When will your last workout be?

As my due date approaches I get asked more and more often, "how much longer are you going to workout?" When I first heard this, my initial reaction was "when I have the baby I will take a break." I have always imagined working out to up until the day I give birth. Even with my first before I ever started Crossfit, I hiked the mountains by our house the day I gave birth. I have learned not to set your mind in stone on anything when it comes to giving birth but what I can say is my answer now is, I will take a break if one of 3 things happen.

1. I give birth
2. My body tells me to stop
3. My doctor tells me to stop

I have been thinking about the days and weeks after this baby comes. I am not sure how long of a break I will take but I am hoping to start some light activity a couple of weeks after if I have a natural birth like I hope to. I am just trying to figure out how to not go crazy taking 2 to 3 weeks (or more if I am not feeling up to it) off from physical activity?

As my due date nears, my patience is wearing. I don't always sleep well, I have a hard time getting comfortable, and my energy levels vary a lot from day to day. This week I had some really good workouts and also some crummy ones. On a high note I overhead squatted 130 lbs for 3 reps and did 21-15-9 of 75# hang power cleans and burpees in 4:30, however my burpees are not RX, I have to put my hands on rogue blocks to avoid my belly getting to the ground. On a low note, my shoulders are still feeling bad, and felt worse on my push jerks so I decided I am going to take at least a week off on the shoulders to see if that will help. I have been trying to fight through it because I know I will have some weeks off starting next month, but I know that it is smart to take a break now.

My belly has dropped quite a bit this week. I really struggle to get the barbell all the way to the ground on deadlifts. I have been doing them but I'm not as fast and not doing as much weight with them.

Speaking of belly dropping, that brings a whole new problem, a lot of my shirts are getting too short. Haha #pregnancyproblems.

Less than 6 weeks to go!

Ups and Downs

Today I had an ultrasound at my doctor visit. I was a little worried going into it because at my last appointment the doctor said she wanted to take a look because by belly was measuring small.  It really made me take a step back and pray that I am doing everything right for my little girl to be healthy. During the last couple of weeks I started to wonder, maybe I am exercising too much or not getting enough calories for her to grow fast enough? Well turns out that is not the case at all. Despite by belly being a little smaller (she said that is common for taller women or women with longer torsos, which I guess I fall into that category) the baby is measuring a little over a week ahead of the average growth at this point in my pregnancy and my fluid levels are perfect. My doctor told me that everything looks really good and to continue doing the things I have been doing. Yay!

I think I have started reaching the nesting phase as well, which in a lot of ways is kind of nice because I feel more energy to get things done. I have a few last things to do to personalize baby's room so she doesn't have the exact same room her sister had, but other than that we are ready for her! The bad thing about nesting is that my patience seems to run a little thinner. At work I am really trying to get all loose ends tied up since I will have 12 weeks off, but when your customers don't have the same urgency it can get frustrating at times!

The past week has brought some really high points as well as low points (or more positively put, "challenges") on the workout front. Last time I wrote was the day before we were doing Fran at our box. I really wanted to go through it once while I was pregnant just to finish it and also see what time I would get. I actually exceeded my expectations and RX'd Fran in 6:12 at 33 weeks pregnant. The pull ups definitely took up the majority of the extra time. I started out with 5 reps at a time and quickly went down to 3's and 2's but made it through, even no repping myself on one because I don't think my chin got over the bar. The thrusters felt pretty good, I went through 21 unbroken, broke once on 15, and then the last 9 unbroken. I was definitely out of breath a lot faster! I love doing Fran with all of the other members because there is just a different atmosphere than a regular WOD. It is really fun to cheer everyone on and see people push themselves as hard as they possibly can!

A couple of other high points this week are I PR'd my overhead squat by 5 lbs. My max attempt was 145 lbs and it felt really good. I also felt like things were promising with my shoulders after my visit with my chiropractor and he worked on them helping me target my problem areas. That same day pressing weight over my head felt better than it has in a really long time. This also brought on some frustration the next day because we were doing push jerks and jerk balances and although I didn't feel as much pain as I had felt previously, I felt weak and still limited in my range of motion. I was very tentative and not punching out more in fear of it hurting than because of actual pain. I know I am pregnant and I have other areas that hinder my ability to jerk efficiently (such as no core and my quickness to drop under the weight isn't there), however I have been working so hard on my mobility and getting my shoulder range of motion better so the slow progress or set backs still really frustrate me. I know from others' point of view it might seem like I should never get frustrated during a workout because I have an "excuse", but I think it can be even more frustrating because I am still working hard but progress is slowed and in some areas it is regressing for now and patience is not my strong suit.

