Well...,huh..

You know it's gonna be a great post with an attention grabber like that title.. But that's how I feel. I'm not trying to be dense, but I just cannot figure out where my limits are with this pregnancy. I had joked before about figuring it out by the time I gave birth, but with only 6-ish weeks to go, that isn't looking like such a joke anymore. It just seems that some days, I'll be fine and feel great with whatever workout I'm doing, but the next day or week..no good. I just never know. What will be too much?..is it a hilly run that included a stop at the playground to do some crossfit style work? Walking around the airport? An early bike ride? Two weeks ago, or so, I was able to get a couple good 20mi rides in with no problem.. Once on the 4th, and then again that Saturday when I led the workout for the TNT Steelhead crew.. So..why did my early ride a week later feel so crappy? And today.. Knocked on my tail again.. Of coarse, smart, hindsight me can pinpoint some issues.. Last Saturday's ride I broke a few of my 'pregnancy rules' that I had set for myself early on.. I told myself 'no riding in the dark', and then I also had my 5am workout ban after feeling crappy following a few early am swims.. AND I knew I slept horribly that night, so kinda had an idea that the ride might be ill fated..but I made a promise to meet with my friend, and I wasn't going to bail on her.. So we tried, but I could tell right away that it wasn't going well, so we bailed early and just did about 8mi, instead of the 15 we had planned on. The hot, hilly run and crossfit workout? Eh. I guess you could say that was a bit much, but typically running and crossfit are the two things that have felt the best for me throughout this pregnancy.. But I guess combining the two.. And the run being hillier than my usual routes (I was back at my parents house in Overland Park, KS for my grandpa's funeral..no one ever believes me that Kansas is actually pretty good for rolling hill runs, but it's true). I felt ok at first, but later my low belly muscles let me know they were not pleased with me.. So I took it easy for a couple days and was feeling better. Now to today, I was set to lead another tri workout and had planned a lovely 3mi rolling hill run followed by a long ride for the team..short ride for me..then the team was to do a short transition run after their ride.. I say 'was to', as in 'it didn't happen' because no one showed up to join me?! But stubborn ol me.. I was already there and set to run and ride, so why stray from that plan? It was a cooler morning, so the run was pretty good.. But I started not feeling great while I stood around talking and getting ready to ride. But I had some food and some cold accelerade/Gatorade and figured I'd at least give it a try.. But much like that early ride a week ago.. I could tell immediately that I wasn't feeling great and needed to cut the ride to a mere 10mi. I was only planning to go 15 mi, and I think I would have been fine to finish it, but I knew the area and route and figured there was nothing to gain and more to lose by pushing it.. Plus that would have broken another of my 'pregnant riding rules', which is not to ride alone. I was way too slow to ride with the group, so I found myself alone out there and am pretty sure that when the short ride split off from the longer routes, I'd be going solo.. So anyway, now here I am with those sore low belly muscles. I think things are just getting pretty heavy in there..might need to go back to wearing my belly/back brace when I run to help hold up the load! So anyway, like I said..every time I think I know what my body can handle and what my limits are..it seems like they change.. But I'll keep trying to learn from it and not put myself or the baby in jeopardy. He's always been good in check ups and moves around a lot to let me know he's doing alright. It never feels like a kind of pain that is putting him in danger..it always just feels like my body is getting pushed and reaching a new limit. For this week, I plan to stick with short, flat, easy am runs, maybe some easy spins on my bike, just around my neighborhood, where I can ride my own pace and just enjoy my bike..for as long as that feels enjoyable, some mid-am swims, and we'll see how crossfit feels this week.. It'll either still be fine and I'll continue for another month before the baby comes.. Or it'll make me too sore and I'll know it's time to back off of it until after I'm all healed up from having the baby. So we'll just see how that goes! Day by day, for sure..