I feel like I have been living under a rock the past several days with my blog being down, but I am excited to being back to posting on a regular basis now.
I’ve got some catching up to do, so let’s get started!
This past weekend on Saturday, Craig and I took a day trip to Whittier, AK. I wanted to do something nice for our last anniversary together sans kids. Initially I wanted to rent a vacation rental in either Girdwood or Seward, but one night would have cost us about $200. We are trying to be extra frugal these days, so we decided against that. We also talked about going to Craig’s parent’s cabin, but they were going to be there for the weekend. Craig said he wanted to go to Whittier and hike, so that’s what we did.
Saturday morning we piled in the car and decided to take Sadie as well. We haven’t taken Sadie hiking before, so we were a little nervous as to how she would do. You see, Sadie can be a lazy pooch but the minute you take out her leash to go on a walk, she has all the energy in the world, which is great. However, after about 45 minutes of walking, she starts dragging her feet and starts walking at a snail’s pace. She will do this on leash while walking through the neighborhood and at the dog park when off-leash. She gets especially slow when she knows we are getting close to home or back to the car. It is as if she were saying, “No! Mom, I don’t want to leave. I know I’m really tired, but I’m having too much fun.” We thought for sure she was going to get half-way through our hike and we were going to have to carry her back down the mountain.
We ended up hiking the Portage Pass trail, which is a pretty short hike and not too intense. The beginning was uphill, but then it levels out after a while. We had a good view of Portage Glacier (see picture above) that has receded quite a bit over the years. Even Craig remembers when it was much closer. In the other direction we had a beautiful view of Whittier and Prince William Sound.
Craig with his favorite fur friend, bear spray strapped to his chest, and a senior picture pose. 
Me and my 21 week pregnant belly with a view of Whittier and the cruise ship that was docked there. 
Sadie proved us wrong about her ability to hike in the mountains. I nicknamed her mountain dog as she was ahead of us the entire time climbing steep banks and moving across the terrain as if she were a mountain goat. At one point she started going down into a ravine. We saw her at the edge of a steep decline that lead to stream several feet below which she then disappeared over the edge. We thought for sure she had fallen or was going to fall, but when we looked over the edge, she was happily trotting on the narrow crevices along the side of the mountain. We started following her but quickly realized it was going to be difficult to get back out, so we turned around.
After our hike we headed to Swiftwater Seafood Cafe. Friends of ours own this restaurant in Whittier, so we stopped in to chat for a while and have a bite to eat.
I can’t remember the last time I had fish and chips, but they tasted amazing. Craig and I split the fish and chips and bacon cheeseburger. We also had dessert: rhubarb crisp for him, carrot cake for me, which is some of the best carrot cake I have ever had. No joke! 
We sat outside and had a beautiful view of the bay and harbor. 
Afterwards, we walked along the water and Craig had to show me how he would pretend the telescope was a machine gun when he was a kid.
We didn’t have too much time because we had to get in line to drive back through the tunnel. The only way to get to Whittier via car is to drive through this tunnel, which is the longest car/rail tunnel and second-longest highway tunnel in North America at 2.5 miles. They allow cars to enter Whittier every hour, on the half hour and cars to leave the town every hour on the hour.
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Weekly Mileage
I wasn’t going to post my weekly mileage from this past week because honestly I am a little embarrassed with how low it is. I’ve definitely fallen into the “hey, I’m pregnant, I don’t have to run as much trap.” Which is honestly not a bad thing. I’ve pushed myself hard for the past 3 years and moderately hard the 7 years before that running year round with usually only 1 to 2 weeks off each year. As much as I would love to keep training at a high intensity, running isn’t as easy these days (and I know it will only get more uncomfortable), so I figure this is a good time in my life (and after the baby is born as well) to back off on the running and not be so focused on my training. Instead I am using my extra time to devote to developing this little blog of mine and recruiting runners for some online coaching. (If you are still interested, I am still looking for athletes!)
