Testing 1-2-3

Had to do a test today to see if my muscles still work. It had been so long since I used them.

Warm-up: 2 km jog (with a break between the kms to drop Tim at school)

Squats: 45# x 10; 65# x 10; 95# x 10 + 10 + 10; 45# x 20
Push-ups (knees): 4 sets of 10
Bent-over rows: 30# db x 4 sets of 9/arm

Okay, they work. But are a bit shaky.

Cool-down: Latté with my sweetie, mango/banana/pineapple/coconut smoothie, then a 2 km walk. (With a break between kms to play tennis with Tim for 45 minutes. Tennis on the actual court, with real racquets. Dude is serious about his tennis. I might have to actually learn how to play to keep up with him. Not much running, but a lot of walking around retrieving the ball. Bending over 50+ times is no triviality with this belly.)

Easing back into it

Well. Life got in the way there for a couple of weeks. Between work, keeping the house in order, appointments, and a vacation to Maine, I didn't get a chance to exercise much at all. Barely even walked! (Even rainy weather kept us from walking to school all the time.) While in Maine, I did do a fair amount of walking: my sister and I would trail the boys down the street as they enjoyed their bike or buggy rides. (My nephew has a kid-sized four-wheeler from Grandpa, and is a pro driver.)

Yesterday I found myself back at home, and despite having plenty to do (clean the house, prep for my sweetie's birthday), after walking Tim to school I managed a very simple and low-intensity workout that also checked a chore off the list: I mowed the lawn.

I love lawn-mowing. (Or as Tim says, "mow-lawning".)

Today, McPie and I took Tim for a stroller run. Or should I say "run". It was pretty slow, and involved quite a lot of walking. A few observations on jogging at 24 weeks pregnant:

• Putting on a bit of speed (and I mean "a bit"), or jogging downhill causes a contraction.
• At 24 week-gravid uterus is a pretty big muscle, and its contraction is a bit too uncomfortable to run through.
• Running uphill is actually more comfortable and less likely to cause a contraction than flat or downhill (but my speed slow enough that running uphill isn't too difficult!)
• Running slowly while not enduring a contraction feels pretty normal, good even.
• My aerobic capacity seems fairly normal/as expected, at a low speed, anyway. That is, I can chat easily and am not really out of breath at all. The low-gear is only necessary for keeping the belly in order (not fitness related).

So, we had to walk a lot. I'd say I spent 1/3 to 1/2 of the "run" actually walking. (Dad took these opportunities -- usually on the downhills -- to take Tim for a speedy spin.) But it was 45 minutes of steady cardio, and I felt good afterward.

Upcoming: This week I have my first appointment with my midwife, and therefore the 24 week weigh-in. :-)