Pulling a Kara

If graphed, my mileage since early August would resemble a serious downward sloping explosion--from the mid 30s to practically nothing. There is a simple explanation for this, as well as my infrequent posting since the late summer: I'm pregnant ;)

While I did expect my running habits to change somewhat, I did not anticipate the difficulty I'd have in finding enough hours in the day to sleep, as well as in keeping food down on a daily basis (seemingly easy tasks when training for a marathon). Not so when growing a baby (or at least in my case).

Once September hit (as well as the nausea), my running was severely curtailed and my weekly mileage sunk to the single digits. Since then, I've been averaging about one run per week, usually on Saturday. I wasn't really sure how to keep up with the blog, since I had very little material to begin with. But the real reason was that I was too sick to stare at a computer, much less draft a coherent entry.

At fifteen and a half weeks, I seem to be feeling better. I'm thrilled about this prospect because it will give me a chance to truly express my excitement about becoming a mom (and hopefully up the mileage, if the fatigue tapers off and the lost pounds reappear as muscle).

If it sounds like I'm reporting this all matter-of-factly, it's because I have no idea who's reading this and I haven't been too public about my pregnancy so far. Also, it's awkward to tell strangers this very personal detail, but it must be done if I am to continue blogging my running chronicles...and I'm willing to sacrifice awkwardness for the sake of my blog ;) Also, there may be others out there who might be interested in reading about running with a baby on board. Anyone?

That said, my weekend runs have mostly been with my husband. Though he mostly kicks my butt these days, I enjoy his company, even if he is several yards ahead of me the entire run. My new role has been coaching him as he ups his mileage, gets faster, and avoids injury. I have to say, I really enjoy that role and I'm glad someone is benefiting from my numerous injury experiences and countless silly mistakes (ie. disregarding the 10% rule, constantly overdoing it, etc).

I hope to be back with more soon. Here's a picture of us before our run on Sunday.