Half Marathon Tips

Let’s start with the most important thing that’s happening these days: the girls are three months old!

They’ve become super interested in everything around them, focusing on images and our faces, each other, and their giggles are the absolute cutest. It’s also really convenient that they have each other when I pop them on their play gym (bonus of having twins I suppose)! Both have officially doubled their weight and are growing out of clothes like crazy. I can’t wait to see how much they change and grow over the next few months. I also have one more month of maternity leave, so soaking it in the best I can.

Since racing season is upon us (and races are back!), I thought I’d put together some tips for running a half marathon. I’m BY NO MEANS an expert, so keep that in mind and am just sharing things that I’ve learned in the past (and drawing from many mistakes that I’ve made along the way):

Start slower than your ‘goal pace’. Maybe even a minute per mile slower than what you anticipate running the race at. Everyone goes faster at the beginning of races, so you’ll probably just be running your actual goal race pace if you start in a slower corral (if possible).

Have a few mantras and songs on your playlist that get you fired up. When the going gets tough (which it most likely will- normally miles 8 & 11 are the toughest for me), I like to draw upon positive mantras or pop a song on my playlist that makes me feel totally bada**. Macklemore or Eminem and my mantra of ‘attitude of gratitude’ normally do it for me.

Don’t forget to smile. Smiling relaxes your body and brings you happy endorphins. There’s nothing worse than doing something that you’re not enjoying. Try to enjoy the experience- even if it really is just a ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ sort of situation.

Do your training runs, but know it’s ok if bumps in the road happen. Be gentle on yourself if you have to skip a few runs, but stick to your training plan otherwise. Know that training runs build on each other, so skipping one isn’t a huge deal, but skipping several generally will lead to less-than-ideal situation. Also know that if your goal is to just finish and you’ve done 80-90% of your training runs, you’ll do great.

Don’t do anything new on race day. Yes, that includes new shoes, clothes, nutrition- any of these things can really hinder your race. Take it from someone who wore a sports bra that she hadn’t trained in before and finished the race with a terrible chafe that made showering in hot water nearly impossible.

Have fun and remember your WHY- Why’d you sign up for the race to begin with? Draw back on those initial feelings when it gets hard. Enjoy yourself and imagine how good it’s going to feel when you cross that finish line. Be your own cheerleader after each mile marker. And when it gets really tough, break down those miles into markers even smaller- maybe 1/2 mile or sometimes when it’s really challenging- I think about the next minute or tell myself to ‘just run through this song’ and then re-assess. It really is almost all mental when it comes to race day. It will go by so fast, so enjoying it and soaking in the experience really is the most important part.

-What tips do you have for someone running their first half marathon?

Getting Back Into It

We had our babies! They came in a way no one expected, but all are now healthy and home. I’m not one to do the whole birth-story post (just not my thing and honestly- still processing the twins birth and entire hospital journey surrounding their arrival), but we’re so very thankful to be home. Having a babe in the NICU is so tough and it was more challenging than anything else I have ever done or gone through. Thankfully the girls are pretty cute because I think I’ve averaged something like 4.5 hours of sleep since they’ve arrived.

Getting back into running (& even FITNESS!) after a c-section has been super challenging and humbling. I continue to remind myself to take it slow and to take every milestone as a “win”. You better believe that I celebrated when I made it through my first Peloton strength class postpartum or held a side plank for 20 seconds. It’s the little things (that used to seem minuscule before babies) that have been propelling me forward. Also having the girls in our home gym while I workout as little cheerleaders also helps.

We ran/walked 6.2 miles today (had to jump off the treadmill just a few times to tend to babies) and that felt like a total win. While I completely miss the flexibility of going for a run outside at anytime of day (with no time limit), I also love knowing that I will forever be a role model for Isabelle & Charlotte.

Starting back at square one is intimidating in so many ways, but focusing on strength & seeing a pelvic floor PT have been my priorities the first 8 weeks postpartum. I added running back in after 6 weeks (with 3 x 1.5 mile walk/runs), but also focused on Peloton rides at 6 weeks which have helped my running (& running form) immensely! I’ve got some postpartum goals, but my number one goal is to focus on my babes and to return to fitness in a healthy manner.

