Racing Pregnant.

I've now done three races pregnant.  Two sprint triathlons and a 5 km race.  
(I did them back in July, I'm just finally getting around to writing about them. I've been in a nausea fog all summer and haven't felt like blogging.)

No-one really knew I was pregnant, except my husband........and me.  Oh, trust me I knew.  Even early in the pregnancy, I felt different.  My blood pressure drops quite low (was 90/56 at my first midwife appt), so I get light headed a lot and it just feels harder to maintain my paces.  So, I've slowed down.  And I'm totally ok with that. In a strange way, it's kind of a relief to set aside my athlete-driven side for a time. Right now, my priority is this beautiful little miracle growing inside of me. Which made these races kinda tricky because I didn't know how to approach them.

I registered for them before I knew when I'd be pregnant.

The first triathlon and the 5km race came before pregnancy nausea rocked my world.  Both races went well. I did the 5 km race in 22:30 and finished third female overall.  I was hesitant to push super hard when it got tough because I didn't want to go too anaerobic and cause any harm to baby, so I held back.  It was kind of nice to have a valid excuse because it I didn't have to bring on the hurt like I usually do in races.  I'm sure I would have been a minute or so faster if I wasn't pregnant, but those record breaking times will have to wait a year or two.

The second triathlon came at the end of a long week of being so, so sick.
 I hadn't started taking diclectin yet because I was trying to figure out if I could get relief from the nausea in more natural ways (acupuncture, chiropractor, massage etc).  I cried on Adam's shoulder most nights that week because the days felt so long, being sick all....day....long.  Being summer, I had my kids home, which meant that I was also feeling bad about not having my usual energy to give to them for summertime fun.  I remember a few nights before that race, talking to Adam about whether I should actually race or not.  I wondered if I would just feel gross, having to wake up early and set up transitions, maybe getting sick in the water.  After listening to me go back and forth about it he said, "well, you can either feel like crap racing or feel like crap on the sidelines watching me race."  What a way with words.  Well, it was helpful because I realized I might as well race.

And I'm glad I did.

Racing with my dad for the second time was fun too.  Oh yes, he did get beat by a pregnant lady!!  Me and my dad have a lot of fun with our friendly little competitions with each other.

Somehow I didn't even feel sick at all.  Even with waking up extra early, having some nervous butterflies and the choppy lake water, I felt ok. Being in race mode really took my mind off of being sick and I also consider it an answer to prayer.  What a blessing! One funny moment in the swim was rounding one of the buoys this guy was super aggressive and pushed me out of the way to cut in close to the buoy.  I was aggressive right back and gave him a couple of good hard shoves to let him know he was cutting me off big time.  These weren't just little, "I'm trying to get around you shoves".  These were more like, "you've pissed off the wrong girl and you're gonna get it shoves."  I can be feisty when I want to.  The bike portion went well.

The run had an exciting finish.  I was dying at the end (like I always am) and because the run course is an out and back I knew that I was in second place out of all the females.  I checked over my shoulder and saw a chick kicking it to try to pass me.  So I found a faster gear and kicked it harder.  After a bit, she gave up and eased off and I crossed the finish line second.  Felt so good.  I was there before my dad and Adam.  My dad because I kicked his trash (love you dad!) and Adam because he did the longer distance.  It was super fun to cheer them in to the finish line.

My dad's wetsuit just kills me.  It looks like a cat has eaten it up but really it's just his fingernails that

he digs into it when he puts it on.  Interesting to note where most of the fingernail marks are...hmmmm....must be a tricky part of the wetsuit to put on I guess.

We had a good laugh about it together before the swim.

 Adam, me and my dad post race.

Adam likes to show a little cleavage with his tri tops I guess.

"Crushed it" this shirt was my prize for finishing second.

Not sure who chose the color.  Yuck!

I'm grateful that my racing season is over.  I will NOT be doing any more races this pregnancy.  I just plain don't want to.  At one point before I was pregnant I pictures myself being one of those moms who ran a marathon at 8 months pregnant.  Then, I actually got pregnant and...plans changed.

I still run but my pace has gone from a 5 min/km pace down to a 6 min/km or even sometimes 7 min/km pace.  Yep, it's slow but it still feels really good to run.  I just want to do it for myself and the baby right now.  To stay healthy, not to race.  I feel like I need a break from that side of my life and then I'll be really ready and excited to go back to it, when the time comes.  

To all you moms reading this who are pregnant or have been pregnant, my hat is off to you.  You are amazing for making all those sacrifices to bring a child into this world.  I am reminded this pregnancy of what a huge sacrifice it is because it's been awhile for me.  Nausea, sore boobs, sore joints, light headedness, peeing in the night, crazy dreams, restless sleep, lower energy, hormonal fluctuations, growing belly, growing in many other places that we don't want to grow and we do it all for this little miracle inside.  It's a privilege and an honor but it's also tough and I hope you know you're not alone when you struggle with parts of it.  

Oh and something else I've realized.  When you're pregnant, it's normal to feel ugly and massive sometimes.  I had a revelation this week that probably almost every other pregnant woman in the world feels that way sometimes and it's ok.  The fact is you're bigger and whether you're a lot bigger or a little bigger, it feels the same.  You just feel big and massive and beached whale-ish.  So, now that I've accepted these feelings as normal, I will try not to let them bother me so much.  hahaha.  

I'll post some pregnancy pictures in the near future.