Why I should probably only be seen from the front now

You were warned  :)

Would someone like to calculate the drag coefficient here?  

Definitely feel my best in the water though.  The weightlessness, cool water, 2 piece (which was  a necessary and lovely switch, function and comfort wise, I try to warn the lifeguards before I get in though  :)  Amazing how I don't care at all once I'm in the water even though you can clearly see the same me through the water) all feel so good.
I can definitely feel some drag with the belly, but I'm still swimming 1:30/100yard pace for a workout and 1:35 pace when I time 800's.  Flip turns started feeling difficult today, but I hope to keep this up for the next 45 or so days!

Want barefoot goodness for Christmas?

Zero Drop, truly foot shaped, uber flexible, perfect ground feel super minimalist goodness
while keeping your feet warm and dry in any sock (think wool for the winter, lovely). 

The Altra Eves (and men's Adams) are 25% off right now at this link when you add them to your cart.  Not sure how long the promotion will be going on.  Enjoy!

*UPDATE - Prices have dropped permanently on this great shoe, so if you needed more incentive, you just got it!*

My 28th birthday, you know what that means right?

A 28 mile run!  Oh yeah, not a chance right now  :)  2.8 miles maybe?  Well yeah I could probably drag myself painfully through that, but that doesn't sound super epic or enjoyable or anything. 
Ok, how about a 28 mile ride?  Again, not super epic and I don't fit well on a bike right now except my mtn bike and man those things are no fun on the road!  A trail yes, but I'm in no condition to go on a 28 mile mtn bike ride (I've never ridden more than 8 trail miles on a mtn bike, who am I kidding?).
Well, I guess it'll be a swim then.  So for my 28th birthday this week I swam 2800 yards with 2 timed 800yard swims.  Ok, so it's not epic either, that's a meager workout during a normal season, but today I was pleased with it.  Swam it alone, didn't go crazy wanting to get out and my back and pelvis didn't flare up too bad, and hey, I swam the second 800 faster than the first so that's good right?!

At 30 weeks tomorrow I am feeling a little large.  Yes I'm fortunate to not look pregnant much outside of my belly (although believe you me pants are getting restrictive in the hips, not used to so much padding there...and the cleavage?!  Oh my word!) but that alone can make even me double take when I pass by a mirror or glass wall or something.  Especially when I teach and wear my super cute and form fitting Fit2BMom tanks I treated myself to.  This belly is just so out in front and can look a little strange.  I'll take it though.  While I have a feeling I'm past the cute stage now, I'm not too uncomfortable regularly yet (besides during running which I just don't do anymore, oh well), and my kids are having so much fun talking about the baby, feeling him/her move, and making hilarious comments about my belly only a mother could love. 
I'm excited for this baby, it's been a long time since we've had a baby around here, it was a hard journey to get here, and I know we all will love this little one to pieces. 
I'm nervous too though.  Nervous for the birth as I am delivering in a birth center which means no pain meds unless I transfer to a hospital.  Now don't get me wrong, that is our choice, one my husband and I both very much want for the ability to labor and deliver in the big birth tub, eat/drink/walk/do whatever we want during the labor, not be pressured by hospital policy, and hold our baby immediately after birth for as long as we wish before cleaning, weighing, or measuring is ever done, and no infant round up in the nursery.  We really loved it all when we delivered our 3rd child in a birth center, but lets face it, labor still hurts! I ordered a Hypnobabies home study course that I'll be starting here in 2 weeks though and I'm looking forward to giving that a good go, I've heard very good reviews of it and hey, anything that can help make the experience more comfortable and enjoyable without risk to baby or I I'll take. 
I'm nervous for the training again too, mostly just 'can I pick myself up off the couch or out of bed to go get it done'.  I don't really worry about my body recovering, but man I haven't been able to put sleep second for workouts during the last year it seems.  I've done it before, I just hope I'll be able to do it again.  4 kids sounds daunting to me sometimes. Any kids sounds daunting sometimes.  I read blogs of pros or other great athletes who accomplish such great things athletically and I get jealous, I think how great it would be to have all that time to train, to only have to worry about a job if that.  I know it will even out when I'm in the 30's and my kids are older while some are getting started, but having 4 kids in the 25-29 age group can feel like an extra hurdle I have to jump when competing in big or out of state events.  But I adore my kids and would and do put them above sport in a heartbeat, and there are some moms out there who do it well with kids, I try to be one of them.  I try to tell myself I have 2 in school, the 3rd who is older, not a toddler and I'm sure will be a big help.  I'll just have to be super disciplined and scheduled, I'll just have to use the trainer a lot which is ok, and I'll have 2 seats again in the Chariot since our boy in in school now.  And yes, I'll have to get up early.  Maybe the baby will be good to me and get into a routine of sleeping well at night (which my babies have so far), and finish a morning feeding at a 'reasonable' hour like 5am so I can be up and go afterward.
I am really excited for everything though, a sweet new baby, the 'adventure' of bringing him/her into the world, exciting race goals for next year, getting my body back (meaning being able to push it as hard as I want without worrying about trying to conceive or growing a little human).  What an adventure!