June 9 – 15 Workouts and Running Mileage
Monday
off, 45 minutes of weights at the gym
Tuesday
7.5 miles + 60 minutes Yoga Mama class
Wednesday
7 miles + walked to and from work: 50 minutes
Thursday
5 miles AM/2.5 miles PM
In the afternoon I went to the track while Craig did a track workout, and I ran 800 meters barefoot and did hurdle hipflexor exercises, which were also really good for my glutes.
Friday
off
Saturday
off, hiked for 90 minutes
Sunday
10 miles
Total: 32 miles
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Questions
If you ran during your pregnancy, how much did you run before versus during your pregnancy in terms of weekly mileage?
As a kid, did you hold your breathe or scream through a tunnel? (or maybe something else)
My daughter is going to be 1 at the end of July. Last year when I was pregnant with her I had a hard time the first trimester, with keeping up with the running because I was so tired, nauseous, and didnt really care. Once 2nd trimester came I found the energy again and I averaged about 25-30 miles a week up until I gave birth. If I didnt feel like running on a day, I didnt or I would do the elliptical (I hate the elliptical but I hate sitting at my job all day and I usually work out on my lunch break) or I would walk outside, but majority of my miles came from running. Once the heat and humidity came (it came early last year) I had to resort to running on the tread because it was so hard to breathe outside.
I think running til the end (I was grateful that I was able to run as long as I was able to and as much as I did) helped in the ease of my delivery and my recovery. I did have to get induced because I had lost a lot of fluid and they figured that out because I was measuring 7 weeks behind where I should be. I never knew that at 38 weeks pregnant, your stomach should measure about 38 inches from top of the bump to bottom (your doctor will start measuring you soon if not already) and I was only measuring around 32 inches. I was tiny and only gained 16 pounds throughout my whole pregnancy but I had a healthy 7 lb 3 oz baby girl!
Thank you so much for this comment! Wow, I continue to be blown away by how different each person’s pregnancy is–only 16 pounds!! I also continue to hear how much people think running throughout their pregnancy helped with labor and recovery, which is always encouraging and definitely motivates me to continue doing it. What was your mileage like before you were pregnant?
What beautiful photos!
That sounds like a lovely way to celebrate your anniversary.
I love running and have really improved my overall speed etc, but I am still a low milage runner. I average between 15-40 miles per week even in training cycles. This works for me. When I get to high with my miles I end up getting injured, not stronger or faster.
I tried to keep running during my pregnancy, but I was out of breath so fast. So, I did circuit training and yoga throughout my pregnancy. I worked out until 35 weeks ( I delivered at 41) and once I started working out again, I remember thinking how much lighter I felt/ easier than I thought it would be! I’m always impressed when I see pregnant women running!
I had just come off running a marathon and 2 half marathons when I found out I was pregnant so I was averaging about 35-40 miles a week prior to knowing I was pregnant. I ran Las Vegas half with the thought in the back of my head that it was possible I was pregnant. It’s not easy to run fast at that race because there are so many people. My husband put us in the wrong corral and because of that we were much much slower and had to weave. I did end up cramping the last few miles but I am sure it was because the race started at 4pm, different altitude ( I run at sea level) and an extremely dry environment that attributed to our slow run but it was fun!!
I love the self-hosted site! It’s great!
Wow, did you get great weather for Whittier!!! Both times I’ve been there have been drizzle and very low ceilings so we didn’t bother with hiking up any hills. Looks crazy beautiful when the weather cooperates! Happy anniversary!
I ran in the first and second trimesters of my pregnancy (my daughter is almost 1), but at the end of my second trimester I tweaked my knee/hip and decided it was best to just walk instead for the last trimester. I’m not a serious runner, and really my mileage didn’t change much before and during pregnancy (probably 15 miles a week–even when I was just walking). I also did a lot of strength and cardio workouts at home, and in the last trimester I put my road bike in a trainer and did that as well as swimming.
I completely agree–exercising throughout pregnancy made recovery so much easier. I was back walking 2-3 miles a day when my daughter was a week old, and resumed running at 4 weeks. Now we probably do 15-20 miles a week (pushing the jogging stroller), plus cardio and strength at home, and road biking and hiking as other forms of exercise. Now I’m just gearing myself up to jump in for kid #2….
I plan to resort to swimming if running gets to be too much. You’re a tough mama to push that jogging stroller!