Running Preggers

I'm writing this as requested by Nannoor, a fellow blogger ( I have just started to follow your blog :D ) who asked me of my running routine while pregnant. Takdela routine sangat sebab by the end of the pregnancy dah caca marba  Hurhur.
I hope my experiences will somehow be of good use to other runners getting through their pregnancies.Tak pun untuk bahan seronok-seronok baca tentang pompuan boyot menggagahi diri nak exercise. Ngehngeh.
So, here goes.

1st Trimester (1st-3rd month)

Nothing in my running routine changed , really. I still ran 4-5 times a week as I was still training for my last 10K race so everything was going pretty much dandy.

But I did a lot of reading about running while pregnant because this was my first time running with a baby in my belly. And most articles stated that the baby will be really small in the first trimester so running a lot at your normal speed wouldn't affect the baby much.

I did my easy pace at my normal easy pace and my tempo pace at my normal tempo pace but I refueled more to avoid dehydration. I ate what I ate normally and I took my vitamins as instructed, daily doses of folic acids, vitamin Cs, haematinics and calcium tablets since I'm allergic to milk.

When I went for my first antenatal checkup, the nurses were concerned of my low blood pressure, sometimes going down to 90/60 mmHg, but I reassured them this was normal to me. Still, they referred me to a doctor, a fresh faced boy just out of his housemanship who instructed me to take daily BP readings for a week. A week later, with the results still the same, fresh faced doctor eyed me carefully and said, " I guess it's okay for an athlete. You're a sports person, yes?". And suddenly I had this chilling suspicion that this guy may read my blog. ( Perasan tak?).
 Did I ever told you guys that I get terribly embarrassed if I knew any one of my colleagues reads Runningigi. Once, a senior of mine told me he liked my blog and I almost died.

 Anyway, come race day of my 10k at Taiping International marathon, I was at my 3rd month and was starting to show. I didn't look properly pregnant and I guess looking at my tummy, people would assume either I wasn't proportionate or had a little too much baked beans the previous night.
 I wanted to push it because I felt I can, but had to refrain myself. You can read all about the race here. Other than having side stitches, there were no other issues. And it was one of the best races I had so far. I ran pregnant without tergolek cam nangka busuk.


2nd Trimester ( 4th - 6th month)

Running still went on as usual. I even registered for another race at Padang Rengas because it was surely an easy podium. No, I'm not bragging. Ada less than 10 women registered. Agaknya jalan kengkang-kengkang pun boleh dapat placing punya lah. But still, I wasn't very familiar with Padang Rengas and the running route so I opted out the last minute. Memang nasib baik pun, because when WW got back from the race , he told me it was half road and half trail and I don't do well on trails. Nak-nak bila jadi mak buyung.

My pace followed the growth of my tummy. The larger I got, the slower I ran. A friend suggested running with a support belt but I malas to go and buy one.
I'm a runner but I guess I'm not that hardcore.

My easy pace deteriorated to 14:00 minute/mile. Takpe, takpe, I thought. Apa nak kalut, bukan training pun.
Best thing was, every time I ran, my baby was doing somersaults in the womb. I guess, she enjoyed running as much as I did. Running  still commenced 3- 4 times weekly for 30 minutes although my daughter commented I ran like a duck.

Fatigue was an issue. I would get too tired to run after work so I had to paksa myself a bit. But on days when I was too tired to even move my eyelids, I skipped running. But I made sure I took the stairs everyday.
My staff were forever holding the elevator door open for me but I would smile , shrug and stubbornly walk up, no, waddle up the stairs.
Stairs, good. Elevator, evil.

3rd Trimester ( 7th month to D-Day)

I only ran 3 times a week up to my 7th month. Then I was getting ridiculously big and the side stitches were unbearable so I stopped running on the treadmill altogether.

But to make up for not running, I did  weights and walking aerobics for 3-4 times a week for 30 minutes till the 37th week. Anything without side stitches is good for me.

By the 38th week, ready to meletup bila-bila masa je lagi, I caught a fever of 40 degrees Celsius and was hospitalized for a week. After that, all exercises went down the drain and I stayed dormant till my delivery.


So there you have it, Nannoor, my running routine while pregnant. By doing all this, I pretty much kept my weight according to plan. Overall I gained 15 kgs, which was pretty much recommended by the doctor. I'm happy that almost 4 months after delivery, I have now only 2 kgs to blast to reach my pre pregnancy weight. Alhamdulillah..