Pregnant pics, come help my indecisive self

Help me design a new header.  I LOVED my Ironman St George journey, but alas, that was almost 2 years ago now, and it's probably time to move on.  And my life couldn't be more different right now than during IMSG times, so I better put a new header up as temporary as it may be.  Or maybe I'll keep the rounder version of me up for a while after the baby so I don't go too crazy too quickly  :)  I have to say, most of the time I'm pretty relaxed right now and just accept that I really have no idea what next year will hold and I'll deal with it after the baby is born to see how all 6 of us (yeah my family sounds big now!) handle life with a new baby.  But then sometimes I worry I'll cop out with the baby excuse (yes I know I can take time for the baby and I, I will).  I haven't had a real training plan since IMSG in 2010 and honestly, I've never really followed a training plan so closely.  I LOVED it.  I knew what every day held workout wise, there was no "hmm, wonder what I feel like today" i.e. nothing productive gets done that day.  I am always one to say if you need motivation sign up for a race.  That's why I almost don't want to wait till next summer to see if I'll be up for anything epic in the fall, I'd almost rather sign up now so I can enjoy the early spring with the baby, but then be ready to go and committed come summer time.  Next year is my last in my age group so that sways me with certain races.  Anyway, we shall see.
Here are some fun pics my good friend Heidi took for me.  Help me vote for a new header pic (or 3, may do a collage header) with the poll on the right sidebar.  You can select 3 boxes.  Thanks!  *UPDATE*  So the poll is gone obviously, thanks to those who voted!  You're welcome to leave a comment still if you wish.

Hope everyone enjoys a nice Thanksgiving, I'm grateful to have my twin sister here from Michigan for a few weeks and even on our 28th birthday on the 28th!  My family had a lovely day Saturday baptizing our beautiful 8 year old, then spent more family time the next day with my little brother who is getting ready to serve a 2 year LDS mission for our church at the end of the month.  Oh and I hear the highs are supposed to be in the 50's for the next few days, lovely!  Maybe I'll even venture outside - gasp!

Anyway, here's the slideshow of all the images including some of in black and white.  Enjoy and feel free to click the slideshow image to make it bigger.  Below it are the images to vote on.  I'll take them down next week as to upset blogger with a long post.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

While these guys aren't a part of my header poll, they are amazing and cute as can be.
They'd win the contest hands down so I had to fair things up  :)

Half Pregnant Half Marathon

Or 10k...So my good friends Craig and Matt (crazy ultra runners) heard my pleas wanting a longer trail race before I was done with this pregnancy, and organized one for me!  Just something small, more like an organized group run, but hey, I'll take it!  I'll be honest, real races do really have pressure to them even when they're not big deals to me.  I never really noticed that, but even at the 5k I ran a couple weeks ago where I was in so much kidney pain, yes I wasn't going fast and could have cared less how I placed, but I still felt internal pressure not to stop, not to walk.

Anyway, I've been battling some real tough issues the last 2 weeks.  A strange right side belly pain and bad pubic symphysis (SPD) pain, something like my pelvis was being pulled apart, not a lot of fun.  This last week I've made it a whole mile before it was just too much.  I was getting really worried how this race was going to go.  I know I wasn't there to win, I know I didn't have to impress anyone, but I wanted to do it for me.  My goal this pregnancy was to do a half marathon while noticeably pregnant.  Now my body was giving up on me the week of this race.  I was and am completely willing and ok with not running the last 2-3 months at all, I really can be ok with that since I can still be active in other ways, but now?  Right before this race created for me?  It was really depressing and frustrating.  I am thrilled to be carrying this life, he/she wasn't in danger at all from my activity, I just physically couldn't will my body over my own pain.  That's a different place to be in.  A humbling place.

