Exercise, exercise, exercise.

If you are reading this, you probably know me.  And if you know me, you know know that I am somewhat fanatical about running and otherwise keeping myself in shape.  I'm not sure "athletic" is the word I'd use to describe myself (I reserve that word for professional athletes and Olympians) but I've been pretty active my entire life.  I started doing gymnastics when I was a child and continued doing it until I was 16.  I was never particularly good (I am WAY too tall and WAY too slow - I don't seem to have a single fast twitch muscle in my body (sorry twins - you probably won't either)).  But I loved it and stuck with it for years.  I switched to diving when I was a sophmore in high school.  I was a better diver than gymnast, but I wasn't anything particularly special.  I dove at Northwestern for a while but ultimately quit when partying became more important to me than diving (sorry mom).  It's a decision with which I am still very satisfied.  But that's another story for another day. 

When I quit diving, it was the first time since I was five that I hadn't been involved in an organized sport.  I had no idea what to do with myself.  My best friends went to the gym every day, so I started going with them.  I started jogging (and I mean SLOW) then.  I was too pudgy and drunk/hungover to move very fast.  I'd go for thirty minutes max.  Just something to justify all the midnight pizzas w/ Christie and Fadner. 
I started running for real when I was in law school.  I ran my first half marathon my second year (a 1:50, if I remember correctly) and my first marathon in the fall of my third year (Chicago 2004 - I ran a 4:03, I think - but maybe a 4:05 - the official time is recorded on a plaque somewhere).  I fell in love with running then - it was a good break from studying and made it so I could eat pretty much what I wanted. 

I ran my second marathon (San Diego 2005) right after I graduated law school.  I ran a 3:45 (or maybe a 3:43, I can't remember).  All I'd really wanted to do was run a sub 4 hour marathon.  So San Diego was a surprise and a big improvement over Chicago.  And I was officially hooked on running when I finished it.
I ran my third marathon (Minneapolis) in 2006.  I wanted to qualify for Boston and ended up running a 3:25.  Unfortunately, I got hurt after Minneapolis - fell down running early one morning in Birmingham (in the parking lot of Mountain Brook Baptist Church) - and tore up my hip flexor.  I couldn't run for almost four months.  It was misery!  But good practice for pregnancy, as it turns out, because when I couldn't run, I had to find some other exercise to do.  I started swimming - that was the only thing that didn't bother my hip flexor.  So that's what kept me sane in the spring of 2007.
I ran a lot from 2007 through 2011, including two marathons (Mobile in 2008 (3:15) and Chicago in 2009 (another frustrating 3:15)).  Somewhere in there I also ran the best race of my life - a half marathon in NOLA (1:30:05 - so, so close to breaking 1:30 . . .).  I was hurt (stress fracture in my pelvis) in late 2008/early 2009.  When I broke my pelvis, I turned to swimming again.  So it saved my sanity a second time.
I cut WAY back on running in 2010 and 2011 to try and get pregnant. I still ran a lot, but I didn't train for or run any marathons.  When I got pregnant, I was running approximately 40 miles a week.  And I was terrified I was going to have to give it up.  All the twin books I read basically said you were going to deliver your babies at 25 weeks if you didn't put on 70 pounds and stopped all physical activity.  Fortunately, my OB/GYN disagreed.  She let me run (though no more than 5 miles at a time) through 18 weeks.  I was able to comfortably maintain an 8 minute pace for those runs, though I would stop every two miles to check my pulse and cool down a little bit.  Starting at 18 weeks, I was permitted to walk (though, again, no more than 5 miles at a time).  Walking kept me sane but it was WAY, WAY, WAY time consuming.  What used to take 40 minutes now took an hour and a half!  Yikes!  But it was better than nothing.
The last walk I took was on May 23, 2012 (I was 30 weeks).  I went 4 miles.  My back was hurting when I finished the walk but I didn't think too much of it.  Until I woke up the next morning and, out of nowhere, couldn't take a step.  My back was in excruciating pain.  Like can't-take-a-step, can't-roll-over-in-bed, can't-do-anything pain.  AWFUL!  My doctor isn't totally sure what's causing the pain - whether it's a baby on a nerve or my back's just tweaked from all the activity I did earlier in my pregnancy.  Regardless, other than limp/crawling from my sofa to the restroom, I am not really walking anywhere these days.  And I suspect I won't be walking anywhere again until after the twins are born.  But we're in the homestretch now (33 weeks), so it's not too much longer now.
And, fortunately, I can still swim.  So, for the third time in my life, the pool has saved my sanity.  I can't do flipturns anymore and I am swimming at a fraction of my normal, non-pregnant pace, but I can still get in the pool, hammer out a mile and a half, and feel somewhat normal (despite my ever-growing belly, which is totally enormous at this point).  Here are some pictures (taken at 31 weeks) of my ridiculous twin-pregnancy swimming attire (and, yes, I do actually wear this at the public pool . . . ):

I am certain I am freaking out everyone at the pool, though I make sure to go only when the old folks are there (mid-morning).  I'll be glad when (if??) my Speedo fits again!