Some pics of my pregnant Fran

Fran

Fran....a classic or should I say "THE" classic crossfit benchmark workout. I still remember my first couple of times doing Fran which is 21-15-9 of Thursters at 65# and pull ups. I remember how hard the round of 15 was b/c I burned myself out in the round of 21. I think it took me until my third attempt to realize it wasn't smart to do all 21 or as many pull ups as you could unbroken in the first round. I knew she would come again at some point in my pregnancy. We usually give her a go every 4-6 months. I have thought about whether it would be a good idea to do Fran when she came up b/c although she is short (my best time is 4:47 last September) she takes a lot out of you! Would I be able to "listen to my body" which I still sometimes struggle to do? If I feel OK tomorrow I am going to give her a go. Being this heavy (I am now 153 lbs or +25 from my starting weight) I will likely fail in strength quickly on the pull up bar, which will allow me to keep my heart rate in check.  I have no idea what time to expect but I suppose if I could get through her in around 8 minutes, that would be pretty good.  I will let you know in my next update how it goes!

I am nearing 33 weeks and have really felt like I have slowed down this past week. I am feeling really tired and so hot! Every day it has been nearing 110 degrees and when you have your own furnace growing inside of you, 110 feels like 120. I have still managed to get my workouts in but my body just feels slow. The one thing that keeps me going is the alternative to going in and working out is staying at home and falling further behind in my training. Right now I may not be able to make gains but I do feel like I am maintaining, which will help out a lot when it is time to return from having this baby.

I have an ultrasound coming up this week. I am a little worried b/c I have been measuring exactly on track up until my last appointment. My doctor said my belly was measuring smaller, which could mean a number of things. It could mean nothing, it could me that fluid levels are too low, or she isn't growing as quickly as she should. My doctor did not seem too concerned so I have tried not to concern myself too much either but anytime something is slightly "off" I do worry that I am doing everything right for my baby girl.


Some highlights this week:
-I was able to do GHD raises, which I wasn't sure if I would be able to with the extra weight and I hadn't done them in months
-Squats still felt good, I did 185 lbs for 5 reps
-Not necessarily a highlight but I completed Fight Gone Bad RX for 285 reps. I was gassed.
-I feel like she is dropping a little (maybe she will arrive on time or a little early???)
-It was a short work week and we get a long weekend, Happy Independence Day!


Some not so highs this week:
-I continue to struggle with Jerks and Push Presses. Despite my increased mobility I still feel pain when doing these movements. It has nothing to do with being pregnant, they are just hard for me.
-2K row took me 8:33, I can't wait to get my endurance back!
-I got my first leg cramp at night of this pregnancy. I got them during my first pregnancy but haven't had them this time until the other night. Despite drinking 100 oz of water in the day, I still got one and it was excruciating. I think Jarod thought I was going into labor b/c of the ridiculous noises I was making b/c the pain was so bad. He stretched my foot to extend my calf and even he had a hard time doing moving my foot because it was so tense. I put some deep blue on and that took care of it. I keep it by my bed now so if I feel any cramping coming on I put it on and I haven't had one since then. Deep Blue is the bomb!

GHD Raises with 25 Extra LBS

The Whiteboard

32 weeks today! Wow, time flies, well not really but everyone else thinks it does when you are pregnant. I have been lucky and felt pretty good throughout this pregnancy but I am ready to have this baby! I was tempted to skip working out a few times this past week just because my energy level has not been great and she has been sitting in an uncomfortable position putting pressure on my lungs but each day I thought about how I would feel if I went home and laid on the couch compared to if I would go workout and exercise won every day.