Ok, sorry for taking a while getting to the whole point.  So after a sad week moping to my husband, we headed out that morning and I just figured I would walk the 10k option.  Not what I wanted, but I just figured it would take me hours upon hours to walk the 13 miles and there was a bbq after so I just settled for the 10k.  I let the guys go on ahead (there were about 20 people total I think?) after I was all situated at the car with my new Altra Lone Peak trail shoes and Ultraspire pack, I took a pre race bush prego stop and started a trot.  Figured I'd make it a mile then just walk the rest.  It was really ok being by myself.  No pressure to run from others, no one to impress, just some nice solitude for me and the baby.  The weather was good.  Cloudy and a bit windy, but not raining/snowing or too gusty and not bitter cold.

The sweet new Ultraspire running hydration pack I won last month!  Was so excited to finally have an ultra pack (it's not your usual hiking water backpack, but meant for running) and it's got so many great pockets and features (I'll review it soon), but the best one has to be the fact that it fits above my belly!

To my surprise I kept running!  It was a little uncomfortable, but not like I'd experienced the last few weeks.  I kept my pace at a long run jog.  Not fast like pre-preg, but faster than I could walk  :)  I wasn't after any time records, so it was nice to just settle into an ultra style pace and trot along.  Even got to run some uphill sections I thought I'd walk!  Part of the pace was the hip binding I did.  Took a couple yards of some fancy purple checked fabric I had and squeezed my hips together tight.  A little uncomfortable, cut some circulation off around my hips, but I got the hang of how to tie it pretty good and I have to wonder if that did the trick.  I also wore the big maternity (well technically it's a larger post partum belt) belt I've had around my belly snug, but I've done that before and it didn't fix everything.  Like the belly pain.  It came around a few times, and I did walk it off once or twice, but was able to run through it another few times by kind of flexing my 'abs'.

Anyway, found the bathroom at the turn around was unlocked - yay! - and headed on back to the start.  As I always do, felt better after those first 3ish miles, and even negative splitted the 2nd half!  I even got some adrenaline and to feel like the old me when I finally caught up and passed some runners that had been ahead of me the last 4 miles.....even if one was in her 60's  :)  
I was getting more uncomfortable toward the end, but was still thinking about turning around and running more.  Just figured I haven't been able to run like this in a long time and probably won't for a while, but yeah, I didn't.  Figured I'd feel it the next few days and I was really happy with the 6.5 I got in.  And I really was!  I can't believe I got to run even 2 miles, let along 6+.  I was still a little bummed not to have done the half especially upon hearing there were no women that did the half and I could have earned a super sweet specialty made thrift store trophy (although I doubt I could have made it that far with my pelvis), but the 10k really was for me that day.  And hey, technically the time I did out there on my favorite trail took me about what a road half marathon does, so that counts, right?  :)  Right

New post

New post about the Duathlon my sister and I did near Boston is below the Halloween post below.  Check it out.  Really hoping my body will hold out for me to enjoy an epic adventure of sorts on Saturday on my favorite trail.  I'll let you know how it goes next week.

Happy Halloween!

Sure did not win the race, but did win the costume contest!

We had a great Halloween week at my house.  You can read more about all our family adventures on my family blog here.  I had planned on running a favorite Halloween race around here, but it didn't work out.  I still wanted to race so found this smaller local race with a free kids race, can't beat that!
I signed up for the 5k so I could be back in time for the kids race, turns out I would have had time with the 10k but oh well.  Actually it's probably good.  We rushed to get my belly painted before the race and I headed over to the start with a minute or two to spare.  First mile felt good, probably was running 8 min/mi pace, so not too fast, not too slow.  Then the last 2 miles of the race my back was on fire right where my right kidney is.  No idea what caused it, I wasn't dehydrated, I stopped and drank, walked, nothing made it better.  It just burned so badly.  I've never been so anxious to get to the finish of a race, and never had such a hard time doing it.  My kids were running faster than I was through the finish.  I cut right over to my husband and had him walk me to the bathrooms.  Wasn't sure if it was just a baby riding on my bladder thing, but nope, that didn't really help anything.  After about 20 minutes the pain went away and I've just been achy there since. Baby is just fine, moving lots, and I had no other worrisome symptoms.
I have been dealing with some pubic symphysis discomfort too.  Lots of relaxin hormone circulating right now, this is my 4th baby, and I have big babies.  Those things combined can really allow stretch in the front bottom of the pelvis, and I get pretty darn achy after each run.  It's annoying.  I have to be careful rolling over in bed, keep my legs together and pelvis aligned well.
It saddens me a little to think of not being able to run the next 3 months.  I know I'll have the rest of my life to run after this baby, but 3 months is still a long break.  Of course if that is what my body and midwives told me to do I would, and I'd just put in more time to swimming than I have and have been meaning to, and try to stay on the trainered bike, but it would still stink a little.  I have an appointment tomorrow so that will be good to talk about it.  I really want to make it just 2 more weeks though so I can run this fun run half marathon on my favorite trail a friend organized.  The kind of thing that I can take at my pace since there won't be a crowd there, is a great fairly flat course, isn't all downhill, and has plenty of sections I can walk.  So that's my goal at this point, be able to run that, and then if I have to take the rest of this pregnancy off running so be it.  I'll walk and swim and bike and hopefully do some more weight training.  I have to stay active though, it is healthy for me and the baby and I get depressed without it.  Daylight Savings is coming soon too thank the heavens since it is so depressing to wake up to dark every morning.  I really need some daylight, not even sunshine, just daylight.  Hope you all had a nice Halloween!  Next post (that may be below this one though) up is the duathlon I did with my twin sister out in Boston a couple weeks ago.  Stay tuned  :)

