14 Weeks

Posting this 2 days late, but I was in Chicago, whatareyagonnado?

Cravings:
Not really. Except french fries. And them only when I'm thinking about them.

Aversions:
Still some types of chocolate, and still not wanting to eat all the time.

Other symptoms:
Tired and a bit moody.

Things bugging me:
Yes.

And, P turned into a friggin' caveman while I was gone. He did NOTHING that I asked him to do. And I am very annoyed. Oh, and he called me fat. Idiot.

Current weight: 135

Had some trouble with food in Chicago, I think because of all the eating out. I mean, when I'm not preggers and on a work trip, I am usually sick of eating out by the time I get home, this time all that was just magnified. By Wednesday lunch, I just couldn't make myself eat, so I skipped it, and that seemed to restore some balance for me.

Have had 4 devastatingly bad headaches this week. I wake up with them, have to take Tylenol for them, which sort of helps but doesn't solve. Not a fan of these headaches - hope they are a phase that will be over soon.

Non-preggo stuff:
Was in Chicago all week for work. Knee bothered me on Wednesday just from walking. What bothers me most is that I didn't think I was walking too much, and it pisses me off that the knee is still such a limiter.

Austin Half Marathon "Race" Report

You can tell by the quote marks that it wasn't good.

We drove down to Austin on Saturday morning. Straight to the expo, which was small. Very cool backpack giveaway - complete with waterproof compartment for sweaty workout items or wet swimsuits. I'm already putting this one to good use!

Then over to our hotel, which was very nice (and expensive) since it was Valentine's Day weekend.

Then to Thunderclouds for take-out subs to be eaten in the hotel room while watching the Olympics. This is my idea of heaven. Later that night I sent Preston over to Tiff's Treats for some chocolate chip cookies. Tiff's is one of the things I truly miss about Austin. Best. Cookies. EVAR.

Speaking of miss - we drove by my old place on Rio Grande, and it isn't there any more!! They tore it down and built a new building! Double Daves, which I lived on top of, is still there, in the same place in the new building... but I was *floored*.

Anyways, hit the sack early for an early start.

Preston drove me downtown and dropped me off about 2 blocks from the start. It was fricking cold, and I stood there for about an hour. It was lovely, though, standing on Congress in the dark looking up at the beautifully lit Capitol building.

I lined up waaaaaaay in the back, knowing that between my knee and my boobs, I wasn't likely to be doing all that much running. About 10 minutes after the start, I crossed the line.

The knee started hurting within minutes. The boobs instantly began protesting. And we very quickly found the first hill, which I decided to walk. I didn't really know how many hills there would be, but I knew to keep my HR in a state resembling controlled, I'd need to be walking the hills. And that, my friends, was pretty much as good of a plan as I ever had. Walk up the hills, run the downhills and flats until the knee made me walk again. Rinse, repeat.

I did have a problem, though: baby wanted me to pee. Almost from the very beginning. And the (idiot) race organizers somehow thought that 2 porta-potties per aid station was sufficient for 13,000 runners. Seriously. Every freaking aid station, the line was 20-30 people long. And there was no wooded or bushy area to hide in. I mean, even men were in line at the aid stations. It was awful. I'd stop, go stand in line for a minute or two, see one-freaking-person come out, calculate that at this rate it'd take me 20 minutes to pee, and start running again. I would guess between all my failed attempts at getting access to a pisser, and my one successful attempt (finally found a park restroom that no one seemed to notice: only 5 women in front of me!), I lost over 10 minutes to the bathroom situation. And that, my friends, is unacceptable. Especially to a pregnant woman.

Oh, one other thing that made me grumpy: no gatorade until over halfway into the race. Lame.

Other than that, there isn't much to tell. I was really hurting in my knee. I ran when I could, walked when I couldn't, and hurt like hell for most of it. Oh, and the hill at 12 is a freaking beastie. You round the corner and see it off in the distance and know the sight of evil.

I finished, collected my medal and shirt (btw, it really bothers me that sizes aren't standard. When I order a medium, it is always from a race that is sizing large and I should have had an extra small, when I order an extra small it is always at a race sizing small and I needed a freaking medium. Same thing happens with size small. Basically, unless the race organizers advertise the brand of finisher's t-shirt, it is a crap shoot that I always lose.) Anyways, my preggers breastles look mighty fine in my too-small finisher's t-shirt. Oh yes, they do.

Awesome medal. Love it.

