December is HERE! And with that, we actually had some great weather this week. I was able to get outside half of the days and run outside. And one day, I managed to run in capris because it was in the 40s!
I wouldn’t mind if it stayed this mild all winter. We had some snow on Sunday, but it melted and stayed dry the second half of the week, which made my runs outside that much better. And with that, I wrapped up my November with about 109 miles run.
Here’s how the week went:
Was Thanksgiving really 3 days ago? It feels like only yesterday that I was counting down the days to see my family and celebrate the beginning of the season. My parents came into town for a few days, and it was great to see them and enjoy some turkey and quality time together.
Speaking of turkey, this year also marked the second annual family turkey trot — instead of doing the large downtown race (which I do enjoy), me and my brothers- and sisters-in-law did our own run around our neighborhood. It’s a fun tradition, and works out perfectly since we all live so close to one another. My oldest brother-in-law and his son started out by running from their house. Then they picked up my sister-in-law and her daughter at her house (about .75 mi away), then they picked up my other brother-in-law and his dog at their house (about another .5 mi away), and then they picked me, B and my younger brother-in-law at our house. Then we ran a little ways around dropped everyone else off at their houses. It was the perfect start to my Thanksgiving morning!
If you can’t tell by the title, I’m pregnant. And yes, it’s a pandemic. But, it’s not all bad.
Not to belittle anyone’s pregnancy experience – and I’m so glad I’m not a first-time mom right now – but despite all the downsides of being pregnant during a pandemic, there are also some things I’ve come to enjoy. So, in the spirit of looking on the bright side of things, here is a look at some of the things I’m grateful for being pregnant at this time:
It’s Easier to Keep Your Secret
With pregnancy #2, I started showing earlier. This meant it was harder to hide from my coworkers or those that I wasn’t ready to share the news with. And, I had to “fake” drinking at a few holiday happy hours. This is baby #3, and I swear I started showing the I found out! (only slightly joking) But, since I’m working from home and live on Zooms all day long, it has been easier to hide my growing belly. In-person holiday events/gatherings and other happy hours were pretty much nonexistent this year. So, nobody notices what I’m drinking (or not drinking). This meant I could tell people when I was ready.
No Strangers Attempting to Touch My Belly
If you’ve been pregnant, you’ve probably been in this situation: You walk into an elevator. And the stranger next to you takes one look at your belly and exclaims, “Oh, a baby!” and proceeds to rub your stomach. It’s uncomfortable, and if you’re actually in an elevator, you’re somewhat stuck. But, during a pandemic, not only do I have fewer situations with strangers, but people tend to keep their distance. So far, my next door neighbor is the only one to comment on my growing belly, besides my 2-year-old.
Fewer Awkward Comments from Acquaintances
When you have fewer social interactions, you have fewer awkward ones. There are no colleagues looking at you one day and saying, “Hey, you really popped today!” Or clients commenting, “Are you having twins?” Or extended family sharing how much larger/smaller/different you look from their [insert name of someone in their family] who is also pregnant.
Fewer Colds
Being sick anytime isn’t fun. But being sick when you’re pregnant and not allowed to take most medicines — that’s a new challenge. We’ve been lucky and stayed mostly healthy during the pandemic. Our kids have been home since March 2020, which means they haven’t been at daycare. That, combined with the fact then when I leave the house I’m in a mask, means we’re simply exposed to fewer germs.
More Time
Especially in the beginning, life seemed busier. The kids were home, we were watching them while attempting to working full time, and it was nuts. But now that we’ve gotten into a groove and things have settled down, there’s simply more time. No commute means an hour back in my day. No daycare drop off and pickup? That’s more time back. No play dates, board meetings, etc. = more time. That means more time for breakfast on the porch. More time for family walks. More time for baking. More time for nature hikes. While we can mourn for all we’ve lost this past year, I’m grateful to have all the time to spend with my growing family.