Spreading the multisport world love...I hope!

My best friend

So earlier this month my sister and mom and I traveled out to Boston for a medical conference my Nurse Practitioner mother had.  We toured Boston Friday, then my mom had conference the next 3 days so my sister and I got to hang out and do our thing.  One of those things was a duathlon about 90 minutes outside of Boston.  Yes, a race on vacation, clearly my idea  :)  Thankfully she was along for the ride with me.  I'm really proud of her for getting active.  I mean it's not like she's overweight or anything, much the opposite, she has a great body!  But great body shapes don't necessarily equal great health.  Anyway, I digress.  She started running last year and we did her first race together, a 4 mile road race over Thanksgiving weekend last year.  We did another 5k this spring when she was out here and she did great, dropping a lot time!  It's fun for me to watch her.  She also purchased a bike she can ride around town on earlier this summer.  I of course sent her out a little care package with bento box, shorts, helmet (of course), etc.  So of course the next step?  Race!  Ok, kidding, I really don't believe everyone has to race, but I found this little duathlon with distances I thought would be great for both of us and off we went!

The drive out was pretty, we got to see a lot of leaves and small old historic towns.  We also got significantly lost a lot, but we made it .  The great race director found us 1 bike to use, and a great bike shop out there Gear Works Cyclery (visit them if you're in the area) let us borrow another bike.  Perfect.  The race was smaller, proably only 60 people.  The weather was breezy, a bit colder, enough to keep our jackets on (so forgive the belly hiding pictures).  There were a couple tri bikes there and yes the geared out people made me a little ancy wanting to race them (not that I would have come close right now on the awesome bike I had, and I came to race with my sister, I was way excited to!), but we'll save that for next year.

I tell ya, check these running pics out.  Twins we are for sure.  Stride in stride for every picture I saw.  Cool

So a 5k to start with.  I was just there to pace my sister at her pace, but it turns out I was working pretty hard to keep up with her! I almost stopped in the bushes to pee along that first run route as the baby was really sitting pretty on my bladder and that is really uncomfortable running wise, but I'm not sure I could have caught back up with her!  She ran that first section really well. 

Yup

Told you so

After that we hopped on the bikes and went out for a 2 loop 9 mile course.  It was lots of up and down, lots of shifting which I was glad my sister caught onto on the new bike quickly.  I know it was pushing her at the end, both sitting on a new saddle, and her lungs, but again, she did it.  For me it felt great to be on a bike in that setting again, mainly because I wasn't pulling the trailer.

Check out my sweet ride!  No bar wrap on the hoods which was a wee bit uncomfortable and shifters on the down tube, something I've never experienced.  A new seat is also something I do not enjoy, or the way too smallness of it.  While the bike is probably older than I am, I was grateful for it.  It worked, kept me safe, and meant I didn't have to ship mine out.

Funny story.  When I was on the phone with Gear Works asking about a rental they said that yes they had one that would fit us, but it was really ugly.  I said oh yeah?  They said yeah, it's this lime green color.  LOL!  I told them I was insulted, my tri bike is lime green.  Then I told them I was of course kidding (about being insulted).

Of to the last section, a 1 mile run.  Now no that doesn't sound like much, but to someone who's farthest run is 4 miles and has never done any kind of multisport brick or race, it is.  She struggled with breathing and I tried to help her best I could.  I suggested a walking break at one point but she said no.  Good on 'er.  I know I was pushing her and she wasn't having much fun now, but it was a good time just trying to motivate her and encourage her.  We finally saw the finish, I told her there was a photographer so smile  :)  and we were done!

