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!

It's a Boy!

We found out today at our 20 week ultrasound that we are going to be having another boy. The ultrasound tech tried hiding from us the fact that we could see body parts by saying that certain parts could be the umbilical cord but at the end of the appointment she confirmed to us that we were having a boy. I am really happy because I think him and Owen will be great pals and Derek is thrilled that we don't have to buy all new things for the nursery and clothes!

I haven't written in a long time becuase things have been crazy in the Haag household. Owen has kept us busy pretending that he is learning to be potty trained. He tells me all of the time that big boys wear underwear and babies wear diapers. I then ask him if he is a big boy and he responds with an enthusiastic “YES”, however, I inform him that he still wears diapers. We had so much momentum in January with him going on the potty but now he wants nothing to do with it. I think he is trying to establish control with us, because he also likes to tell Derek and I that after we pray at dinnertime he did not say Amen!

I have started studying for my NSCA – CSCS certification and hoping to take the test in early April and then take my CPT certification test in May. It is something I have to get done before the baby is born and it is tough! I know I only work part time but now I feel like I work full time. I don’t know how full time moms do it with keeping the house clean, feeding everyone and still having time to work out!

I am feeling great and still exercising and training. I am definintely slowing down though. I came home from the pool today and Derek asked me how it went. I told him fine but I can tell that I am slower, he then informed me that well you are 20 weeks pregnant! I think it is hard for me to accept that because I am such a competitive person by nature so when people are passing me in the pool or when I am not making times that I use to in regards to swimming and running it frustrates me. I need to be happy that I can still do all of these things and that I will come back stronger . I think it is a good idea to always set goals for everything you do and I have been doing that the last couple of years with the sport of triathlon. This year my number #1 goal was to have a healthy pregnancy, and then #2 was to be able to race by August. I think #3 was to be able to achieve race times similar to last year. This year triathlon will have to get my body back in shape and I am accepting that… but it’s still hard!

We leave for Florida in 12 days and I can’t wait to get out of this cold weather. Owen is so excited to go on a plane too because he knows that he gets to watch a movie on it! It will be so nice to be able to walk on the beach, eat fresh food from the farmers markets, and just relax!

I had a baby shower for a good friend of mine a couple weeks ago and
tons of friends from college were here to help us celebrate - here is a picture of all of us at my house. You can't see my tummy in the picture but I will take some soon and post them.

Thanks Santa!!!

This weekend we went and picked up my new bike at Gear West. It is so awesome and I love it! I rode on it on the trainer this morning and I can totally feel the difference from my old bike, just the smooth shifting and the feel. Too bad I won't be able to probably ride it until July. When the weather starts to get nicer I will be too pregos to go out on the road with it. We were at Gear West a couple of hours yesterday so I could get fitted on it - thanks to my sister Rachel for watching Owen for us because I don't think he would have been able to be there that long. He loves to go to the store though and ride the kid bikes but that wears off after about a half hour!

I am feeling great and not showing, but to me it looks like I'm just chubby. Still training and doing everything, just not with the intensity that I'm use to. I've learned that if you are in great shape before being pregnant you can do everything you were doing before, you just have to change things up a bit. I have also decided that I would like to get into doing some type of personal training with pre and post natal exercise, so I'm going to work on getting that certification before the next baby is born. I have so many ideas running through my head lately that I can't seem to sleep at night. I think about the baby, work, preparing for the next baby, racing next season, etc... I know it will all work out and to trust God in that area.
Owen has worn this Darth Vader costume now for three days in a row - the kid is obsessed with Star Wars and goes around the house telling everyone he rules the galaxy. It will be interesting when his new baby brother or sister may rule the galaxy for a while!

We are taking off to IL this next weekend to celebrate Christmas with my side of the family. There will be tons of cousins there for Owen to play with - maybe one of them will show him how cool it is to use the potty! This is one thing that we have not mastered yet!

Another one on the way

It has been a busy month with Halloween and Owen's birthday party. Owen was Mr. Incredible for Halloween and then the next day we celebrated his birthday with family. He had a Star Wars birthday party because he is obsessed with it! Derek loves it that he has a Star Wars buddy and I am glad I am not forced to watch the movies.

