We had a Gillam get together last Thursday through Saturday in CO Springs. We were all there celebrating my brother’s change of command (Army). I think it is the first time that we were all together since ML and I got married in 2004. Here are a few pics from the weekend:

After my brother’s ceremony, we spent some time at the CO Springs Zoo. This is probably one of the coolest and most beautiful zoos that I have ever been to! We even got to feed the giraffes!

After we departed CO Springs, my mother came to Boulder to check in and to help shop for baby girl Lovato. She outdid herself, buying a new dresser, crib, baby monitor, blankets, clothing, stroller, etc. This is one lucky girl who is probably going to be very spoiled by her grandparents!

Michael putting the new dresser together:

We are still in the process of moving…moving…and more moving. It’s just been a little tough trying to get it done with me not being able to lift things and relying on Michael for everything.

I think we are finally to the point where we need to hire some help.

So here I am at 18 weekBaby girl is…5.6 inches big now. :)

Things to look forward to this week:

Doctors appointment on Tuesday. We get to see how big our girl is and I find out if I can start to exercise again which will be great. It has been 6 full weeks of inactivity. I think this is the longest that I have gone without being active for almost 15 years.

Catching up with some friends. This has been so important for my sanity. I love my friends. :)

Moving, moving, and more moving.

This week is 17 weeks. Baby Girl is about 5.1 inches, the size of an onion. She looks something like this, although I hope she is much prettier. :)

In the mornings, my stomach is sort of flat. I do have a slight bump…but by mid afternoon I can see something more significant. The abs are all gone by this point.

I have not exercised for four weeks and I have to wait another two weeks until I see my doctor again for approval to do something other than walking around the ‘hood.

Because boredom had gotten the best of me, I asked my friend Courtenay to go for a walk/slow hike near Sinitas on Saturday. My energy was much higher and my health had taken a turn for the better. I needed some outside time. It was so awesome to hang with her for a while, chat, and catch up! The weather has finally become reasonable and I am loving the 80 plus degree days. That hike was the first time that I emotionally felt “alive” in a long time.

Needless to say, while it felt great at the time, and even though we took numerous stop breaks, my quads were sore for three days. Oh dear…What is getting back in shape going to be like??

Sunday was mothers day and my awesome husband surprised me with this:

I am pretty sure that I have the best husband in the world.

The single coolest thing that happened this week was when my friend Kerrie ran and got 2nd in the Title 9k at the Boulder Rez! Her prize was a BOB Jogging stroller, which she so generously donated to me! YAY!

Things that I am looking forward to this week:

Today I am closing on a listing that I have had!

I am going up to to Colorado Springs to watch my brother’s change of command (Army promotion). My whole family will be there, including both my mother and father. This will be the first time that my sister has seen me pregnant and it will be great to catch up with her. :)

We are moving! We aren’t going far…but we have decided to sell our home and move to a bigger place about .25 miles away. I am glad that we are doing this now instead of when I am 8 months pregnant…

I look forward to having more of a baby bump this week.

I don’t really think that I have much of  a baby bump yet, but I am starting to get wider. I swear my hips are spreading and my buttons on my jeans have been getting more difficult to close. I have been wearing running tights and capris a lot lately. But by mid afternoon, the pressure against my stomach gets to be a little much. My drawstring sweatpants by TYR seem to be my favorite “go to” item this week!

My sports bras become more and more uncomfortable throughout the day. But thanks to my friend Angela, I found a good one that separates and lifts by Lulu lemon call the ta-ta tamer. I can wear it all day long without discomfort.

Cool things that happened this week: While I am still on exercise restriction, I am able to walk around our neighborhood. YES! It’s better than nothing!

My brother, his girlfriend Laura, and my friend Angela all came into town this past weekend to hang with me. Michael was out of town for a race in St. Croix and I was so happy to have the love and company from my family and friends.

My friend Angela seems to know a lot more about having a baby than I do! She took me to Target and Babies-R-Us to investigate different brands of strollers, cribs, car seats, etc. At least I feel like I sort of have a handle on what is going on.

I actually felt like an athlete for about 5 minutes yesterday. I did a photo shoot with Cycle Ops and it felt great to have my cycling kit on again. I am so looking forward to riding my bike again. Lycra seems to suit me but I have a feeling that my  jersey’s will become more difficult to zip fairly soon.

The number 1 best thing that happened this week….

