pain in the

So since I became a "runner" a little over a year ago, there has been one little thing that has given me a TON of enjoyment....

After running pretty consistently for a couple of months and picking up my mileage, I began to really enjoy how nice it felt to stretch my legs in bed.  I enjoyed it so much that I started having problems sleeping through the night because I'd wake myself up to stretch my legs (picture a cat stretching when it wakes up) every couple hours.  Eventually the joy of it lessened enough for me to only wake up at 6am to stretch out...and boy was it amazing--still is--well, until THIS morning.

My center of gravity has shifted over the past couple of weeks...apparently it happens almost immediately after your first 12 weeks of pregnancy.  I could tell my legs were tired at the end of any run that exceeded 5-6 miles.  This was kind of strange, because even in the midst all my marathon training (including hill repeats and speed work), my legs were never really tired--or at least what I would consider tired.  Sometimes they'd get a little sore and heavy after a 20+ mile run...but not the way they have been the past couple of weeks.  THEN I read this nice little article about exercising (particularly running) while pregnant.  APPARENTLY this little shift in my center of gravity has caused some random muscles to up their workload when I run...just to keep me from falling over (or forward).  Who knew?  I guess it explains way running is one of those sports where pregnancy makes you a better athlete.  

ANYWAY, I say all that to say that I'm back to square one with stretching in bed...But last night it was much less enjoyable.  Those of you who have been pregnant before know of those nice little calf cramps that kick in periodically during pregnancy.   Starting at about 4am this morning (during my 3-4 stretch of the night) I felt a little pull in my calf and knew it was coming.  I sat right up in bed beating the poo out of my leg until it went away.  Whew...note to self, noooo moooorrrreee stretching in bed.  Unfortunately, when I feel back asleep, I couldn't resist the urge and continued to wake myself up FOUR MORE TIMES.  Needless to say, after my run this morning, my right calf felt like I had worked it out something fierce.  When I got in from my run, I woke up Neil and apologized for being so crazy during the night.  He didn't notice a thing :-)  And he says he isn't a heavy sleeper!

I thought about taking a nap but am scared I'll try and stretch again...its pitiful really.  I guess this will break my habit once and for all...we'll see.  

As a side note, my hubby has started a new little venture...I say little, but its kind of a big deal :-)

He's in the final stages of starting his own micro-brewery, The White Star Beer Co.  I'm pretty darn excited about the kegs of  root beer and cream soda that they'll be making...but that's just me.  ANYWAY, check out his website when you get the chance at:

www.whitestarbeer.com

...hopefully soon he'll be up and blogging.  I'm trying to convince him to let the brewery's "web fans" vote on a name for one of the first beers because how cool would that be?