9 Mile Long Run

River enjoying his first time in a small ball pit at a birthday party we went to not too long ago

These long runs really drain me. I guess being pregnant might have something to do with that :)

Last week I was exhausted all Sunday, despite getting a good night's sleep Saturday night. Monday I felt a lot better, but my legs were still pretty tired when I got on the treadmill.

Because I was so non-functional last Sunday (and we had a busy day planned for this Saturday), this week I moved my long run to Friday in the hopes that I would be able to handle everything better. It did make Friday feel like Saturday, but I was able to get the things done that I needed to on Saturday and was completely functional at church on Sunday. So definitely a win, and I will probably continue to do my long runs on Fridays. I missed Wednesday and had planned on making it up on Saturday, which of course didn't happen, so I need to make sure I'm getting my weekday workouts in so Saturday and Sunday can be rest days. I'd prefer to hit the treadmill 6 days a week, but I think my body needs the extra rest day.

Monday- treadmill run
Tuesday- treadmill walk
Wednesday- busy day, so I skipped the treadmill
Thursday- treadmill walk
Friday- treadmill distance run
Saturday- busy day, so I skipped the treadmill

My mileage for the week was 16.54 miles, which is about 2 miles less than I was aiming for, but since I skipped two days it's pretty good.

My long run started with a 10 min walking warmup (0.45 miles), then I ran for 30 min, walked for 5 min, ran for 30 min, walked for 5 min, ran for 30 min, walked for 5 min, and ran for 28:08 min. I ended with a 12:16 min walking cool down (0.65 miles).

It took me 118 min of running and 15 min of walking (133 minutes total) to reach my 9 mile goal. My warmup and cool down added 1.1 miles, for a total of 10.1 miles for the day. My pace for the main workout was 14:46 min/mile, which is getting closer to where I need it to be. Since I seem to run faster outdoors than on the treadmill, I'm not too worried about my pace. I do seem to be speeding up a bit though. I didn't figure out my pace last week since I wasn't completely sure about my timing, but the week before my pace was 15:55 and the week before that my pace was 15:30.

I've been wearing my support belt when on the treadmill, but even so my uterus hasn't felt right. I'm not sure if it's loose ligaments or what, but it's uncomfortable and a bit painful. I decided to try my postpartum binder to see if that would hold things in place better while the baby's still small enough to have extra room.  Running was more comfortable this week than last week when my uterus felt like it was jostling around, but the binder did constrict my breathing a bit. I guess that's good practice for when the baby's bigger and my lung capacity is reduced anyway. I also remembered why I only wore the postpartum binder for a day or two after River was born- it rolls down and doesn't stay in place. Luckily it was the lower portion I needed to stay in place, and with my support belt on top of it, everything felt supported and good.

I will say that while I'm physically tired, my food isn't as much of a problem as it has been. I feel like I'm fueling properly to give me the energy I need. What's made the difference? I still limit grains as much as possible (they don't agree with my stomach) but I've started eating a small amount of potatoes every morning and occasionally for dinner. It's more starches than I've eaten in the past, but so far it's agreeing with me. Which is nice, since potatoes have given me problems in the past. In any case, I'm apparently getting the carbs I need since I'm not feeling drained like I have in the past. There's a difference in being worn out after a hard workout and having no energy because my food intake isn't working for me. Right now it's working for me. Now if I could just back off the chocolate a little (yeah, it tastes fine now and I've started eating it again, unfortunately).

I wore my compression socks all day after I finished my workout on Saturday, and wow, what a difference they made! They supported my legs and my muscles never felt sore despite the beating I put them through. I ordered another pair of compression socks with the gift card I received and I will definitely be putting both pairs to good use.