Back to the hotel for a shower, then to EZ's for cheese fries and an oreo shake. Then back to H-town.

And that is the story of my (non)race in Austin.

Baby's first race.

Texas Marathon Half - Race Report

Let's be honest: I had started to regret signing up for this race a little bit. You know, the abstaining from alcohol on New Year's eve = not my favorite. The getting up *before* the ass-crack of dawn after staying up til midnight the night before = not my favorite. This running while injured and not getting better thing = not my favorite.

Holy shit, I think I just found my first gray (well, really more white) hair. I pulled it out and am holding it in my hand and I keep staring at it. I don't know what to do with it. Holy shit.

Ok, moving on... (I put it in my mirror case and am taking it home to see if Preston thinks it is white. Is that normal? Holy shit!)

It was freaking cold race morning. I dressed just as I did in Dallas, with the addition of my new arm warmers, but I didn't account for the wind. I quickly realized that I was going to be cold.

Found parking on a side street and walked over to packet pick-up. Nice bag, long-sleeved shirt, mug, etc. Porta-potty lines were short, and everything was still clean! Hauled ass back to the car because I was freezing. Sat around for a while, then with about 15 minutes to marathon start (30 to half start), headed back to the start line with my big jacket on, which I'd give to Preston before I started.

Hung out a bit, and we were off. This race is small, maybe 200 people in the full and 200 in the half, if that. It is run on concrete paths through the woods and around lakes. It is really quite lovely. At the beginning the organizers had printed out motivational signs with everyone's name on them, so it was fun to look for your name as you ran by. It was also fun because you got to see everyone out on the course as they came opposite you. Got to see the leaders run by. It felt intimate, and like there was more camaraderie than I normally experience at big races.

I loved that the course was only two loops, too. The first loop I felt like I was exploring, and before I knew it, I was done. The second loop was about finishing, but I was also really and truly enjoying myself.

I was doing my patented "Injury Intervals", which means running til it hurt, then walking til it didn't. I kept going back and forth with the same few people, and we started greeting each other, joking, and laughing.

I tried to smile encouragement at the marathoners.

And in the midst of this environment, I found that I was really really enjoying myself. I was *happy*. I was running. On the first morning of a new year. I was injured, but I was still running. I was seeing so much of this beautiful world before the hangovers had even made it out of bed. I was cold, but it was a clear day, and crisp. I discovered that my arm warmers made good hand warmers. And I laughed because I'm sure it looked goofy.

Before I knew it, I had reached the turnaround. It was so much earlier than I expected, I actually thought the kid in front of me had cut the course when I saw him coming back at me!

I was hurting by the end, yes. I wore the Glycerin 7's, and I'm sure they are what gave me trouble with my arches when all this injury shit started. I won't be wearing them again. But I wasn't hurting terribly, and I was in a *great* mood.

Finished in 2:45 flat (2nd in my age group!! (Of 6 ;-))). Got my medal. Freaking BADASS medal, btw. HUGE. Texas-sized. Awesome medal. Will post pics soon. And headed home, still happy, with Preston, who also noticed my stellar mood.

Now, if only I could heal, then combine the high of the Ten for Texas with the high of the Texas Marathon Half...

Dallas White Rock Half Race Report

I have wanted to run this race since I was a little girl. White Rock Lake is very near to where I grew up, and I remember hearing about the race every year. What I'd really like to run is the full marathon, but I was happy to be able to participate in the half.

It was an interesting weekend. We drove up to my parents' on Friday after P got off from work. Spent the night on the farm, and like a whirlwind, were heading down to Dallas just after lunch the next day.

We went straight into town to pick up my packet at the convention center. Paid $10 for about 20 minutes of parking (not cool). I wasn't a huge fan of the layout of the expo, which like a brilliant store forced you to get lost among the goods and then to find your way out. We escaped with only one purchase, a 26.2 chrome thingy for P to give me for the Menace for x-mas, though.

Then headed to our hotel, the Hilton at Market Center. Nice hotel. Nice beds. Bring earplugs for the train lines. In a few years when the DART stops there, it'll be super nice for the marathon because you'll be able to ride directly into downtown. Got all checked in (long line, but free wifi to distract me), and headed to Ft. Worth to go to one of my oldest friend's birthday party.

At a brewery.

