Where was I?

Oh yeah, NOT working out. Life is a workout these days!

At last the move is done. After a week of constant motion -- packing, heaving boxes, unpacking, wrangling children, cleaning, worrying, oh and entertaining the company that descended on us two days after move day! -- I spent another few days fighting and finally succumbing to paralyzing fatigue. Not the "I don't have the energy for a workout" or "I don't feel like making supper" fatigue, but the "crying on the phone until Lilly swoops in, whisks Tim away for a few hours so I can lie prone on the bed, then make everyone supper and keep the kids overnight until I can string three sentences together without crying" fatigue.

Now, all is well.

Well enough to dare a little workout today. A VERY little workout. I'm actually afraid to do to much, because of the looming threat of the above-mentioned fatigue. S

So I just jogged around the block (550 m), then did

Raised-leg split squats - three sets of 12/leg
Dumbbell shoulder press - 20 lb dbs - 3 sets of 10.

And cooled down and off with some paddling around in the pool.

Tim's at nursery school today, so we might squeeze in some tennis afterward. Or a walk down to the river for some stone-throwing. :-)

Oh, and a weight-gain update: July 4 = 153 lbs, which is the same as I weighed in two weeks before. When I check back on the records from last pregnancy, this is exactly the same as I weighed at 31 weeks with Tim. So I've actually gained less weight this time (since I started heavier)... See how the body balances itself out?

Lowering expectations

I hit the wall on the weekend, and consequently lowered my expectations about how much energy I have available to spend each day.

Last Friday, I did the usual 2 km jog, 2 km walk + hour of tennis. However, between the drop-off and pick-up, I subbed sitting with my feet up for a workout. I got through the day, but on Saturday I slept in unti l0:30 am (thanks McPie!), and STILL had an hour and a half nap that afternoon.

So, as I head toward third trimester territory, I'm rationing my resourcing to prioritize basic living. That said, I've started the week with a couple of simple workouts, just to keep my muscles from atrophying.

Monday:

The usual jog 2 km/walk 2km + tennis.

Squat 45# x 20, 95# x 10, 10, 10
Press 45# x 10
Bent-over row 30#/arm (alternating) x 10, 10, 10
Squat 45# x 15
Press 45# x 10

Today:
The usual jog 2 km/walk to school.
Mile run: on a whim, I timed it. 10:35 minutes! And I had to run through a cramp! (The running kind, not the pregnant kind.)

Walk to the mall and back (2 km) to sign some mortgage-related papers. (Yay!)

Now off for the 2 km tennis walk!

Like yesterday, but different

Again, 2 km jog (to and from nursery school), then

5 rounds of
10 deadlifts - 95 lb
10 bench dips - feet on the ball

The deadlifts were not too tough, but I don't think I'd add weight because the mechanics felt perfect. Dips... well, I grunted a lot. See yesterday's note on the 15 extra pounds I'm hoisting!

And the now-usual: walk 2 km to and from nursery school, with an hour of preschool tennis in between kms.

Every trip to the tennis court shows progress. Tim is regularly returning the ball back to me over the net, and we have occasional multi-hit volleys. I was a little bit joking when I said I might have to take lessons to keep up with him... Now I feel that it may be no joking matter.

A new routine

After an "active lifestyle" weekend (vacuumed the house, mopped the floors, jogged and walked Tim both ways to school, mowed the lawn), I tried a real, albeit brief, workout today.

Jog 2+ km - to nursery school and back. Then

4 rounds of:
20 walking lunges
10 bench push-ups

Finished with 500 m easy jog.

(Walked another 2 km to and from school, with an hour of tennis in the middle. Which is an hour of walking, essentially.)

Next day - good solid case of DOMS. Clearly am not using my muscles enough lately! Also, those 15 extra pounds add up on the walking lunges.

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. :-)

Spring at last?

After spending the week back indoors (rainy and sick -- Tim, not me), I made it back outside today. Walked to nursery school both ways (4.5 km in total), but with the stroller. The backpack is going to be less useful as I can't sstrap it around my middle anymore, and so it puts a lot of uncomfortable pressure on my shoulders.

During nursery school, I jogged almost 5 km, in almost 35 minutes. I tried my best, but boy it's slow going! I tried to keep the jog slow, but also had to walk a fair bit. Not too often, but for at more than a minute each time. The bigger the uterine muscle, the stronger the contraction!

Jogging doesn't feel awesome, but it's not bad, and I think the extended time of raised heart rate is probably a good antidote for all those symptoms like water retention and varicose veins and such that are supposed to happen particularly in 2nd pregnancy.

Also did three sets of 5 inclined push-ups at the park. Tried a jumping chin-up. Ha ha ha! The section of abdominal erectors that really kick in to pull you into the second half of the up are totally MIA.

No Tuesday workout because of doctor appointment. Weigh in: 21 weeks = 148 lb.

(That's a 13 lb gain in total. At this point last time, I'd gained 15 lbs -- but started skinnier so had more to gain. Apparently I should gain half a pound a week for the rest of the time... That will be at least another 10 pounds. But I suspect it will be more like 12 or so...)

Also! Got a Quebec midwife at last! I had a back-up in Ontario that I was going to have to pay for, but that midwife called in a favour of one she knew on this side of the river, and I'm in!