One of the most difficult things to adjust to with crossfit and being pregnant is adjusting my view of the whiteboard. For those that are not crossfitters the whiteboard is our daily scoreboard that measures how you do in each workout. Being the competitive person I am, prior to pregnancy my goal was always to RX workouts and be as close to the top of the whiteboard as I could every day. I have really had to change my mentality of it these days because I can no longer perform workouts as prescribed (RX), not because I don't have the strength to do so, but either my body is limiting me or it is not safe to do so. It was really hard at first when I had to start modifying things because a lot of the reason I love crossfit is for the competition and now that I am not competitive what do I have to look forward to?

Well, besides staying in shape to make my pregnancy better and feeling better after I workout, I have taken this time to really embrace improving my movements and focusing on maintaining as much strength as I can and in some areas even getting stronger. For example, knowing that I won't be able to RX a workout with push ups has moved my focus from finishing the workout as fast as I can to making sure I perform the pushups with the best possible form I can. Form should always take precedence to time but in the past this was difficult for me to commit to at times. In my pregnancy push ups, my hands are elevated but the movement is the same as if they are on the ground. Keep my core tight, not sagging, and not tenting, keep the elbows in, feet close together, and don't worm as I push up (By the way, push ups are really hard now, even with my hands on a low box!). This is the one part of pregnancy that has been really good for me in terms of the type of athlete I am and will be. It is really easy to get caught up in times both in comparison to other athletes and when you are trying to beat your own previous times, but after you have been doing crossfit for a while and PR's don't come as often you learn that it is more important to improve your quality of movement first and then your times will get better. I am lucky that pregnancy has helped me realize this earlier rather than later in my crossfit career.

Here are some highs and lows for this past week:

The Good

-In addition to the snatches I tried at the beginning of the week, I also did some cleans this week. I didn't go too heavy but they felt good. Cleans come easier for me partly because I learned and worked on them in college (as opposed to snatches that are a real work in progress, which is halted right now). I did 115 lbs for 5 unbroken hang cleans (some power and some squat) and it felt pretty good. The next day my traps were on fire because of the shrugging motion that I haven't done in a while.
- Overhead squats have felt pretty good as well. I did 100 lbs with a 3 second pause at the bottom with no problem for multiple reps.
- Jarod and I have committed to doing more mobility at home. Every night we have been rolling out with the lacrosse balls and doing some partner stretching. (I subscribed to mobilitywod.com and love it!!) In the past I always knew I should do mobility but when you are young you can get by without it but post 30 it is more important than ever before.  I definitely struggle with overhead pressing movements because I have limited shoulder mobility so I am working hard at changing that. It always helps to have your husband do it with you, we hold each other accountable.

The Bad (or should I say Challenging)
- My metcon is really bad and the heat makes it worse. Even a highly modified workout of rowing, pike presses, leg raises while hanging on the bar (I can't call them toe to bar attempts anymore b/c my legs don't get too far past parallel) and wall balls was slow and I felt so out of shape. I am nervous about how long it will take to get this back after our little girl comes!

The Ugly
-It took me about 5 minutes to buckle my shoes one morning this week when I decided that I had to wear a pair of wedges that required buckling rather than slipping on.
-I ate some ice cream this weekend and felt guilty after. (at least it tasted really good)

Abdominal Separation

Last Saturday I was waiting in the lobby for Jarod and my daughter at her gymnastics class. He was walking in with her when a lady and her young son were walking out (they had just passed me in the lobby) and the woman turned to her son and said "that woman's pregnant belly is huge, but she was really skinny!" She had no idea that it was my husband she was walking by. Hmmm, I think I'll take that one as another compliment?

Right now I also wear a lot of maxi dresses since Arizona summers are hot and they are stretchy so they fit better than most things. The other day I wore one that had a print on it and one of my coworkers walked in the office and said, "you look like a snake that swallowed a giant rat." Uh, thanks?

