Thank You Miss Rabbit Lady!!!

Perhaps I'd better start out with a little background information. For those of you who don't know me well enough, this is how I usually am. (Please understand, I don't tell these things to be bragging (I know plenty of people who would think this was not that much to brag about anyway.) Before I became pregnant, my everyday run was about 6 miles, on the weekends, I would sometimes run 13+ miles. At my best, I was only slightly better than middling, as far as runners go. I am not by nature a very competitive person. (This stems, I think from getting the crap beat out of me at chess, and many other games, over and over again, as a child, by my older brother John, who is, I believe, literally a genius, at least in some respects.) I am perfectly happy to just beat my former selves, and not worry terribly about how I stack up compared to others.

Anyway, my twice consecutive broken ribs, have put a serious damper on my ability to workout during this pregnancy. I've had to give up running, and content myself with other things. I biked indoors, with my bike on a trainer (until my belly got too big, and it was uncomfortable to bend over to reach the handlebars, I walk up and down my stairs, and I just regular walk. Now, when I say walk, I mean that up until about a month ago, I walked as fast as was humanly possible. I've become addicted to walking with my Garmen (a GPS tracker thing), so I can keep track of how far and how fast I walk. Up until a month ago, I would not accept anything from myself slower than a 4 mile an hour average pace. However, I started getting pains on the side of my tummy. I had to slow down. Sometimes they would get so bad that I just had to stop altogether. Very disheartening. My new average pace became about 2.8 miles per hour. Monday, I went out for a walk, at my new slower pace, and only made it about 1.75 miles before I just had to stop. (I usually aim for at least 4 miles, preferably more, if I have the time.) On Tuesday, I asked my OB about my tummy pains. After I described them, he assured me that the pains were from the ligaments that support my uterus, and that they weren't harmful to the baby. Good. So, Tuesday evening, I decided that, for what it was worth, I'd give walking another try. I didn't have much hope that I'd be able to make it very far. I started out. After only about a quarter of a mile, the pain started again. However, now armed with the knowledge that I was only hurting myself, and not my unborn child, I decided to see if I couldn't just push past it. I kept on anyway, and after a bit, the pain went away. So, I kept right on walking. After a good couple of miles, I realized that the pain wasn't coming back, so I began to push myself just a bit. I made 4 miles with an average pace of 3.3 miles per hour. Good, I can still walk after all! Today I got up early to get my walk in before Bruce had to leave for work. I tentatively started out at 3.3 mph average. So far so good, no pain. About a mile into my walk, I noticed a woman walking in the same direction, a few blocks ahead of me. I didn't really consciously think about it, but I just assumed I would pass her up. I always pass up everyone when I walk. I just walk faster than everybody else. It's not like I try to pass them, I just do. I totally wasn't thinking about it at all, until after about half of a mile. I realized that I wasn't gaining on her. For the first time it occurred to me that this was a totally new thing. I've never not passed anyone before (at least not walking). Now I began to think about it, and it bothered me. I had a John, or a Bruce moment. "Well, I'll be hanged if I get out walked by anyone!" So, I picked up the pace. Glory be, I felt good!! No pain! I picked up the pace some more. I was determined to pass this lady up. Silly, I know, but oh well. So it went. I was gaining on her. I got within two blocks of her. I got within one block of her. I got to where she was only a couple of houses ahead of me. I would pass her up in the next block. She turned. My normal path did not turn. Now, I may have turned into a competitive silly head at this time, but a stalker I am not. I had nearly reached the point where I'd have to turn around anyway to make it home before Bruce had to leave for work. I thought it would look really silly for me to walk so fast that I looked like an utter maniac, only to pass her and then abruptly turn around. I went straight, as usual. Darn! I really wanted to pass her. Oh well, I would have, if she wouldn't have turned. I did keep up my maniac pace all the way home though. It felt so good! I actually got sweaty, and red in the face! After about 1.5 miles of 3.3 average mph, I managed to pull off a 3.7 average over the total course of just over 4 miles. Thank you Miss Rabbit Lady!! My workout for the next 3 weeks may be a far cry from my former glory, but at least I know that I can still do something!