Do keep in mind every pregnant woman is different and you have to adjust your workouts according to your needs and ability.

Don't be intimidated to read some other pregnant orangputeh's blog and see that her easy running pace at her 8th month is still 8 minute/mile (4:59 min/km). Dia tu gila.
Kidding.

POST-NATAL

So how am I doing so far when it comes to running? Well, these days running depends solely on my baby's mood.

I'm like, " Little baby, can mommy run today for at least 20 minutes while you watch quietly in your carry cot?"

" Waaaa, waaa, waaa"

Alrightey then, no run today.

Then I go, " Darling, just 10 minutes today, please?"

" Waaaa, waaa, waaa"

Okay, it's a no then.

Did I tell you she has a built in timer? If I pasang niat to run 20 minutes while she's having her nap, she'll wake at exactly 20 minutes after. If I say to myself , just run 10 minutes and see how things go, she'll wake up at exactly 10 minutes after that. Cheeky little sweet pea.

So now, I make do with what I can. If she doesn't allow me to go on the treadmill on some days, I'll carry her and do lunges, squats and lateral lunges. She pretty much enjoys that. Macam naik buaian ( which I banned). I'd start my routine and she'll instantly go to sleep 5 minutes after, in my arms.
Like I said, I make the most with what I can, even though it means I'll eventually end up with gorilla arms.

You can suggest waking up at 4 in the morning to run while my baby's fast asleep.
But like I said before, I love running.
But I'm not that hardcore.

To Nannoor, persevere.
And bear in mind, kalau JJ yang pemalas ni pun boleh run while preggers, sape-sape pun boleh buat jugak.
Cheers ;) 

Royan

Today is my last week of maternity leave. Boohoohoo.
Better make the best of my spare time and write something because starting next week I'll be super busy with puasa coming and all.

A part of me dread going to work but another part of me is excited to be back.

Anyway, I'll be learning how to survive my mornings rushing to work with 3 kids with 3 different places to send them to. Can you spell chaos?
I really must devise a brilliant plan for this one of these days.

I ran today to just finish 2 miles in 30 minutes. How pathetic is that? No wonder most women athletes take 2 years off post childbirth to retrain.
Not that  I'm an athlete. Pftrrrr.
Wow, perasannya.

I plan to check my work wardrobe today. They all still fit me but some pants are a bit tight at the waistline due to mummy tummy but konon it's normal physiology post childbirth.
Still, it's a great excuse to shop for more clothes. And baju raya. Did I tell you I almost always shop for our raya wardrobe before fasting? Hurhur.

I registered Adik for standard one yesterday. My babies are growing up real fast.
Weird thing was, the kerani at her school asked innocently when I was holding my baby,
" Is this your first child?"
I go,"Who? The one I'm registering right now?"
Then she pointed out at my 3 month old, " No, her"
And I gave her a puzzled look.
..........
After 5 seconds she realized her mistake a smiled sheepishly. Post haze weather still makes people pretty much confused kot.

My parents just got back from their trip visiting my brother in the Netherlands. Guess what they brought back?

peaches, nectarines, and cherries oh my!

 I miss eating these fresh. The ones sold in hyper/supermarkets are so overripe and sour and literally disintegrate in your mouth.

I don't know of it's bad news or good news but they also got us these.

I wailed, " Mommmm, you know I'm trying to lose 4 kgs?"
" I can't help it," she said, " They sell these at 1 euro per pack"
Gile murah.

Kata orang, rezeki jangan ditolak.

Sekian ramblings entah pape untuk hari ini.

First Run This Year

Phew, I'm still sweating buckets.
After almost 6 months of not actively running ( fast walking still don't count) I finally ran yesterday
And boy, it felt so good to literally sweat it out.

I've been meaning to try my new treadmill out since 2 weeks ago but the pesky flu bug got in the way. My chest was congested so bad that I had to take in a couple of breaths to finish a single sentence. And this means a definite no go on the treadmill.

My sister on the other hand, fit as a fiddle got to try it out. In other words, merasmikan my brand new machine.
Twice.

Ini tak boleh jadi, kataku.

