Getting Back Into Exercise After First Trimester

At 17 weeks I had a good cry about my changing body and what had been ingrained in me for my entire life (staying a certain weight). Turns out that watching the scale going up at each appointment gave me mixed feelings, and some major emotions bubbled to surface. 

This was something I did not expect at all. 

I’m so excited to be pregnant, to grow a baby, to get a belly. But turns out the weight side of things and my changing body triggered some deep underlying emotions I didn’t expect. 

And while I’m not doing it for the vanity of it, getting back into exercise now that I’m in my second trimester has been a positive change for many reasons. 

I have so much more energy when I’m exercising regularly. 

Turns out it’s really good for not only you but that baby you’re growing too. 

It makes me feel better about my changing body knowing that I’m keeping it strong and fit, ready for birth and life after that. 

Right before I found out I was pregnant I was doing my 30 Day Morning Challenge, which consisted of me exercising first thing every single morning. And it was a great little routine I had going. 

But then the anxiety of a recent miscarriage led me to stop exercising all together. I was so worried that pushing myself too hard, lifting too much weight, or squatting was somehow going to hurt my chances of keeping this pregnancy. 

And at the time for my emotional well-being the best thing to do was take a break from it. 

Well, then I started feeling really crummy in the morning, as most pregnant women do. And this led to the morning not being the time to do my exercise anymore. 

And then beyond nausea was my worst pregnancy symptom, exhaustion. I was so unbelievably unenergetic throughout the rest of the day. That made doing anything was hard. Looking back I know exercise would have helped my energy level, but I was just trying to stay afloat back then. 

But now that I’m here, and my energy and motivation has returned, I’m so happy to be getting back to exercise. 

I checked with my midwife to make sure I didn’t have any restrictions on what I could do. The only thing she said she didn’t want me doing was a really intense ab workout. Michael laughed at that and said don’t worry. 

The main thing I wanted to make sure I could do was run when it got warmer out. I really want to do a 12k in May when I will be around 30 weeks pregnant. I always said that one of the first things I wanted to do when I found out I was pregnant was sign up for a race. I need something to work towards and a race provides that for me. 

But for now, since it’s still pretty cold out, and I know I won’t go out and run until it’s above freezing I’m limited to what I can do inside. 

I started off by just going down to the gym in our building and walking on the treadmill for 10-15 minutes. 

Now, I’ve worked up to 15-20 minutes at an incline as well as some weighted or body weight exercises after that. No abs, don’t worry. Just a lot of squats and leg exercises as well as some arm stuff too. 

I can’t wait to get outside when it gets warmer and I’m so thrilled that it will be August when baby comes so I can go out on walks with them. 

What did exercise look like for you while you were pregnant, and how did that change with each trimester? 

30 Day Morning Challenge Info + Invite

This is an invitation to you, from me. 

It’s for those of us trying to add in or trade out a few habits to recreate our morning routines. I don’t know about you but I’ve found that my morning, what I do first thing in the day is what sets the structure for the rest of my day. 

It started because I’m constantly trying to tweak my routine to what works best and sets me up best for the day. Like everyone else I have my ideal routine, but making time for that or sticking to it is the challenge isn’t it? 

And so I got to thinking, what makes you accountable? Having someone else, right? Why not invite anyone who wants to join in to, you know, join in. So, I started putting out a few feelers her and there, and the response has been overwhelming. 

Right now as I write the rough draft for this blog (Tuesday, 7:50 am) I have over 650 amazing people joining in. What? That is insane, but in the best way possible. 

I’m going to talk through what I have planned, and you are invited to join in for as much as you want, or as little as you want. You can just take the free worksheets and use them, or you can join in on every live video, share your triumphs and struggles in the Facebook group, keep up on my vlog and Instagram. Your choice. 

Ok, so let’s get into how this is all going to go down.