I bumped into my ER nurse at Pekoe coffee and Tea and introduced myself. We embraced and had a few kind words to say to each other. While I do not remember every detail of that visit to the ER 3 weeks ago, I will always remember Sara who was nothing short of awesome.

Size of our baby: I don’t know how our baby can go from  the size of a peach(12 weeks) to the size of a pear (13 weeks) to the size of a  lemon (14 weeks)! Isn’t a lemon smaller than both a pear and a peach? In any case, week 14 is behind me and I don’t have to think about it anymore. Our baby is now the size of a LARGE APPLE~4.5 inches BIG!! Michael likes to call our little girl “honeycrisp” after his favorite apple.

Our 15 week Ultrasound was this past Tuesday. We could see her giving me karate chops! Some days I don’t feel pregnant and I don’t look pregnant. I just look like I have gained some weight. It’s hard for me to believe that I am really carrying around this little apple. Every time I get an ultrasound, it makes it all so much more real and I become really excited. I love my 4-week check ups!

Thankfully I am off bed rest. However, I am still not allowed to do housework, exercise, get massage, pick up laundry, or get stressed out. ML has been amazing by helping take care of some of the chores around the house. I have read enough books to make my eyes hurt and I have watched enough TV to make me depressed. I am ready to go outside again even if it is only for a short stroll around our neighborhood!

My Body: I weigh about 129 lbs now. I started at 121/122. My face, hips, and breasts have filled out and I swear that I have a baby bump by the end of the day. In the mornings, I can fit into my size 25′s, and my stomach is completely flat. But by  4pm I have to unbutton my jeans!  And by 7pm I can’t get them off quick enough! I have started looking at maternity wear, but feel overwhelmed each time I look so I haven’t bought anything yet.

Sleep: The past few days I have felt more like myself. After my trip to the ER, I felt horrible, sleeping 12 plus hours a night and even taking 2 hour naps during the day. Thankfully I seem to be back to my old self again, feeling much more alive.

What I miss the most: I miss driving to workouts with Michael. I miss the freedom of going for a run. I miss the burn from a hard workout. I miss my daily goals and regime.  I feel like I am in limbo right now.  My new goals have become to take care of this little apple and I am doing it. And I am trying to make new goals with my  real estate career to keep my mind busy. Some days I feel so stagnant. I don’t feel like am living my life and it’s HARD. Lounging on the couch is not my thing and it makes me feel dead and depressed! The only thing keeping my spirits up is my awesome and sweet husband who is constantly giving me pep talks. We both know how important it is to rest for the sake of honey crisp.

The name game: We have narrowed it down to two names. Naming your little person is important and it has to feel perfect.  I can promise you it won’t be any of these names.

This Week: My brother, his girlfriend (my college BFF), and my home girl, Angela, all come into town for a visit. I am so happy and excited to have some visitors, especially since ML will be out of town!

All is good on the Lovato front. I am one week away from being off of bed rest, which is great news for me. I had a bit of a health scare last week, and my doctor is just being extra cautious by prescribing no exercise, including laundry, house cleaning, swimming, biking, running, walking, and even massage! I am lucky because I have an very helpful husband who has picked up all the slack:

While I have been sitting around, I have had a lot of time to think and reflect the past week.

Here are five random facts that I have figured out in the past 14 weeks of being pregnant:

1. 40 is the average age of a new mother in Boulder. I will be 41 when I have this baby, but according to my doctor this is the new normal! Whenever I go to the doctors office (every 4 weeks), I am surrounded by other 38-43 year old new moms-to-be.

2. There is so much new technology out there these days. I did a genetic test at nine weeks with a sequential ultra sound at 13 weeks that is only offered in ten states, Colorado being one of them. My doctors knew at the 11 week mark that our baby was 100% healthy and that she was a GIRL!! The ultra sound validated the blood test. There is no need for an amnio or CVS these days, at least in the state of Colorado.

3. Always an early riser and never someone who needed a whole ton of sleep, I have noticed a few parallels between training for an Ironman and brewing up a baby. I am sleeping 12 hours a night and naps are all that I think about these days. This has been a HUGE change for me.

4. Michael told me a few weeks ago that he felt pregnant. I shrugged him off and told him that he was crazy…until I found  this when reading some of my pregnancy books. So when ever Michael feels “bloated or emotional” we laugh together and say that he is “hatching” which is the term used to describe a man experiencing pregnancy symptoms.