I think it’s super easy to get caught-up in comparisons (especially with social media), but just like everyone’s labor & delivery is different-> your return to fitness & running will look different. And if you’re just not feeling like you’re ready to return to fitness, know that that is OK! There’s always tomorrow or next week/month/year.

So, tell me how your journey back to fitness has been and share a tip or two for how you got back into it.

Our Twin Nursery

I’ve always been a fan of seeing how others have put together their nursery (good to get ideas from) and definitely used Pinterest a lot when I was trying to figure out our nursery when I found out we were having twins.

I started by definitely knowing that I wanted to paint the nursery because it was an awful shade of purple. I’ve also always been one to shy away from the ‘trends’ and do my own thing, so I knew that I didn’t want to do a traditional gray or blue or green or pink room. I’ve always loved pale yellow (it reminds me of daisies and they make me happy), so decided to go with the color called Fritata from the Behr paint collection at Home Depot.

We also knew that the room was plenty big enough that the girls could share (they have already ‘shared’ the same room for the past 8 months) and identical twins (we’ve read) tend to like to be in the same room. I also knew that I wanted to blend together an outdoorsy/adventure theme with animals because those are things that Alex & I both love. I got two rugs from Ruggable and the tree peel and stick decal from Buy Buy Baby (same as the whale decal in the closet).

I painted our dollhouse-themed bookshelf (got it at a local Amish furniture outlet) and decided to go with an open theme for our changing table rather than on a dresser. The closet is stocked with clothes and diapers (I’ve got a whole spreadsheet where I’ve kept track of how many diapers we’ll generate need in each size and are now onto stocking size 2 diapers).

I also put together two ‘diaper caddies’ (if you have not heard of them, please go follow Karrie Locher, a postpartum RN on Instagram) which will have all of our changing & feeding supplies on both floors and it’s on wheels so it can be moved from room to room. We also have our bassinets set-up in our bedroom, as well as a set downstairs for naps too. The Mamaroos will be set-up downstairs as well once the girls arrive.

Because I’ll be breastfeeding two babies at once, a typical rocker just wasn’t going to be big enough. So, we ended up repurposing an extra large sofa chair we had and my giant breastfeeding pillow fits perfectly in it. Also wanted to do some sort of organizational system for the built-in shelves, so snagged fabric boxes from Target for $4 a piece. I also wanted a softer light over the chair because I envision a lot of nighttime readings with the girls in it.

The bear fabric box on the bottom is from a company called Sprouts and it’s actually a Toy Chest, but fit perfectly in the bottom two shelving spots. Currently both chests are filled with newborn diapers and wipes, but I also can’t wait until it’s filled with toys and dress-up clothes.

So, there is a peak into our nursery! If nothing else, it’s fun to share and remember all about our planning and designing process. If you have questions on specific things- feel free to comment below. I didn’t add in a lot of names of things mainly because I don’t find it helpful myself (unless I’m also looking to buy something similar ).

Grief While Pregnant

Long time no blog! I had all the best intentions of blogging my pregnancy every week, but honestly life has been busy and overwhelming at times so here I am- blogging again and not sure when I’ll have the time to revisit (33 weeks with the twins on Friday), but writing has always been one of my favorite outlets to let any emotion or thought out and I figured that writing about this publicly might help just one other person out there- so here I am.

My father passed away a little less than 2 weeks ago and at the time, I was 31 weeks pregnant with the twinnies. It’s funny how even when someone has an illness that you know will eventually kill them, you never actually think about it happening until it does. I’m not sure whether it has always been denile or a sort of coping mechanism, but never did I think actually think that him being admitted to the hospital could very well be his last time (seems like he was admitted to the Cardiac ICU every year around this time, but he always made it out OK- until he didn’t). There was such a short window from when I thought he was still doing good to actually facing the idea (& the fact) that hospice was really his only option- maybe 2-3 days? And even when that became the only clear option, I still held out hope. Hope that surely he would pull out of it (I mean- he always beat the slim odds that the doctors gave him for the past 25 years), hope that maybe-somehow- this was all just a dream (some parts of the day, it does still feel like a complete nightmare).