Dengan semangat penuh kedengkian, saya pun berlari. Even though I was still coughing.

My machine, The Sole F85 is claimed to be, by its manufacturer as 'The Best Folding Treadmill On The Planet.
 No kidding. Look it up.

To tell you the truth, if it were up to me, I'd buy the first bulky treadmill I see at the first Fitness Concept I go to. But to my husband, it's all about research. And I left it all to him.
We googled everything from Nordic Track to Life Fitness ( ridiculously expensive) to  Reebok.
But we liked Sole the most.

Let me tell you why.
 My interpretation of a good solid treadmill is the width of its deck. My previous treadmill had a 20 inch deck. And most treadmills used in gyms have 20 inch decks.
To me, you shouldn't settle with decks narrower than that. It will be such a chore to run, train and catwalk at the same time.

The Sole F85, get this, has a 22 inch deck.  Best giler.
Kau nak guling-guling atas treadmill pun boleh.
( okay, exaggeration)

Ianya leberrr

So we crossed our fingers and hoped there is a Sole dealer in Malaysia. We looked it up and found out they were just setting their show room up in Puchong. So we called the person in charge and set up an appointment at  this so called show room.
When we arrived, we saw that the  shoplots were new. Papan tanda pun takde lagi.
It seemed a bit shady. We kinda doubted at first that this guy was legit.  Siap asked us to wait 10 minutes because he was out.

Fortunately when the tokey arrived, he explained that they were just starting to renovate the showroom. When we were inside the shop ( its roller shutters were closed previously), baru nampak an array of fitness machine and instruments. Phew! So we went down to business straight away.

Best of all, we got a deal in which Tokey agreed for free shipping to Taiping, since a hotel in Taiping bought a few machines from him and it's en route. Not only that, but we also got a new recumbent bike for free! And for the heck of it, he threw in a floor protector and a yoga mat for free as well. As if he knew  I'm an idiot for free stuff.

Anyway, like I said , I only got the chance to try it out for the first time yesterday ( after it was delivered to us almost 2 weeks ago).
And I'm in love with  it.

Other than wide, the  deck is also long ( 60 inches at least) so that you don't fall back too soon when it gets too fast or you get too tired, hurhur.
It's relatively quieter and has built in speakers so you can jack your Ipod in and don't have to pull out your headphones every 30 seconds to hear whether your ( my) baby is crying or not.

It has a cool 9 inch LCD screen for the display. You can choose your own program and the machine can personalize it for you when you enter your weight and age.  The timer on the display counts down rather than up which to me makes it more bearable ( I can't explain why).

The only thing is, my last treadmill used imperial system and measured everything in miles so I got used to that. If only I can figure out how to change the settings from Km to miles, then everything would be perfect. (I'll wait for my husband to get home on the weekend to do this as I can't be bothered with technical stuff)

Malangnya no LCD screen to watch movies :( .
You can't always get what you want, ok.

The run went pretty smoothly and quietly. When I described smooth and quiet, I meant the treadmill, not me.
I on the other hand, after not running for a long time, was panting away and cursing when the 'fat-loss' program on the mill raised the inclination to 5. And due to the hot hazy weather, it was like running in a sauna and I was sweating a lot.
I mean, A LOT.
Which was good even though afterwards I was feeling a bit woozy.

And I loved sweating it out so much that today I decided to run.
I know for a fact that if you haven't been running in a along time, you should alternate your running days to allow muscle recovery but I just couldn't help myself.
So I planned, just a quick spin, a 10 minute-ish run or until the baby wakes up, whichever came first.

As  I reached the 10th minute,on  a roll and hoping baby would continue napping so I could get at least 20-30 minutes instead, my little princess with a built in timer ( as my mom claims) woke up and started pining for mommy's attention.

cheeky lil' miss

OK.  Got that. Rest.
End of today's skit.

Farewell, friend.

It was circa 2005.
We were in a mall in Penang when we first saw you.
We fell in love with you immediately. We saw your potential. And I guess you saw through ours.
It was a tough time. You were way beyond our budget.
We were in our mid twenties, barely in our first year working. We had a little baby. Our car was pre owned and we rented a small house in a strange new place.
But we were determined. We had to have you.

So we  went out on a limb and had you on easy pay for 12 months. And you were well worth it.

It has been 8 great years since.

