Bad Week=New Approach

I wish I could say that this week has been going as well as last week did in Utah. But it's not. I took Monday off, after racing Saturday and flying all day Sunday.

Tuesday: tried to do a run on the treadmill, but that did not go well at all. My legs were in pain no matter what I did... fast, slow, walking... didn't even matter... and on top of that, I was getting little cramps and things just under and around my belly. So I think I ended up jogging a total of 1.6ish miles, then walked whatever it took to get to 25 minutes total on the treadmill. It was bad.

I was reading some info with my husband and saw some facts about exercise/running in pregnancy that mention similar sounding pain that is caused by a poor circulation to the lower limbs that often occurs in pregnancy. I'm sure that probably has something to do with it. I don't know. There are plenty of factors to consider... a poor night's sleep, travelling, racing, etc., on top of all the pregnancy issues. It was a depressing workout though. I know things will probably get better, but sometimes I find myself feeling worried that I've reached then end of my running progression for this pregnancy. I want to keep running, but I have to count on my body to let me. But I know things will be fine.... seriously, I just had an awesome race on Saturday, it's not going to be suddenly over 3 days later, right?

Wednesday: So I decided to approach today with a different attitude. I decided I needed to quit paying attention to my pace and distance, and just focus on sustaining some effort for an extended time. I'd like to go back to distance and speed training if I start feeling better and hurting less, but for now, I'll stick with this approach... possibly for the rest of the pregnancy if necessary.

Anyway, so I got up at 6 today to run before Adam left for school, and it was a super nice morning. My plan was to just go out and jog for 30 minutes (and take any walking breaks that felt needed).. so that's what I did. I jogged for 30 minutes and didn't need any breaks... but I also didn't watch the distance or pace until the end... just the total time. So.... I'm a little depressed about how slow I went... first time in a while I've been under 3 miles for 30 minutes... it was 2.78 to be exact. I hate going slow, but if this is what I have to do to keep going, then I just need to accept it. Overall, I'm just glad I got out and did it.