First, I’d love if you would go here, and sign up for the 30 Day Morning Challenge with your email, and also get the free worksheets. I’m going to be sending out reminder emails and who knows what other goodies, so it would be great to be able to contact everyone in one place. (Not everyone has Facebook or Instagram, but I think everyone has an email.) 

Next, join the Facebook group (if you have Facebook of course. Props to those of you who never got it or have deleted it). This is where we can all share our goals, the habits we want to add, our worksheets, and our struggles. Plus it can be a place where we can all help each other stay accountable, offer advice and just being a loving supporting community. 

[Just a side note quick: not that I’m worried about this but I’m not down for any negativity, trolls or rudeness. If I see any of that you will be removed. “Ain’t nobody got time for that!”]

And finally you can get click to get a notification for the live stream on YouTube. It’s going to be on my second channel, where I’m also going to be doing updates on my vlog. 

The dates for the live streams are:

11.9 — the first live stream before the challenge begins so we can all set ourselves up for success!

11.12 — the challenge begins! (I’m going to be updating everyone on my vlog as well as my Instagram stories, and we’ll all be joining in on the Facebook group.)

11.19 — the first check-in which I have scheduled as a live video on YouTube. We’ll go through a worksheet I’ve created to access how we’re feeling, how we’re doing, where we can improve and how we can make those improvements.

11.26 — the second check-in, which is also a live video.

12.3 — third check- in!

12.10 — final check in + wrap up. I haven’t made the worksheets for this yet, but I know there will be a few 😉 

I hope you join in if it is something you’re interested in or curious about. Plus it’s completely free. You’re very welcome. Let me know what you’re looking to get out of this experience with me so I can craft it into something that benefits you.

Fall Exercise Ideas

I thought it would be fun to sit down and brainstorm different activities and exercises to do now that it’s fall. 

I’m the sort of person that is great at consistency if there is something I am training for, but it is much easier to talk myself out of something if I’m not. 

Make a point to do things that were "too hot" to do in the summer. Don’t use the excuse that “oh man it’s too cold out now”. Going for runs  as an example. I was terrible at waking up early to go running before it got hot, but now it’s crisp but I just need to grab a pair of gloves and a hat and I’ll be fine. Plus I’m a much better cool weather runner. 

There are also plenty of great indoor activities to do for those days that it might be a bit too crisp outside for you. So, in no particular order, her his my list of brainstorm list of fall exercises: 

+ Go to your apartment gym or try out some at-home exercises. There’s no excuses if you don’t even have to go outside into the cold. And this is a quick thing to do if I need a break from work for 30-45 minutes. I’ll just go down to my apartment gym and do a focused workout.  I just look up a workout on Pinterest depending on what area I want to work that day.

+ Go running. Either on the road, bike path or trail running has been my favorite recently. You actually warm up pretty quick so you don’t even need to wear that many extra layers. And because it’s not overly humid with the sun beating down, you might actually be able to enjoy it more. 

+ Go to a hot yoga class. I need to get a punch card for the one here in Des Moines because there really is nothing like warming your bones and even working up a sweat when it’s frigid outside. And yoga is great because you can take it easy or push yourself just by tweaking how far you push the moves. And you can always just lay in child’s pose and soak up the heat. 

+ Go on a walk outside to enjoy the changing leaves. You can walk around your town, hit up a park or even find some trails to hike through. Walking gets your blood pumping but is great for those days that you’re not feeling very energetic. 

+ Go to a rock climbing gym. This isn’t a frequent one for me but I always love it and man my arms do too. You can go alone and do some bouldering, make a friend to belay you on the walls or bring someone with you. 

+ Go to a swimming pool. Our local YMCA just finished theirs, and I haven’t gotten over to try it out yet. Swimming isn’t one of my strengths but what better place to just practice than a pool? Then maybe I wouldn’t feel like I was drowning when I decide to do a random triathlon out of the blue. 

+ Go on a bike ride. This is another one of those things that you might put off when it’s too hot out, but can be great when it starts to cool off. Just put a thin hat on under your helmet and some gloves should do the trick. 