At my last appointment I had some devastating news, ok not devastating but when you are pregnant all of your emotions are taken x 10. I was at my doctor visit and she was doing the usual check of the babies heart rate and then measured me and asked if an area in the middle of my abdomen was bothering me. I said, no, why? Well you have some abdominal separation. What is that? I google to find out anything I can on it and basically it is common in pregnant women (especially those with multiple pregnancies) when your belly grows the connective tissue between your abs stretches.  The worst part is after pregnancy, it doesn't always go back! I read stories of women that were asked 10 months post partum when the baby was due and it wasn't because they were out of shape it was because the diastasis recti gives the appearance of a big pooch, and if you are thin in other areas besides your belly it can look even worse. There are exercises you can do to help the muscles go back together however many times it never goes all the way back to how it was. In this case you can opt for surgery, but that would just add time to my recovery and I am ready to get back in shape and compete again!

I have read quite a few internet articles posted by women who have had kids saying they are proud of their post child bearing bodies and we should embrace all of the imperfections such as stretch marks, mommy pooches, etc. Don't get me wrong I wouldn't trade my children in for a perfect body but I really don't embrace those things at all. Do people really like their bodies better after having kids or are they just saying that because we "should" feel that way?

I had my 31 week appointment today and I am at 151 lbs which is +23 from where I started. I haven't gained anything in the past month but that is because I gained too much in the second trimester due to not eating as well. This week hasn't been the best as far as my diet goes. I have given in to some cravings but I try to remember the saying on the wall in our bathroom at the gym. "Saying Oh well, I've already ruined my diet today" is like saying "Oops, I just dropped my phone so I think I will smash it until it breaks."

As far as workouts go, I did some really light snatches with overhead squats this week. It is the first time I have even attempted a snatch in a few months. I miss Olympic lifting because it is challenging and I have so much work to do on my technique! Going to the gym and watching everyone else do it is like giving a kid a bike and making them watch everyone else ride it. I watched a video blog of another competitive cross fitter and her experience through pregnancy. She did hang power snatches and cleans through the better part of her pregnancy which is why I wanted to do a few this week. After this week I don't think I will do them again until after the baby comes because for me I already have a tendency to keep the bar too far away in a snatch and the big belly just makes that worse. I don't think it is a good idea for me to train a bad habit so kettle bell snatches it is!

My strength is staying pretty steady. Right now I am just focused on maintaining the best I can. It is so hard because my competitive spirit sees everyone else getting stronger day by day and week by week and it makes me want that too! I know that my time to make gains will come later but it is so hard to be patient.

We had a workout this week with box jumps and strict pull ups. It was an ascending ladder for 8 minutes. I was able to complete it RX but had to use an underhand grip for the strict pull ups. This allowed me to use more of my arm strength and I didn't feel as tight in the belly, but pull ups are getting so hard (especially strict ones)! My goal is to be able to do a pull up through my whole pregnancy but with 9 weeks left I'm not sure if I will be able to accomplish it. Time will tell!

Regionals

Those of you that have been pregnant before probably remember some good comments you hear on a daily or weekly basis. I was in a Starbucks the other day getting drinks for a customer and a guy comes up to me and asked when the baby is due? Before I even started to answer, he looks at me and says "I hope you are pregnant and not just fat".  I guess some people have the gift of just saying whatever comes to mind! The funny thing was, he was definitely not a trim man.

A few weeks ago some friends from our box and I traveled to Utah to watch our friend and coach Claire compete at regionals. Claire has been such an inspiration to me. If you are a crossfitter you will know how elite of an athlete you need to be to make it to regional competition. There were over 2800 women competing in our region alone (more than that that began the competition but that was about how many finished all of the workouts) and only the top 48 make it on to the regional competition. Claire was one of those 48 women in the southwest region to qualify. It has been a goal of mine to compete on a team at the Crossfit Games Regionals since I competed in my first open a year ago. Being at the event made that drive even stronger, but how long would it be before I would be able to condition myself to compete at that level? After all, I had only done Crossfit for 9 months before I became pregnant, which was enough time to start to become proficient at some of the movements but certainly not to be elite at them, and I definitely have quite a few glaring weaknesses. I have to assume that it will be at least 4 weeks after I have our little girl before I can resume my workouts, which brings me to late September, and then the uphill battle of getting back into shape begins. If you read stories from women who have competed at a much higher level than I have, they mostly have one thing in common, the first 2 months back are so tough! If my experience is similar this will bring me to the end of November before I even start to feel like I was where I left off, then there are just 3 more months to get ready for the Open. I also have had this fear that my time is limited because I am in my thirties now (I'm 31) and won't my fitness level just decline as I get older? Man, I wish I would have started this earlier! I know, I'm such a Debbie Downer, but these are real thoughts I have had many times throughout my pregnancy.