We also found out a couple of weeks ago that I am pregnant and due on June 17, 2010.
I knew I wanted more children I just wished that it didn’t take 9 months to be pregnant. I went back and forth on when I wanted to be pregnant. After my Rookie year last year I knew I would like to have one more summer of racing while I was in good shape but I didn’t want my children to be too far apart. It would have been nice to have the baby in early spring so I could get back to training and doing some races later in the summer but I think I could still do at least 3-4 and then some running and duathlon races in October. Owen will be 3 ½ years old when the baby is born and I think that he will be a great little helper. I am feeling good and getting over being nauseous all of the time and starting to get my energy back. I am planning on keeping up a good training program and doing all of the things I would normally do – I just think I will be a little bit slower!! One thing that I think will be good to do is swim and since swimming is such a technical sport – the bigger you are doesn’t really make too much of a difference – heck I will be able to float!

Updates - Pigman 1/2 Iron, St.Croix Valley Olympic and Peregrines Charities Triathlon

It has been a long time since I have blogged because 1) Life gets busy, 2) I was so upset after what happened at Big Creek I didn't want to write about racing and 3) I wasn't sure if people actually read my blog! However, after getting some emails from friends of how I did in some races I decided to do a recap of what has been going on in the last couple of months, hopefully this won't get too long.

In August I did my second 1/2 ironman distance and placed first at the race - it was called the Pigman Half Iron. It was a crazy day for the race though, with 40-50 mph cross winds that practically blew people off of their bike. I somehow managed to bike my way through it and came off the bike in first. This is an unfamiliar place for me because I am usually running people down, however, people were trying to run me down and it is not a good feeling being the chasee. Once I entered the park though and made my way to the finish line it was a great feeling knowing what I accomplished that day. Here are some highlights about the race from Jerry MacNeil's blog:

http://minnesotatrinews.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-touch-was-pigman.html

http://minnesotatrinews.blogspot.com/2009/08/kortney-conquers-porcine-man.html

Pigman Half Iron

I needed some time to recover from Pigman so I didn't race until September 6th. The event was called St. Croix Valley Triathlon - Olympic Distance. I really like this race and do not know why more people don’t sign up for it. The course is tough but really scenic and in Hudson, WI which is right on the St. Croix River and only about 30-40 minutes from our house. Derek and I both were able to race that weekend because my sister in law was in town for a wedding and she and her husband watched Owen in the morning for us. The start of the race was a little chaotic because all of the men went in wave 1 and then all of the women started in wave 2 and it was a two loop course. On the second loop I got myself involved with the first wave and had to go around a lot of the men but I came out first for the women – probably the one and only time that will happen! I did have a decent swim – 24 minutes – which is the best I have done for an Olympic course. I felt like my sighting was good and I was pushing and building the whole time. I came off the bike leading the race and since I didn’t have any women to catch, my goal was to try and catch Derek. It was hard to get motivated because I seriously didn’t see anyone on the run. No one passed me and I didn’t pass anyone, it was really lonely. The only tme I started seeing people was when I started making my way back to the finish line. I crossed the finish line about a minute after Derek (women started about 3 minutes after the men). I thought it would have been funny to see us both sprinting to the finish against eachother. There would have been no way I would have outsprinted him though!