We did it!

I know it was hard for her, but I'm really proud of her for doing it!  She finished strong, no walking, and we even tied for 1st in our age group!  I'm even ok with the fact that our duathlon made her appreciate 5k's more  :)

Thanks Sis!

A great view of KONA (not through my eyes)

Man this guy made a great video!  He got into Kona via the lottery and just absorbed every part of the day with so much positivity.  Sometimes as a faster age grouper I yearn for an experience like his, finishing in the dark, just out there soaking it all in, not worrying about splits and what place I'm in.  I've been able to do that some while pregnant, just racing for fun, not caring how I'm doing.  And I still make an effort to smile and enjoy myself and cheer for others even when I am racing hard, because after all, I don't have to do this, I'm not getting paid.  I choose to.  Just really love this guy's attitude. Enjoy!

"Look Mom, the baby has a running arm!"

Were the first words my 7 year old said upon seeing this ultrasound picture.  LOL!

Baby's running arm

We chose not to find out the gender on this one.  We have girl boy girl so we're not lacking any clothes or blankets/bedding or whatnot.  I haven't been that anxious to know, so hopefully that will remain and I'll stay calm and not to ancy through these next 4 months.

Sweet

Everything looked good with baby.  He/she is very active which proved a little difficult during the ultrasound, but that's ok, it's just a genetic thing  ;)  My placenta was low enough to warrent another ultrasound near 30 weeks.  If it doesn't move up (which we expect it will) I probably won't be able to deliver at the birth center like we plan, but instead closely monitored in the hospital, or worst case scenerio, a c-section.

Now I am a natural birther by choice.  I don't care how others birth, I think everyone should be able to do it how they wish, but I personally don't want to expose the baby to the drugs and I want to be in control during my labor, move around, not increase my chance at complications/c-section from being stuck in bed all day with other meds to manage the pain meds (I had a very medical birth with our first, including an epidural, so I know that end too), and I want to recover faster.  I've gotten all those things from my last 2 med free vaginal births.  So yeah, a c-section freaks me out some, but of course if it was necessary I would do it.  My biggest worry with it is how will I come back into sport?  Will slicing my abs open slow me down a lot longer, will I come back a lot weaker, or can I still come back strong like I have without waiting a year to do so?  Any of you athlete mamas out there have experience with training and racing again after c-section?

Again, NOT planning on having one, but I like to think ahead and prepare myself for whatever.  For now, baby and I will continue enjoying this summer like fall weather here running on the trails, swimming at masters, and biking all of the 10 miles I might get to do around riding kids to school and back  :)

Forget me!

and all my self centered posts.  I am so touched by my friend and fellow athlete Heath Thurston's example today.  I was watching the St George Marathon live finish line coverage this morning on the computer and noted quite a few of the more elite runners stumbling in or falling after the finish line, I hear it was real hot down there.  Then close to the 3 hr mark I see this guy stumbling bad about 20 yards from the finish line, and fall to his knees.  Then this guy coming up behind him stopped, picked him up, and carried all this guy's weight, supporting him through the finish line.  None of the staff or volunteers came to help till feet before the finish line, Heath carried him in with I'm sure super fatigued muscles.

What a guy

Heath is such a good example of thinking of others and remembering that it's just a race, it's for fun, we choose to do this.  People are more important.  The pregnancy emotions in me don't help, but I've been crying and so teary all day from watching it actually happen on the computer to every time I look at the pictures his brother Jarom posted.  It's even more touching to me today because it's my church's semi annual General Conference where our leaders speak words from the spirit to help us grow and become more Christlike.  Excellent example Heath!

Triathamom!

So Altra was a sponsor of Triathamom, a women's only pool tri in Herriman, which means my husband had to be out there.  They were really kid friendly with a carnival like atmosphere (bouncy houses, face painting, sign making, balloons, popcorn - all free!) so I knew we could bring the kids.  And what does that mean for me?  An hour to work out!  : D  Seems silly that I just can't find the time lately to work out, but between normal mom stuff, going to school (taking a Pathophysiology class as the last class I can take before starting a nursing program that I just want to keep the possibility open for.  I'm not sure if I'll do it, I'm not sure how I would with my more important family, but it's at least a year down the road, so we'll just take it as it comes), working all day Thursdays and being tired being pregnant, I just haven't gotten up early recently and Jer is always working these days, so I don't often get an escape from morning to night.  I have and will have have to utilize the Chariot more I think.