Being at regionals really helped me rid some of these negative thoughts and gave me hope that I can compete at a high level post baby. It was cool to watch the top competitors like Tiffany Hendrickson, Mandi Janowitz, Chris Spealler, and Tommy Hackenbruck compete, but where my main inspiration lay was in 3 people and one of them I get to train with on a regular basis.

I've always known Claire to be a great athlete since I first met her. She demolishes every woman and most men's scores in our gym (even when she does the WODS at their weight), but it wasn't until her preparation for Regionals that I realized how much better you can get at this sport in a short period of time if you are willing to put in the work. If you haven't already read her blog about her experience, you need to! (http://crossfitblade.com listed on the main page) I saw Claire transform as an athlete with the help of her husband Chris's programming in a short 2 month span. When they announced the workouts she was disappointed because not many of them would showcase her strengths (she is incredibly strong and an amazing Olympic lifter). She really is good at everything but those two things are her strengths. After the workouts were announced I told her not to sweat it because I thought only the top 5 or 10 women would even be able to complete them. Luckily Claire didn't take my approach and bank on everyone else not doing well. Instead she worked her butt off every day, twice a day putting in grueling workouts even she couldn't always complete. At the end of the 2 months I was in such awe how she went from barely being able to do a strict handstand push up (by the regional standards) to knocking out all 54 of them along with front squats and burpees under the 20 minute time cap. Watching her accomplish this gave me hope that I can come back and dramatically improve on my weaknesses despite my short timeline before the 2015 Open begins.

My other inspiration came from a  couple of women that I don't know personally but I really related to their life experiences. One of those women is Michaela North. She qualified for regionals just 8 months after giving birth to twins. She had to take off an entire year prior due to a high risk pregnancy and a surgery following the birth of her twins. I can't imagine the struggles she faced coming back after such a long time off, but she did it, she proved she was still one of the fittest women in our Region even though she had such a short time to prepare.

The 3rd woman that I drew inspiration from was Darcie Warren. I don't know how old her kids are, but she has 6 of them! The other cool thing is that she is 35 years old and has a build similar to me. She is 5'5" 133 lbs according the the games.crossfit.com site and I am 5'7" 128 lbs pre-pregnancy.  Maybe I'm not too old after all??!!

When we returned from Utah, a few of us began putting in some extra work with the common goal that we will send a Bladestrong team to Regional Competition next year. I don't know if I will be one of the athletes elite enough make the next Regional team (there are only 3 men and 3 women competing on a team), but what I do know is I will be working hard to improve on my weaknesses and become the best athlete I can be and push others to be the best they can be so Crossfit Blade will be well represented at the 2015 Southwest Regionals.

Southwest Regionals

Today I am 31 weeks pregnant. Yes, I am down to a single digit week countdown! Here are a few things I have been doing for exercise, nutrition, and beyond. Please note that I believe the journey through pregnancy is different for everyone. In no way is what I do the right or wrong thing, it is just what feels good for me.

I am still working out 5 days a week, this week I actually got 6 days in since I coached class on Friday and it was a team WOD (which is always fun). We had odd numbers in my last two classes so I decided to join in. The last one was especially fun because I partnered with another pregnant member at our gym for team preggo! For the strength portion of my workouts, I do back off the weight a little from what I feel like I could do, to be sure I keep my lifts at a good speed. This week I did a 2 RM front squat of 165# but I think that is the heaviest I will be going on that lift since the second rep got a little slow.  I am using dumbbells and kettle bells in place of the barbell for workouts that require snatches or cleans. Last week I had a frustrating day when after a workout I was going to finish up with some strict pull ups and only did one, which didn't feel good. I was so bummed because I still had 10 weeks left and didn't want to see my pull up strength dwindle for the next 3+ months. A couple of days later I came in and felt much better on the pull up bar and completed a workout of pull ups and double unders. Another great example of listening to my body, just because something doesn't feel good one day, doesn't mean it won't feel good the next. I just need to remember that when it doesn't feel good that it is ok not to do it (I'm getting better at that).

