Category: Training Logs

A very Mango baby announcement
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Baby Mango is here! Well, to be more precise, baby Mango is over a month old. There’s nothing stopping me from writing here. She’s a sleeper. I’m just lazy! Her first and middle name mean ‘peace’ in two languages and she’s living up to it, completely unlike her big brother, with whom we stumbled around in a sleep-deprived haze for the first two years. She is a ‘trick baby’ – tricks its parents into thinking babies are easy. (100% of smug sleep-training guides are written by the parents of trick babies.) I joke that if we’d had her first, the kids would be closer in age…

Teeny tiny two-week-old squish.

So mentally, I could go back to work tomorrow. Emotionally and intellectually, I really enjoy baby snuggles (and catching up on my reading/ TV, heh) and I know that this is probably going to be the last time I have a teeny tiny infant. Meanwhile, my husband had a couple of weeks off and is working from home. We don’t have any family nearby so having him around for non-baby chores is invaluable! Thanks to a flexible, all-but-dissertation grad-student schedule, we spent the last two weeks reconnecting over board games while the baby napped and the big kid was in preschool.

Physically, the last few weeks of pregnancy, I was just DONE. Basically any time I left the house, I was a sweaty, uncomfortable mess, buoyed only by the thought that I couldn’t possibly be pregnant forever. Fortunately, labor and delivery were fast and intense. The day before my due date, we went to the hospital at 8am, contractions cranked up suddenly, I got an epidural at 12.30pm, and by 3.30pm, voila, baby. Being well-rested and pushing for only 10 minutes has made recovery that much easier – no pee leakage and my pelvic floor, core and legs feel so much stronger than the first time around. I also feel uncannily level: no night sweats, no mood swings. I was such a disaster the last time! Bodies are strange.

What now? I’m itching to run again. Starting again will be slow and frustrating. But I trust that my body knows how to run (been running for fun since I was 12) that it’ll come back to running when I’m ready (having taken breaks before, first for dance and then for baby 1) and that I’ll one day feel stronger and sharper and hungrier for speed than I ever have before (not ‘back to the same’, but beyond it).

I’ll run this fall, but I’m not planning to race till mid or late 2019. I want to enjoy life with two kids, remember how to enjoy running again, figure out a new routine, and while I’m doing so, figure out how to fit the necessary ‘extra salt’ into my routine. What better time to build in the extra salt from scratch, if my world is going to be turned upside down and rebuilt anyway?

How do you build extra salt – strength, stretching, rolling, etc – into a routine? I need your best tips – if you work and have more than 1 child, what does your routine look like? 

Barberry Training Log 9/3-9/9
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Here is a fun fact for Salty Readers. Indiana is not full of just a bunch of corn fields. In fact, there are several more states that produce more corn than Indiana. What we do have … is a lot of soy beans. We are (at my last check) number one in soy bean production in the country. Thus, the headline photo is just a glimpse of what I often see out on my runs. Soy beans. We also happen to be number two in ice cream production, so there’s that! This has been an interesting week weather-wise. We saw a big temperature drop from the mid-90’s to the mid-60’s as a high. I am thankful for these lower temperatures, especially as I grow larger and produce more heat.

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Barberry Training Log 8/27-9/2
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Hey everyone! Another week has passed and I have been experiencing more glorious changes in my body, along with trying to continue to run. I wrote last week that I had not been experiencing too many aches and pains, and then my anterior pelvis started getting a little tender. I also got the worst cramp ever in my right calf! Yikes! I was caught off guard by that one. I think I may have strained that calf, too, but it is starting to feel better. My pregnancy pillow is still a lifesaver, keeping my hips happy at night. My cats love me because I am so warm, so they want to be around me all of the time. Thus, all of the cat photos! Sorry about that gang … but they are precious!

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Barberry Training Log 8/20-8/26
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This week was another busy one! The weather was a little funky this week again. We had some beautiful days, some rain and lightning, and now the heat has returned. I could have done without the heat returning. As I get bigger, I am getting warmer. I am usually not one to be warm! We had our 24 week appointment this week, and that went well. I am measuring right on track (for what that may be worth), and baby has a strong heartbeat. Right now, the most uncomfortable thing I am experiencing is probably the increasing heartburn. I had a successful week of wearing maternity pants. I must admit, they do make things a little bit easier… especially with going to the bathroom! Here is a look at my adventures this week!

