Running @ 18 weeks pregnant

Google pregnant runners and you will inevitably come across blogs upon blogs of amazing women that run up until the moment they give birth. Women who runs marathons right before and right after giving birth. Women who eat no refined sugar while pregnant and gain 20 lbs and lose that 20 lbs within 2 weeks. My personal favorites are the elite athletes that mourn the loss of their 6:30 pace.

I am not that woman.

Sure, at 18 weeks, I'm still running. But there's nothing elite about what's going on here. I'm still running with a watch but its really just to track my mileage; keeping track of my pace would just be silly. 

I've been trying hard to watch what I eat, to make healthy food choices. Some days are better then others. Today was not a good day. With Halloween right around the corner my sugar consumption is getting out of control. I told my husband once we go through the kids' haul, he is taking everything to his office. Everything must leave the house. If anyone asks, I have no idea how those 5 Butterfingers got into the fridge.

Sugar addiction and physical changes aside, I'm feeling good. I'm still putting in a good number of weekly miles and enjoying long weekend runs with my running partner. The baby has so far been cooperative and caused minimal bladder distress, which if you have ever been pregnant, you know is the worst thing about running while expecting.

The goal is to keep running. To keep running for as long as I can. I have no racing plans, no PR's to achieve. I just want to keep running. It's nice to know that as I change, as my family changes, I still have running. It may not look the same or feel the same but at the very heart of it, it is the same.

Related posts: Running @ 20 weeks pregnant & Running while Pregnant: The Basics