Exercise

Before I found out I was pregnant, I was training for a half Ironman. Yeah, that's the crazy thing where you swim 1.2 miles, bike 56 miles, and then run a half marathon (13.1 miles). I got up at 5:00 every morning and went to the gym to work on one of these disciplines or lift weights.

But since I'll be six months pregnant for the one I signed up for, I figured maybe 2012 isn't the year for that.

So I haven't been doing so much of exercising lately. Even before the test came back positive, I felt really off when I ran. I had slowed down considerably and it just felt way harder than it should have. I thought maybe it was the increasing heat and humidity with the advent of summer. Except that I had joint pain too. Even at that slow speed on relatively flat ground, my knees and hips hurt. When I got the positive test back, suddenly a lot of things made sense. And I haven't run since.

At first I was just really tired and then I started feeling sick. But this week I've felt better in general. I almost even forgot I was pregnant once (for like 5 seconds). I know that continuing an active lifestyle is good for a healthy pregnancy and baby and some studies suggest it makes labor easier as well. So now I'm thinking I should get back to doing some of these things I enjoy so much.

So Seth and I went for a three mile walk this morning. I'm pretty sure running is out for me. One, it's lava hot outside (over 100*F here for several days in a row). Two, I'm pretty certain my knees and hips will complain. But walking is a great pregnant lady exercise. I also want to get back to the pool. I have to wait until August to use the pool at work (weird thing about Seth's student status in the summer), but I've been thinking of using the super long lap lane at Bryan Park. Swimming is also great pregnant lady exercise. I'm a little nervous about the idea of buying a maternity swimsuit though. That idea just seems weird to me. I wonder if I could pull off a two-piece in the HPER pool. Is 6:00 AM too early to see a preggo in a two piece? Anyway, I'm also considering doing some very light weight lifting, mostly to strengthen up my flabby noodle arms in preparation for carrying around our baby and all it's accessories.

So, yeah. Those are my thoughts on exercise at the moment. I used to do a lot of it, and haven't in about two months. I kind of miss it and want to get back to a moderate level of less strenuous activities to maintain my health and hopefully have a healthier baby and easier delivery. And so far my plan is to walk and swim and maybe figure out a pregnant lady strength training plan.