Yoga is to Running AND Pregnancy as Payday is to Rent - Essential

Runners know we have to stretch. I've experienced first hand the pains of not stretching enough - ala, waking up in the middle of the night with cramped calves or arms so sore they don't work for typing. As this is my first pregnancy I haven't experienced the pains ... er, joys ... of labor first hand - yet. But I'll get to experience it twice in a few months! I have heard, though, that yoga helps with the pregnancy, birth, and healthy babies (a result of a healthy pregnancy) into the world.

So my take?
Yoga + Running = Good
Yoga + Pregnancy = Good

Win-win!

Runner's World has a great article on how Running and Yoga go Hand-in-Hand detailing how yoga can help with the breathing aspects during a run and alleviating pain post-run.

Health and Yoga offers 5 "tools" detailing how yoga is beneficial for expecting mom's:

1. Yoga Exercises
2. Breathing
3. Mudras
4. Meditation
5. Deep Relaxation

Recently I've been finding I need to incorporate yoga into my daily routine to:

1. Stop stressing so much about the what ifs of the first trimester of pregnancy (which I'm almost finished with - woo hoo!)
2. Get all the snap crackle pops out of my joints so I can make it out for an enjoyable run (rather than short or painful)
   

To do: liar liar pants on fire - oh the stories pregnant women tell

I'm still in the super-top-secret pregnant mode - aka, 10.5 weeks in and waiting to tell people until after the 14-week mark. During the holidays it's rather difficult to pull my secret off.

At our New Year's Eve party I offered to make the margaritas - I offered so I could quickly make a virgin one then pack the blender with tequila and pour for the rest of the crowd. An amazing fete if I do say so myself.

Here are some of the other (white) lies:

• Co-workers want to go to happy hour - Oh, I can't - I promised the hub I'd make dinner tonight.
• Co-workers talking about newly pregnant sister (she just found out - not sure she wants the whole office to know) and talking about how she's too young and too poor (she's 29 (my age) and makes a similar salary (not bad)) - I think it's great as long as she and her husband are happy!
  
• Boss says he can't work because his wife is 2-months pregnant and is having a tough time - Poor thing! I'll cover for you. (I mean this one - I think pregnancy is different for everyone)
  
• Throwing a dinner party and game night - no lie here, I'm buying non-alcoholic Beck's and cheersing away
  
• Girlfriends want to take a weekend trip to Vail - Can't, I'm saving for something big (two somethings actually!)
  
• Book club night (aka, get together with the girlfriends, split copious bottles of wine, and dish) - I'm doing a 1-month detox for my New Year's resolution

Where to live with twins?

I'm a city girl. I always have been. I was lucky enough to grow up in the beautiful suburbs of Marin but every chance I got I was on a plane to some city (the more exotic, the better). These travels (for fun, school, and work) took me to Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, London, Egypt, Mumbai, Bangalore, Seoul, Singapore, and more. Just writing of travels make me daydream of romantic cityscape around the globe.

My travel days are going to be put on hold for a while but my love of cities will remain. Currently we live in San Francisco - and love it! But with low ranking school systems, expensive houses and rent, and shocking ... uh, sites I'm wondering if this is the city for raising twins.

A quick Google search brought up the following cities:
Kiplinger

1. Minneapolis, MN
   
2. Provo, UT
   

BusinessWeek

1. Groesbeck, Ohio
2. Western Springs, Ill
3. Deerfield, Ill
   
4. Echelon, NJ
5. Arapahoe, Neb
6. Waverly, Neb
7. Wilmette, Ill
8. Lackland, Tex
9. Waterville, OH
10. Hopewell, TN

Fit Pregnancy:

1. Boston, MA
2. San Francisco, CA (YAYAYA!)
3. Minneapolis, MN
4. Portland, OR
5. Omaha, NB
6. Denver, CO
7. Colorado Springs, CO
8. Seattle, WA
9. Oakland, CA
10. San Diego, CA

Each survey, and subsequent list, has different criteria ranging from open-ness with breast feeding (something Fit Pregnancy looks at), to schools, to working and raising kids (something Kiplinger looks at).

I think what it comes down to is:

1. Where do you feel safe - where will baby be safe
2. Where are your family and friends
3. Where is work OR where do you want to work
4. What are the schools like (I'm a huge advocate of public - San Francisco is not winning any awards here)
5. Where are you happy
   

Winded when running

(photo from my last trail race a few weeks ago - pre-winded-ness)

Lately on my runs, short or long, I've been getting winded within minutes. It may be because I've cut my mileage over the holidays and with the first pregnancy spotting scare ... or it may be (drumroll) because I'm pregnant with twins! Talk about a body changer. I'm just over 10-weeks so there isn't much belly to get in the way of running, but everything going on in there is effecting running; namely, my blood and nutrients are busy on other projects now than just fueling my runs.

