25 weeks!!

I haven't posted any pics of my pregnant belly and so I thought it was time. I am 25 weeks pregnant so 15 more to go and I feel great. The other day I ran 9.3 miles on the treadmill at a 8:36 pace - I can't believe how good I feel when I run and my heart rate stays low. I make sure not to go too high on the HR and if I am doing intervals I make sure I rest more to get my HR down. I am still biking and swimming too but had to change over to my road bike a couple of weeks ago because my legs keep hitting my stomach and I didn't want to change up my form on the bike and want to make sure I am still keeping my knees in.

It is funny in the picture I am holding a zebra because Owen and I were playing cowboys and I couldn't find a horse so we used a zebra! I sure hope his baby brother will like playing Star Wars and "Bad Guys" because Owen is ready for him to play now!

I have signed up for a couple of races for the summer. I am doing two or three in August and then two or three in September and want to try my hand at cyclocross - at least one race. Derek does them and tells me how much fun they are and he thinks I would like it. I don't have the right bike for it but going to perhaps borrow a bike from a friend or just switch out my tires on my heavy mountain bike for one race. I also am planning on doing the Twin Cities 10 mile if I can get into the lottery and also another half marathon in October.

I think the one thing that is starting to bother me about being pregnant is that everyone is signing up for all of these races and training hard and I have to just take a step back this year and prepare more for next year. I have been studying really hard for my Strength and Conditioning Certification with the NCSA and I was reading about detraining the other day and started freaking out because they said that within 1-2 weeks of not working the body you loose fitness (cardiac output , stroke volume, accelerated HR, etc). With my first pregnancy I started back into working out about 4 weeks after having Owen but not in the same way I would want to now. On the other hand I am in much better shape this pregnancy and wasn't running or training the way I am this time around, so we will have to see how I am doing after 3-4 weeks after having the baby.

I have so many plans for the next three months before the baby is born and I hope to get them all done. At the top of my list are my certifications so I can start helping people with their fitness and goals. I am planning on taking my first test for Strength and Conditioning in early April and then the next one for Personal Training in early May. A fellow triathlete and really good friend of mine Suzie Finger and I are planning on working together after I get all of my certifications. She is a personal trainer already and just started her own blog on her races and her awesome smoothie and juice recipes. She is the one that convinced me to buy a juicer and it is one of my favorite items I use! I will try and continue to post some more pics of my growing belly. It is funny because the second time around you kind of forget to do these things. I think I took a picture of myself every week with Owen!