back on the blogging bandwagon

Well as you can see it has been quite a while since I last blogged an entry (November 2011 - insane!).  It's actually been an awkward while...so long that I felt weird writing an entry.  But it's been on my mind so much the last few months that I couldn't ignore it anymore.  I have to admit when I opened my page I was taken back by how long it has actually been - almost 2 years!! I had no idea it had been that long.  Then I discovered this little gem of an entry that I neglected to post from January 2012 (which must be the reason I didn't realize so much time had passed):

Well as you can tell I haven't been posting which means you can infer I have not been running...well at least not running 20 miles a week.  I kept up with 20 miles a week until about the second week in January when I discovered I was going to be a mom!  Yes, I am pregnant.  I am due September 12, 2012.  Therefore, I have yet again missed out on running my first marathon and I will not accomplish my goal of running a marathon before I turn 30.  Oh well, there could be way worse reasons than our first baby! I didn't plan on continuing to blog since I have nothing to write about running, but I just miss it way too much.  So here's a brief synopsis of the last few months.

I tried to continue running as much as I could.  However, I had some minor complications in the beginning of my pregnancy so my doctor recommended no running.  This lasted for about 5 weeks.  As you can imagine getting back to running after such a hiatus is challenging in and of itself let alone 2 months pregnant.  I was able to run between 2 and 3 miles about 4 days a week.  I walked on the other days.  About a week ago it became a real challenge - lots of pulling on my muscles/ligaments in my lower abdomen and feeling like I was going to pee my pants!  Ugh, such an annoying feeling!  Now I have taken up prenatal yoga, which I am loving, and walking.  Hopefully I won't get too out of shape...I have to run this marathon next year!

Now I am 22 weeks 6 days pregnant and our little one is 8 inches long and weighs 1.2 lbs.  It sure is amazing how quickly they grow!  My belly is definitely showcasing this, haha!  Recently I started to feel the baby move and Brent even felt a kick last week!  We are not finding out if the baby is a boy or a girl...we definitely didn't plan on this.  One day Brent and I were talking and we both decided we wanted to be surprised.  It was actually funny how nonchalant we were.

I have to admit, I do regret being on a blogging hiatus for my pregnancy practically first year (just 4 days shy) of my son, Parker's life.  However, life's too short for regrets, especially about such a silly matter.  So here's to blogging again.  It will be interesting to see exactly how many entries I will actually write now that I am a full time working mom training for my first marathon (yet again!).  I'm currently in my 9th week of training!  Funny, I thought I would have been able to run it this past May.  It took me a bit longer to get back into running shape than I imagined due to 16.5 hours (2.5 pushing) of  labor resulting in an emergency c-section.  Even though I didn't make the Delaware Marathon I was able to run the Delaware Half.  I was very pleased with my time (2 hours - not my best, not my worst).  I am officially signed up to run the Philadelphia Marathon on November 17.  Eeeeek!!  Training has gone well thus far.  I've had some interesting feelings of dull pain in my achilles, but it doesn't hurt to the touch when I'm finished.  I'm taking this as a good sign.  I'm stretching, but admittedly not as much as I should.  Hey it's better than nothing.  Especially after a 7 mile run on a Wednesday morning when I've been trying to get out of the house by 7:15 with a dawdling husband and a hungry, playful little boy (who will be a year in 4 days - aaaah I can't believe it!). 

Needless to say training has been a little different as a mom, but I have to admit it's been way easier than I anticipated.  Heck, I'm half way done at the end of this week.  I have been following Hal Higdon's Novice 1 program...well almost.  I have done no cross training unless you consider vacuuming, teaching or carrying around a 24lb kid as cross training.  It's amazing how much muscle mass I have lost since pregnancy.  I really should do some kind of weight training, but I just can't fit it into my schedule as a mommy working full time -  which we will leave to discuss in a different entry.  I will leave you with some good news...going back to work after a year off has not been nearly as hard as I had imagined - praise the Lord.  I am so thankful for supportive family, friends and colleagues - this has made all the difference.  Beer has helped too. ;)