I don't want to stop, though. I stopped for a few days and thought I'd explode - running is my biggest stress release and passion. The solution? Run-walk-run. To continue without getting winded, I've slowed my pace by nearly 30-seconds per mile and am sticking to the flats (for the most part - I do love the hills). I'm not doing sprints but I am making myself pace even more which leaves little room for burning out.

Here are a few articles that provide more information:
Running During Pregnancy - Babyzone
Are Trail Running and Being Pregnant Compatible?

To do: home layout

I may have 6+ months to go, but I'm already looking around our 1-bedroom San Francisco apartment wondering how we're going to fit two smiling bubbling babies in our home. We are actually looking to buy right now (first time buyers can surprisingly get good rates now) but we're not sure what's going to happen. So, here's my dream home layout of the day:

The kitchen - we're not too concerned with fitting baby things in the kitchen yet (outside of highchairs) but we do want to capitalize on space. Z-Gallery has an awesome expandable tall bar table that could double as a dining table.





The living room - we currently have a handful of chests thanks to my Godmother in the Philippines, a huge tube TV, nice couch, two leather chairs, and some modern/Asian drawers. If we stay in our 1-bedroom, the living room will have to double as a bedroom (when I first laid this out I was picturing one baby, not two). Right now I'm really liking the Bloom Snug from Giggle for a living room baby seat, and baby furniture from Dwell - but within our budget we'll most likely be buying cribs and dressers from Ikea.

The bedroom - right now we're working on getting rid of junk; that's step 1. We need to put stuff into, too, so I'm trying to convince the hub that we need the Borghese Lingerie Chest as Z-Gallery. For the little ones, we're looking at adding a bassinet (at first I loved the Ninna Nanna bassinet from Giggle but now I'm looking at the Graco Pack 'n Play for twins because of it's size and the different ways you can use it).

The bad news is there are tons of options out there and reviews on both sides of the fence for almost every one. The good news is I have time for more research ... and more layouts (my husband is an architect so he's already working our home up in autocad to see how everything will fit (more fun than function)).

To do: get off to a running start; sites, smells, sounds

Feeling motivated by some research I read about running and fitness helping with healthier pregnancies, and to kick off 2009, I went for a slow(ish) 5.49 run this afternoon. The city was perfect for a run - crisp, not too bright, and fairly quiet. Well, fairly quiet until I got down to the water - and then it seemed everyone was trying to build fitness and family time (both very important) into their 2009 start.

Sites
San Francisco provides awesome running routes - my favorite takes me along the water around Chrissy Field, under the bridge, and through the Presidio. Today I wove up through Presidio Heights taking stairs and hills all the way (gotta keep the booty up).

Smells
I've always been sensitive to smells when running but ever since I became pregnant I've been especially so. During my run I enjoyed the water smell, wet grass, and trees - then got into some funky smells - cigarette smoke (this is like torcher to me), champagne puke on the streets (at least the city has sophisticated drunks?), and rotten food in open garbage bins. Yuck!

Sounds
For some reason the city didn't sound like a city today (and it wasn't my Coldplay/Madonna mix blasting in my ears). It was void of cars and filled with family sounds - laughing, talking, playing.

All in all, a great way to start 2009.

To do: when you can't run, stretch

Lately I've been going back and forth being able to run and not able to run (I judge it by "is there spotting?") When I can't run, I do yoga - the stretching is not only relaxing and a good core workout, but a great base for when I get back to running. I typically start with 3-5 sun salutations, and then go into a few series of poses based on what I want to work.

Here are a few favorite poses:

• Warriors 1, 2, and 3 - with feet 3.5-4 feet apart, the front knee bent and the back foot at a 90 degree angel you stretch arms overhead, then one out front the other behind, and then to really work it, get the back flat like a plank, bend over, lift the back leg, and put arms behind
• Big toe pose - this one is great for runners - you bend over keeping legs straight and hold your big toes (or in my case, elbows because I can't reach my big toes); you can feel the stretch up the back of both legs right where you need it
• Child's pose - the best at-rest post ever - on hands and knees with toes pointing outward, bend over and put hands all the way in front of you and then circle them back to rest at your hips

Yoga Journal has a ton of other good poses to try.