People say odd things (and race pics)

You all are so sweet with the kind words about last weekend's race report. Being this pregnant hasn't always been sunshine and roses for me, and reading so many encouraging words means a lot. Sniff.

Onto the comments collected and race pics as promised! Let's start with the race pics and my commentary:

This lady looks pregnant, I think. (Or she's rocking quite the beer gut.) Sweaty though. And definitely tired. And sweaty.

This picture was also on the cover of the local sports page. Kind of cool!

Why does she carry her arms so high? Bad form.

Okay, she's for sure pregnant.

BOOM! Behold, The Tummy!

That ladies and gentleman, is why it's called the "whoa!shit!" view. It sneaks up on ya, doesn't it? Why do you think I only pass my reflection straight on?

In addition, I heard several interesting comments along the way. I don't know if people think I'm deaf/blind or what, but FYI, I can hear you and I can see you staring.

Here's a summary of my favorites:

1. Couple passing me and not thinking I could hear

Lady: Aww, did you see the cute baby bump on that lady?
Guy: Uh, that was WAY more than a bump.

2. Group of ladies before the race

Lady 1: Are you walking or running?
Me: Hopefully running, but we'll see.
Lady 2: Okay, well you'll be our inspiration to keep going.
Passing group after the turn around
Me: Wooooo, looking good!
Lady 2: Is that--
Lady 3: (joking) SPEEDY BITCH!

3. Two high school girls walking near me after the race

Girl 1: So are you, like, going straight to the hospital or something?
Me: Oh no. I'm only seven months along.
Girl 2: You have TWO more months to go?! (bug eyed)
Me: Yep, use a condom ladies!

4. Guy I passed after the turn around

Guy: *stare*
Me: *smile*
Guy: fuck.

Have a great holiday weekend!

CB 5K race report (AKA Racing for three!)

Racing While Pregnant With Twins: CHECK!

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement last week. I'm really happy I did this. The day certainly wasn't ideal, but I did it! Onto the race report:

Pre-race:

Wake up early, step outside, damn it's humid.

I drove to the start, walked around, and instantly because very self-conscious about my size. It was strange since I'm normally not like that. Not sure if it was the tank top or the stares or what. Anyway, I spotted Razz who was nice enough to pre-race babble with me about how we were about to run through soup. Did I mention it was humid?

Race:

The first mile was weeeeeeee! I was flying! (Relatively, at least.) I forget how hilly my normal route is, so anything flat is a treat. It helped quite a bit that I lined up toward the back too. All that passing sure does build the confidence.

The second mile was equally weeeee with the stares bothering me less and less as I got into a rhythm. Then, about mile 2.75... the sun came out. Now it was humid AND sunny AND h-o-t. Wow, talk about miserable.

I didn't really intend on kicking it at all, but mile 3 was much less comfortable than I planned. I stopped completely at the water station and took about a half dozen little cups of everything they had. A few people got heat stroke that day, and I wasn't about to be one of them. After cooling down, I cruised in and happily crossed the finish line with all three of us.

Mile 1: 8:52

Mile 2: 9:00

Mile 3.1: 10:48

Time: 28:40 (9:14/mile)

Women: 28/223

AG: 7/49

Post-race:

Water, water, water; shade, shade, shade. Much better. I spotted Kelly from Beginning Running and made her pose with me for a nasty, sweaty, picture while chatting about the race. Isn't she adorable? We spotted each other very easily, clearly.

(Please disregard the horribly unflattering shorts. It's all that fits these days.)

That was also the "Unremarkably Pregnant" view from the front. Are you ready for the "Whoa!Shit! Pregnant" view from the side?

Look at that poor little number hanging on for dear life! I should have put my chip on that. The tummy easily finished a second or two before the rest of me. That should totally count.

Anyway, the rest of the day was filled with baby stuff, relaxing, and other weekend things. I did have lunch with my mom, and just for posterity sake, here's what I looked like later that day at 7 months. Since I generally only see myself from the front, this is how I look up in my head. That Whoa!Shit! view from the side is shocking to me too, don't worry.

I think they took some course/finish pics, so I'll post those and my run-down of favorite comments heard while racing pregnant with twins later this week.

"Thank you! Your registration is complete."

That right-- mama's racing on Sunday!

Well, technically, I'm "racing" on Sunday. As in, "there will be a race taking place and I will be participating in it." After getting approval from The Husband, my doctor, and my enabling Running Buddy, I pulled the registration trigger.

I'm not racing other people or the clock or even myself, but I'll have a number pinned to my (very large) front and plan to hopefully cross the finish line of an official 5K race, so it counts as racing.

Last year I spent many long runs daydreaming about being pregnant and the type of mom I wanted to be some day. Running has been and will continue to be a very large part of that. Twins have altered a few things about this experience, but racing while pregnant is just something that's always meant something to me. No matter how long it takes me to finish, I want to set an example for my children about healthy living from day 0.

Now the real dilemma: WHAT DO I WEAR? I've been wearing one of my old, over-sized race shirts on my evening runs. My prenatal cradle shows out the bottom, but I don't really care. I DO care just a little bit for a race with real runners and pictures though.

This 5K is part of the CB half marathon festivities I ran last year. I thought about wearing my usual race uniform since the top is a pink Nike tunic, quite long, and fairly loose on the bottom. Just for the hell of it, I tried it on last night and took an honest spin in front of the mirror.