Anyway.....sorry for the ramble.  I knew I could leave the kids with him (typical expos no way), and it was a beginner oriented race so I wouldn't feel any pressure going slower to accommodate this little baby on board.  So a few days before, I signed up - so my style.  Really hoping I can sign up for some A races for next year well in advance as a good commitment.
I tested the bike handling skills out Friday afternoon since honestly I haven't been on it in weeks, and it went great!  Still felt just fine on it. We headed to my mother-in-law's house to crash with the kids that night since she lives about a mile away from the race, and I'd have to go earlier than they would.  So alarm clock went off and my only negative thought for the day was 'oh man it's early, I don't have to do this race, what was I thinking??'  I tell ya, getting up early pregnant is not my forte.  Got everything ready after my usual pre race breakfast and headed out.  As soon as I sat on the bike I thought, 'oh no!'  I could barely sit on the seat, seriously.  I seem to have issues with tenderness down there while pregnant when I ride a lot, and yeah, I guess I forgot that when riding Friday.  I was really stressed about the bike portion of the race, because I litterally could not sit on that seat riding to the race.  Decided to just go with what I planned on attire wise and let the endorphins help as my wise husband suggested.  After I planted my bike I wanted to help out my good friend and race director Aly, so I wandered around transition answering questions.  I love doing that, and there were plenty of questions to be had.  It was really great to see so many women (close to 400 I think) out doing this triathlon that you probably wouldn't expect.

So it was finally go time, wandered into the pool, snuck into a bathroom I probably wasn't supposed to use, and lined up.  It was so nice to have Jer and my youngest Kaitlyn come over for the start.  Such good spectators.
 Swim was fine, I didn't intend to go first, but the lady I was talking to that went behind me was nervous to go first I think.  So off I went....and so did she a second later  :)  She rode my feet the whole time which kind of stunk, and when we got out of the water she said 'oh was I supposed to wait till they told me to go?'  Well yeah (guess they didn't know her number, each person was supposed to tell them that before they started), but that's ok.  She didn't tap my feet or anything, was just that close the whole time.  No harm no foul.

Other than my hand in front of my belly I really like this pic.  Totally worth the $6

We got into T1 and I had a light jacket sitting out ready, but it was already way too warm even when I was wet so I just pulled on my lovely matching pink tri skirt so not everyone had to see my butt and off I went.  Had to go around the mats again after laying my bike down though because it didn't beep the first time.  Cost me 10-15 seconds and I wasn't rude, but wasn't the most gracious/patient, which I feel bad about.  I can get kind of into it/emotional when racing.  I try very hard to be enthusiastic and appreciative of volunteers always saying thank you, so I feel bad I got a little upset telling them it was important they send people out the right way.  Luckily I got to talk to the guy after and apologize.

So as soon as I started riding I notice a pace car in front of me. Fun!  I've never had a pace car experience, usually because I'm either not in the lead or it's a dual gender race and the men get them.  I was happy to see them though as it made me feel a little more secure and visible out on the road.  Now is not the time to get in a wreck.  And yeah, it was just fun :)  Was a little more out of breath than I would've liked the first half, and was concerned a bit about the big hill at half way, but fortunately that one was acutally easier than the preceding several miles leading up to it.  Yeah I had to stand, but it wasn't bad at all.  And then it was all downhill from there.  The winds were nice as was the traffic and it was a great smooth 4 miles back into T2.  Thank you pace car!

T2 was fine.  The run was a little lonely.  There was no one out on the course, volunteers included, I guess I beat them there.  Aly passed me with about a mile to go asking if I needed an aid station as she was driving to set it up :)  No worries, I was fine.  Anyway, the course was marked well, but there was about a mile section where I just hoped I was going the right way.  I've had dreams about getting lost on a race course, not fun.  Just another less that you should study every race course map, I glanced, but that's it.  Kept my pace reasonable, was definately less out of breath on the run than bike.  Finished into a fun arch of colored balloons and headed toward the food :)

Check it out, 6:20-6:30.  My 10 seconds of fame!  : D

So that was that.  The kids and husband missed me (he underestimated me I think), but not a big deal.  There was great fruit and bagels and drinks afterward that I definately enjoyed.  Rested for about 10 minutes then scooped the kids up and headed to a church kids program practice where I had to be because I play the piano.  yeah, talk about rushed.  Confession - I litterally threw on a skirt and shirt on over my swim suit.  Afterwards we headed back to pick Jer up and the race was still going so that was fun to be around it a bit.  I think they did a great job with organization.  The swim is really the onlything I can see being changed for next year (more divided by time), and I hear they're already on it.  It was a fun boutiquey atmosphere, and I LOVED the great stuff for the kids.  It was also neat to see all the different women come in and finish and hear some about them as they finished.

