oh crap, I have a blog

How did I forget about that halfway through last year?

Well I'll catch you up quickly.

In July, I visited my hometown with the intention of doing an Olympic-distance triathlon, but totally freaked out and bailed at the starting line because the waves were huge and I had no team support (I did have my totally supportive dad!). I learned from that that I am a team player, even in individual sports, and I need to know I have company out on the course. I also turned 30, which I celebrated with a party at my house with family and friends.

In August, I did the Vineman Aquabike Half and then immediately after learned that I am pregnant. The Aquabike was the opposite of the Oxnard fail-fest: a huge Mermaid contingent was racing Barb's Half or Aquabike, and it was a great weekend of supporting each other. I also did the last Splash and Dash at Stevens Creek Reservoir.

In September, I spent the whole month feeling tired and queasy but not actually sick, which is better than my fellow pregnant Mermaids fared (there are three of us!). DH and I celebrated our third anniversary with a fondue feast and sparkling cider. I did the Santa Cruz Mermaid Sprint as a relay, and matched last year's bike time. That's pretty good since on the one hand I have a much better bike but on the other I walked most of the big hills because my heart rate and stomach were acting strangely. All part of a healthy pregnancy, apparently.

October flew by without me really even remembering anything significant. Hmm. I did go to a great Halloween party with Melissa, at which I was a pirate and she was a wench. I drank a lot of non-alcoholic champagne with one of our hosts who was also abstaining, and Melissa drank whatever we put in front of her, which was entertaining since she rarely drinks at all!

In November I ate a LOT and did the Mermaid San Francisco 5k. My walking partner G asked me what pace I was hoping for and, like a great teammate, pushed me to jog just enough at the end to make my 15:00/mi goal. Thanksgiving was delicious as always and delightfully uneventful. Mostly in November I worked a lot!

Last month continued the whirlwind pace at work and I was only too relieved to escape at 5:30 p.m. on December 24 and only return today. While I was not working I celebrated Christmas with my in-laws and my extended family, spent a few days with my parents and close friends in Oxnard, and did some serious furniture rearranging/reorganization at home.

So that brings us to January 2010!

These days my belly is an entity all to itself. It sticks out, it moves, it makes demands. For the most part it doesn't make me ache anywhere else and I'm still mostly unaffected except for my clothes not fitting anymore. (TMI for some, but totally essentially information [TEI?]: I have gained less than 10 lbs. but 3+ bra cup sizes!) Others tell me that the backaches, constant need to pee, and other fun stuff is imminent!

I am hoping to survive the busiest parts of two cases (the last few months pretrial) while in my last trimester. That may or may not be possible. There are childbirth prep classes to take, baby stuff to register for, and hopefully some swimming and some spending time with DH and friends and family to fit in before April.

Hopefully also some posting, if only for Molly who told me today that I should blog more. :)

In which the blogger questions her sanity

My first triathlon of the year is in 12 days, and I have hit a wall. Not physically, but mentally. I have all these workouts from Coach Heidi, and I'm letting life get in the way, then beating myself up about it.

This weekend I missed 2 runs and a bike because I went to Yosemite and it rained all weekend. Wait, stop, amend that. This weekend I chose not to run on Friday morning because I was tired and had work to do. I chose not to run on Saturday because I didn't want to leave my friends (I did take a ~3 mile hike). I chose to nap instead of running on Sunday because I was sleepy and, yes, hung over. I chose not to do the bike workout I missed over the weekend on Monday because I am afraid of riding on the road by myself in the rain.

I didn't get my workouts in and, even if I'd stayed home, I had enough work that I probably wouldn't have done all three. Bleh.

Today I did this Friday's swim workout (1350) instead of today's (2050) because I got to the pool with barely enough time to do 2000 yards, then got stuck swimming circles with one guy doing sidestroke and a woman who would swim 10 yards, then deadfloat, then walk the rest of the way to the end of the pool. I finally got to switch lanes to a faster group when I had 700 yards under my belt and only 15 minutes till the pool closed for the night, so I made the executive decision to just do the 1350 and come to the pool in the early morning on Friday, when it won't be so crowded.

Tell me this will all be okay, please?

btw, Yosemite was gorgeous in the rain. Bridalveil's path was completely covered with water, but we went up anyway (yay water resistant boots and thick socks!). We also hiked up to the bridge below Vernal falls, which was mostly dry but the trail was closed because of ice and too much water beyond the bridge! So it wasn't a good weekend for hiking, but every fall we knew to look for and lots we couldn't name were running, all over the park. I'm not sad I went, even if I'm upset about the interruption in my training.

Phew! Holidays, 50% complete.

After a week of eating, opening gifts, eating, eating, and more eating with my family, I'm glad to be home. I did two longs walks with my dad while I was home, but otherwise it was the heavenly scent of chocolate and tamales that hung around my parents' house. begging me to stuff my face (which I did).

Pros:

• the tamales were delicious and authentic
• quality time with family
• visits with my friends and their adorable babies
  
• a Wii Fit! C is the best

Cons:

• willpower/good eating choices = epic fail

We celebrate with C, M, and their parents on New Year's so I've got one more holiday celebration to go. Luckily M is off work all week too so she and I are planning to be active together. I also have a whole list of to-dos like cleaning out my closet and making doctors' appointments. And books to read! It's not Tahiti, but it's what I wanted to do with my vacation. :P

Tomorrow I take a bike ride with M and play with my Wii Fit some more. As of tonight, my Fit Age is 37 and I am officially (though only just barely) obese. So I have room for improvement!