What we ate:
Christmas treats. A few too many, of course... Our main meals were fairly healthy, so I hope that makes up for it!
How we moved: Relaxed and fun, and feeling a bit more energetic again.
Tuesday: 35 minutes at home yoga (started as a walk, but the rain put an end to that!)
Wednesday: 45 minute swim
Thursday: Yoga
Friday: Was supposed to swim, but alarm didn't go off
Saturday: 40 minute swim
Sunday: 40 minute ride / walk (on the Napier waterfront path- I gave my bike to my sister with about 2km to go)
Monday: 45 minute walk; 15 minute OW swim (the rest of the time I mucked around)
Where we went: Napier. Such a lovely place to visit, I didn't want to leave!
What we wore: My sister made me a gorgeous maternity dress (and I may have stocked up a little on summer essentials in the Boxing Day sales)
What we bought/got given: Chip got some lovely Christmas presents- a book and cardi from his auntie and some cuuute wee hats from his Grandma
What changed: Not a lot, though getting some rest means I am feeling a bit more like me again! I just need to remember to keep resting and not wear myself out.
Exciting moments: Single digit weeks to go... Exciting? Or scary!?
What I miss: Being able to eat what I want. Runny Boxing Day brunch eggs, rare meat, cold leftovers...
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Hot Potato Chip: Week 30
What we ate: My first stone fruit of the season. And the first jersey bennies from *our* garden (I say *our* because although it's at our house, my mother-in-law is the gardener, and I can't take credit for anything... apart from choosing a house with what is virtually a greenhouse for a backyard!)
How we moved: Not much. I decided after a couple of lacklustre weeks to admit that I was just bloody worn out and to take a week off. The one exception was going to be yoga, but we got stood up by our instructor- obviously a sign! I got back into it slowly over the weekend (put off a bit by the inclement weather the whole country's been suffering from), and had a great "workout" with Phil yesterday evening; riding Penelope the Cruiser on the Karapiro bike path while he ran a 5k TT (in 18:07... Hopefully Chip inherits his speed, not mine!)
Where we went: Nowhere. It was bliss.
What we wore: A new work skirt, half price at Pumpkin Patch. It's far from elegant, but boy oh boy it's comfortable.
What we bought/got given: Clothes from a family friend. And our cot arrived. Yay! Phil has a good bit of furniture building ahead of him!
What changed: Chip seems to have found some room to move over the past couple of days; instead of squashy, pushy movements I'm back to feeling happy little kicks and punches every which where.
Exciting moments: Reaching the 30s. I now feel like the countdown is actually on, and it's bloody frightening! I'm doing my best to forget about the loooong list of baby jobs on my list so we can relax over Christmas. But once we get back from holiday, it's game on!
What I miss: Booze! It's been a few weeks of holiday parties, and I'm sick to death of lemon lime and bitters!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Hot Potato Chip: Week 29
What we ate: Nothing stands out. I worked. I ate meals at stupid times. I ate too many things from the snack box. We didn't even have time to get the good strawberries.
How we moved: Not much. Not much at all. I am really letting the side down, advent challenge-wise.
Tuesday: Yoga
Wednesday: REST (work)
Thursday: REST (work)
Friday:REST (just tired, and lazy)
Saturday: REST (in Wellington. And lazy)
Sunday: 40 minute walk
Monday: REST
Where we went: Wellington. I have decided I don't like pregnant flying any more. It was hot and stuffy, I was tired and a bit nauseous, and the airplane seat forced me into a really uncomfortable position. Fortunately I have no flights left (and if things change and I need to get on a plane it's not like it's THAT bad).
What we wore: A new work skirt, and some trousers I'm planning to get turned into capris.
What we bought/got given: Some lovely knitted overnaps from Organic Baby in Petone. I couldn't resist. Also, a small pile of Golden Books.
What changed: I have slowed down a LOT. I'm moving slowly, and I'm feeling utterly exhausted. Too many weekends away mean I haven't caught up enough on rest, and also that I'm trying to catch up on housework and laundry while dealing with a busy time at work, and stressing about Christmas. Chip is definitely bigger, and definitely less comfortable inside me. Poor wee baby.