View from the back: Not Pregnant

View from the front: Unremarkably Pregnant

View from the side: Whoa!Shit! Pregnant

Which isn't really surprising since my stomach is measuring almost full term for someone with one baby. I think the Whoa!Shit! view might freak some people out that I'm a threat to give birth right on the course. (And the course ran through a trailer park last year, so I agree we should avoid that.)

It pains me to say this, but I may have to race in a cotton, mango, Liz Lange maternity tank top from the clearance rack at Target. I know, it hurts just to type it. They just don't make maternity dry fit on the cheap. Hopefully wearing Garmie keeps a little bit of runner street cred.

Legit apparel or not, I'm racing on Sunday! Watch out slow runners/fast walkers of the Council Bluffs 5K, my mango tank top-covered giant tummy and I are COMING FOR YOU!

Running like a shark

Remember learning in school that sharks can't stop moving because they'll suffocate? While my metaphor isn't nearly that dramatic, there is an element of that momentum in my motivation to regularly run these days.

This week was a bit of challenge to keep up my routine. I can work around dinner with girl friends and baby class, but the weather has been brutal. Wind, clouds, cold, and various thunderstorms during my normal run times. Although I generally consider myself somewhat hardcore, the pregnant version of me cares substantially less about toughening out a windblown rainstorm.

Until I realize I haven't run in 3 days. That's when I get twitchy and nervous that I've "wasted" those days and won't be able to start again. Some of my issues with taking too many days off are rational: What if I start pre-term labor out of the blue and need bedrest? What if my doctor unexpectedly pulls the plug one day on my activity? What if my back starts hurting?

And some of it is very irrational: What if I wake up on the 4th morning so big I need a forklift to get out of bed like the giant people on those TLC shows?! Why didn't I run when I had the chance?

I enter the third trimester in the next week or two feeling fantastic, and my goal is just to keep moving. Every day I get a little bigger, slower, and heavier, but so long as I feel as energized and happy as I have been, there's no reason not to take advantage of the motivation and time. Who knows how long this running business will last, but I just hope Mother Nature gets the memo and cooperates.

In nino news, we had an ultrasound this week, and both boys are super. They are 2lbs each and right on track. I did learn that the spot where I thought A had been kicking for the last month was both of their heads instead of one's feet. I felt pretty bad for poking their tiny face all day every day thinking we had a little kicking game going. Oh well, I'm sure it won't be my last mom FAIL.

Baby A was as photogenic as usual, and B was having none of the camera. Should the paparazzi invade my uterus, he's ready.

Have a great weekend!

I celebrated Mother's Day by eating

Because I'm an over-achieving daughter, I didn't just see my mom today. We spent much of this weekend together. Okay, it mostly because she wooed me with food. I'm a very easy sell like that.

After we had lunch on Saturday, the plan was to make a knock off of an Edible Arrangement for the next day.

This was the beginning of the project:
This was the end of the project:

Aaaaaaand this was most of the middle:

I sat with a bowl of melted white chocolate on my stomach and "quality checked" any piece of fruit within reach. What? Someone had to do it!

Mother's Day was even better with a get together of most of the family. While I'm not an official mom yet, I certainly have some amazing moms and women in my life. My cousin hosted lunch, and all our generations ate and laughed our way through a wonderful afternoon.

It's pretty crazy that there will be four of us next year.

Okay, so even without all the food, I would have loved the weekend with my mom. Even the part when she wanted a picture together where I "looked really pregnant!" (That's love that I actually did it.) Just kidding. I'm blessed with a damn fantastic mom, and I hope I do half as good of a job as she does. Happy Mother's Day Mom! xoxo.

Just gestating

Growing people is a very exciting time for my family and me.

Unfortunately, it's a very UNexciting time when trying to come up with posts for a blog about running. Sorry about that.

The up-side is I went to the doctor yesterday, and things continue to go great.

• The boys are fantastic
• My health is fantastic
• I gained minimal weight since last time (take that future Pregnancy Fat Face!)
• I have the green light to keep running (yay!)

The down-side is my stomach is currently measuring about 9 weeks ahead. Which is fine now, but if my math is correct, that means I'll look about 105 weeks pregnant by the end of it all. Awesome. July should be fairly pleasant for all parties involved.

I know, I know, "you just want healthy babies- it's only a short period of time- blah blah blah" But you know what? This is my blog, I'm vain, and I'm allowed to bitch about the inevitable mumus in my future. So there.

Complaining aside, running really has been my saving grace at this point. I'm still about 12-16 miles a week and feeling strong. Slow, but strong. It's a little bitter sweet now that racing season is in full bloom. I love hearing/reading about all your races, but I can't help be a little jealous.

The Lincoln Marathon happened last Sunday, and between the weather and new finish line inside the stadium, I hear it was amazing. My cousin-in-law tore up his first marathon, and I've already warned him that I want every. single. detail when I see him on Mother's Day. Vicarious, party of one!

Good luck to everyone racing, and thank you for all the reports I get to read afterwards. And if you're out there contemplating a race this spring/summer- DO IT! Do it for the gestating lady in Nebraska. I promise any blog title containing "Race Report" on my reader will get read first thing in the morning. If my insightful comments aren't motivation enough for you to sign up, I don't know what is.