To Run or Not to Run

Sooo....probably not. As of now, despite how heroic and strong I'd like to seem or truly be, I can't find any research anywhere that encourages running while pregnant with twins. Lots of stuff can be found on running while carrying a single baby...but not 2. Perhaps that is why I felt so near death when I was actually in motion..cause I wasn't really supposed to be in motion....at least not quite to that extent.

And there came a point after the sonogram that I had to finally realize that running just may not be all that conducive to pregnancy right now.....or pregnancy may not be all that conducive to running right now. I suppose it works both ways. So I have laid it down until after babies arrive. So far, everything I can find says not to go into an anaerobic state....which it takes me a mere 3 minutes to hit, if that, when I run. On this journey of a healthy pregnancy...single baby or two...along with a completely full term pregnancy and uneventful birth I have had to weigh my options and in weighing it all found that the babies are the goal and not what superhero status I can achieve.

So, I have taken it down a gear and am now walking 3 1/2 miles a day. And that little 1/2 part in there....it's spent walking sideways and backwards on a treadmill. Let it be known that when Biggest Loser utilized this technique with their victims that none of them were front heavy....as they were just kind of heavy all over but didn't exactly appear to have weight distribution issues. I, on the other hand, largely pregnant with 2, figured out about 2 steps into it, that I indeed have weight distribution issues. And I quickly learned that it is highly advisable NOT to start walking sideways with treadmill in motion...and really very advisable to start walking backwards on a stopped treadmill. Trying to jump on a moving rotator belt sideways and backwards is about like trying to jump on a train doing 150...despite the fact the belt itself is only moving at a mere 2.5 miles an hour. Pathetic, I know. And it only took me half a second longer to be jet propelled off the back of it too. Not to be deterred I hopped back on feeling rather stupid at this point, and determined to master the art of strong legs and skinny thighs. Though I do know all too well at this ripe old age of 34 that to actually ever think I could have "skinny" thighs is just flat living in denial and the equivalent of smoking crack to try and believe it. So, I have settled on just aiming for strong, muscular legs...and the Biggest Loser seems to give satisfactory results by having their people walk forwards, backwards, sideways and every other way on a treadmill. I think if they could get them to do hand stands on it and walk that way they would. All for building upper body strength in that scenario, of course.

And true to their results, my legs have been feeling it all last week and most of this one. And I can assuredly say that my efforts of walking abnormally on a treadmill have greatly improved, along with my posture, balance, coordination and sense of spatial awareness with this largely rounded stomach of mine. I can't exactly say I ever reach an anaerobic state in that gear but at least my thighs are getting some noticeable results and my butt has nothing to really lose in the deal...except a few inches...or well, alot of inches.

And I must say, it feels more than a bit odd to hit an anaerobic state by just merely walking. It used to take 3 minutes of running to reach that state...now I just have to walk at a 4.5 for about 2 minutes to feel as though I am suffocating to death in my deliciously miserable state. And given the fact that I have contractions for days after any anaerobic activity...such as all of the running I did before the sonogram, I have backed it down to walking at a 3.8 for 3 miles..which takes a little less than an hour. It's always an irritation factor to be that close to a 60 minute workout and drop it just due to the fact you've reached your destination goal so I continue on until the 60 minute mark is reached. Then I continue on with my death defying sideways and backwards routine until I reach whatever my goal is for that day..usually 10 minutes for each leg and 10 minutes for backwards acrobatics. That ends that session and later in the day I move on to my booty bootcamp routine...which consists of strength training with bands and/or your own body resistance and target spot workouts for half an hour. Seeing that my stomach is growing by the centimeter each day it's hard to really tell if anything is really coming of this and even the slightest results are being achieved. But, I figure it might pay off in the end and, if nothing else, I may just deliver two babies in a record 2 hour time frame due to muscles knowing what to do and a built up threshold for pain with a higher tolerance for any and all of it....at least in theory anyway.

This will be the 1st pregnancy I have actively worked out the entire duration of it. I made a commitment long before I knew there were 2 and I intend to stick to it...despite the fact it has already had to be modified in our new found knowledge. I worked my entire pregnancies with both Grayson and Evye cleaning dr's offices and banks nightly and when we worked...we really worked. Get in, get out, get the job done well. I swam almost the entire time in my 1st twin pregnancy so staying active is not proving to be too entirely difficult this time around.

It works well, too, doing it our newly converted playroom to workout room. The boys set little army guys on the moving treadmill while I walk and laugh hysterically as they are flung half way across the room as the belt rolls. With stringent rules given that they abide by well, knowing they absolutely under no uncertain terms can touch the treadmill ever they simply toss the men onto it and watch them fly. I've stepped on my fair share of them and smashed off a gun or 2 but overall this is the great entertainment of their day. Ivye rolls around all over the floor and busies herself climbing and sliding down her little slide for hours on end. So, the arrangement works well and keeps them from destroying house and home.

Overall, I'm pleased with it all. It's a little disappointing not be able to run when I had such high aspirations to maintain it. I did read in the book Running & Pregnancy of a woman in there that had a single and then 2 sets of twins. She ran a marathon in her single pregnancy and then continued to run 40 miles a week while pregnant with her 1st set of twins and then was told only to swim during her 2nd pregnancy with twins due to having needed a cerclage early on in her 2nd twin pregnancy. That didn't sound so wonderful. She swam a mile and a half a day until 20 weeks with her 2nd twin pregnancy and then was told to stop all activity for the duration of the entire pregnancy. I just figured I'd much rather stop running and just walk very purposefully as opposed to ending up in the ER in preterm labor with a cerclage.

So, for now, I walk. I started running when Ivye was only 3 weeks old and again in December once we got my iron levels back up from the long, arduous miscarriage. So, I am fully confident that if I keep this routine up that I'll be running once more hopefully when babies are around 3 or so weeks old.