+ Go run a 5k. Get your family to sign up for a turkey trot on thanksgiving together before you go home and fill up on food. If you’re here in Iowa that’s where I’ll be Thanksgiving Day (downtown putting on the race). 

+ Go do your own sprint triathlon at your local gym/YMCA. Ok, so this one might seem a little out there, but if there’s a pool, stationary bikes and a treadmill or a track you could totally do it. And you can even change in between your swim and the final two legs to make it more comfortable. Do a 750m swim, 20k on the bike, and finish with a 5k run.

There are so many fun things you can do for exercise this season, and these are just a few of the things I want to try out. What type of exercise are you exited to do?  

Pushing Yourself Outside Your Comfort Zone

I am one of those people who can be a bit of a hermit. I know what I like, don’t like and what I’m comfortable doing. 

It is always a challenge when I first push myself outside my comfort zone, but it is usually always so rewarding.

And the three areas I’m going to talk about today are social, work and athletic.  

Let’s start with the easy one — athletically.

I’ve never considered myself an athletic person really. I was like the only one in my family that really did sports growing up, and I wasn’t ever really on varsity. 

But being an adult and having more control over what you do is a great thing. And I’ve been able to discover different things that I love. 

You’re probably aware that I didn’t really get into running until just last summer. Michael challenged me to run a marathon, and I thought what the heck, why not. So, I trained for a ran a marathon. 

Through that I also discovered trail running. I’ve always enjoyed going on hikes and walks, but trail running is so much fun. Plus, I think I prefer it over just regular running. 

Also last summer I decided to give a sprint triathlon a try, even though I hadn’t been training for one (outside my marathon training), but I wanted a new challenge, was bored with just running, and felt in decent shape. 

The challenge for my with doing triathlons is that I’m not the most efficient swimmer. Like I’m not going to drown, but I feel so slow. 

But at a certain point you just realize, what’s the worse that’s going to happen? I’m going to have to get pulled out of the water? Or maybe backstroke? 

Who cares?

I did my second sprint triathlon around a month ago, and I have not been running or training for anything currently, so I’m not in as good of shape as last summer. 

But I know what my body is capable of, and I was pretty sure that I could push myself through it. 

Once again I was nervous about the swim, and like 30 seconds into starting the race I thought, shit, I might have to get pulled out of the water. 

But I kept pushing myself, let go of feeling embarrassed and did the back stroke, and made it through the swim. 

There’s something I like about deciding to do a random tri without training. But maybe one of these days I will train for one. 

Work is another area that I find myself challenged in, but that’s a huge positive for me. I think I would get bored if I didn’t keep stretching myself, and pushing further and further. 

It was outside my comfort to start a YouTube channel, but look where that got me. 

It was outside my comfort zone to create a website, courses, to coach women about how to chart their menstrual cycles. But I wouldn’t be where I am without that. 

I was outside my comfort zone to do my first sponsored video, to talk to others about “what I did for work”. 

But looking back those steps seem so easy. 

And I try to remind myself of that when I’m facing my next challenge, whatever area of my life that is in. 

What’s something outside your comfort zone you’ve challenged yourself to, and how did you go about it?

I Ran a 20K/Half Marathon With My Mom

It’s come and gone! My mom and I successfully ran the 20k this past weekend (just shy of a half marathon, my watch actually said it was 12.69 miles).

Leading up to race day I was really nervous it was going to be over 90 degrees out because that’s what it had been for the few weeks prior.

Thankfully last week the forecast trended towards rain on race morning. I would much prefer to run in the rain rather than the heat.

Race morning came and I got a call at 4 a.m. from my mom. There was lightening down by her house and she was curious about the contingency plan for the race. I said it would probably get delayed if anything and to finish getting ready and head up to town.

I went back to bed for another half an hour before getting up and ready.

By the time she picked me up, just after 5 a.m., it had started to rain in Des Moines, and by the time we made it to the shuttle it was coming down pretty good.

