Pregnancy, Nutrition, and Running--Oh My!

Well, we're getting close now, and it's almost D-Day! My due date is right around the corner and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the newest member of Disney Runs in the Family! Sitting here at 38.5 weeks in the middle of the holiday season, I'm feeling a little reflective of my pregnancy journey and how proud I am that I have made staying healthy a top priority for myself and my little man! Yes, I'm bragging, but why not? It would have been much easier to "eat for two" and spend 9 months living on Netflix!

During this pregnancy, I ran 3 race weekends: The Tink Half, The Disneyland Half, and The Avengers Half. The first two, I did the challenges with the 10k on Saturday and the Half on Sunday. I'm pretty darn impressed by that. My training wasn't perfect. It was actually far from perfect, but it's still a major accomplishment that I am very proud of. One half marathon per trimester--that just sounds really cool! I also managed to keep up with my other workouts, still teaching classes at the gym until 35 weeks. I had to eventually give it up, though, because I couldn't get through the hour of jumping around without using the restroom. I'm still taking classes and getting my workouts in, but I've really had to modify now that the baby is sitting low and we are close to the end.

One thing that I KNOW helped tremendously has been my nutrition. I really tried to stick with a healthy diet, rich in protein, fruits and veggies. Of course I had Shakeology daily to fill in any gaps with nutrition and drinking lots and lots of water was a top priority. My energy was a little low the entire time, but luckily I haven't had too much trouble sleeping except for the past 2 weeks. I also have not had any medications and only had to suffer through one quick cold right after Thanksgiving. All in all, I was super healthy. Of course, I attribute part of that to the choices I made, but I have to admit that I was lucky too.

Now, we are at the sit around and wait part. Depending on who you ask, I'm either already full-term or will be within a few days. I personally really wanted to get through Christmas, and that looks pretty good. Once I hit 39 weeks, though, the eviction notice will be served!

I have to admit, I'm really excited to get back to running fast and working out hard. Between my knee surgery last year and pregnancy this year, I haven't been able to work on speed in a long time and I'm ready to set some big goals! My first race will be the Hot Chocolate 15k in Vegas on February 28th. I know I won't be breaking any records, but it will be nice to be on a course with friends for some fun running! (By the way, if you're interested in this race, use my code LASVEGASBUFF3 to get extra swag in your bag) I'm hoping recovery from labor is quick and I can get a good month of training under my belt before race day, but I won't make any promises.

Stay tuned for our big birth announcement--hopefully sooner rather than later! We can't wait for our little monster to arrive!