I saw my “Dad” for the last time (in quotations because he really was in and out of it the majority of my visit- which was heartbreaking to see) on Monday, with plans to see him both Friday and Saturday at the hospice center. He passed away 2 hours before I arrived on Friday. He was so excited to be a grandfather- it makes my heart ache every time I think about it. I talked him almost every day through text message and loved how he helped pick-out clothes for the girls. He told everyone he knew about ‘the girls’. I also kept holding out hope that he could hang-on for another 4 weeks until the twins would be born (we will deliver them between 36-37 weeks at the very latest), and I still -at times- cannot believe he won’t get to hold them. He was already planning being at their birthday parties, taking trips with us next summer, when he would come to visit.

And now, here I am instead looking at a bouquet of flowers that rested above his casket at his funeral last weekend. I so badly want to still be excited about the babies coming in 3-4 weeks, but when I get excited I then immediately feel immense guilt and sadness. Guilt for feeling excited and sadness because a piece of my heart (& even the twins) is missing. Being pregnant has given me a lot of distractions from having to meal-prep and get the last minute things we may need for the babies, which is nice. But it’s also made me nervous- knowing what I know about stress & contractions & premature births, so I’ve tried to allow myself moments to feel the feels and then tried to move onto a project or take the dog for a walk or workout. Thankfully I’m still able to do my run/walks (generally 2-2.5 miles), so it’s been nice to keep that constant in my life.

So, I’m not really sure where I am in the grieving process and know that it will most definitely stick around for quite some time, but I’m in the thick of it. Little things will remind me of my Dad and send me into tears or disbelief that I’ll never get to physically give him another hug or have him teach me something. Today was a tough day because it was our ultrasound day- my Dad was still ‘around’ during our last ultrasound (enough to be able to tell those around him about Baby A and Baby B), and today he wasn’t.

I know that it will get easier, but it’s tough right now. Even if something is ‘inevitable’, it still doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. So, if you’re going through a similar situation- just know that I get it.

The Past 25 Weeks!

We’ve been a bit pre-occupied over here the past 25 weeks.

We’re expecting identical twin girls! Coming sometime in late December (and hopefully not any sooner). I’ve wanted to do a recap for awhile now (and actually had one almost all finished and then it never saved), so here we are! I’m giving as many details as I can remember, so buckle-up and dive-in if that’s what you’re interested in!

How we found out:

We had been trying fir awhile and honestly that period of ‘trying’ was exhausting and super isolating. For someone who is always used to ‘getting things’ when they put in the work, it’s hard to let Mother Nature ‘do her thing’. The month before I got the positive test, I actually just decided that maybe waiting a bit would be best - since we would be moving in the next few months and life would be a bit crazy. Well surprise on me! I didn’t really experience any symptoms that would indicate that it would be positive, but since I was a week late (normal for me to be late sometimes) and we would be going out to dinner (& I’d love a glass of wine!) I figured I would ‘be on the safe side’. I got one positive -shocked- and immediately had to take three more ‘just to be safe’. I’ve never seen anything come back so quickly! Turns out I was 5 weeks. The only ‘symptom’ that I can think I had was taking a two hour nap the weekend before and skipping my long run (just not feeling it). I wanted to tell Alex right away, but also wanted it to be special- so since it was a few days before his birthday, I decided to give him an early birthday card (I love giving cards!) and told him that way (that afternoon). I think we were still both shocked.

The first ultrasound & the waiting game

The wait between finding out we’re expecting & the 10-week ultrasound was long! I got a positive blood test shortly after the pregnancy tests and my HcG blood levels were quite high (so high that my doctor predicted that I was actually 3 weeks ahead of where I definitely was). I thought that was weird, but otherwise didn’t think anything of it. I felt ok otherwise during that ‘waiting period’ before the first ultrasound, but definitely really didn’t want anything besides cheese/ pasta/ bread/ butter. I also felt pretty exhausted, but otherwise was good. I continued to run & strength train, but kept it easier than I did beforehand (especially considering I was originally training for a 100 miler). I was super nervous going into the ultrasound (what if all the tests were actually just false-positives?!).