At some point, we heard the race was delayed 30 minutes, which I had a feeling it would be.

We got off the shuttle, made a bathroom pitstop, stood semi-under the trees for a few minutes before making our way to the start line. It started on the top of a dam, so pretty exposed. We hunkered down under a bridge coming off of the dam for about 10 minutes not knowing the race had started for about 4 minutes.

But there was still a steady stream of people making their way to the start line so we just joined in, crossed the start and began running. We stuck together for about the first mile, but it was crowded and hard to weave through everyone together so we got separated for a few miles.

I felt great, was keeping a good pace and stopped to go to the bathroom at mile 3.

It stopped raining shortly after we started running and I found my mom again in between mile 6 and 7.

My knee had started hurting at this point, and when I caught up to her she mentioned her thighs were sore in the new shorts she was wearing. We both looked down at her legs and I’m pretty sure I gasped out loud because her thighs were raw and red with blood. It legit looked like she had started her period and was bleeding down her legs. 

We adjusted the rain jacket around her waist to cover up her poor thighs and started running again until we passed a firetruck with a group of EMT who we asked for some sort of vaseline or bandages. They gave her KY Jelly and wrapped something around my knee. 

We hobbled on. 

My knee was screaming at this point and I’m sure her thighs felt about the same. 

Around mile 9 maybe, we finally ran by an ambulance. 

Perfect, I thought, they’ll have some sort of bandages. We wrapped them up with some gauze and stretchy bandage tape stuff and kept running. 

We were so close at this point that you just kept running because why not. 

The last two miles were rough. It was pretty toasty, but not nearly as bad as it could have been that day. I was grateful for the cool, rainy morning at this point. 

The home stretch of 7 blocks (about half a mile) was the hardest part of the race. They had these signs up “400 meters to go!”, “200 meters” and “100 meters to go!” 

What I found most incredibly infuriating was that the rest of my body (minus my knee) felt great. I was conditioned enough and in shape, and that race should have been a piece of cake. But because my knee wasn’t having it, that made it much harder than it should have been. 

You alter the way you run when a certain body part is in pain, and after the race, my calves were cramped because of how I was running to baby my knee. 

But we made it across the finish line and just kind of walked right into the medical tent.

We re-bandaged my mom’s legs and I got a little glove of ice to wrap around my knee. After that, we went and said hi to everyone before going to my apartment to eat some leftover rice and veggies I had. 

I think the thing that always surprises me is how it can almost depend on that day to how your run is going to go. 

I had an absolutely brilliant run in San Francisco two weeks ago. I remember the mile markers ticking by and wishing it would slow down so I could keep enjoying it. 

The biggest similarity between this race and my full marathon last year was my knee, which really bummed me out. My mom and I have been training for 10 weeks and I didn’t have any issues whatsoever with my knee this whole time. 

But I have confirmed my belief that I run better in cooler weather and am not much for warm weather running. 

I haven’t decided whether I’m going to go for a full marathon this fall (at the moment I don’t think I will), but I’ve got plans to run plenty of 5k and 10k’s this summer because I find I like races a lot more than training. 

What races are you doing (have done) this year? 

I'm Going to Say It...I Enjoy Running

I ran track in junior high and high school. I was never an all-star, nor did I enjoy it all that much. 

I ran sporadically throughout college and after. 

I would run with my dog Bob (R.I.P. Bob), and then when I moved in with Michael I liked to do a bike/run combo most days. But it was never more than a few miles. 

Last summer Michael challenged me to run a marathon, something that had literally never ever crossed my mind. I laughed at him and initially said no way. But I think it was an hour later that I said, Ok, I’ll do it. 

So I trained for and ran a marathon last fall, doing a 5K and sprint triathlon in the process. But then I took a break over the winter because running in the cold is not my thing, and I had burnt myself out with marathon training. Now that warmer weather is here I’m running regularly again. 