There were good and bad days, mostly good. On bad days, you would collect dust and be laced with cobwebs.

But you took me through rainy days. You took me through my first race. You took me through my first marathon. You took me through days I was too embarrassed to run outside. You took me through speed trainings. You took me through my subsequent pregnancies.
 Through it all.

There were times you were under- appreciated. You became a dread, a waste of space. But you braved through all those times, never letting me down.
You stood there, constantly reminding me to get a hold of my life. To own my body.

But as much as I love you, I have to let you go.
You have been of great service and with that I thank you.

I'm moving on, that's true. It's a fact you have to understand.

But I will not fail you. You will go on to other people who need you more. A diabetic friend in need of routine excercise to maintain her health. I hope she will be good to you. I hope she will give you more good days than bad. I hope you will be fully utilized. I hope you will not be downgraded as a place to hang clothes on rainy days.

You will go down in history, no worries. Your story will surely inspire some 9 year old to write a 'Saya Sebuah Treadmill' essay.
And even if in that essay I will be potrayed as an ungrateful person, that is the sacrifice I am willing to take for you.




Good luck with your new owner.

With lots of love,

JJ.

Runner's Porn

I'm not what you would call an ardent fan of RW magazine in such that I wouldn't go out of my way to get my fix every month. I only get it whenever I can, takdela bersungguh- sungguh cari all around town.

But over the years berkumpul la jugak all the magazine. We stack most of the past issues in our living room's mini library and the rest is well, like some of our books, all over the house.

Sometimes to think of it, most of the stuff featured in the mag is nothing we haven't heard of before or read on the internet. And let's face it, some of the articles and features are recycled, only written in different context. And some articles even cancel each other out. August's issue will say gluten-free diet is good for runners. Then December's issue will say you will need more carbs from wheat derived products for the extra energy.

Thing is, everything in RW you can get for free on the internet.
 Contoh?

The Newbie Ccronicles and other personal accounts about running : type running blog and hit the 'search' button, selambak on the internet.

The Ask Miles section : go to any runner's forum. There's always some smart alec to answer any of your running woes. 

Running attire and gadjet reviews : need I say more ? It's more reliable on the internet sebab takde user bias. 

And you know the most ironic thing in my part about this is what I do while pouring over my latest issue : snacking.

And in my husband's case, lagi kronik : makan nasik.

adegan yang tidak patut ditiru

I am aware of all this. So why do I still from time to time ( whenever I can, as I claim) defy all logic and still get my occasional fix of RW?

It's the glossy pictures. Make that glossy running related pictures.

The first thing I do when I get my issue is peel it carefully from the plastic wrapping and go gaaaaaaaa over the images.

The vibrant attires! The cool gadgets! The beautiful running paths!

Tu tak sebut lagi pasal the ads.

And after 2 days, baru sibuk nak baca the articles.

I tell myself time and time again, it's just runner's porn.

So with that in mind, last weekend during a casual spree at a book store, I resisted buying the latest issue.

It's porn, it's porn, it's porn so went my mantra.

And after 4 months of not adding RW to my shopping cart, I was happy to READILY declare that I was still maintaining my streak.

Up until after that we entered a used book store which sells past issues of magazines for half the price.

Hancussssss.

Borong sampai 2 pulak tu.

Tak guna. 

Dream Machine

It has been a month now. And a blissfull month it has been.
No hassles of work, no worries of deadlines and paperwork. Don't get me wrong, I love my job.
I just hate the paperwork and administrative aspect that comes with it.

I spend my days taking care of my babies. I do some chores, watch loads of crap TV and get myself hooked on an Indonesian sinetron ( I blame my mom for this)
Best giler.

The other day, I went for my one month post natal checkup at the clinic.
The nurse asked me my weight the last time I stepped on the scale post baby.
Told her I didn' t have the guts to even peek at the numbers.

All I can say is, that day I found out that I 've lost
10 kgs over a month without even trying.
Bestnya if it's like this all the time.

The reality of it is, I have 4-5 kgs to go to get my pre pregnancy weight back and I predict that will take months and months.
Tu belum sentuh lagi pasal mantaining it.

Now that I've got 2 grown kids and a baby in the mix, I need all the motivation I can get to continue running.
So, it's plain logic that the next step is to splurge on a spanking new treadmill , right?
Logic la kan?

