I had to go back and really remember what range of time made up the second trimester for me which is kind of sad since I’m really still early on in the third trimester.  My second trimester was made up mostly of February, March, April and a little bit of May.  I was hoping to still put in at least another 100 mile month in either February or March, but that just did not happen.  February ended with 71.81 miles while March came in at 67.41 miles. During this time I had the fact that I was registered for Rock n Roll Dallas as my last half to run while pregnant as my motivation to get the miles in as much as possible.  A lot of my running at this point had become solo which was not really what I was use to and made for some lonely times out on the pavement.

16 weeks 3 days pregnant

an overall pace of 9:52 don’t be fooled by the garmin set to current pace

I had already seen somewhat of a decline in my pace (which was to be expected), but then the month of April came and not only did I find another pace decline but also an overall mileage decline. 🙁  For me personally April was one of the busiest months as far as work was concerned and then to try and motivate myself to run solo after long days at the office or just feeling guilty about how late Mr. H and I would be eating dinner if I ran before cooking for the night.  I really have never been an early morning workout person.  Pre-pregnancy I faked it for about 6 years with my Tuesday & Thursday 6:00 a.m. weights sessions at Private Training Zone.  But when you have a group waiting for you AND you’ve already paid for the sessions it’s easy to get your lazy behind out of bed.  During this pregnancy those weights sessions have moved from the a.m. to the p.m. because there is just no will power whatsoever to get up and especially not get up for a solo run.  I’m hoping that one day this may change. Fingers crossed.

Back to April, my total mileage came in at a lame 16.96.  Talk about a drastic decrease!  But you know what?! I may have only gotten out there to run on four different days (one of them being a race), but that’s better than 0 days of running!

It was probably in this month as well that I started noticing when I started my runs that my legs just felt like bricks.  And the times when you would dig down deep and pull from your core for a run, nope, that wasn’t really happening anymore.  I found myself one day on the treadmill trying to bust out a mile but in the last tenth of the mile I bumped the speed up a couple of notches, got an ache in my stomach and had to stop.  I walked at an incline for 5 minutes on the treadmill before it finally went away and I finished out the last bit of that mile at a very reasonable pace.  My body just can’t do the things it use to with running.  All of this is such a HUGE lesson in constantly listening to your body and not pushing it past its limits.  I like to think for the most part I’m doing a pretty good job at obeying it.  It’s just a weird combination on run of feeling like your legs are bricks, your mind knowing you really can do this and your body just saying, “Nope, slow it down! We’ve got a baby to look out for!”  It is also pretty incredible the protective mode your body goes into!

25 weeks 3 days pregnant at the Running Moms Rock 5K

Being in Texas we should be in a regular stint of just HOT weather, but we have been completely blessed with some amazing weather so far this spring!  Don’t get me wrong there have been some hot days, but then a little cold front comes through and we’ve had some mornings in the low 50’s.  The weather is just another aspect of this pregnancy that has spoiled me! Regardless, for the past month or so you will NOT find me outside running without at least a handheld water bottle.  Staying hydrated and taking care of my lil guy is a high priority to me!  Pretty soon if I’m still outside running my camelbak will make it’s glorious return to my runs.

While my numbers might have been down in April and they might not be much better for this month either, but as a whole I’ve put in (according to Runkeeper) 428.4 miles in this pregnancy. I am so very proud of each and every one of the miles! I don’t really have any goals going into the third trimester other than to get runs in when and while I can.  And in the times when I can’t run to make sure I’m getting other forms of cardio in as well!