Drum Roll Please.......

Cycling inside?  Running with the dogs around the soccer field? Skipping masters swim? Not racing a summer 70.3?  Attending 70.3 Worlds as a fan?  What’s wrong with Teri?

Well, this blog post is two months in the making.  Drum roll please…..

I’m 13 weeks pregnant. 

And Tyson and I are SO EXCITED!  We thought we’d “start trying” after Ironman Cabo in March.  I’ve heard all the stories about how Ironman athletes can’t get pregnant, our body fat is too low, you need two years off, we’ve been training at unhealthy levels for too long., etc. etc. And, I believe most of it! I have several friends who tried for years, and with assistance from doctors, and who couldn’t get pregnant without a LOT of effort. 

Oh, and another factor – I’m not 25.  Or even 35.  I’m 37. 

So, we scheduled some fertility appointments for late summer with the idea that we’d try for a few months and start the process of fertility treatments.  I’d race out my 2013 ONE Elite season, go race a couple 70.3 races over summer 2013, then Soma, Nathan, etc., Maybe even IM Louisville in August.  No biggie.  Don’t take it too seriously. 

Then it happened. We got pregnant, a mere cycle after IM Cabo. The impossible was actually possible.  And for an old gal! 

I’m almost through the first trimester (please, please, can week 14 get here any sooner??), and I’m ready to come clean.  We are pregnant.  And we are so excited! 

So… how exactly does one go from an intense 10-14 hour Ironman training schedule, full of early mornings and long weekends; big meals full of calories; hectic work/life/training/family schedule to being a pregnant person?  Let’s just say it hasn’t been easy.  But it’s been quite fascinating! 

FOOD

The first concern was my eating.  I’ve always been a healthy eater, but healthy in large training quantities.  Luckily, the month I took off after IM Cabo (with the exception of Leadman) was pretty relaxing.  I ate, I drank wine, I slept, I worked, I spent time with Tyson and the kids, etc. I caught up on life for a month. 

Then the slow metabolism kicks in.  What is “normal” eating for me?  The doctors say that pregnant women should eat 300 calories over their “normal” diet.  Hmmmm… what exactly is a “normal” diet?  Honestly, I’ve been training for 3-4 years in a pretty intense way with a few months off at a time, but I don’t have a “normal.”  And, I’m 10 pounds down from my weight before triathlon training.  And, while I generally eat healthy, I’m not afraid to take down a couple cookies, or a candy bar or a couple of glasses of wine on a regular basis.  So, how do I go from a hearty training diet to a pregnancy diet?  This has taken some time and adjustment and patience! 

CYCLING

As a cyclist, I rode my bike during the second month, after I found out.  I know a couple of gals who rode into their 7-8^th months of pregnancy, and my doctor actually gave me the okay to ride “as long as you don’t fall over,” she said.  Hmmmm.  I’m trying to remember the last time I fell over on purpose, so I decided that wasn’t exactly a good strategy, especially living and riding 2-3 miles on Carefree Highway to get anywhere.  And, my track record (broken thumb from a mountain biking accident April 28 and a broken arm from falling to avoid a car on my TT bike February 2011) isn’t exactly stellar.  I think staying off my bike for now wouldn’t be the end of the world.  John Dean confirmed and actually told me “Please don’t ride your bike for a while.  Please.”  I’m taking his advice.  I DO have other options. 

I went to my first indoor spin bike class this morning.  I went from 5:30-6am, and left early after some lightheaded dizzy spells, and some embarrassment from the 65 year old lady spinning next to me.  I have some work to do in that spin room, and the idea that I could push those pedals for that long, and standing up, is beyond my comprehension right now.  I am really good at the long, steady, flat power push. But these sprinty thingys are just… WOW!  My HR was in Zone 4, and I needed to tone it down.  I’ll be back though.  Thinking Tues/Thurs morning at the YMCA is going on my 6 month schedule.

RUNNING

I am a runner.  I have continued to run so far, although shorter distances, and it feels good.  While I often feel fast, my HR is high and my pace is suffering a bit.  We were in Kauai a few weeks ago and I felt like I was flying one morning on a 4 mile run (yes, 4 miles.  Don’t laugh, but it feels like a long distance run sometimes these days).  I looked down, expecting to see 6:45/7:15 pace, only to see 8:15.  True.  I seriously thought my Garmin was broken.  I have been spending time running with the puppies around the grassy park, running around my hilly neighborhood, walking the pups aggressively up and down the neighborhood hills, etc.  Trail running is out for now, but I have enjoyed getting out at 5:30am.

SWIMMING

Nick says this is a great time to work on my swim.  I know he’s right.  I will get there, I promise.  I haven’t yet, but I will. 

WORK

I generally work 8-5, or 7-4, or yesterday it was 7:30a-8:30p due to an evening meeting.  Tomorrow evening after the ONE meeting, I fly to Indiana on the red eye for a 2 hour meeting only to hop back on a plane and be home Thursday night.  Work can be quite demanding sometimes, but also quite flexible at other times, and I love it. 

SICK

Yes, I’ve been sick.  For about 2 months.  I haven’t thrown up, but I’ve had to pull off the road and recover a few times.  I’ve sat in front of the trash can at my office.  I’ve had to pull over and demand to be the driver of a car a couple of times.  It’s wacky.  It doesn’t hit me in the early morning (“morning” sickness is a misnomer in my case), but it hits me at like 9am, after I’ve been up for 3-4 hours, or at 2pm, or 6pm.  No consistency to this one.

SLEEP

Go figure, I’m up at 5-5:30 every morning, like clockwork.  But at 6-7pm, I cannot hold my eyeballs open.  I can’t seem to shift this clock either (wouldn’t 9pm-6pm sleep work SO WELL?), so I guess I’m stuck with this clock for now. 

ONE ELITE

I had some mixed emotions when we initially found out that I got pregnant so quickly.  While I was very excited it happened so easily for us, I also have a twinge of guilt and responsibility to ONE Multisport in that I committed to racing all year and only got to race half a year.  But, I’ll be back.  Don’t worry J.  Hopefully I can still be competitive post-baby and I still have the passion for the sport of triathlon.  I can’t imagine it not a part of my life.

In the meantime, I’ll be posting on occasion about all of this, I’ll be out and about volunteering and cheering on all my ONE teammates and the rest of the triathlon community!

BRING IT!