Now for the last race of the season…Peregrine Charities in Waterloo, Iowa. I did this race last year and I thought they did a great job for their first annual race. I was hoping there would be more people this year and want to get the word out about this wonderful race and organization. The race is really well organized, the volunteers are so helpful and encouraging, the prizes and gear bag they give out are awesome, and the race director is one of the nicest people you will meet. What is fun for us about doing this race is that we went to school at the University of Northern Iowa which is right next to Waterloo and so we are able to walk around the campus and reminisce about being in college! We were also lucky that we had both set of our parents there to help watch Owen so we both could do the event. I placed second last year in this race and it was also my last triathlon I was going to do this year so I wanted to do well. The course was a mile swim, 22 mile bike and a 6 mile run. I knew there was one really good swimmer in my wave so I was hoping not to come out too far back from her, unfortunately that didn’t work out too well. I knew I was struggling in the water because I was just not staying on course. It was really hard to see because we were swimming right into the sun but my sighting really stinks! It got really bad when I saw some green caps passing me (Derek was in wave 3 and in a green cap – they started 4 minutes behind my wave), then I saw Derek passing me with about 100 yards left in the water. I caught up to Derek right out of transition and he told me to kick it into gear and so I did. The bike course was pretty windy at certain times but that doesn't seem to bother me at all and I actually prefer it to be windy because that benefits me against my competitors. I knew there were two women in front of me, I caught one of them on the bike right at the turn around point and then I didn't catch my other competitor until we were almost to T2 - about a mile away. I knew I had a decent chance of winning if I was able to come into T2 first off of the bike and then have a steady run. I pushed it pretty hard for the first three miles because I knew I needed to build a lead. When I reached the turn around I checked my watch to see how long it would take me to see the next women. I figured I had about a 30 second lead until I saw Derek and he told me I had better push it because the other girls were looking strong and fast. I was then scared and actually started pretending there were people in front of me to catch because I needed some motivation to get to the end. The run is mostly on a trail but once you exit the trail you run on a road for about a mile. Once I hit the road I looked behind me every now and then and didn't see anyone. It felt great crossing the finish line knowing that I didn't have the best swim but was able to make up some time on the bike and run and to finish the season with a win.

Picture of Derek and I after the race

It has been a great summer but I am tired and need to take some time to rest and improve. I also think Owen is tired of going to races and I am looking forward to being able to spend more time with him and not have to worry that I shouldn't chase him around the house because I have a race tomorrow and should rest! I have a great coach who helped me realize that rest is just as important as the training and quality over quantity. I have had people ask me if I am going to do an Ironman and the answer is yes but not anytime soon. I am not sure when the best time would be, but it is something I would like to accomplish. Right now I just want to be able to enjoy racing and competing like I do, but also have that balance of spending time with my family and friends. Thanks to everyone who reads my blog I appreciate all of the nice comments, and looking forward to next year already!

Big Creek Race Report - Live and Learn

I knew comimg into this race I wouldn't be 100%, since this was my fourth week in a row of racing and the week after my first 1/2 Ironman. I actually thought about not racing, just to give me another week to recoved before Pigman. I should had listened to my body and taken the week off, but decided to make the trip to Iowa and race. Big Creek is such as great race and I really wanted to do it. I felt good at the start of the race, but I knew something was a little off. The day before we spent most of the afternoon trying to fix my bike at a local bike shop because it was making some strange noises that resurfaced again race morning.
This was the Midwest USAT Championships and I saw some fellow Minnesotans at the race so it was nice to see some familiar faces at the swim start. I pretty much got beat up on the swim....the elites and relay teams all started together and we were all fighting for position. Since I am not the strongest swimmer I let people swim ahead and then worked my way into position. I had a great swim by my standards, coming out of the water in less then 24 minutes. I think I was the 3rd elite woman out of the water. There were a lot of other women that came out right after me and I knew this was going to be a close race between myself and two or three other girls. Out on the bike I just didn't feel right. I was pushing really hard, but the whole time I was just telling myself to hang on. I came off of the bike in second place, about 30 seconds back from first. I knew I wasn't doing well because I didn't have a gel on the bike (it came off sometime during the race) and I drank all of my liquids and was still VERY thirsty. As I was heading out on the run everything fell apart. I knew I wasn't on when a fellow racer told me to keep it up as I passed him and I didn't say anything back! As I approached the first water stop I grabbed a drink but most of it fell out and I drank what I could. At about the second mile, I collasped. I tried getting up but saw balck and silver spots and knew it was time to be done. I am very dissapointed because I was on my way to a PR, but now I know that four weeks in a row is not for me. Thank you to all the volunteers who made sure I was OK and to the other racers (who actually stopped during the race...one of them was in third place), I really appreciate it. I am not racing this weekend. but going to volunteer at the Turtleman Triathlon. Most of the time when I am a spectator at a race I am bummed because I am not participating - this weekend will be a different story!