I remember the ultrasound tech finding one fetus and I immediately felt relieved. Alex then asked ‘ is that a second one?’ and my first instinct was to tell him to ‘shut up’ (albeit I didn’t actually say that), but then the ultrasound tech said that it actually was a second fetus! We were both laughing/crying with utter disbelief. The tech also asked if I had any previous ultrasounds showing any cysts (I hadn’t), so we immediately knew something was wrong. Waiting between the ultrasound and the doctors appointment (20ish minutes) was rough. I was able to see the ultrasound results before seeing our doctor and noticed that they measured a 12cm ovarian cyst and recommended following up with gynecology oncology. The wait for our midwife (first time meeting her) was so long. To shorten things up- we were then transferred from the midwife team to an OBGYN team to then the High-Risk pregnancy team all within a span of 30 minutes (also within an hour of finding out we’re having identical twins). The doctor recommended an MRI at 13 weeks (safe after the first trimester), to avoid lunges/heavy-lifting/only easy run/walks, and that he also did not believe it was cancerous in nature (thankfully).

I continued run/walking, minimal strength training (so not to burst the cyst), and counting down until the MRI. The nausea was all the time and fatigue was also a lot. Since identical twins have no genetic factors (1/250 pregnancies have identical twins), we really weren’t expecting it and even until after the MRI results came back (still had the cyst, but surgery would be too risky because of all the increased blood flow/two babies) we weren’t expecting to have a viable pregnancy. It wasn’t until almost 15 weeks that I finally felt like I could purchase two outfits (we knew by then that they were identical girls!) and that planning a registry would be OK. It really was an absolute whirlwind of emotions (and will still need to have the cyst removed a few months after I give birth) and also received the diagnosis of endometriosis (which is something I’ve probably had since High School).

The Second Trimester

We moved into our home shortly after 10 weeks and it was super challenging to not do any heavy-lifting with the move . But after getting the ‘green light’ to resume more lunging/strength training from our high-risk doctor, I started to feel more comfortable and confident in my pregnancy. We worked on our registry, painted the nursery, and started putting together the cribs. I have finally felt like I had more energy and we have continued to ‘settle in’ to our new home.

I’ve thankfully still continued strength training, run/walking, and swimming . I’ve done 3 in-person 5ks, two virtual 10ks, and a few virtual 5ks/ one sprint triathlon. Some days I miss racing hard and having big goals, but I know that I’ll get back there.

I think think the hardest adjustment has been to go from wanting so badly to have one healthy baby with our midwife team to having a high-risk identical twin pregnancy with an autoimmune diagnosis . There has absolutely been a ‘mourning period’ where I’ve had to come to terms with having two babies and the higher health risks that’s involved in the pregnancy and beyond (they will most-likely need a stay in the NICU) and will be delivered by 37 weeks (Christmas Eve). It’s not to say that I’m not incredibly grateful for the gift of two babies (the more, the merrier!)- it has (& I’m sure- will continue to be) an adjustment.

Things I’m:

• Most surprised by: how quickly my belly has ‘popped’, that running still feels good, that I’m still able to sneak in veggies at almost every meal, that people love to give you opinions on your pregnancy, how many people assume twins are only due to genetics, how expensive baby-related items are and how much of it we need (two of everything?!?), and how much I really haven’t hated pregnancy despite the complications.
  Mostly craving: Ice cream, salt & vinegar chips, cherry tomatoes, anything fried

• Loving: putting together the nursery, brainstorming baby names, feeling their kicks, picking out the cutest clothes, dreaming of things to do with our little sidekicks 🥰

• Things I could do without: every two week ultrasounds, the constant need to pee, everyone’s ‘opinions’ (albeit they always come from a good place), the constant numbness of my upper ribs whenever I lie down to sleep at night, having to buy maternity clothes (they’re expensive! They’re only going to last a few months!)

I think that’s all I have for my recap of the past 25 weeks for now, but hope to do more either weekly or biweekly recaps. If you’re pregnant/ have been- I’d love to know YOUR experience and also- must have baby items! The girls could be here in as little as 4 weeks (but hopefully not for at least 11! ) and we only have a few more ‘must-haves’ left on our registry. I don’t want to have a bunch of extra stuff!