Catastrophic Halloweens

Between last year's snow and this year's Frankenstorm, I'm so glad we haven't had trick-or-treating age children to have their Halloweens ruined. If Smidge were six right now, I'd be frantically looking to see if there were any indoor Halloween events I could substitute. Poor kids. I hope the weather decides to get this "ruin Halloween" thing out of its system before ours are old enough to care.

Joggling

I can't really call it running any more--it's more a cross between a jog and a waddle. A joggle.

(Before anyone lectures me, yes, my OB cleared me for jogging. I was a runner before getting pregnant, so I know what things are supposed to feel like and how not to hurt myself. As long as it feels good, I can run. I just have to pay close attention and stop if anything feels wrong.)

I'm going super slow, of course, since I don't want to overheat and my lung capacity is weird and I don't have as much energy as I used to. I take two or three walking breaks and drink water on the way. But the thing I'm really noticing is how much harder this is on my legs. Partially because I'm going slow and so my cardiovascular system isn't working as hard. But also because my motions have become much more...controlled. Tighter. I don't want to pound my hips because I don't want to jostle Smidge too much or misalign my tailbone. So I'm using my glutes as shock absorbers far more than I'm used to doing. It's much harder on my muscles, but seems to be much easier on my joints. But it's weird--I'm getting to places that in a normal run I'd be breathing hard but not tired and my breathing is much slower but my legs are dying. Since I'm trying to avoid joint injuries or too much cardio stress but I'm happy to let my leg muscles take all the punishment they can bear, it's fine. Right now my muscles are pissed at me but my core feels great. But it's odd.