Chisago Lakes 1/2 Ironman Race Report

Whoo hoo - so glad I decided to try a 1/2 Ironman - I had a blast out there..... well perhaps until mile 10 of the run. This was the third race in the four straight weeks of racing and I felt great coming into it. I had gotten over my cold and was excited to try my hand at this distance. The weather could not had been better and there was going to be some great competition to race out there.

The swim went well, except that I lost my timing chip in the water. I felt it get more and more loose and then it finally came off. I knew there was no way I was going to find it so I kept on swimming. I came out of the water and yelled at Derek that I lost my chip and looked for a volunteer on my way to my bike. I told a volunteer what had happened and he said he would have a chip waiting for me when I got off of the bike.

With this being my first 1/2 Ironman I knew I needed to get my nutrition right and to push the bike pace, but not like I do on an Olympic race. I didn't think I was going out hard enough at first and started to pick up the pace at about mile 5. I took about 4 gels on the bike and consumed all of the liquids I could. It was hard to focus out there for so long so I kept picturing the Tour de France guys and how hard they have to focus!

Coming off of the bike I was in fourth place and knew that the girls ahead of me were good runners. My coach told me to pace myself on the run because I have a tendency to go out too fast and I wanted to build the pace. When I reached mile 1 I knew I was going too fast so I backed down and then saw at mile 3 I was at about 20 minutes into the run. I knew I needed to slow down to be able to last ten more miles. At mile 5 I decided to go for it, so I picked up the pace and started running with a guy who called himself "Crash".

Here is a picture of "Crash" and I coming out of T2 together

We were really cruising and it felt good. I was hoping to keep that pace up until the end but at about mile 10 I felt my legs get pretty tired and heavy. I knew if I kept my feet going I would get there. I finally saw Derek, my sister, my friend Becky and Owen at the end and it was so nice to see them and hear them cheering for me - I needed it! I thought about my run after the race and it was clear that I should had taken more nutrition. I only took one gel and some sport beans so for the next half - definitely more gel!!

I ended up getting third place overall and I'm very happy with the result. Next weekend is Big Creek in Iowa and it is the Midwest Region Age Group Championships. I did this race last year and liked the course and it is really close to my in-laws house so we won't have to wake up at 3:45am to get there!!!

Heart of the Lakes Race Report

I didn’t have the best week leading up to this race. I started getting a really nasty sore throat on Monday followed by a cold, cough and runny nose by Wednesday. I tried to double up on Vitamin C, and rest, but by Saturday I still was feeling pretty run down. I really wanted to do well at this race because it was the Minnesota State Championships and I’d also have a good number of family members watching and racing. The weather leading up to this race wasn’t the best either – I didn’t mind though because it helped in making the race wetsuit legal (the cut-off for wetsuits is 72 degrees). I had a friend from work who has a cabin near the swim start. He called me Saturday afternoon and let me know the water was a balmy 68 degrees – I couldn’t have been happier! There was no way that the water was going to warm up four degrees when we were standing around in sweatshirts and coats on Saturday!

Sunday morning came early as we got out the door at 4:30am and I was feeling pretty good, considering my cold. The weather was a little on the chilly side at the start of the race, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day in the low 70’s by the end of the race. There were some amazing athletes in the Elite wave (men and women) and some were there to break some course records. The swim was a little rough with lots of people swimming on top of each other and fighting to gain position, but I was happy to come out of the water in 5th position. The bike course was very fast and a lot of fun. I felt great and ended up riding a 24 mph average and into 2nd position going out on the run. I knew that with having the cold this week something would suffer and it was my run. I was hoping to do a 6:15-6:20 pace but ended up doing 6:28’s. I also was bothered by something on my run and discovered after the race that I stubbed my middle toe pretty badly coming into T1. At first I thought it was broken, but I think it’s just a bad bruise. In all, I was happy with the overall 2nd place finish to the amazing Cathy Yndestad. Cathy broke the course record by almost 40 seconds!

Derek also had a solid race and probably his best performance yet. Derek’s Dad, brother, sister, and brother-in-law also turned in great performances and are truly hooked on triathlon. Here is a picture of all of us afterwards.

Next weekend I will be doing my first ½ Ironman – I am looking forward to this race a lot. I have been emailing Coach Dan everyday thinking of new questions, since I have no idea what to expect. It is in Chisago City and I’ve heard there is amazing Swedish ice cream to eat afterwards – yum!