And that is how I became the designated driver of a SUBURBAN full of drunk people. In one of those parking lots that is only one way because the space between the sides is that tiny. Oh, and that was the first time I had ever driven a Suburban. Those fuckers are MASSIVE. But I safely delivered my cargo back to the birthday boy's house, and P and I headed back to our hotel. Around midnight.

Approximately 5 hours later the alarm went off.

I have never not wanted to run in a race so badly. I wasn't even sure I'd be running. I could break into a trot, the knee could scream, and I could be in for a 3:20 13.1 mile walk. I mean, that was very very likely. I was expecting it. And I was NOT in the mood for a 3 hour walk. At all.

But I spent money on the damn thing, so I got up, got dressed, agonized over whether to wear a jacket (would be too hot if I could run to have it, way too cold if I was walking to not have it), and eventually decided to wear it.

Oh, the race organizers didn't give out safety pins in the packet, so I was wearing my number on my race belt. Not my favorite, since I prefer to wear my race belt around my hips, so my leg was hitting my number with every step. I ended up wearing the belt around my waist. Ick.

Had P drive me to the American Airlines Center and drop me off. I was excited that we had access to it, that meant flush toilets, my favorite! But when I got inside, they had only given us access to the bottom level, and I swear, the mass of humanity was insane. Lines for each bathroom were stretching back to the next bathroom. I decided not to bother, and sat against a wall for half an hour just watching the people go by.

When I went out to line up, I was annoyed by the lack of signage. I got all the way to near the start line before finding out that I had to backtrack completely to get to my corral. Signs would have been helpful.

In my corral there was this girl/woman in FULL make-up. Mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow, blush, lipstick, the whole deal. Getting ready to run. Only in Dallas.

The start was pretty cool. They had screens set up so we could see the pros start. Confetti still blowing when we got up there, and stands for the crowd. The start was definitely cool.

And then I was running. Actually running! I ran for about 15 minutes before my knee started hurting. So then I walked. I walked for a few minutes, and the knee didn't hurt any more. So I ran. I ran for another 15ish minutes before the knee started hurting, and thus the pattern for the running/walking was established. I ran until it hurt, then walked until it didn't. I ignored pace, time, etc, running and walking entirely on feel.

First aid station was already out of Gatorade when I got there.

I did lose a couple of minutes to a pit stop. Oh! I have to say: I have never been in a race where I've seen men peeing everywhere on everything. Until yesterday. And when I got into the portapotty line, I thought it'd be pretty clean, since there were only women in line (the men were all using the bushes), but no, there was no TP, and there was poop on the seat. Yuck! I probably lost almost 5 minutes to that stop, too.

And when the hell did Dallas get so hilly? I felt like I was running in Austin!!

This was by far the most beautiful course I've run. Most halfs take you through some nice, and some crappy areas. This one went only though beautiful neighborhoods. I was really impressed. And the last 5K on the Katy trail = great! By then I was doing more walking than running, so I had time to really appreciate it...

Towards the end, there, I realized I could go sub-2:40, which was 40 minutes faster than San Antonio, so I went for it. According to my Garmin, I made it: 2:39 and change. Not what I wanted, not what I would have wished for, but an improvement of 40 minutes in 4 weeks - I'll take it.

All in all, a good experience, but definitely not the best race I've done. Aid stations would be too far apart if it had gotten in the 70's as forecast (luckily stayed in the 50's). First aid station wasn't well stocked. There weren't enough portapotties, as evidenced by the mass man-peeing that was everywhere. And it was hilly. Oh, and the finisher's shirt doesn't say what you did: marathon, half, or relay. If that had been my marathon, I'd be PISSED about that! On the plus side, you got a long-sleeved T for signing up AND a finisher's shirt. The medal is nice. And the course really was quite beautiful.

I'm hella sore today. Not running for 6 weeks and then this - well, my muscles are speaking their displeasure. Loudly. And my knee is a little grumpy, I'm not gonna lie. I still don't think I re-injured it, but it is hard to tell through the soreness. We'll see in a day or two...

Running in a Winter Wonderland

Ok, well, to be honest, run/walking. With more walking than running.

So, on Friday, H-town was slated to get snow. My little weather bug in my iTouchy said 100%. Now, that takes balls. Any weather bug predicting *anything* 100% in Texas is a brave little mofo. But sure enough, it was right.

My area was one of the last to start snowing. I anxiously awaited the little white flakes while reading facebook statuses and twitter reports all morning about the heavy snow in other parts of town. You see, I wanted to go for a run in the snow.