I want a ridiculosly large treadmill with its belt possibly wider than my current one. I want one with a built in LCD screen so that I can not only watch movies from it, but possibly surf the internet. I want one that is so quiet, smooth and efficient that I will not feel the minutes go by the whole time I'm running ( okay, this is like pushing it a bit).

I'm so peeved by manufacturers selling treadmills with belts so narrow, all you can do on it is catwalk. Sadly most of the treamills displayed here in Taiping are similar to those.

So nak tak nak kena venture pi KL la in search of my dream machine.
 Suggestions on where, anyone?

A Theory ?

So I got through it. And alhamdulillah, everything went pretty well.

While other women runners were struggling to finish or achieve their PBs during The Women's Marathon, I was on a struggle of my own, in full blown agony and pain, in labour with our 3rd child.

It wasn't easy (as if the first two was....pfftrtt).

With this one, at the 38 th week, I was admitted for 5 days due to maternal pyrexia ( demam daa..) and had to endure intravenous antibiotics 3 times daily ( sakit daa...). Seriously, nobody warned me beforehand it would hurt that much. Everytime they injected the antibiotics in me, I would wince and they'd be like, " It stings a little kan?". And I fight the urge to say, kepala hotak hang. Ha.

But I guess that's basically what's on my patients' mind when I give them a jab

An eye for an eye kot. Padan muka aku.

Then after that, was a long wait of when the contractions would come.

WIth my previous two children, both were born by the 38th week. This one decided to take her time and wait it out until full term.

After the 5 day stint at the hospital, I was too tired to continue working, my appetite was out and it seemed like everybody I knew who had the same due date had already given birth and there I was, still a blimp not even close to labour. And it didn't help that I got daily messages from family and friends asking " Tak beranak lagi ke?"

Tensi tau.

So then, after setting a record of being pregnant for 10 months and 2 days, FINALLY the contractions came. I was so relieved to finally carry my baby outside of me that I hardly blinked when my ob-gyn specialist told me I had to be induced because the labour was taking
too long.

Okay girls, if anyone tells you there's not much difference between natural labour pains and induced labour pains, that would be a big fat LIE.

I felt non stop strong contractions for 2 straight hours even after I was drugged with Pethidine and Nitrous Oxide. And you may be wondering, after all that pain, why not go for an epidural?

Okay 

1. I was too stingy to fork out another 800 bucks for someone to stick a large needle up my spine

2. For goodness sake, I'm NOT letting anybody stick a needle up my spine 

I won't go into the gory details about the birth giving process but what I would like to share here is the benefits of keeping physically fit prior the whole procedure.

Aku tak kata la aku ni Kathy Smith ke Jillian Michaels ke hape, but I guess working out during pregnancy and strengthening the ab muscles really helps.

When my 3.35 kilo baby came out without the need of episiotomy, it surprised everybody except WW, whose theory attributed it to the result of my excercises.

And sure I was battered with my whole body sore after the whole ordeal but the soreness and fatigue was almost completly gone by the 3rd day. 

My husband again theorized that the reason behind this was because I am a runner who's used to fatigue and have a fast muscle recovery rate due to this.

I don't know whether anyone has written a paper between the correlation  of excercise and post labour recovery ( malas nak cari kat internet) but I think it's a valid theory. 

So anyone yang sceptical or just wondering, feel free to test it out. 

Ha.

So now, post pregnancy.

Now what?

After reading all those race report of the recent marathons, it sparked up a bit of interest to try marathoning again. What's with my last full 42. Ks being almost 3 years ago. 

Tapi bila pikir balik all the time and sacrifices needed for training, tambah ada baby kecik lagi, tambah demands of work lagi, tambah no domestic help lagi, tambah bila teringat balik we had to start LSD for 30K pukul 4 pagi to make up time for the kids lagi ( wah, I still wonder how we pulled it off running loops around our housing estate), tetiba rasa cam berat je nak try balik.

So we unanimously decided to put that dream off for a couple of years and maybe just continue to focus on shorter distances  for the time being. Shorter distance means shorter training time comparatively because that's all we could afford right now. 

As for now, I'll give myself another 1-2 weeks rest before I get back on my feet again because hiding all these extra skin is too much to handle.

When I say skin, I actually mean flab.

As if you didn't know.

Pffttrtt......