Yo, I’m pregnant, not sick.

One of the pluses of being knocked up is the amount of kudos I get for doing regular stuff. I wake up, breathe, take out the garbage every now and then, and I get praised. This is pretty wonderful. People smile at me and I feel that folks are looking out for me. It’s really quite humbling. The other day I felt pretty darn great after running on the bridle path. I promised myself from the very beginning that I would not try to be superwoman or best pregnant woman.  It is not difficult at all to leave the bar an inch off the floor. (That one day when I slept for 17 hours, not an ounce of guilt!) This was not a time for competition. That said,  I took great joy from my run on the bridle the other day.

Here are my imagined thoughts of the different perspectives from that run:

Baby: It’s hot and humid up in this belly. I am trying to come out looking all mixed-ed and now you got me reaching for a hot comb (because that’s how my baby will speak).

Haters who don’t run: That is so unsafe. She’s really putting that child at risk. That’s so irresponsible.

Haters who run: Whatevs, put on a chip.

Friends who run: Love to see you out here.

Friends who don’t run: I don’t really get it, but we love you anyway.

And hopefully the women out there who are pregnant or trying to be: Any and everything’s possible.

***I was pretty certain a couple months ago that my running-while-pregnant days were over because of the strain I felt in my pelvis and ligaments. I am feeling good again and feel grateful each day that I can run. A bad day/month does not preclude you from future good days.  I am careful to hydrate, keep my breathing even, and listen to my body.

In the last few months, I have ranged anywhere from feeling like a 10 minute mile was a solid effort to being able to comfortably run at a faster clip.

31 weeks pregnant: (2 extended bridles, 1 reservoir) 20:42; 20:11; 12:30    ave 8:07 per mile for 6.5 miles

32.5 weeks pregnant: (2 extended bridles, 2 reservoir) 22:09; 21:18; 13:30; 13:12   ave 8:36 per mile for 8 miles