Fun!

I ended up 2nd, by a second, at 20 weeks pregnant.  Sounds good to me!  Great way to celebrate half way through this pregnancy.  Jer thought I'd be upset about not winning by such a close margin, but eh, I didn't go to win, and know I could've made that second up easy so it's fine.  They didn't do awards which would have been fun with this belly of mine, but they wanted to keep it a non-competitive attitude.  The charm necklace is cute though.  Glad I did the race.  It helps to give me a little athletic reminder and uplift that I'm still in reasonable shape and will be back next year.  I am getting more and more excited to meet this baby and play in that phase again.  4 more months  :)

Saratoga Tri = great race!

Some have wondered why I race at all pregnant.  It's not like I go into it expecting a win or anything, why not just take a break right?  I've said it before, I'll say it again.  I really love triathlon and it's FUN, so why when I train for this stuff year in and year out and I know how to listen to my body, do I have to take a break from fun just because I'm pregnant?  I don't, I still need some fun  :)
So I did the Daybreak Tri about a week after we found out we were pregnant.  Yeah I was a little nervous, but my body knows how to do this stuff (race, it's not always the best at staying pregnant apparently), it was a sprint, and I really wanted to win that 3rd time.  It went great, no problems.  Then around 8 weeks I think I did the Women Rock tri mainly because it had a trail run - those don't exist in regular non-Xterra tri's, and it was great!  So much fun!  Then I took about 8 weeks off.  Some because my mind was going crazy with worry about this pregnancy lasting, and some just because life got in the way.  Well, we hit about 15 weeks I believe and I knew of this great little open water race and decided to jump in.  I finally felt pretty safe in the pregnancy, I know I can control my pacing and listen to my body and I just wanted to do it because triathlon is FUN and I missed it and the atmosphere and people, and it was probably about the last time I could fit into a larger wetsuit  :)

So I show up to register morning of after the race director said I would be fine to do so.  I figured it's a small race, every race this year has had way low numbers, I'll be fine.  Boy was I wrong!  This great little race with non-professional race directors, just average people that live in the area, had sold their race out with almost 300 people!  That's more than almost every race this whole year has had in a single distance, that's phenomenal for a race that doesn't get a lot of hype and isn't part of a series.  Oh and did I mention it was only $35?!  So anyway, I show up about 90 minutes before the start of the race and see a sign saying it's full.  I'm happy they sold it out, but I was SO bummed!  They said to stand in line and wait to see if anyone didn't show up as they were out of chips.  So wait I did with about 5 other people, and stressed, and stressed, and finally got in 10 minutes before the race started.  Can you say fastest most simple transition set up EVER!  Really shows you how little you need in transition.  I didn't want to get out of line so I wasn't even dressed in a race kit, let alone my wetsuit.  I threw everything in transition, ran to the bathrooms to change, ran my bag back to the car and threw my wetsuit on while running over to the start just in time to walk into the water with my wave, whew!

The swim - water felt SOOOO good!  Now this is Utah lake, a notoriously yucky/murky lake, but the beauty of where they held this race was it wasn't in the main boat ramp.  Yes I couldn't see my hand in front of me, but I never tasted boat fuel at all, didn't taste anything actually.  So the wave took off and we made our way about 100 yards and then were out of the sheltered area and found ourselves riding some pretty big waves!  Now not white capping ocean stuff obviously, I wouldn't call the water rough, just some big rolling wake.  I'm a swimmer and I know some struggled with it (I stopped to check on a few people), but I thought it was a blast!  Seriously!  Yeah I got a few face fulls of water, but I was laughing and smiling the whole way.  The size large sleeveless wetsuit I wore was perfect too.  Great swim!  They had great in water support too, very important.

Bike - wasn't sure how much time I'd spend in aero, actually figured I really wouldn't at all as it was gotten a bit uncomfortable, but I actually rode most the ride tucked in.  It just felt good and the roads were keen to it, fairly flat, nothing that I needed to stand for, and in good condition.  I felt better during it than expected and again, just smiled my way along.  The views riding along the lake were nice and traffic control was good.  No complaints here

Run - running out of T2, literally, 10 feet out of it some guy was like "come on, why can't I run?!"  He was so mad.  We were 10 feet out of transition and I let him know it.  I told him to calm down, we just turned a corner and left the transition area.  Just thought it was weird he'd declare it was a bad run already when we'd only taken a dozen steps.  Anyway, took off at what my body knows we race sprint/oly tri's at, I swear it just has a preprogrammed pace.  So I had to reign it in a bit, but not much.  I really expected and planned to run slower, but I felt just fine at probably 7:30 pace.  I watched my breathing and any discomfort anywhere and just smiled and ran and cheered for others and enjoyed the views again looking toward the lake.

