Faith Laces

Announcing my theme for this year's  A-Z Challenge : Cue the drum roll... My A-Z Essentials For Running During Pregnancy . Are you suitably excited and thrilled beyond belief? I thought so. Every day of the month in April, except Sundays, I'll post about a quality or item that I find essential for running through the first, second and third trimesters. Some of the posts will be geared specifically to pregnant women, but many will also be pertinent to non-pregnant runners too. Disclaimer! These 'essentials' are based on my personal experience only. I am not a medical doctor, a certified trainer or qualified any way to give 'professional' advice. I'm simply a mom who runs and wants to share what I've learned running through my second pregnancy.

Remembering why I run has never been as important as it has been since I've been pregnant.  I need to keep my perspective, especially as my pace slows and my distance decreases. Some of my reasons for running are: To stay healthy. To feel good. To stay sane. To reduce stress. To have fun. To set a good example for my daughter. Photo Credit - Faith Laces Menno Haven 5K For Alzheimer's November 2012 Ultimately though, my motivation is to give glory and gratitude to God. I believe God made me a runner. He may not have made me an Olympic or record-setting runner, but running brings me joy, peace and most importantly, it brings me closer to my Creator and His Creation. It's an honor and privilege to get out there everyday and run to show God how grateful I am for His wonderful gift! And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him ( Colossians 3:17 ESV). Why do you run?

March 18-24, 2013 29 Weeks Pregnant This week can be summed up with a big groan! Everything was going well until Wednesday. I ran my scheduled 8 miles but it came at a cost. I developed two blisters - one on the bottom of each foot. I've never, ever got blisters on the bottoms of my feet in all my years of running! Photo Credit - Faith Laces Half-way through the run I started feeling tired and after I finished. my feet and my thighs were screaming in pain. Later that night, though, my stomach felt very heavy, as if the baby had gained two pounds and I was feeling slightly sick to my stomach. Thursday I woke up nauseated beyond what I'd experienced during my first four months of pregnancy. I literally could not get out of bed the entire day. At first I figured I caught a stomach bug. Later it hit me that it was possible 'morning sickness' was back and the prospect was devastating. Friday was only slightly better. I still couldn't eat and struggled to dri...

March 11 - March 17, 2013 28 Weeks Pregnant Photo Credit - Faith Laces The weather cooperated this week and with no other conflicts I was able to run according to my schedule. Since I'm a bit OCD, meeting my set goals made me feel great, but mostly this week I felt discouraged, especially when someone commented that it looked like my running days were behind me for a while. This was after I'd just completed my long run: "No, I actually just got back from an hour and 50 minute run," I told him. "Oh, well my wife and I saw you earlier and figured you were done running for a while." Wonder why they would think that? Because I'm pale, tired and have a round protruding belly that just keeps getting bigger? Now that my 'bump' is showing through my coat, I often hear comments like, "Oh, you're still running?" as if maybe I shouldn't be. Despite knowing that running is perfectly safe as long as I pay attention to my body ...

Photo Credit - Microsoft Clip Art I've officially signed up for the A-Z Challenge in April. I've participated in and completed the Challenge with different blogs in 2011 and in 2012. In the past I've compared the Challenge to running a marathon . I believe it's an apt metaphor - you know, minus the need to take an ice bath when it's finished. For the last two years I had the same theme, and as much as I loved writing blogs by different Bible characters, I felt called to write about a different theme this year, which I'll announce soon - although I'm sure you can guess that it's running related ;)

Sometimes it's difficult to talk to a certain friend of mine because she only talks about herself. Anytime I try and change the topic and discuss what is going on in my life, she manages to switch the conversation back to her life and her problems. She doesn't do it on purpose, at least I don't believe she does, but it's hard to deal with at times. Photo Credit - Microsoft Clip Art I make a point to listen to my friends and not make everything all about me, but I'm not as diligent when it comes to my prayer time. When I pray, the subject is usually me. I bring God my needs, my problems, my worries, my fears and my wants. It takes a conscious effort on my part to meditate on God's word, to ask God to "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in [his] law" (Psalm 119:18 NIV). I do this by combining my discipline of running with my discipline of faith. I often read devotionals before I go for a run. With God's word on my mind and in my...

March 4 - March 10, 2013 27 Weeks Pregnant Weather again disrupted my schedule this week. Monday and Tuesday were great runs. Even though I still had a cold, I seemed to have a lot of energy. It almost felt like I'd had too much caffeine (oh how I miss thee!). Of course that also meant I wasn't sleeping well which caught up to me later in the week. Photo Credit - Faith Laces Wednesday's scheduled 'long' run (8 miles pregnant vs. 13 miles not pregnant) was hijacked by a 'huge' snowstorm (6 inches in actuality vs. the predicted 10 inches). If I hadn't been pregnant I would have ran despite the snow, but decided to play it safe and not risk getting hit by a car slipping and sliding on the slushy mess. So like last week, I decided to try again for Thursday, but that's when I finally came down from my caffeine-like high brought on by my cold. I struggled through the scheduled 5 miles and didn't push to add three more, which I still wonder a...

Photo Credit - Faith Laces Whenever I'm at the starting line of a race, I'm always amazed by the variety of people standing around me. Men and women, ranging in ages from 7 to 70, dressed in a rainbow of colors, stretch and wait together for the sound of the shot announcing the race has begun. It doesn't matter if we are fast or slow; a common love for running unites us. What a great example of what God asks of us in Romans 15:6: ... with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. No matter what our differences, God asks us to come together as Christians and give him praise, honor and glory. When we unite together, our common love of Christ overrides any divisions, preconceptions and judgement so that we can join together to worship God and be filled by His Holy Spirit. Just as we unite as runners to support and encourage one another to finish a race, me must unite as Christians to encourage and support one another in the race God...

February 25- March 3, 2013 26 Weeks Pregnant Photo Credit - Faith Laces This week's running routine was interrupted by weather and illness. On Tuesday, it was very cold with heavy sleet. Despite my desire to get a run in, I just could't bear to go out in the mess. I did a cardio/toning workout instead. Wednesday was my scheduled long run (8 miles); however, my appointment with the dentist lasted longer than I'd planned (doesn't it always?) and I only managed to get in 5 miles. I figured I could make it up on Thursday until I woke up with a stuffy nose and cough. Normally (i.e., not pregnant) I would have completed my long run but I've found that when my body is dealing with an illness I am more susceptible to injury and considering that my body is currently busy growing a baby, I decided not to give it any more to do, even though my mind was screaming at me to just 'run through it.' I resigned myself to not getting a long run in this week and ran...