Back to Normal (or at least my version)

Even though my garage is still full of cones, bike racks, and other race supplies, the race has come and gone and my Gmail box is back to its normal level of activity. Between race related work and the lousy weather, I logged a whopping 4.5 hours of riding last week...and that was ALL I did. It would have been nice to do something on Sunday, but I just couldn't bring myself to go out and get cold and wet again. Instead, we all went out for a really nice dinner and ate way too much food.

Things are looking good for this week...good weather and not much going on at the office, so my stress level should be pretty low. I'm racing this weekend at Natchez Trace up in Tennessee. It's an adventure race, so it shouldn't be too intense, I'm just hoping they don't make us do a 1 mile sprint right at the start. My HR hasn't been over 165 in weeks and well...I quite enjoy that! Nothing like having a legitimate excuse to NOT have to hammer all the time.

For those that are always the last to know, I guess its safe to let the cat out of the bag and say that Chris and I are expecting in September. I've been reading a lot of books, and I have to say I'm disappointed at the information that's out there - including from some old-fashioned Doctors. I know the books/advice are meant to make pregnant women feel better, but all they REALLY do is ENABLE women to be lazy, gain a bunch of excess weight, and instill fear in you of what can possibly happen next. How about a book that EMPOWERS women..."So you're pregnant, now get off your ass!". Granted, I had a two week stint from 6-8 weeks where I was nauseous all the time, extremely fatigued, and pretty much wanted to crawl in hole and die...BUT I still sucked it up and managed around 8-10 hours a week of light exercise. I did feel better...and the activity got my mind off the nausea. Once I took charge of my body again and got past the fatigue and nausea, everything started to feel normal again, and since then I've been able to resume my usual activities, although I keep myself in the aerobic HR range whenever possible. I don't feel the need to "eat for two" (perhaps I was already doing that anyways..) and I feel good about myself and the fact that I haven't gained any excess weight yet. Moral of the story? Life isn't over just because you're pregnant, and once I myself understood that, my entire outlook on the situation changed.