Lifetime Fitness Race Report

This weekend was the first of four straight weeks of racing and it couldn’t have started out any better. This was my first time racing the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon which takes on the south side of Minneapolis, only 15 minutes from my house. The competition at this race was definitely stacked, as two of the top Elite Amateurs were racing, as well as plenty of competition from out of state and Minnesota.
The race started early, but the 4:00AM wake up call was a lot better than the 3:00AM wake up for Hy-Vee a couple of weeks ago. The pros started first with the elite amateurs following shortly after. I wish I could have watched some of the pro's race but I did get to hang out with them after the race - details coming....

I have been working on sighting better in the open water so when I came out of the water at 24 minutes, I was really happy with that. The bike course was very technical with lots of turns and bumpy roads, so I wish I would have had a better bike split, but that will come with more experience and time in the saddle. I was happy with the run because I came off the bike in 8th position and caught most of the pack of women in the first 3 miles. The run course is two loops and I hoped on the 2nd loop I'd be able to catch a few more girls. I thought I was running faster the second loop, but the 3rd place finisher must have kicked it into gear, because I couldn't see her and she finished about a minute ahead of me. It would have been nice to get that 3rd position, but I was very happy with how my race went. I was also happy to hear as I was making my way to the finish line that Cathy Yndestad claimed first for our division. She is a top elite in the nation and was going up against other top athletes and this was a great race for her to win.

Now for the part of hanging out with the top professional triathletes. After I crossed the finish line I was approached by a volunteer informing me that I was the fourteenth woman to cross the finish line overall (pros included) and that I was chosen to be randomly drug tested. I was like sure – no problem. She said to go ahead and do what I needed to do, she would shadow me and when I was ready we would go to the church where they were doing the testing. I had no idea what to expect and thought this would take a couple of minutes, but wanted to let Derek know what I was doing so I gave him and Owen a quick hug and told him I would be right back. When I walked into the church basement, Andy Potts, Matt Reed, Greg Bennett, Laura Dibens, Becky Lavelle, and Sarah Haskins were all in there! It was pretty neat to be in the same room with them for a while and listen to them talk about their race – especially the men since it was so close at the end. The testing went a little longer than expected – about a hour and a half longer! First, I was very dehydrated and cold (I had my racing suit on and was sweaty and still wet). We're starting to potty train Owen and finally I realized that it's really hard to go to the bathroom when someone is staring at you. I do understand the need to do this type of testing and the company that did the testing was very polite and professional – let’s just hope that I am not that lucky number next time!

Hy-Vee Triathlon Race Report

The Hy-Vee triathlon is definintely something to experience, however, the 3am wake up call Sunday morning is something I do not want to experience for a while. I had a lot of fun that day but not happy with the performance I gave. The race was not wetsuit legal and so I knew that I was going to have a slower swim than normal but didn't think I would have to overcome eight minutes on the leaders out of the water. I think I have figured out that I am definintely crossing over and not swimming straight so my plan of action is to CHANGE this pronto! I am constantly having to change my course of direction in the open water and this is costing me a lot of time. I also need to mentally get my head in the race, I am not sure if this comes with experience as I am a newbie to this sport or if it is just my impatient personality. I probably lost about 15-20 seconds on the run because I thought this one turnaround was where the cones were but someone shouted to me that I needed to turnaround and go to where the barrels were - arghhh... I ended up finishing 4th in the elite wave but 7th overall with the age groupers. Derek told me the other day that "Kort, you are the only one that puts the expectation on yourself - you need to go out there and do what you are capable of doing. Last year you were a rookie to the sport and there weren't any expectations -relax a little."
In all I had a great weekend with family and friends. There were some old college friends who were at the race watching and it was great hearing their voices cheering for me - thanks girls. Also, Owen got to see his favorite person race - his Grandpa. I tell ya - those two are something else. When Grandpa is in the room - no one else exists....however, Grandpa may have some competition from Tony the Tiger. All day long Owen kept talking about Tony the Tiger and how he wanted to see him again, I have never seen Owen run so fast in his life to catch that Tiger!