15 weeks, 3 days

I don't love these types of weeks - the ones when I have to multitask a little more than usual. This week, exercising and working need to overlap to fit in everything, so I spent an hour on the elliptical editing a manuscript. It's a cool manuscript - it looks at the relationship between life skills learned through sport participation and those required for success in the business world - so I'm excited to be editing it. But, I'm not exciting to be borrowing time from running to do it. Oh well - the semester slows down soon!

Elliptical: 1 hr

15 weeks, 2 days

I had Zoey with me today, and it was pouring outside, so we opted for the gym. Zoey loves the gym's daycare, which is such a relief because that gym has saved my sanity countless times this past winter. I needed to work while exercising (heavy work week), so I elliptical-ed while editing a manuscript.

Elliptical: 1 hr

15 weeks, 1 day

We drove back from D.C. through the night last night so Zoey could sleep in the car. It was sort of a success, with Zoey sleeping from 8 pm to 1 am. From 1 am to 4 am, she was wide awake and chatty. So, the whole car was wide awake and chatty. When we got home, we had a couple of hours of sleep, dropped off Zoey at daycare, slept a bit more, and hit the trails for a short shake out jog. I had to work throughout the day and teach at night, so exercising took a backseat. The trails feel a little more shaky on my belly than the roads, of course, so I'm running a little slower on the trails than I usually do.

Run: 2.5 miles

15 weeks

Today was a bit of a hurried day, as we had a baptism in the morning and family events all afternoon. I managed to squeeze in a 2.5 mile run early in the morning, but that was the extent of my day's exercising.

Run: 2.5 miles

14 weeks, 6 days

We had a lovely run around our cousin's neighborhood in Alexandria, VA. It was a family run - Brad pushed Zoey, Eric pushed Violet, and I carried all 2 oz of the new baby. The run was super slow and easy with a couple of good hills. No baby symptoms on my run today.

Run: 4.5 miles

14 weeks, 5 days

Today was a travel day to Washington D.C., so no running for me.

14 weeks, 4 days

Sometimes I miss living in the city. We lived in a fabulous area about 2 miles west of Fenway Park. We could walk into the heart of the city, had my favorite restaurants within a quarter mile, lived about 15 minutes by foot away from my brother, and had amazing city and river running loops out our front door. Moving out to the country really is a trade off. We lose the amazing restaurants (saving us tons of money) and the city access and gain a wicked commute to work. But, on the other hand, we have space to breathe and grow, a backyard that abuts conservation land, and we live on a pond. It's breathtaking. Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of living out here is our close proximity to trails. Miles and miles of trails all around... Today, I did a 6 mile loop out my front door with about 2 minutes on a road. The rest of the loop was through a farm, along a stream, over trails, on sand, and on an abandoned railroad track. I saw 1 other person (wearing a Boston Marathon jacket) on my whole run. At one point, I stopped to take a picture of what was in front of me and behind me. It doesn't do the view justice, but it gives a bit of insight into my stomping grounds.

The belly band was awesome. I forgot how much of a difference I feel when I wear it. My legs felt great, belly felt supported, and posture was a little more upright than when I don't wear the band. 

Run: 6 miles

14 weeks, 3 days

When I'm not pregnant, I lift three times a week. Since being pregnant, I've dialed down the lifting. But, I miss it. It is one of my favorite parts of training. So, today, I just lifted - no running. I only had about an hour to dedicate to exercising, so I lifted upper and light core. It felt great.

Lifted weights: Upper/core

14 weeks, 2 days

Yesterday was Brad and my 8 year wedding anniversary, but we postponed celebrating so we could "marathon" all day. So, today is our celebration. We started the day with an easy 5 miler on the Lincoln trails, stopping to stretch at Walden Pond. Gorgeous day out. Time for me to pull out the belly band, though. Last pregnancy, I don't think I wore it until after I got back from China, so not until at least 6 months in. This pregnancy, though, everything is different. I popped earlier, running has been more uncomfortable, I've been slower, etc. So, tomorrow, it's belly band time again!

