Jogging + Belly Jiggling = Joggling!

Time sure does fly when you are having fun. It is hard to believe that a month has gone by since the Austin 10-20. I ran 10 miles that day, and since then, may or may not have run 10 miles total! I really struggled after that race, much more so than I had anticipated. As I stated in the last post, my muscles were fine, it was my body as a whole that was having trouble adjusting to the pregnancy changes. After Austin, I took a much needed full week off of running. I then expected to get into a routine of 3-5 mile easy runs, 4-5 times per week … wrong! Merely 1 mile into a planned 4 miler I found myself walking and in pain. To be safe, I walked the next mile, then jogged a mile home. Yes, it would have been more intelligent to just turn around and walk home after the painful 1^st mile, but I am stubborn and it was a beautiful day that I could not stand the idea of missing. I took the rest of the week off and decided to start walking instead. By the next weekend I figured I had rested enough and attempted another jog … no luck. I then resigned myself to the fact that my running days were over until after Maddie comes and reverted to walking.

Fortunately for me, I was wrong again. It seems as though I experienced a massive growth spurt after Austin (gained 5 pounds in a week) then hit a plateau for a few weeks (still grew, just ~1 pound a week). I discovered that during a plateau period I can run for 5 minutes, walk 1 minute, and then repeat for a total of 25 minutes. I have gained just under 25 pounds so far in total, and have noticed that while I jog, my belly jiggles quite a bit. I have dubbed my new form of exercise “joggling!” (I am pretty sure I did not come up with this word on my own, but I do not remember where I heard it first, so I am not sure where to give the credit … feel free to think I am actually that creative!) Roxie, our 6 year old hound mix, seems to LOVE the new pace. Reese on the other hand, our 4 year old terrier mix, looks bored out of her mind! I only make it out to joggle once, maybe twice a week, but I am so happy to have found a way to continue exercising.

      

7 Weeks - No weight gain
Still running 20 miles/week

 

 21 Weeks - 15 extra pounds!

Ran Austin 2 days after this photo

25 Weeks - 23 extra pounds!

This was last Friday 5/12

I realized just yesterday that I need to be careful how I use this “joggling” word. I was sitting at my desk at work thinking about our plans for that evening and sent Jason the following email: “Hey, it’s a gorgeous evening, do you want to joggle with the girls after work?” Obviously I was asking if he wants to run with me, Roxie, and Reese after work; but I can only imagine what the people screening our work emails think when they read stuff like that.

I have found other ways to stay connected to the running world aside from actually performing the activity myself. The Right Moves for Youth Twighlight 5K was last Friday night and I took Roxie out with me to cheer on the runners. The little kids especially liked patting Roxie on the head as they ran by, and she loved every second of it! The next morning I was up with the sun with Tyler to hand out race packets at the Girls on the Run 5K. We volunteered for the race last December as well and had a blast both times. It is an amazing organization and I am glad to have had the chance to help again. I would love to be a coach at some point for one of the local schools, but that will probably be another year away as I am not sure what our new family schedule will look like come this fall with the little one making her debut.

It is funny how your perspective changes when your priorities are in line. Last year when people asked how my running was going, and I had to answer that I wasn’t running due to my stress fracture it absolutely crushed me inside. Now it doesn’t bother me at all when people ask how running is going, and I reply that it’s not really. I miss it, and cannot wait to get back out there and really run without worrying about hurting the baby or myself, but I would not trade this time for anything in the world. Plus, while pregnant, our local Chick-fil-a carries my food to the car for me! What’s not to love?