Finally, around 12:30, I decided i couldn't wait any longer (due to my eating schedule), so I changed my clothes and got ready to run even though there was no snow yet. But when I walked outside, it was snowing!!!

I drove over to the little neighborhood crushed granite path because I wanted to try my Vibrams on it. I was the *only* person there. It was great! The snow kept coming down heavier and heavier while I laughed and ran and walked and chased snowflakes and tried to catch them on my tongue.

It was a beautiful run. It was a fun run. My knee didn't hurt at all, though my legs and feet were freezing!! (I wore 4 layers on top - it was about 30 degrees and I wore a compression shirt, long sleeved shirt, long sleeved shirt with built in mitten thingys, and windbreaker. I also wore a hat and gloves. My hands were toasty warm, as was my core. Only from the waist down was I cold. Probably could have easily gone with one less layer over core and hands if I was running the whole thing.) The Vibrams worked just fine on the crushed granite. Occasionally I'd feel something, but it was a totally run-able surface for me.

Sometimes you just need a fun run, you know? For a Texan, snow'll do it!

Rock n' Roll San Antonio Half "Race" Report

Or: The Time I Walked Every Flipping Step of a Freaking Half

On my doctor's orders. And my mother's. And my husband's.

And it still wasn't the most brilliant thing I've ever done.

I had some serious mental issues heading into this one. I felt embarassed to be walking. I didn't want to walk. I thought about pulling out. But mi madre raised me to pinch the pennies, and the thing was paid for. I was damn well going to participate, no matter how ashamed I felt.

So, P and I drove to San Antonio on Saturday morning. Stopped at Buc-ee's on the way (love that place), and there were running shirts all over the place. I was wearing my Houston Marathon finishers' shirt, and I was getting nods and compliments. It was awesome! It was like the entire Houston running scene packed up for a road trip to SA for the weekend.

Went straight to the Expo, which was just like last year's. They gave out Tech-T's this year! And they had my size! Bought one of those race belts with the "fanny pack" made out of stretchy material. P thought it was too expensive at $20, but I wanted to try it out as I have never been truly happy with my carrying-stuff methods.

Then headed over to JaMIL's house to stay. She made some yummy spaghetti for dinner.

Woke up at 4:45 the next morning. Left at 5:30 for P to take me to the shuttle at the AT&T Center. Was on a shuttle by 6:30, and at the race start before 7. Stood in line for porta-john until about 7:35 (with the race starting at 7:30). Wasn't worried, though, because I knew I was starting so far back that it'd take almost an hour for me to get to the start line.

I was originally going for a 2:10 finish, which would have been a PR, and had me starting in Corral 13. I ended up starting in Corral 31. Lame.

Turned out that I was correct: my corral started just after 8:30. A lot of people in my corral were walking, which was somewhat comforting to me. I started walking with a goal of 15ish minute miles, without really having any idea what I could actually accomplish.

15 minute miles are almost exactly what I could accomplish, as a matter of fact. And so I walked. I walked past the Alamo. About 5 miles in, I started getting sore (including the bum knee), and was grateful for the long-ass shitty hill that I hated last year when I was running. And then down the other side. About 7 miles in I was concerned that I was hurting my knee by continuing to participate, so I called P. He couldn't hear me, and therefore couldn't rescue me, so I kept walking. Being pissed off at P gave me some energy for the walking. I took a cup of Cytomax and a cup of water at every aid station. I took a gel at 5 and 9 like I would if I was running. I learned something, though: if walking a half, you can eat more before hand. I was freaking starving from about 4 miles on - I had only had some toast for breakfast, as if I was running. I walked and walked and walked some more. I discovered that walking a Half is just as painful as running the Half, only it takes a hell of a lot longer. The marathoners joined up with us at about 11 miles. I was walking the Half in a decent marathon time. It was hot, and many looked to be struggling, but they were still running. I saw a guy with a shirt that said he was training for IM Cozumel in 2 weeks. Now that dude is hardcore. Running a 3:20ish marathon two weeks out from an Ironman. He really was freaking iron. Visited portajohn around 11. At least I know I hydrated sufficiently for the heat. Walked up that bitch of a hill to the Alamodome and was done. 3:20ish.

Got my medal, took one of every food item, found P and JaMIL, and got the heck out of there.

Knee is pissed. Right ankle is pissed. And walking a Half is something I hope I never have to do again, but may be doing in 3 weeks in Dallas.

That is all.