Happy November First!  The start of a new month and the start of a new month closer to my due date. 

 After Monday evening’s sunset run, I ran on the treadmill (dreadmill) on Tuesday because it was raining and windy and cold.  I could have just sucked it up and ran outside, but I really didn’t feel like getting soaked.  So I went to the Snap fitness and hopped on the treadmill.  It was only 5 miles so I figured it couldn’t be that bad.  Well, a little over a mile in and I started really wanting to get off of it.  I don’t know what it is with me and treadmills but I just can’t seem to zone out.  I had my music, I tried watching the tv, but I just get so bored with it so quickly.  Just running at the same pace in the same spot for almost 40 minutes just seems like a certain form of torture, especially when running itself is not all that comfortable right now.  So I decided to do a little “workout”.  After 2 miles, I picked up my pace to 7:03 for a half mile.  Normally, this wouldn’t even be close to a workout for me, but the pace did feel challenging enough for me.  Then I ran easy for a half mile, then I ran at 7:03 for just a quarter mile, then a half mile easy, then one more quarter mile at 7:03 pace and then I ran easy for the last mile.  Made the time pass so much more quickly, even though that wouldn’t be considered a “workout” by my normal standards.  Getting to that next point was just something for me to focus on and break up the total distance a little more.

 Last night I was determined not to do the treadmill again so even though it was drizzly and windy and cold, I ran outside.  Compared to Monday’s run this one started out in the “bad” category.  Almost immediately, I had pain in my abdomen and felt very “full” and “heavy”.  I had a lunch meeting yesterday and had a couple slices of pizza.  A couple of times during the run I burped, which really happens hardly ever for me, especially during a run…I felt “sour stomach” and just really bloated and full.  I told myself that the first two miles are usually the hardest when I feel like this, and if I could just get through those it would be better.  I started thinking about how I’m running 13.1 on Saturday and how much I’m struggling to just “get through” two at this point.  I started to wonder about if I’ll feel this way during 13 miles on Saturday and how I’m going to talk to Carol and keep her motivated when I just want to stop! 

 Thankfully, after a couple miles, I did feel much better.  I don’t know what it is, maybe sometimes the baby is just in a certain spot and needs to shift around or what, but miles 3-6 I barely felt my belly and even though I still felt “heavy” and full, it seemed much easier and I realized that if I feel like this on Saturday I should be fine.

 Still, I was concerned enough to think about what I’m going to do with running after this half.  There will be nothing requiring me to do any long runs, so what should I do?  I always thought I’d at least be able to get to 7 months before I’d really have to reduce my mileage and reading some different blogs from different women who ran through their pregnancies and were ticking off 10 milers through the entire second trimester I thought for sure I’d be able to.  However, I have to accept that every woman and every pregnancy is different and I shouldn’t compare myself to theirs and use that as my guide to what I should do. 

 I’d like to at least try running 10 milers on Saturday’s after this half; however, I think I need to build in certain conditions.  The first has to be that I’ll plan on running 10 miles, but if I start out and am really uncomfortable, I’m not going to “push myself” to just get through it.  I don’t want to hate running and feel like I’m punishing myself by forcing me to deal with such pain and being uncomfortable.  I need to pick routes with plenty of bathroom stops on the way.  I probably need to start bringing my cell phone with me too so that if I do get out too far and don’t want to have to run all the way back, I can call my husband to come pick me up—unless he’s running with me!  If he’s running with me though, and I start feeling that way, I could always have him run home and me go and wait for him inside one of the potty stops. 

 If I try this plan and it doesn’t go well, I need to reduce my distance.  Maybe for me, at this point in my pregnancy the longest distance I can handle is 6 miles?  I could live with that. 

 Today, I’m planning on running a 3 mile run during my lunch break.  I hope it goes well…guess we’ll see.