. Time crawled by till Friday. I took another pee test (Matt got 6) on Thursday and the line was EVEN DARKER! Friday rolled around and got poked in the arm. Later that day, we got a call from the nurse and she said my numbers more than doubled. I was at 124! So baby was sticking. And my progesterone was fine. No suppositories! YEA!

Since then I have just been sitting on this news, dying to tell all of you!

Hard part though, I have been very sick with morning sickness. It seems to be getting worse ever single week. I even missed my 8 mile run this morning because of it and my INSANE migraines I have been getting. They are AWFUL! So I am still planning on doing the 10 miler next month. There isn't a time limit on it but I will be doing it. After that I have smaller races and can do them easy peasy. I just want to get past all the puking and dry heaving stage!

~How far along am I right now. Tomorrow I will be 8 weeks. I am announcing earlier than I would like, but I figured I need to be grateful for this amazing blessing. This was a surprise. A true blessing and I just can not hide it in any longer!

~What is your official due date? Well, this past Thursday, I went in for my 8 week check up. We didn't know my due date (since I am nursing, and I didn't remember my last period) so I got sent to the hospital for a dating ultrasound. I got to see our little gummy bear and the heart beat and based on the size of the embryo, I am due September 27.

I am so thankful for you sticking around with me and continuing to follow me. Again, my goal for this pregnancy is to remain as fit and healthy as possible. I still hadn't lost all the baby weight from Collin. I figured I had a few months to lose it before I got pregnant again and well, nope! So I am starting out this pregnancy even heavier than I ever wanted to start a pregnancy. I am almost at my end pregnancy weight I was with both boys. That scares me to death. So my goal is to remain as active as possible, do more exercises that spot certain areas of my body that I know get bigger, my thighs and BUTT! and to continue eating a healthy diet. (failing in that right now because sweets are just amazing, well some of them, and I am having a hard time eating meat in general.) So lots of eggs right now and I have been enjoying fresh fruit and green smoothies. Here is to the next 9 months!

Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon Tips For New Runners: The Expo

Oh the EXPO! We hit the expo on Saturday afternoon last year. A TON of the Disney merchandise was already gone by then.

The Official Even Guide is up right now ( I love that they are taking this Frozen theme into it so much! I am sure that you will be seeing lots of Anna and Elsa's and Olaf's too as you run!). Take some time to look through it. Figure out speakers to go and watch. Familiarize yourself with the booths at the expo. One HUGE TIP! Know your budget before you go in there. Only allow yourself to spend $X amount of dollars so that you don't go crazy when you are in there. THERE IS A TON OF CUTE STUFF and you are going to want to get it all!

Here are my top things that I wanted, and got and other things to check out and do while at the EXPO:

1) The "I DID IT" Shirt! I had to have it. Yes I got a shirt with the race, but I love the idea of the I DID IT shirt. Because I earned that shirt and my gorgeous medal! Like I said above, most of the Disney Merch. was sold out. There were a couple of people at a table with the shirts they had left and they were handing out cards to go to a specific site AFTER the race to be able to order your shirt. BUT you had to do it right after the race, and they only had so many. So you better believe that after I got back to our hotel and before I got in the tub to soak I ordered my shirt. I got the Tech shirt and I LOVE IT! I wear it all the time. The back of it has the race route on it and it is great! It did take me about 2 months (no kidding on that) to get the shirt delivered to my house but when I got it I was doing a happy little dance and I seriously wear it all the time. ( I like the Glass Slipper Challenge merchandise so much this year!)

2) Mini Medal pin. This I ordered when I registered for the race. Yes, I have a lanyard with pins I have collected on it. They are special pins that you can only get if you have done them. Like I have one for the Disney Cruise Mexico, and for the Keys to the Kingdom tour, our Segway tour. So now I have my little princess half marathon pin on there! They had plenty left and Glass slipper pins left too so get those. Also, they make really cute Christmas Ornaments. They are small enough for the tree that you can hang your collection. (Maybe get 2 sets of pins.)

3) KT Tape. If you haven't gotten taped yet, but you have a lingering pain it might be a good idea to stop by the KT booth and get taped up professionally. As a back up though bring your own tape with you. By Saturday they were all out of tape and they said if I had my own they would tape me so, bring a roll with you but have them tape you up! I had my belly taped up for the race, prior to even leaving home so I was already covered with tape.

4) Get something specific for you that you are going to look back on for your experience. There are lots of booths with motivational items in them. I went with the shoe charms. My BFF and I got Sole Sisters. I also now want to get a 13.1 because I have done it. But there were lots of shirts that we saw that we really liked.

5) Try out the different flavors of GU. Gu will have a booth set up with samples. These are the same samples that will be available to you at mile 9. Know before you go. Technically if you haven't tried Gu before running the 1/2, like on your training run, then it might not be a good idea but you might need that pick me up, (that being said, if you haven't tried Gu or another energy picker-uper you still have to try it out before the race!) There are so many flavors from vanilla to mocha flavor to caffeine free. I went with Raspberry and Lime which were both caffeine free since I was so pregnant.

6) I wish I had a chance to listen to the speakers. My friend Elizabeth just did the Star Wars 1/2 at Disneyland last month and got to listen to Jeff Galloway and LOVED IT! She ended up getting his walk/run timer and used it to help her complete her first 1/2 marathon!