5. Just because your girlfriend worked out 7 days a week or raced a half marathon when she was pregnant doesn’t mean that you can. Trust me, I tried. Well, I didn’t try to race because my doctor told me specifically not to…but I have tried to do some sort of exercise every day.  I think every girl and every pregnancy is different. And I know that I can’t handle daily exercise. I no longer have mind power over my body. This little 14 week baby growing inside of me has all of the power over me. I am acutely in tune with my body and I know when enough is enough.

I can’t say that I have absolutely loved being pregnant, but I have embraced it. The best part of being pregnant is knowing that I am carrying around this little baby girl that Michael and I made together. My girlfriend Ann told me that I was doing God’s work and I really do feel that way.  I am doing everything possible to take care of her and help her grow to be the healthiest baby she can be…including taking my bed rest seriously. :)

The inside of the cake was PINK. We have a little girl baking away in my belly due in October.

I look forward to sharing my journey with you from Professional Athlete to MOM.

Stay tuned. :)

It’s pretty easy and quick…not to mention Yummy!!!

I usually do 1 shot of espresso from our trusty Nespresso Machine (Best Kitchen Appliance Ever!). ML does two shots.

2 shots water depending on taste (you don’t even have to use water if you like the taste of strong coffee)

1 cup of vanilla coconut milk

1 scoop of Cappuccino Ultragen by First Endurance. (Ultragen is rich in nutrients, including 20g of protein from whey protein isolate, glutamine, & hydrolyzed whey protein. It also has essential vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes). Check it out here:

http://www.firstendurance.com/nutrition/ultragen.html

The last thing that I pop in our cup is a tbsp of chocolate covered coffee beans…or 5-10. (DELICIOUS!)

Drink and enjoy! And try not to get too much of a buzz! :)

If you follow my twitter feed or Facebook page, then you have seen this picture of my canine companion, Blue and his chiropractor, Jason.

Blue is two months shy of fifteen years old. Blue was a ring bearer at our wedding and he is the canine love of my life. He has inspired many of my friends to adopt a whippet and if you have ever met him, you would know why.

A few months ago, Blue started to feel under the weather. He started to have more “bad” days than “good” days. He wouldn’t eat. He wouldn’t stretch. He didn’t like being touched. He couldn’t go up or down stairs. I feared the worst, but hoped for the best. We took him to the vet who diagnosed him with a bulging disc in his neck. Oddly enough I was relieved that it wasn’t an incurable disease. She warned us that Blue didn’t know why he felt bad, but he just did, and that it was important for us to continue to encourage him to eat and stretch because if he stopped doing either of these things then he would steadily decline, and end up passing away. She prescribed some anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, and wished us luck.

That night I told my massage therapist, Maia, about him and about what our vet had told us. She kindly offered to come to our home to give him a massage. I was a little pessimistic, yet hopeful that she could help him. To my surprise, Blue responded well to her presence, her touch, and to her work. After that day Blue became one of her regular clients.

Maia returned to our house to work with Blue, and day by day he began to see marked improvement. He was seeing great improvement, and Maia could detect a noticeable difference in Blue, in particular with the lack of tension he was holding in his body.

After the inflammation went down, Maia suggested that we continue some work with a chiropractor. Again, I was pessimistic. Maia assured me over and over again that she had seen or heard of lots of “miracles” with just a little bit of chiropractic work. I was desperate to keep Blue’s quality of life up, so I made an appointment to see Dr. Jason. Blue was progressing under Maia’s care, but with the added chiropractic care, he was making leaps and bounds. After only three sessions, he was acting like he did wen he was a puppy. I became a believer!

Watching Blue go through this has reminded me of how important it is to go the extra mile when taking care of our own bodies.

We as athletes focus so much on training hard, on keeping an active routine, and on working, working, working; but, it is equally important to tend to the proper recovery routine as well.  Stretching, eating well, massage, and even chiropractic work are all a regular part of my routine, and are key components of staying strong, healthy, and injury free.

Eating well is often the most overlooked, and difficult for some athletes to correct.  We can often fall into the routine of eating what is most convenient, and this does not necessarily mean it’s the best food for our bodies.  In a future blog, I plan to delve into the specifics of my nutritional habits and routines.

Stretching is another topic altogether.  For years I resisted partaking of the activity, but have more recently seen the benefits of tending to a few key areas that are particularly tight on my body.  I know that spending a few minutes each day, or even every other day, will allow me to stay looser, happier, and healthier.

Moving on to two methods of good recovery that are more relevant to this blog: massage therapy and chiropractic work.