A little over a month ago my mom and I started training together because I convinced her to run a half marathon with me. 

We just did a 10K this past weekend that was awesome. I think it's super helpful to not only have something your training for but to also do races along the way. It spices the training up and allows you to get jazzed up by the race atmosphere. 

But in the process of all of this, I’ve surprised myself with how much I actually enjoy running. 

I’ve found that once you get past that period of everything hurting, your lungs gasping for air, and to where you can run a few miles consistently, you get into a certain rhythm and it just flows. And that feels amazing. 

Running is a great way to work through things. If I’m feeling anxious or upset I’ll go run. It’s a great time to brainstorm or daydream. And it’s something that you can actually see tangible improvement at. You can run further or faster. 

And it’s an inexpensive thing to do. I recommend getting a good pair of shoes, and races are fun, but day to day you don’t have to go to a class or a gym to do it. You can just go outside. 

And speaking of outside, I love that aspect of running. It gets you outside, and it’s a great speed of travel. I love running trails through the woods or along the river. [Sidenote: I can't run on a treadmill. One mile feels like ten, and I just really dislike it.]

I love being able to cover different distances. It’s such an accomplishment to run your first mile, your first three, then five, ten and when you get to the point where you realize you can run for two or four hours straight that’s super cool. 

It’s something you can do almost anywhere you go. And it’s fun to do when you travel. 

I’ve discovered I really like trail running. It’s completely different than running on a flat surface like a road, sidewalk or bike path. And it feels like an adventure, which reminds me of being a child and playing in the woods around our house. 

It was hard getting into running last summer, finding my rhythm and all that but I was surprised with how quickly it came back to me this year. I was able to run that first mile and then three miles a lot quicker this time around. 

I know there are plenty of people who think those who run are crazy (I was once one of them), but it’s honestly something that anyone can get into. You literally go at your own pace and even if that means walking at different points, it really doesn't matter. 

If you’ve been wanting to get into it don’t be shy. Give it a go! 

Intuitive Exercise Throughout Your Cycle

The only time that I’ve ever stuck to a “work out plan” was when I trained for my marathon last year, and these past four weeks of training for a half-marathon at the start of June. 

Other than that I have always just kind of gone through spurts and phases of exercising. 

Things like yoga, weight lifting, biking, but the most of what I’ve done over the years has been running. 

Have you ever noticed that you’re drawn to different types, or amounts of, exercise at different points in your cycle? 

Leading up to and during my period I find myself wanting a much slower form of exercise, whether that be yoga, hiking or simply going for a walk. I’ve still go running during this, but I don’t push myself too hard. Thankfully, our pace this year hasn’t been very intense at all so it works out great. 

I don’t base my exercise on where I am in my cycle so much as just listening to my body as I go along. Because I’ve got a training plan to follow I usually stick to that for the most part. 

But last week around ovulation I found myself wanting to get outside more than once, or go further than originally planned. Three days in a row I ran 6 miles. 

Wednesday I went on a run with my mom, and then Michael asked if I wanted to go with him so I did. The next day I ran around two miles with my mom, and then decided to run the 4 miles back to my apartment. And Friday we had six miles to run. 

I’m more likely to head out on an unplanned run, hike, etc. because I get this urge to blow off some steam or excess energy (or lack of energy). 

One thing that I’ve discovered I enjoy a lot is running on trails. Not bike paths, but dirt trails through the woods, or when we were in Phoenix is was through the desert. 

Once I get into the habit of being active again (when it’s starts getting warm out) I just really try to focus on what my body feels like, combined of course with what I have for a training plan. 

I don’t necessarily switch up the type of exercise I do depending on where I’m at in my cycle, I just change the amount and intensity of running I’m doing that week. 

I do find that when I’m feeling in a slump, tired or things like that, getting out for a run really helps to balance me back out again. 

What is your go to exercise, and do you switch it up at all throughout your cycle? 

Running With My Mom

I convinced my mom to train for, and run, a half-marathon with me this spring. 

