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Thursday, March 18, 2010

Continuing on where I left off on my last post…I continue to work with my doctor and I keep reading everything I can on exercise and pregnancy. I have to say, there is so much miss information out there and so many myths! I know for me, being an Elite Athlete with an Endurance Base extending for 14 years, I am surely the rare pregnant lady, but I do know that daily exercise and high fiber, quality nutrition are helping me have a great pregnancy!

My 6th and 7th weeks of pregnancy were spent traveling. We just found out we were pregnant, met the OB on Friday, Jan 8th and literally jumped in the car and drove 20 hours out to Beaver Creek for a family ski trip in Colorado. I drove the first leg and into the night and Rob pushed on for a couple of hours in darkness until we arrived ½ way and stayed in a hotel for a quick 6 hours of sleep. Early in the morning we were on the road again driving straight up into the mountains. Although we were careful to stay hydrated and travel with frozen whole wheat pasta, kidney beans and fresh Mozzarella cheese (for the recipe click here… for Kelly’s Kitchen http://www.energyfitnesscoaching) as well as fresh fruits and cut up veggies, it is tough to eat well on the road.

The long drive surely beats you up, especially when pregnant! Add the hours in the car to a huge gain in altitude and it’s even more challenging. We went from Sea Level to 12,000 feet in less than 24 hours! Well, the excitement of the family ski trip, masked our tiredness and we were so happy to be with Rob’s parents, brother, sister, brother-n-law and our nieces and nephew!

Sunday through Wednesday, I maintained easy aerobic rides on the trainer (on my bike and trainer I brought as it goes wherever I go) and then met the family for light skiing. It’s only my 2nd time ever really skiing, plus being pregnant, I took it very easy. Although, I think Amber- 4, Aiden- 4 and Ashlyn- 3 are going to quickly pass me by next year…I still had a blast on the greens and some blues this year! Rob and I even managed a light swim, some pull-ups, 1 run and a snow shoe. We also were in a nice condo and were able to cook are healthy breakfast, lunches and dinners. So…things were going well.

Except for Tuesday…I didn’t ride in the morning and just got up and hit the slopes with the family. I didn’t feel well and got really weak and light headed right after leaving the condo. Rob was great and obviously very concerned so we just sat in Starbucks and I drank a bunch of water and sipped a coffee. We decided to head back early. I took a nap and felt better. Then we hit the outdoor heated pool with the kids and I seemed okay, until we rushed in from the cold and I started having blurred vision and again felt very week. Back to the room, I slept and rested after drinking a bunch of water. I took it very easy on Wednesday, but it was a tough day as we were awoken in the middle of the night with the unfortunate news that Rob’s Grandmother passed away. The whole family was devastated.

We traveled down from the mountains and back to Rob’s parent’s home just outside of Boulder. We had several business meetings set up for Thursday and Friday and we pushed everything back and tried to help set up the memorial service for Grandma and get the house ready for family to travel in from across the country. Exhausted Thursday, we didn’t work out and busy Friday getting the home ready, we again didn’t work out. Instead, we shifted to a hotel as the family members flew in. There was no time for workouts, our diet drastically changed to Abo’s New York Style Pizza and Great Harvest bread and my nausea and fatigue really set in. All of a sudden I was so sick. I could barely stand the site of most foods, I had trouble sitting let alone standing. All I wanted to do was lie around. So we did, as much as we could, while still spending as much time as possible with family. After the memorial service on Sunday, January 17th we knew we had a busy Monday as usual with athlete logs and phone calls but we hoped to ease back into some light runs and rides. Well, with business meetings, work piling up, my insane nausea and my wild food aversions and cravings…instead we worked in our hotel, traveled to meetings around Boulder, Denver and Littleton and ate a lot of Turkey, avocado, Abo’s Pizza and Great Harvest Bread.

Our diet was terrible, with only small amounts of fresh fruits and veggies and no whole grains, our workouts were nonexistent and we grew tired and bloated. This “set up” created a downward spiral. Now, normally we eat tons of whole grains morning and evening, fresh fruits throughout the day, veggies with lunch and dinner and lean proteins too. So I go to the bathroom very well and very often. Not this week. Combine this terrible “set up” with my first trimester of pregnancy and suddenly, I looked as if I was 4 months pregnant because I was so bound up!

Well, finally all was done in CO and we needed to rush back to Ohio to make the Team Toledo Triathlon Club Winter Expo. So, we drove 20 hours straight through! Thursday afternoon through Friday…arriving Friday morning in Ohio for a quick stop for groceries, shower and to bed! But sleeping long was not possible as we had to pack up for the expo, empty the car and load the trailer and be ready to go at 8a.m. Saturday morning.

Although exhausted from the trip, we fired up for the Expo and truly had a wonderful time! We met so many wonderful people and caught up with many good tri friends. It was a long but awesome day! Getting home in the evening we were supposed to rush back out to my brother’s fiancé’s surprise b-day party. I just couldn’t do it. My belly was so bloated and my body felt like I got hit by a truck. So Rob went in support of Leighan and I did what was best for the baby…REST!

Well, after 9 days off from working out, a poor diet (compared to normal), long drives and busy days…we focused on sleep, daily workouts and super high quality, homemade nutrition…steel cut oats, wheat germ, low fat milk and yogurt or eggs loaded with veggies, whole wheat bagels, yogurt and fresh squeezed OJ for breakfast, turkey sandwiches and fruit for lunch and whole wheat pasta, beans, mozzarella or rice crust pizza with spinach, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella or soup made of brown rice noodles, tons of fresh chopped up veggies, chicken broth and navy beans for dinner. (For some of our favorites - check out Kelly’s Kitchen!)

Finally I was feeling great again! No more nausea, no more constipation, no more fatigue! We went to the OB and all was going great with our baby! Thank goodness!

So my key learning this January…travel is very tough on the body, especially when pregnant. I need to sleep a little more, workout a little every day and eat very well and then everything is so much better!