What I miss: Feeling energetic. I hate not feeling like me!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Hot Potato Chip: Week 28 (nearly a week late)
What we ate: The return of nausea + the onset of summer meant the return of grain waves and orange juice, and a renewed love of iceblocks (I'm loathe to spend $2.80 on a glorified popsicle, but BOY those new ginger beer ice blocks are good!)
How we moved: Another full on week!
Tuesday: 30 minute walk
Wednesday: 40 minute swim
Thursday: 50 minute walk; preggy yoga
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 40 minute walk around the Mount
Sunday: Tinman!
Monday: Swim (35 minutes)
Where we went: Mount Maunganui for Tinman. We stayed in a caravan at the Mount holiday park; a bit more run down than I'd expected, but it was wonderful falling asleep to the sound of the sea, and the couch-bed I slept on was surprisingly comfortable.
What we wore: It's more what we DIDN'T wear, which is the clothes I ordered online a couple of weeks ago. The sizing was all haywire, and I confess to having a bit of a meltdown when I discovered I had only one top I could wear!
What we bought/got given: A bassinet and boppy feeding pillow. There was a sale, OK!
What changed: Nausea and fatigue returned- they did tell me this would happen in the third trimester, but I wasn't expecting it to happen on day 1! Fortunately, I haven't yet experienced a number of other third trimester complaints (knock wood), so I can't complain!
What stayed the same: Everything else- but things feel like they're starting to happen (not in a labour sense, just in a stepping up the baby growing sense).
What I miss: Clothes that fit!
Monday, December 05, 2011
Tinman 2011: Ending my pregnant running career on a high
This was my third year going to Tinman. I set my standard distance PB there in 2009, then had a pretty pants race there in 2010 (which was a pretty pants season overall). So I was keen to participate in some way, shape or form, even though I wasn't keen on a swim (with the risk of a good kick to the belly), and I haven't been able to ride a bike (except Penelope Cruz-er, sort of) for quite some weeks!
I asked Mike if he was keen to put in a team to do the sprint, and he hooked us up with a swimmer (Tom, who did the bike last year when I did the swim in Rotorua), and Team 3.5 was good to go!
The day was grey and a tiny bit chilly; a nice change from previous hot years. We arrived at transition at about 6:45am, got Phil set up, then met my fellow team members to kill some time before it was time for the swimmers to "(wet)suit up". I didn't quite know what to do with myself for a bit while Phil warmed up and the others mucked around- I realised doing the run in a team was sort of the worst of both worlds, spectating and racing. Lots of waiting around, but not necessarily able to be in the places I wanted to be in.
Fifteen minutes or so after finding Tom post-swim I headed to T2 to kill time there. I figured Mike would be back between 30 and 40 minutes, and wanted to make sure I was there for him. I wasn't very sure of the timing, but after awhile I decided that I had time for a quick pee break, as it was taking people a reasonable amount of time to get their bikes in. Unfortunately, Mike has his speedy shoes on, and when I came out he was looking around the transition area, bike racked and transponder off. What a fail! Despite wandering round with nothing to do for ages, I managed not to be in the ONE place I needed to be at the right time. I'm not sure how much I cost us, but T2 was 1:48!
Bladder emptied and guilt fuelled, I started off at a cracking pace, about 11km/h, though by a few hundred metres in, I'd settled into a slightly more realistic (flat) run pace of more like 9.5km/h! It was fun to feel like I was "running" again- however slowly! Of course, that didn't last long. But I kept running along the Mall, with plenty of cheers the whole way. My hips started to ache a little before I made it to 1k, but I wanted to make it to the Mount before I walked, so just slowed my pace some more and concentrated on my gait.
I walked the hill at the beginning of the Mount (and OMG, that was such a treat- I've run that bastard so many times in races and always resisted the urge to stop; last time only because a certain paparazzo was waiting for me...), and then started thinking about my strategy for getting around. Eventually, I settled on a run 2 mins: walk 1 min system, which I tweaked a bit depending on where the hills came in. I took a look at my average pace and realised I could aim to do 5km in 40 minutes, but the course is long so I wasn't actually sure I could finish in that time.