She got really into yoga after I introduced her to it, and I would love if running could become something she enjoys doing after this is all said and done. 

After I ran my marathon last fall I only ran a handful of times over the past three months (because I can’t be bothered to run outside in the cold.) But now that spring is here, and the weather has been teetering around almost warm, it’s been great to get back outside again. 

Normally, I don’t like running with other people. I like being in control of my own pace, walking when I want and choosing where I want to run. Thankfully, my mom lets me be in control of all that for our runs together.

We’ll be on our fourth week of training together at the time of this post, but we’ve been going pretty strong from the start. 

The training plan I chose to base ours off of was pretty mild, starting with 2 or 3 miles of a walk/jog combo that first week. But my mom is kind of an overachiever, always saying no let’s do more than 2 miles. There was one day we set out to do three and ended up running five miles. 

The place my mom works is on my way to the coffee shop I’ve been enjoying working from so I’ve been stopping in and saying hi quite a bit, but it’s nice to have this extra time to get outside, run together and chat about who knows what. 

And the best, most unexpected part of all this has been their new little puppy. She’s a little Dachshund named Martini (I call her Weenie), and she is the best little running buddy. We leave her in the car with my mom’s other little dog on the really nippy days, but if it’s in the 40’s she usually goes with us. 

There was a rare nice day in February after I got back from Sri Lanka, and I went for a walk around Grays with my mom and the two little dogs. Weenie was about three months old at that point and didn’t quite get the whole “walk on a leash” thing. Plus she would get pretty distracted by all the smells (and people) around her, just begging to get sniffed. 

Now she’s able to stay on course without getting tangled in your legs or stopping to sniff something new every 3.2 seconds. 

Not to mention she’s very popular when she’s running with us. People find it hilarious and oh so cute that this tiny little weiner dog is our running buddy. 

For now, we’ve got the one race booked for June, but I’m on the hunt for more this summer!

Easing Back Into Running

I thought that maybe I’d bundle up every now and then and continue running through the winter.

Yeah, right. I should have known better.

It was hard enough to muster the motivation to bundle up to just walk to the coffee shop to work. 

But March is here, which means spring is just around the corner, and with it warmer weather. 

I ran once while we were in Sri Lanka, it felt amazing. And I ran when we were in Phoenix, equally exhilarating. 

I’m obviously far from in marathon shape where I last was in November. But I know I at least want to do a half this summer, and possible a full marathon in October. 

So, here I am, out of running shape, but I feel like I’m still further ahead then where I started last July when I started training. And it’s because now I know what I’m capable of when it comes to running. But that doesn’t change the fact that I couldn’t go and knock out a 10 mile run right now. 

Where do I start? 

Here’s my plan. 

I know I’m going to run a half in June, and hopefully that full in October so I have dates to work towards. I’m going to start creating my training plan for those, but in the mean time I’ve started easing myself back into all this. 

There were a number of really gorgeous days recently and I went on a few long walks because duh, why wouldn’t I get out and enjoy the weather. 

That’s step one, to just get out there and start warming up the creaky joints again. 

After that I’m going to ease in with some walk/jog sessions. I’ll choose a distance or total time, and start with something like five minutes running, two minutes walking, on and off until I finish that distance/time. 

And I’ll just grow from there into things like 10 minutes on, 1 minute off, until I can run three miles straight. 

Something I am going to do more of this year is strength training for my knees, hips, etc. so I can hopefully avoid the knee problems I had last year. 

And while I plan on a half and hopefully another full, I plan to run other races in-between. 

Another thing I learned from last year is that you can burn yourself out mentally during training. By the end of it last year I was over running. I hardly ran my last month of training (not the smartest thing, but I still did my marathon). 

I haven’t really looked at what I want my training plan to be but I think I’m going to create one to work on for the half in June, then keep that base and have a “separate” plan for the marathon. Who knows yet!

What are your race/fitness goals for this year? What are the steps you’re taking to get there?