My father first introduced me to massage therapy at age 14.  Ironically, he had discovered it as a means to deal with a bulging disc, and to avoid the prescribed surgery.  In his words, massage therapy – and a good massage therapist – cured him, and he never had that surgery.

Since that time I have been a strong proponent of regular massage.  In my current life, I do my best to never skip one single week of massage.  I have not been injured in two decades, and considering the miles I have covered, and the beatings I have taken, this is fairly remarkable (and unique in the world of professional athletes).  While some of this can be attributed to my sturdy genetics, I attribute very much of my injury-free triathlon career to the regular massage I receive, and to the recovery and stress-reducing benefits it provides me.  I can wholeheartedly say that every athlete who is willing to fork over big bucks for a new bike, a new coach, a training camp, or the latest gadget should absolutely, 100%, make the effort to add massage to his or her routine.  Like Blue Dog, I respond very well to Maia’s presence, her touch, and to her work.

To complement my weekly massage, I am also a frequent user of the Recovery Pump system.  This product has been an amazing addition to my recovery protocol.  The ways to effectively use the product are so numerous that they deserve their own blog, but I will say that the boots enable me to bounce back very quickly from grueling session to grueling session.  Interested in trying out your own system, click here and use code Hotstuff to get a discount.

Lastly, I must mention the final component of my regular recovery protocol: chiropractic work. I have been a believer in this practice since I first met Dr. Larry Frieder of Boulder Sport and Spine in 2003.  Larry has worked on world-class athletes of all types, and he knows just what to do to keep triathletes, marathoners, climbers, all athletes in alignment and in working order.

While the “tricks” for recovery that I have discussed here are not technically “new” to me, seeing Blue Dog go through some tough times, only to recover via these tried and true practices confirms in my mind the utmost importance of truly taking every step to have a healthy and happy body – canine or human.

Try this easy recipe out post-workout or ANY time! It has become a weekly staple in the Lovato household, as it’s a great recovery food, but it’s made up to taste great.

You need:

1 Sweet Potato

Aluminum Foil

Coconut Butter

Coconut flakes

1 handful of Pomegranate seeds

1/4-1/2  of a lime…it just depends on your taste.

a pinch of Sea Salt.

1. Pre Heat your oven to 425 degrees.

2. Wrap your sweet potato in Aluminum Foil. I like to prick my potatoes with a fork before I wrap them.

3. After the oven is warmed up and ready to go, place your potato in the oven. It usually takes 45′ to an hour for my potato to get fully cooked. If you are in a hurry, put the the potato (sans aluminum foil) in the microwave for 10-12 minutes,depending on the size of the potato.

4. Place the jar of coconut butter above/ near the oven, so the heat will help to soften it a bit.

5. After the potato is fully cooked, remove the aluminum foil and place on a plate. Split the potato in half with a sharp knife and add 1 dollop of coconut butter.

6. Squeeze the lime wedges over the potato, add salt to taste, and finish by adding the coconut flakes and pomegranate seeds.

Voila! Pure deliciousness!!

I hope you love it as much as we do!

After feeling fully recovered I decided to take Dr. Oza’s advice to moderately test myself.

This morning I did a little treadmill workout. And I have a feeling it is going to become one of my favorites as I progress. I started off with a 15′ warm up. I  started at 7mph building until my legs and breathing felt  good at 8.0MPH.

The main set is as follows: Incline at 1%. 10 minutes as 1′@8.5 mph/ 1′@9.0 mph. Keep in mind that my threshold heart rate is around 164. By the end of this little ten minute session, my heart rate was around the 157 range. I took 5′ easy at 8.0 mph. Then I did another 5′ as 1′@8.5/ 1′@9.0. Again, my heart rate was around the 155-157 range. I did another 5′ at 8.0, then cooled down for 10′ which totaled 45′ of total running time and 15 minutes of quality running.

I gave myself a goal back in November post surgery to race a half marathon at the end of February in New Orleans. I will make it to the start line.  I may be a bit slower than I am used to going, but I am so excited to be back at it. And I admit, these little moments of feeling good on the treadmill keep me running happy.

**If you want to try this workout for yourself, know (or guestimate) what your threshold pace is for 5 miles. Do 1 minute @ten seconds under that pace, then do 1′ at 10 sec above that pace five times. Take the 5′ recovery, and then do it again. This is  a great little tempo, threshold workout to keep you motivated through the cold temperatures and boredom of the “dreadmill”. :)

Happy Training!