It was strange having people passing me the whole run. I'm a decent runner, and usually run at a sensible pace, so I only usually get passed by speedsters on double lap courses. There were no speedies with me this time (the lead men ran me down at the end of the Mount)- it was just middling to slow team runners who were burning me off! What I found particularly weird (and what my ego found damned annoying) is that none of these passers could see that I was pregnant unless they took a good look at my profile as they passed. One girl actually ran "with" me and chatted for a few hundred metres and didn't say anything to suggest that she'd noticed. My poor wee ego just wanted to shout: "I'M NOT JUST FAT! I'M NEARLY SEVEN MONTHS PREGNANT, OK? And if I weren't, I would be SO much faster than you!". Luckily, I do have some manners.
Walking up the second "hard" hill on the Mount (those familiar with races on the Mount will recognise it as the one where the second photographer always hides), I was caught by a guy with one leg, who was crutching up the hill like a machine. Dude was a total legend- swam, picked up his crutches to get to T1, one-pedalled it the whole 20km, and then crutched his way around the run course. He called out "pick it up, you don't want to be passed by the one-legged guy" and I replied "you think one leg's hard, try four?!" (yeah, not my best work...)
I did end up passing him, and temporarily passed another couple of walkers too. By the end of the Mount, I was still averaging under my goal of 8:00min/ks (...and to think it would usually be 8 minute MILES...for a 10km... off the bike...), and I was motivated to run the length of the Mall to the finish.
I didn't get quite as many cheers on the way back- the men's winners had just come through ahead of me, and Mr One Leg was closing the gap behind me. Quite often I'd hear a "Way to Go....." that would trail off and turn into "Oh my god, look at that guy go!"
It was very strange not being able to pick it up at the end- I was "working", but there is a limit to how hard I will push with Chip on board, so I was not only slow but also pretty relaxed, and some of the walkers who'd been conquered by the Mount streaked past me on the final straight. However, when I saw my teammates cheering, and realised that my Garmin had ticked over 39:00 as I approached the chute, I confess to digging in just a little bit more.
I stopped my watch at 40:04, Garmin time, satisfied that my official time would squeak under 40. As my Garmin distance was 5.27km, I was pretty pleased.
It's not every day a PW feels so good. But my hips have had enough of this, and it's time to focus on yoga and swimming, and to start really thinking about getting this body ready to bring Chip into the world in 2-3 months time!
I asked Mike if he was keen to put in a team to do the sprint, and he hooked us up with a swimmer (Tom, who did the bike last year when I did the swim in Rotorua), and Team 3.5 was good to go!
The day was grey and a tiny bit chilly; a nice change from previous hot years. We arrived at transition at about 6:45am, got Phil set up, then met my fellow team members to kill some time before it was time for the swimmers to "(wet)suit up". I didn't quite know what to do with myself for a bit while Phil warmed up and the others mucked around- I realised doing the run in a team was sort of the worst of both worlds, spectating and racing. Lots of waiting around, but not necessarily able to be in the places I wanted to be in.
Fifteen minutes or so after finding Tom post-swim I headed to T2 to kill time there. I figured Mike would be back between 30 and 40 minutes, and wanted to make sure I was there for him. I wasn't very sure of the timing, but after awhile I decided that I had time for a quick pee break, as it was taking people a reasonable amount of time to get their bikes in. Unfortunately, Mike has his speedy shoes on, and when I came out he was looking around the transition area, bike racked and transponder off. What a fail! Despite wandering round with nothing to do for ages, I managed not to be in the ONE place I needed to be at the right time. I'm not sure how much I cost us, but T2 was 1:48!
Bladder emptied and guilt fuelled, I started off at a cracking pace, about 11km/h, though by a few hundred metres in, I'd settled into a slightly more realistic (flat) run pace of more like 9.5km/h! It was fun to feel like I was "running" again- however slowly! Of course, that didn't last long. But I kept running along the Mall, with plenty of cheers the whole way. My hips started to ache a little before I made it to 1k, but I wanted to make it to the Mount before I walked, so just slowed my pace some more and concentrated on my gait.
I walked the hill at the beginning of the Mount (and OMG, that was such a treat- I've run that bastard so many times in races and always resisted the urge to stop; last time only because a certain paparazzo was waiting for me...), and then started thinking about my strategy for getting around. Eventually, I settled on a run 2 mins: walk 1 min system, which I tweaked a bit depending on where the hills came in. I took a look at my average pace and realised I could aim to do 5km in 40 minutes, but the course is long so I wasn't actually sure I could finish in that time.
