Searching for Swimwear

Well, summer has finally arrived! With heat like this, most people want to be near water – a great way to stay cool. Jump in and you remove that sticky sweaty feeling that makes one feel lethargic. I’ve been thinking about swimming a lot lately especially given that running is out of the question and riding my bike to work is also off limits.

I’ve also gained a whopping 19lbs so far in this pregnancy so let’s just say it’s a little more effort to move this body around. Yes, pregnancy is this beautiful thing and every woman’s body responds to pregnancy differently. But 19lbs!! Holy crap – some people gain that much throughout their entire pregnancy. I may still have 18 weeks to go!!! I was not a big person to start with but man, my expanding largeness is seriously challenging my self confidence. It also doesn’t help when I walk in to teach spin class and the first thing someone says to me is “wow – have you every put on a lot of weight”. Like duh! It’s as though it’s supposed to be a surprise to me or something.

So let’s just say the thought of putting on a bathing suit is not all that appealing. However, I’m determined to get in the pool to be weightless again. So, I figure – hey – my speedo is pretty stretchy…that should fit! Well, what a sight that was. Imagine yourself trying to fit into your bathing suit that you wore when you were 10 years old. Well, that was what it was like. Not a pretty sight! So, off I go to the maternity shops to find that perfect suit. After trying on several suits with no success, I am no longer in search of the ‘perfect suit’ – I just want a suit that fits! My ass has definitely expanded but in most cases I’m a small or medium maternity bottom. The top half of my body is a completely different story. I know some of you really don’t want to hear me talk about my breasts but it’s kind of an impossibility when they are growing at an unbelievably ill-proportioned rate. Let’s just say that when I finally find a bathing suit that fits, I have my own life saving devices attached to my body. It’s really not that funny....for those of you that haven’t been pregnant before, imagine your chest growing 3 sizes bigger in a matter of 5-6 months!

So, I’m still on a quest for a suit that fits but at this rate, I’m thinking that I may have to resort to a regular sports bra and some boy shorts and expose my white preggo belly to the world.

No longer on the run

I started this blog with the primary intent of posting ramblings about life, yoga and my journey to the 2008 Knee Knacker trail race in July. I had begun with an outline of several race goals to keep me inspired along the way to KK. Instead of a year of race adventures and accomplishments, this year so far has been about balancing work, school, injury, volunteering and trying to stay above water. As a result I have not accomplished a single event that I set out to enter this year. I believe that is a first for me! However, I am trying not to be too hard on myself - life has been busy.......and somewhat draining.

In the midst of all this busyness, somewhat of a miracle has entered our lives. My partner and I are expecting our first child in November! As a result, Knee Knacker is not in the cards for me this year. I'd really hoped that I might be able to do this race before leaving BC but as you might guess, I'm no Paula Radcliffe and doing 4 hour training runs up and down mountains is probably not the best for babe. Regardless, I had been running through this pregnancy up until the last month or so. I ran the Pacific Spirit 10km race with a friend from work - nice and easy and slow. The next day I couldn't walk - the pressure on my pubic bones was unbelievable. I had felt this a little bit after running before but nothing to this extreme. As it turns out, my pubic bones have begun to separate and upon doc's recommendations, I am not to run or do impact exercise or even walk for too long of a distance for the remainder of this pregnancy.

Normally it would be unlike me to adhere to such severe recommendations against participating in one of the few activities that keeps me sane, but of course I want to do everything I can do to keep babe healthy and strong. For as long as I've been doing it, running has been my sanity. It is also the most convenient way of fitting in time to exercise myself and my dog in the midst of a busy schedule. Right now, I just don't have time to walk the dog and exercise myself. So those of you that know how much I love my dog can probably guess that Otis gets priority. However, I have been trying to get him used to the mountain bike so we can go out together - now, that's an adventure all on its own as he is so afraid of bikes! I'll write more on this in another post.

Most runners go through withdrawal when they can not run. It's during those times of injury that you swear you'll never have a moment of being unmotivated or complain about running in the rain. I have sort of felt a bit of withdrawal but to be honest, this does not compare to anything I've felt when I've been injured and unable to run. I know I'm not running to preserve the health of this new life inside of me. That is a pretty cool feeling and I'm thankful for that. To be honest, it feels damn uncomfortable even when I try to run to the bus stop right now so I could not imagine running for any distance.

The challenge now is motivating myself to do other forms of activity (that I'm not all that crazy about) to stay active and healthy so that I can return to the trails after baby is born. I wonder how good those baby strollers would cope on the Baden Powell trail....ha ha.

So, now this chick is no longer on the run for the remainder of this pregnancy. For the next 5 or 6 months this blog will be more about the tales of a pregnant yogini chick mostly likely rambling about her growing belly.

Peace.