7) Take lots and lots of pictures. Even at the expo! It is ok, just do it! You will want to remember everything and the weekend is going to be a whirlwind of craziness and you will forget. So make sure you take PICTURES!

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Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon Tips for New Runners: Costumes

The RunDisney 10k & Princess Half Marathon is in less than 2 weeks! Sadly, I won't be participating in this wonderful race this year but I did it last year and thought it would be fun to share some tips and tricks I learned about the race to any new participant this year! So I am going to do a series of posts over the next few days about RunDisney and the Princess Half Marathon!

(Brave inspired costume. Tutu by Race Junkie. Nike Shirt with custom vinyl by Be Bold.) 

A must do is to DRESS UP! Wearing a running costume is all the rage at RunDisney events! You don't have to but most everyone running will be wearing a costume of some sort! And generally they are Disney themed but seriously you can wear whatever you want to wear!

Trust me it is so much fun to run in costume and to see what everyone else is wearing to run in. Need inspiration? Check out my Pinterest page for some ideas.

Angie, from a Facebook group we are part of, gave me permission to post her picture with her AWESOME costume! She got the skirt from Run Princess Run, the top was homemade. Leg warmers are from Run Alice Run and the cape is from her daughter's costume (way to repurpose Angie!)

Outfit: Styles of costumes are important to think about. Tutu's are great to run in, however the length of the tutu does matter. Last year, I ran in a tutu. It was made by RaceJunkie (I am pretty sure it is past the cutoff point to order a tutu from her at this point.) If you decide to make one, there are lots of tutorials online, between now and the race make sure the Tutu is 9-12 inches in length. RaceJunkie does them 9 inches preferred, but I will say that it barely covers my big butt. The 12 inch tutu might be too long and can get caught in between your  thighs as you run and can cause a TON or chaffing! So shorter might be better in this case. Last year I saw someone wearing an ankle length tutu. Talk about annoying and painful! Oh, and be creative. You don't have to dress up like a main character. I have seen a Chip, from Beauty and the Beast, costume from this year. There is even talk about someone dressing up as a balloon lady, balloon and all. That will get everyone around her to run a little faster!

Trial and Error: Do a Test Run in your costume! So important! You will learn if there is chaffing before you have to deal with it for 13.1 miles. You will learn if your costume can hold up to running. You will learn the annoyances of it too. I had a large pregnant belly to help keep the tutu riding low on my hips, but when I ran in a tutu at 17 weeks pregnant my tutu kept riding up a big and I just ended up pulling it up above my belly button so I wouldn't have to deal with it.

(My BFF K. tutu and shirt from RaceJunkie)

Hair& Makeup: If you put spray color in your hair to temporally change the color of your hair while running. TRY IT OUT BEFORE the race day. Go do a sweaty workout or a nice long run that gets your head all sweaty to see how much the spray dye will drip into your eyes or if it will drip down your head. Also don't forget if you run in makeup try to wear waterproof mascara and eyeliner.

Motivational Quotes: Have sayings on your shirt, front and back. It was fun to read all the motivational sayings on the shirts. Seeing what was on the back and also trying to read the front. My friend who ran with me kept telling me how many people I was passing and I was 29 weeks pregnant. And others would come up from behind and say, how amazing it was that I was running at 29 weeks pregnant. My front of my shirt was my motivation to me and the back was a reminder that a very pregnant lady was in front of them.

Shoes: New Balance released a new series of shoes and they will be for sale at the Expo. Buy a pair if you want, but DO NOT RUN 13.1 MILES IN THEM THE NEXT DAY! Huge rule of thumb is to not do something new that you have already tested out. I saw so many people on the course wearing their new beautiful New Balance Cinderella shoes, some even with the satin as the laces. I saw bloody heels and hobbling going on from some of the ladies. You have been training for the last couple of months for this in your running shoes, stick with it for race day. And wear the awesome new shoes around the parks. Don't mess with running mojo on the day of the race!

Treadmill Interval Training

Some days it is just too cold outside to go running. For me, there is 1 Saturday a month that I  cannot run with the training group, guaranteed, because that is the weekend that Matt has his Army training. GO ARMY WIFE! So I am stuck with running on the treadmill or dreadmill as some call it for my long run that day. YUCK! (anything more than 4 miles on the treadmill is HARD! Also during the week though you can find me at the gym on the treadmill and elliptical. Since my gym has 2.5 hours of daycare allowed per day I try to spend a good amount of time there.

So what do I do from getting bored on the treadmill. First of all. I use the personal TV that is on the machine. Since I don't have cable TV at home I love to watch the Food Network when I exercise. I also go to the gym around the same time each day so that I catch my fav shows. I love cupcake wars and Pioneer Woman. And if I am there late enough I catch Ina Garten.

But also I am starting to incorporate interval training into my daily workouts. Since I do interval running/walking on the weekends I should be doing that during the week. I aim for 30-45 min 2 days a week of my runs. For a beginning runner or like me a slower one here is what I am doing:

You can adjust these speeds based on your current running level but the point it is to push yourself and for me 5.0 is pushing it. But because of this I have noticed that my average running speed on the weekends when I am running is around a 12 min mile. YEA! So it is working!