It was strange having people passing me the whole run. I'm a decent runner, and usually run at a sensible pace, so I only usually get passed by speedsters on double lap courses. There were no speedies with me this time (the lead men ran me down at the end of the Mount)- it was just middling to slow team runners who were burning me off! What I found particularly weird (and what my ego found damned annoying) is that none of these passers could see that I was pregnant unless they took a good look at my profile as they passed. One girl actually ran "with" me and chatted for a few hundred metres and didn't say anything to suggest that she'd noticed. My poor wee ego just wanted to shout: "I'M NOT JUST FAT! I'M NEARLY SEVEN MONTHS PREGNANT, OK? And if I weren't, I would be SO much faster than you!". Luckily, I do have some manners.
Walking up the second "hard" hill on the Mount (those familiar with races on the Mount will recognise it as the one where the second photographer always hides), I was caught by a guy with one leg, who was crutching up the hill like a machine. Dude was a total legend- swam, picked up his crutches to get to T1, one-pedalled it the whole 20km, and then crutched his way around the run course. He called out "pick it up, you don't want to be passed by the one-legged guy" and I replied "you think one leg's hard, try four?!" (yeah, not my best work...)
I did end up passing him, and temporarily passed another couple of walkers too. By the end of the Mount, I was still averaging under my goal of 8:00min/ks (...and to think it would usually be 8 minute MILES...for a 10km... off the bike...), and I was motivated to run the length of the Mall to the finish.
I didn't get quite as many cheers on the way back- the men's winners had just come through ahead of me, and Mr One Leg was closing the gap behind me. Quite often I'd hear a "Way to Go....." that would trail off and turn into "Oh my god, look at that guy go!"
It was very strange not being able to pick it up at the end- I was "working", but there is a limit to how hard I will push with Chip on board, so I was not only slow but also pretty relaxed, and some of the walkers who'd been conquered by the Mount streaked past me on the final straight. However, when I saw my teammates cheering, and realised that my Garmin had ticked over 39:00 as I approached the chute, I confess to digging in just a little bit more.
I stopped my watch at 40:04, Garmin time, satisfied that my official time would squeak under 40. As my Garmin distance was 5.27km, I was pretty pleased.
It's not every day a PW feels so good. But my hips have had enough of this, and it's time to focus on yoga and swimming, and to start really thinking about getting this body ready to bring Chip into the world in 2-3 months time!
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Hot Potato Chip: Week 27
 | |
| 26 weeks, 6 days |
What we ate: Heathily from Monday to Thursday. Less
healthily after I passed my gestational diabetes test. And then more
healthily again, after I remembered that you don't need to celebrate not
having diabetes by doing your best to GET diabetes.
How we moved: When we could- it was a busy week!
Tuesday: Morning 6k wog along the river trail. Lovely!
Wednesday: At home workout before rushing to get Phil from the airport.
Thursday: Walk + yoga
Friday: Lunchtime walk
Saturday: Walk with my sister along river trails in Taupo. Plus spectating...
Sunday: 3 hour walk
Monday: REST
Where we went: Taupo. And it was bliss.
What we wore: I ordered yet another Piwaka t-shirt from one-day tees. Ooops! A girl can never have too many.
What we bought/got given: A capsule. For some reason
imagining a tiny baby all scrunched up in it was particularly exciting!
I'm taking a bit of a break from baby buying in the lead up to Christmas
now- I'll still pick things up when there's a good sale, but I'm trying to focus on Christmas first!
What changed: I realised that running is pretty much over
for me for good. Carrying this much booty is just too hard on my poor
legs and back. I'm still planning to do as much as I can at Tinman
though- I want to go out on a high note!
What stayed the same: Everything else. Still sleeping well,
still not too achy or painy. Still relatively energetic in relation to
the first tri, but not in relation to any previous version of me!
And a new heading as we head towards the final countdown (courtesy of Lisa); What I miss: Cycling. Mountain or road; whatever. I miss the fast wooshing downhill feeling, and the uphill grinds. While I was not sad not to be racing this past weekend, thanks to the insaneo winds, I had some serious bike envy. I'm worried that the bike mojo I've worked so hard to build will be lost when I get back into it. There will need to be lots of trips to the Redwoods to visit Sprocket and ride the Dipper!
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