Run: 5 miles

14 weeks, 1 day

Happy Boston Marathon Day!

Today is one of the best days of the year in the Hayden-Kozel household. I thought I might feel a little bummed to be missing the race (I qualified for it earlier this year but chose not to register, banking on being pregnant when the race happened), but I was actually not all that sad about it. It was a bit warm, reminding me of the few times I've run Boston in 80+ degree heat. Still, our teammates and friends had a great showing. Top 3 women under 3 hours for GBTC. Lots of pals on the course. We watched from mile 19 with some friend. Zoey was particularly impressed with the motorcycles on the course.

It helped to run with K earlier that day. We did an easy 7 miles on the course, soaking in the pre-race excitement. I felt fine - a little tired on the uphills but we didn't push the pace too hard (probably 8:30s), so it was allllll good.

Run: 7.5 miles

14 weeks

It's the Boston Marathon weekend, meaning that almost all of our free time is swallowed up by running and running related events! I managed to squeeze a 2.5 mile run in the morning on the Acton trails with KT. It was great to have our dear friends stay with us for the weekend!

Run: 2.5 miles

13 weeks, 6 days

It's a gorgeous 65 degree sunny day here in Concord. The trails were clear, there were no cars in sight, and my favorite Pandora station was on top of its game. Perfect run. I'm looking forward to next week, when I let myself pile on a few more miles. For now, shorter runs will have to do! I'm feeling a little tired, but I can't tell if that's from the pregnancy or... an impending grant deadline, chasing after a toddler, a long work week, Spring gardening, gymnastics this morning...

Run: 4.7 miles

13 weeks, 5 days

Husband is home today! Yes! This means I can exercise when I want, how I want! Oh, how I love school holidays! I worked from home in the morning and did a mid-afternoon run to clear my head. The simplicity of running is so appreciated after a morning of manuscript revisions.

I found another Concord happy surprise today - more trails! When I was training for the Santa Rosa Marathon last summer, I did most of my running on a series of trails that span Concord and Acton. I hit those trails today - and found a new trail head! I can't wait to bump up my mileage so I can explore it more. For this week, I'm trying not to run far, as I'm just getting back into it after a couple of gym-only months. I ran most of today's run while on the phone with a friend, K, so it was almost like she and I were running together (thanks for the entertainment, K). I walked a couple of the big hills, but opened up my stride in the last mile or so and felt great.

Run: 4.5 miles

13 weeks, 4 days

Thursdays are a tough day for me to exercise, as my day starts at 6 am and ends at 9:45 pm (well, I walk out of my office at 9:45 pm, so it actually ends more like 11 pm). If I am going to exercise, I need to be done before 6 am when Brad leaves for work. That doesn't always happen :-) My default activity is yoga, as I can muster up the energy to do that anytime!

Yoga: Upper and core

13 weeks, 3 days

Since I am working from home today, I have the luxury of running whenever and wherever I want. I can't stress enough how much more I enjoy running at 12:30 pm with the sun shining compared to running in 5 am darkness. It snowed a bit last night, but not enough to really cover the trails, so I ran my favorite short trail loop around Concord. My body felt great and I'm starting to shake the 1st trimester rust off - I can feel the difference.

Run: 4.5 miles
Yoga: Lower and core

At it again... 13 weeks, 1 day + 13 weeks, 2 days

Since news got out that I'm expecting, I've had more than a few requests to revive the training-while-preggo blog. After the last pregnancy, I received a stream of feedback from people who also trained while pregnant, or who were conflicted about it, who enjoyed following my story. Now, after trudging through the first trimester of the second pregnancy, I am really excited to be able to dial up my running a little bit and even happier to share that journey with other women. To that end, welcome back for a few more months of real, honest, not-so-pretty pregnant running updates!

13 weeks, 1 day
Run: 3 miles easy (similar to the last pregnancy, I started the second trimester with minimal running and am building up the mileage slowly)

13 weeks, 2 days
Elliptical: 60 minutes (on days when I have Zoey and it's raining out, I head to the gym)