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Angelica’s Training Log – 8.5.18 – 8.19.18
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These weekly updates have turned bi-weekly this summer, but I hope to get more on top of that as August winds down and normal life eventually resumes. After a nearly flawless training cycle, these two weeks unfortunately have more drama than I would like to report. An old enemy has come visiting and I am fighting it off as best I can. On the other hand, I got to go on a “Run-Cation” in stunning Newport, Rhode Island and spend quality time with old and new running friends. I also got a visit from Coach Cupcake and we took on NYC. I wish every weekend could be filled with friends and adventures! Read more >>

Barberry Training Log 8/13-8/19
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Another week of run/waddling complete! I’m still going! As far as this week’s baby milestones, I have really been feeling her kicking more strongly than I have before. It was finally strong enough that my husband was able to feel her kick, too. He was so excited, it was a really sweet moment. We have been doing more to prepare for her arrival, however, it feels like we will never be fully prepared! I guess this is a normal feeling for new parents. I also had to buckle down and buy maternity pants. It was time … sigh. I held off (or should I say my ego held off) as long as I could. I will keep you all updated on the freedom of movement that I will feel now that I don’t have to worry about buttons and snaps and zippers :)

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Angelica’s Training Log – 7.23.18 – 8.5.18
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Somehow summer means having more time and also much less time so last week’s training log didn’t happen. Two weeks for the price of one this week, though! The first week is our return from vacation, oy, re-entry is hard. It’s been hot and humid and I’m running tons of miles. I was dragging all week. Marathon training can be a grind. The second week was better. I had some great workouts and I’m having fun experimenting with different shoes. At the end of the second week, though, an old enemy reared its ugly head. Or, er, foot. Read on for details. Read more >>

Barberry Training Log 8/6 – 8/12
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All I wanted this week was to just get moving normally again! Being away, (especially when it involves working and not relaxing!) even for a few days, really can throw off my system! I was so exhausted at the beginning of the week. I just had to get through those first few days! Baby continues to flutter around. I tried out my support belt for my pelvis again this week during my runs. I think I got it in a better location, as there was less pressure on my bladder this time! I still think I might need a little more belly to feel the full effects of the belt. That being said, baby has really been popping out in the last week or two. I am starting to look a little more pregnant versus just looking like I had extra helpings at Thanksgiving.

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Barberry Training Log 7/30-8/5
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This week has not been a normal one for me work-wise, food-wise, and workout-wise! I had a continuing education class up in Chicago over the weekend. I switched my day off at work and ran on Thursday morning before leaving for Chicago. It seems like in the last week, I have gone from looking a little chubby to holy-cow-I-can-no-longer-button-my-pants as far as this pregnancy thing goes. I have been using the belly bands and the old hair-tie around the button trick. Baby has been fluttering around in my belly, so that has been fun. I haven’t felt any super strong kicks yet, but it is neat to feel her moving around! So here is my not-so-much-running running log for the week!

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BayLeaf’s Training Log: 7.30.18 – 8.5.18
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This is week one of my six-week mile training “boot camp,” as my coach, Nick Willis, calls it. Yes, that Nick Willis. He offers a six-week training program for just $72 (which I think is pretty reasonable given you can message him and he gets back to you right away). The plan is somewhat customized based on your mile time trial, but I didn’t give him my goal race time or tell him what I’d been doing on my own (30-mile weeks, a long run, a hill workout, a track workout, and an easy run), so I think some of it’s plug-n-play. Read more >>

BayLeaf’s Training Log: 7.23.18 – 7.29.18
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This was my last week before official mile training. Maybe I’ll be eating my words, but at first glance of the training plan, I feel like I may be running harder on my own. But, we’ll see!

Been also trying to get back into my pelvic floor routine (or some semblance of it) to keep things on the up and up. (Photo above as a reminder not forget the core work.)  Read more >>