Monday, March 25, 2013

The ElliptiGO, 33 weeks and still going strong!












SEVEN weeks to go, thats it! My due date is quickly approaching and I am feeling just like I did in the lead up to the Olympics. This whole situation is extremely surreal. We are going to have a real baby in our arms in just over a month. It really is true that there is no way to prepare for what is about to happen. You can buy everything you need but I still cannot imagine how life is going to be once she is here other than being GREAT!

I am also excited by the fact that I am still able to racewalk at this point. I am shocked really! I keep thinking "I dont know how much longer ill be able to do this" but at the same time, it feels great and I dont feel limited at all. The only thing that limits me racewalking is.....my bladder! Yes, we all know that pregnant women have to pee a lot and unfortunately you dont get a break from that while training. I am slowly getting slower but I am walking just over 6 minutes per km which is faster than I thought I would be going at this point. The most im racewalking these days is 12km's which I feel is plenty enough.

I have always been fascinated with the ElliptiGO. I have been using the elliptical machine at the gym for a few years now but I wanted try to ElliptiGO so that I wouldnt have to be stuck inside while cross training. I have had the opportunity to borrow a "bike" from ElliptiGO (whose headquarters are in San Diego) for the month. This thing is AWESOME! I was shocked at the muscles I had to engage in while riding it. It is for sure a much better workout than using just the elliptical machine. I was shocked that before I even hit 1km into my ride that my quads were burning. As a racewalker we dont use our quads much so I know that the more I ride the ElliptiGO that it will really help with my weaker muscles. Its been a lot of fun to use and I feel like its been just as good of a workout as running or racewalking. Its been especially good to use while pregnant so that I dont have to do as much pounding but still get a great workout. I highly recommend you check it out! Check out their website here.
Practically everyone I talk to mentions to me how small I am for being so far along in my pregnancy. My "small" belly has definitely had me worried at times. My last doctors appointment was at 31 weeks they measured me and I only measured at being 26 weeks pregnant. Because of the measurement they decided to do an ultrasound to measure the baby and make sure she is growing on schedule. She measured at 30 weeks  which is a tiny bit smaller but nothing to be concerned about. Since I am tall, she must just have a lot more room to spread out in there. I am thankful to be reassured that everything is alright. I think that the reason why I am able to racewalk so easily at this point is because my belly is much smaller than most. Even though I would like to look more pregnant, I wont complain that I am not huge :) 

We are getting closer to having our condo ready to add another resident and we cannot wait for her to get here! 

Keep on walking,

Rachel