The second trimester is when a lot of women report having more energy!! I felt that around 15-16 weeks, my runs felt better, I felt more energetic during the day...and was able to stop my lunch break naps (for the most part).
Fairly early in my second trimester (14/15 weeks) I ran a 1/2 Marathon. I finished 1:48, about 4 minutes slower than my PR. I was very happy with that time. The first half of the race I ran on track to finish in 1:40, however, by about the halfway mark I sort of freaked out about somehow causing damage to the baby. At mile 9/10 when I stopped at the porta john, I noticed a small amount of blood - not bright red...the old stuff...and continued to freak out. I do want to point out that my doctor told me that was a very real possibility. That often vigorous physical activity will cause that to happen and it's not harming the little one...That didn't stop me from slowing way down for the last 3 or so miles. I finished comfortably, just not strong. I checked in with my doc afterward, she said that it's nothing to worry about. Whew.
After that race, I decided that I am way too competitive to race pregnant. I freak out that I am going to fast, slow down, and I just don't enjoy racing if I'm not doing it to PR...or win... So, I didn't sign up for any more races from then on. Late in the 2nd trimester I started to get the racing bug and signed up for a half marathon scheduled to be about 3 months after baby's birth day. I'm toying with the idea of doing a triathlon before that, but I think I am going to wait to see what life throws at us before I sign up.
It wasn't until the end of this trimester that I noticed a big difference in my running times. I noticed my pace dropped dramatically...from 7:30/8min miles down to 10:30/11 min miles. Also, my endurance was decreasing pretty rapidly. My 10 mi long runs turned into 7, then 6, then 5... But if I didn't respect my body and tried to overdo it I got excruciating headaches that lasted for 2 days. So, I cut back.
Total weight gain: 15lbs (from pre-pregnancy weight) This trimester made me realize just how quickly the weight will pile on. See picture...the first one is 22 weeks...The second is 27 weeks. Oh my!
Belly: Visible at around 20 weeks...to the naked eye...That is when I finally told work as well. Again, for reference - see the picture... The girls were getting huge too.
Running clothes: Between weeks 18 and 20 I started wearing almost exclusively the Oiselle seamless shorts and capris (Long Flyte shorts, Endorphin capris) and got myself a pair of the Long Rogas sized up from a 6 to an 8. For tops until week 20 I could wear just about anything, after the belly got too big, I stuck with stretchier options. Some that work well: Oiselle's Flyte tank sized up 1, Oiselle's In the Fold tank (it's flowy), and Lululemon's Cool Racerback (the older style) I recommend flowy tanks if you live in a hot climate. Tighter tanks made me feel like I was gonna overheat...the flowy ones let air in as I ran.
Running: I started noticing that my belly was heavy in this trimester. It sat pretty hard on my bladder and pulled on my round ligaments. So I started wearing my Amphipod hip belt to help provide some support. That worked really well. From about week 20 on, I felt like I'd have to pee for the first mile of my run, but that would go away the further into my run I got. My long runs diminished greatly, and I really got into yoga during this time. I highly recommend going to yoga classes or even using a download (I like www.jasyoga.com). Near the end - weeks 27-28 my legs started feeling like they were burning every time I ran. Turns out - I was low on iron...more on that in the third trimester update.
That's all for now, I'll have a third trimester update soon!
