It’s been a few months since I’ve provided an update about my running and the project – I’ve truly been meaning to sit down and get this out! Now that I am officially on leave, I have the headspace and the time.

So way back when (mostly likely early March) I complained in a post about how tired I was feeling on a run – and it turns out that I was (am) pregnant! Makes a lot of sense, I was completely exhausted and smack bang in the middle of my first trimester. I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to run for, and I didn’t want to mention it on this blog straight away, but I kept up with the Alkaline Trio runs. Even when I didn’t blog “project runs,” I still did my regular Saturday parkruns, albeit at a slower pace! I stopped running altogther when I was 20 weeks, and my last run was the McGrath Launceston Running Festival 10 km – please see the dodgy screenshots below as I didn’t want to pay for the pictures!

Here I am running with my belly band, and my wonderful husband James who kept me company and made sure that we “ran” at a talking pace. It was challenging but I’m so glad that I did it, and I’m grateful to my body that I could run reasonably comfortably up until this point. I stopped running after this for a few reasons:

• back pain/round ligament pain post each run was insane – how crazy that pregnant bodies release this wild hormone that makes everything loosen and stretch!
• I had to pee every 10 minutes – logistical nightmare
• getting heavier made everything heavier, and more prone to injury – just coming off the back of my miraculously healed shins, I didn’t want to risk it anymore.

Instead, I’ve just been keeping up with my reformer pilates classes as much as I can – 3x a week most weeks. HUGE shout out to Steph, Janaya and Vere at Pandani Pilates for being so accomodating and adapting to my needs and capabilities! I’m so so lucky and grateful to have such a wonderful studio where I live.

I stopped blogging because I couldn’t really see the utility in continuing when I wasn’t running, plus I really didn’t want this to turn into a pregnancy blog. I have missed running more than I thought I would, and I’m already thinking about what I might do with this project once I have my baby!

I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time researching jogging/running prams and finally settled on one – a Bumbleride Speed if you are interested in that sort of thing. I won’t be able to run with baby until they are at least 6 months old (they need to have enough strength to support their little necks!), but my thoughts were to:

• continue the project (listening to albums) while we walk at first, then…
• depending on my recovery, start doing some very short and slow solo runs before…
• I start running with baby when they are old enough

So we’ll see how we go, and I’ll be keeping this space ready to go

I do have a few more ideas for some project related posts that I’ll put up over the next few weeks if I can. I am currently a lady of leisure and I am loving it, but also, the waiting game has truly begun – I’m 36 weeks and counting now!

I read somewhere recently that the metabolic toll (plus physical exertion/intensity) of being pregnant and carrying a baby to term (assuming 40 weeks) is actually equivalent to running a 40 week marathon. My goal was to run a marathon this year, so I’m glad to see that I’ve had a bit of a head start! It makes total sense that pregnancy is certainly an ultimate test of endurance, and anectodally I can attest to this, it checks out – taking my washing up and down the stairs feels like the cardio equivalent of decent run. One thing I do imagine though, is that birthing itself can’t be much like a marathon at all for few reasons. First, you can actually TRAIN for a marathon because you are in control. You can prepare, and you can track how far you’ve run and how far you have to go. I imagine that birth is nothing like that – you have no idea how much longer you might be in labour for/have to push etc. Even in terms of prep, sure, you can keep healthy and active and do all of the exercises that might help the process. But there is no way of knowing how things will play out or what will happen – perhaps you have to surrender to the process knowing that there are very few elements you can control. This is what excites (but mostly terrifies) me.

Below: me, pictured, 35 weeks, psyching myself up to take my washing down the stairs.

ONE last thing that I wanted to mention (and I do weep silently as I type this)…

ALKALINE TRIO ARE TOURING AUSTRALIA IN NOVEMBER OF THIS YEAR.

I have been posting comments on their Instagram for YEARS requesting that they come to Australia, and now they finally are! But the TIMING FOR ME is not so good – will most likely have a month old little newborn by then! Anything is possible, but not sure if I could pull that off..

Anyway, YOU should go and see them, and tell me about it!

Thanks for reading – and stay tuned for some upcoming posts!