I didn’t have any interruptions to my training plans this week; which means inevitably next week will probably be a shit show. But I’m not going to worry about that right now, because I’m too focused on this whole rebuilding endurance thing I’m working on. And this week was a pretty solid move in the right direction.
On Sunday, the boys joined me for a run together, which is always a nice way to start the week. I was able to add a little distance to my runs over the week, and got in all of my planned CrossFit workouts. My weights are still very light, and they probably won’t get any heavier for the rest of my pregnancy. But I’m just happy with getting throughout workouts without feeling like absolute trash.
Henry was able to join me for a few CrossFit WODs, which has been tricky with work schedules recently. He definitely keeps a close eye on me during the workouts, and does not hesitate to remind me to not to over do it, which can be tempting for me.
This weekend was another one where we tried to do all of the things. And I’m not upset about it. I woke up early enough to get in 5 miles on the greenway before our sons baseball game. The league recently switched from machine pitch to kid pitch, and it’s definitely making the games a little more interesting. After the game, we came home for a couple of hours before heading out to a rodeo in Bulverde. We checked it out over the Easter weekend, and knew we wanted to go back.
My dad decided to drive out to meet us there, and we had a couple of friends also come out. This weekend, they had mutton busting, and it was absolutely adorable and hilraious to see such small kids holding on to these sheep for dear life. And those suckers run fast! We got home pretty late (for us), but we had such a fun time. It’s been getting hot during the day here, so I’ve been soaking up the last couple of weeks of comfortable outside evening weather. I’m not at all prepared to be pregnant for an entire Texas summer. Say a prayer for me, and maybe send some ice cream.
This week was overall pretty great, though I did have to make some adjustments to my planned workouts. I took a rest day on Sunday, and went for a little walk with the boys, and I was feeling great for the first half of the week. I had planned to take a rest day on Wednesday, since I knew a couple of girlfriends would be visiting over the weekend. And then Thursday I woke up feeling not good. My nausea returned, I was really tired, and overall I just felt like crap. So I took an unplanned rest day.
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Rebuilding Endurance
This is definitely not the first or last time that I will be rebuilding endurance. I’ve come back from illnesses, injury, pregnancy, and life breaks in the past. It has been a long time since I’ve started from what feels like ground zero for me, so I wanted to share a few of my tips for getting through some of those first few hard weeks. Because at some point, every endurance athlete is going to find themselves in a re-building phase.
- Don’t Compare – To past self or anyone else. Accept where your fitness is at, and focus on the path forward. Spending time thinking about what you’ve been able to do in the past, or what other people can do right now is an absolute waste of time. And a good way to make working out unenjoyable.
- Progress Isn’t Linear – Just like building endurance the first time, you’re going to have a mix of easy and hard days. It’s always amazed me that as an ultra-runner, there were mornings where 6 “easy” miles felt so hard. This didn’t mean that I’d lost fitness overnight, it just means that the body changes every day.
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- Focus on Time – If you’re at a place where lots of miles just isn’t feasible, sometimes it’s better to try to focus on increasing time. When I wasn’t able to run 2 miles, I used intervals to get me to get 3 miles total. This let my body get used to moving for a longer time without completely wearing myself out. Endurance is all about being able to go for a long time, regardless of distance.
- Lean on Friends – It’s easy to get frustrated and discouraged when you’re struggling with something that was previously in the “no big deal” category. Sometimes, it can help to get out of your own head and meet up with friends to work out with. I’ve found that catching up with a girlfriend I haven’t seen in a while is a great way for my body to move a lot further without me paying attention.
- Don’t Neglect Recovery – Just because your current workouts might be a fraction of your previous efforts doesn’t mean your body needs any less help recovering. It can be tempting to skip the warm ups, stretching, and foam rolling, because honestly it’s tempting to skip those things anyway. But don’t! Neglecting recovery is a great way to find yourself injured, and it can also prolong the re-building time frame.
- Have a Goal – I’ve found that having something to work towards can help get me out the door in those weeks where it kind of feels pointless. Sometimes that means signing up for a race, joining an online challenge, or just having a set amount of minutes you want to workout for the week. Having some sort of tangible target to hit can help keep the motivation intact.
This Weeks Workouts
Total Miles: 24.5 Miles
Total Workouts: 4
How the Run Felt
Running while pregnant is no easy feat. I am happy to report that I’m starting to feel like a tiny amount of endurance is coming back. I was finally able to get in a full 4 miles without any walking on Wednesday, and got in 5 for my “long run” on Saturday. I was able to meet up with a friend on Thursday, and even though she slowed down her pace, it was still motivating to me to try to run just a little faster. And I did not die! Which is nice. The weather here has been pretty fantastic in the mornings, so that definitely helped keep feeling good.
I’ve started to hit a point in pregnancy where I feel like I have to pee pretty much as soon as I start running. Even if I’ve just peed. Which is exciting, because it means you spend most of your run wondering if you’re going to pee on yourself. Haha. I’m happy to report that so far, I have not. All of my runs this week were on the road, which isn’t my personal favorite. I had hoped I would be able to get out on the trails Saturday morning, but there was a good amount of rain on Friday, and it just wasn’t meant to be for me. Oh well, I’m hoping things might be a little more cooperative for me next weekend.
How the WODs Felt
I kept the weights pretty light this week, and I am not regretting it. Most of the workouts this week were honestly a little tough for me. Fortunately, none of them were too long, and I felt decent as long as I just kept moving slowly. My CrossFit box is starting to do Murph prep workouts on Thursday, and I’m honestly not sure what my Murph WOD is going to look like this year. Last year, it was one of the first post-COVID lock down workouts I tackled, and it was so much fun. This year will definitely be interesting, especially if Thursday’s workout was a precursor to how hard it might be for me.
What I’ve Been Listening To
I’ve really just been enjoying listening to some of my OG true crime podcasts this week. After spending so many weeks stuck in bed, I’m still so appreciative of just having an hour of time where I’m moving and listening to murder stories. It’s funny how soothing I find it. For the most part, I’ve been catching up on episodes of Morbid and The First Degree.
What Went Well
Finally seeing my runs look like normal-ish runs. They’re not ultramarathon distance by any means, but they aren’t 20 minute struggle sessions either.
What Went Shitty
I was able to get in a solid amount of workouts this week, which is a first since this whole pregnancy thing started.
Plans to Improve Next Week
Try to get out on the trails next weekend.