Questions for you:
Have you been pregnant during this pandemic? What was it like?
A version of this first appeared on Northeast Ohio Parent Magazine.
Well, here I am, 30 weeks pregnant (10 more to go!) and writing a race recap that I didn’t know I’d be writing.
It’s not a true race recap – like most of my races this year, there were no water stops, starting line, finish line or even crowd support. This weekend should’ve been the Cleveland Marathon race weekend. Every other year, since they announced it, I’ve participated in the Challenge Series (where you run on Saturday and Sunday and get a cool medal and additional swag!), but this year, the race is virtual right now, with a fall race (schedule TBD) in-person.
This year, I’m excited to hopefully run a fall race — I’m looking forward to have something to train for after giving birth and getting the okay from my dr (hopefully in early September). As long as the race is early October or later, i should be fine with running it hopefully!
But, I couldn’t let the virtual event just happen and not participate, especially as a race ambassador. So even though I’m by no means in racing shape these weeks, AND the fact that we were out of town, I knew I couldn’t NOT join the event. So, I signed up for the 5k, with the goal of running the entire thing (these days most of my runs are actually run / walks) and crossed my fingers to hope for the best.
Here’s how the “race” went:
What. A. Wonderful. Weekend.
After a year of pretty much staying put in our house in Cleveland, we FINALLY made it back to New York to see my parents. My brother had flown in from Germany, so we braved the 8+ hour car ride with the two kids to see him and my parents for a quick weekend. We hadn’t been back to New York since December 2019 – it was crazy to think how much has changed since then. Not just with the pandemic, but even with our kids — LM was still nursing, in a crib, in diapers, and not talking; FW could barely remember what my parents’ house looked like, and was hardly independent, etc. Oh yeah, and I was not 6+ months pregnant. It really seems like another lifetime.
It was a quick trip – way too quick – but so great nonetheless. I got to enjoy home cooked meals and baked goods, quality time with my whole family, and even some runs with my brother. Here’s a little of what the weekend entailed:
This week marked a new milestone – 120 days of my running streak! Some of the new stats for the streak:
Another month has gone by and we’re another month in a pandemic. It’s strange, really, sometimes it feels like life is normal and we’re just having our own normal summer … albeit in masks. But then other days, my anxiety catches up with me and I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to keep things up.
Anyway, we’ve had a pretty good past few weeks. Besides all the running I’ve been doing in the mornings (I reached 100+ days of my running streak!), we’ve been keeping busy outside as much as possible while the weather is still nice. Here’s what we’ve been up to:
Using Grandma and Grandpa’s kiddie pool! It’s been great to go over there and spend time outside.
This week included my 2nd race, the DASH ACROSS THE LAND 10K. As I mentioned last week, I hadn’t properly trained for it, or at least to run it as a race. I knew I’d be able to cover the distance — I’ve been running 4-8 miles a day for 100+ days in a row now, but I hadn’t put in any speed training. My runs were averaging more than 10 minute miles (slow for me). I had had 3 runs out of the past 40 or so that made it under 10 minutes/mile (And those were 9:54 and slower). So would I be able to get in the 9s for race day? Continue reading
When I first heard about the newest Cleveland-area virtual race, DASH ACROSS THE LAND, I had grand plans. I was going to perhaps hold off on my running streak, take a few easy days, and then start up with spadework. This would surely help me get past my running slump (I’ve been slow – for me – since getting sick in March) and bring me back to racing speeds.
Well, spoiler alert – I haven’t done any of that, and the race is next weekend!
I’m almost to 100. 100 days of running in a row!
When I started the running streak the day of the Cleveland half marathon (virtual), I had no idea how long I would continue it. I had never actually run a day after a half marathon before, but since I was doing the Challenge Series and due to run a 5k either the day before or after, I figured I’d run it the day after and see how I felt. I was surprised how okay I felt, and decided to just keep running. And here we are! Day 94.
I Crashed The Web 