Neat views all over the course and closed to traffic, yay!

Finished 4th woman overall, sounds good to me!  I'm not sure who took that worse, the men or the women  :)  So there you have it, a simple race report all about a great day.  I don't have any suggestions for the race directors at all, I am really super impressed!  Totally affordable race entry, open water swim with in water support, great road and closed bike course, and well supported run and just a really good course.  They had chip timing and tech shirts, a finish line banner thing, lots of volunteers, really great post race food with all kinds of fruits and bread and cookies and drinks, and get this, they had prize money not only for overall winners, but top 3 in every age group!  I walked away with $40 for winning my age group, that's more than I paid to race!  They didn't advertise it, I had no idea they were doing prize money, but I'm impressed.  Seriously, I can't say enough good things about this race, put it on your calender next year!  I was so pleased with my body too.  I really haven't been training much the last several months so just expected to go out and do it at a slower pace, but I listened to my body and it let me do more and go faster than I was expecting. Maybe it's the extra ATP (cellular energy) the baby is developing too  :)

Some 15 week belly shots.  Also notice the calm water in the middle pic post race, oh well, I enjoyed the waves

Some pregnancy updates

Well, so far so good!  We're 14 weeks now (2nd trimester I guess huh?), have heard a heartbeat twice, just picked up a doppler to borrow from a friend so I'm sure we'll hear many more, and saw baby on a quick ultrasound a couple weeks ago.  I've been feeling good, times of nausea, but have only thrown up once, but yes, it has come time to pull out the heavier duty sports bras :)  That's a good thing though, I appreciate have some kind of indication that things are ok.  Oh yeah, there's the belly too.  Holy cow it's popped out big time!  This whole last 4-5 weeks it's been obvious (at least if I'm in spandex) and that's way early for me.  I know it's my 4th baby, but yes I suspected twins (I'm a twin), but we only saw one on the ultrasound, so that's what I'm going by....for now  :)  
Anyway, all those things are good.  I've stayed pretty active, getting a little more active now that I'm starting to crawl out of the pit that is constant worry and anxiety after 5 miscarriages.  These last 10 weeks have really been brutal.  After so many miscarriages it's just been so hard, and you can't feel the baby move, so there's not much to go off of.  That should come in a month or so and will be great.

So I entered this fit2Bmom model search contest.  I know, I know, me a model?  Don't laugh!  It sounded fun and they make great maternity activewear which I could really use since I'm almost out of my current tanks and jerseys and shorts and that means I head into the husband's closet (which has evolved a lot since our last baby and has many fancier fabrics than I do) but equals a shirt that fits my belly but hangs off my chest and arms.  I'm assuming this will be out last baby, but still, I'd really like some cute stuff that is meant for a big belly.  Now yes, I'll be my biggest Nov-Feb, but I teach on a hot humid pool deck, and hey, there's always arm warmers and gloves for outside  :)
So here's my entry video for it.  I wasn't selected, but was recognized as a top 4 video (including the winner) which is great considering I don't have a huge belly right now, and they're sending me a goody bag with clothes - SO EXCITED!!  I'll fill you in for sure on how great the stuff is.  In the mean time, don't laugh at me, I don't talk well under pressure even if it is just me and the camera.  Am I the only one that squirms a little when watching themselves?  And I even made the whole video all by myself with voice-overing which is a big thing for non tech savvy me (Jer of course did take the pics and video though)

But here's some updated bump pics for you  :)

A few unseen race pics

Appears I forgot a few pics from Rockport  :)  Notice anything out of the ordinary?

No, not my scrunched up face...look more, central

Breathing a little extra oxygen in for a reason

Did you figure it out?  I know the first pic isn't super obvious, but it's different to me, and in person.

I'm pregnant!  So far so good, still some worry.  No plans in the next couple months to race (but then I never plan my races as of late), just lots of praying and finger crossing.  I knew what I was doing during Daybreak and Women Rock, and had a lot of fun.  Now it's time to work on growing another human. 
I'll still be around though, don't you worry  :)