As far as nutrition goes, I have been eating mostly meat, fruits, veggies, and nuts during the week and usually end up with some cheats on the weekends. I admit it, I had pizza last night and it was really good! I do still have protein shakes since it is an easy snack and my doctor said it is completely fine but would recommend being sure the ingredients don't contain soy. Haha, if she only knew how conscious I am of eating things that contain crap (soy) fillers. My favorite protein is SFH chocolate pure whey. It comes from grassfed cows and doesn't have any crappy fillers.

One last thing that I want to share is one of the doTerra essential oils I started using this month. Immortelle which is an anti-aging oil. I know you are thinking I am probably crazy about this age thing, but actually I have been using to help prevent stretch marks. I got just a couple of little ones from my first pregnancy that started to look worse again. I had been using other essential oils on my belly but nothing has worked as well as this one. I have been using it multiple times a day for 3 weeks now and you can hardly see the ones I was worried about and have not got any other new ones (knock on wood:). Ladies, if you are worried about getting these you must try it!

Snatch Grip Deadlift at 29 weeks

Due any day?

A word to the wise, don't ask a pregnant woman if she is due any day? Or even worse, after she says, "no, I still have 2 months left" don't follow up with "it doesn't look like you can get any bigger".  That was what a woman at work asked me last week.  I'm not the sensitive type so in a way I find it kind of funny, but really? I know my belly is huge, but yes it is going to get even bigger!

After the Open I was really starting to feel better and my workouts were pretty good since I have accepted that the norm for metcons (cardio) is pretty slow. One thing that I have done is take a more positive approach to my training in the sense that, when in my life will I ever get to train with 20 extra pounds on a daily basis? The answer is never since this will be my last pregnancy. (Yes I am sure of it, I will be scheduling Jarod's appointment before I return to work, haha!) I really started focusing on strict bodyweight strength, doing ring dips and pull ups. I was down to 5 strict pull ups and 4 strict ring dips around week 25-29, but once that 20+ lbs is gone they are going to feel easy right?

By the way, when I say 20+ lbs, that was another sore spot for me. I went in for my 23 week appointment and I already weighed more than I did when I gave birth to my first! I know that I started this pregnancy 3 lbs heavier, but I still had 17 weeks to go! My doctor and Jarod kept trying to reassure me that I was right on track. Dr. said I would be the last person she would worry about, but it did make me take a step back and look at my diet. After all, I had done a bit of emotional eating and wasn't exactly saying no to all of the crap that people put in front of me at the office lately. I decided that I needed to be more careful about my sugar intake and started sticking to my paleo eating since I always feel better when I do. When my 27 week appointment came up I had actually lost 3 lbs. My doctor asked me if I was eating enough because she knew how mortified I was last time I stepped on the scale. I assured her that the weight I had gained last time was not all for the baby, a good chunk of it was due to eating more carbs and sugar than my body was used to. I felt much better now that I was eating like I normally do.

At week 26 it was max deadlift week. I hadn't even tried to max any lifts since I found out I was pregnant and really didn't intend to that day either. I came in early since I missed the day before and coach Chris asked me if I was going to max out since he saw me going through the normal max lift warm-up progressions. I said, probably not, I am just going to see how I feel. My main concern with lifting heavy is holding my breath for long periods so the reps need to be fairly quick compared to a normal max effort deadlift. That day I ended up with a PR on my deadlift by 30 lbs, fairly easily lifting 270 lbs. I stopped there just because I didn't want the lift to get slow and hold my breath. What the heck? I have been working hard but maybe you get some crazy hormones that help when you're pregnant? As I said in my previous post, I read quite a bit about crossfit and pregnancy on the internet and I see all of the comments people make. Most are supportive but
about 25% of them are along the lines of "you are selfish", "you must not care about your baby", "that is irresponsible" and so on. I will end by saying I love my baby very much and I think one day she will be proud of her mama for how strong she is. Here is a picture of my max lift, I really don't ever post pregnancy pictures to Facebook but since that is the subject of my blog I figured, why not?