What not to wear, pregnancy edition

Ok, here's a frivolous little post. What do you wear to a friend's very large, rather posh wedding dinner...

...when you are 6 months pregnant...

...and have shipped most of your clothing anyway? 

Last night I ended up disguising a casual maxi dress by dressing it up with low heels, a necklace, and a cardigan. The wedding dinner was at the end of a very long day of successive social engagements - I am an incorrigible introvert and any single ONE of the fun things yesterday would have wiped me out, and there were FOUR. I know my emotional and mental exhaustion definitely affected my mood. So by the time dinner rolled around, I was already heartily sick of the dress and the heels, and in the first place I am not a massive fan of dresses and heels to begin with. Why isn't there more of a market for maternity trouser suits? Maternity tuxedos? If a penguin suit and cummerbund can accommodate Pavarotti's belly WHY NOT MINE? 

On a more routine basis, the bump expansion means that my shorts, capris, shirts and singlets don't fit quite like they used to when I work out. I can't do the old steal-your-husband's-pants trick as he's not around for me to steal them...

...so here is a quick guide to my workout wear, pregnancy edition. 

For running, I wear: 

- my Brooks Epiphany stretch shorts, but these are slowly getting tighter at the waist. Even worn under the bump, the bunched fabric at the waist irritates me after a while, but they're tolerable for 3 miles or less. 

- my Oiselle roga shorts, worn under bump. I have three pairs of these and the best thing is the wide, smooth waistband - I imagine any other style with a similar waistband would be comfortable, eg Moving Comfort. Likewise, my Brooks running skirts. 

- my beloved Under Armour tank tops. These have loads of stretch and have been comfortable throughout 

- baggy old technical-not-really-technical fabric race shirts; they're not the most breathable fabric but again, they're tolerable for 3 poky miles 

- I wish I hadn't tossed out my ratty old old-school nylon running shorts a year or two ago (I'd had them since high school, and they were about $10 a pair! Those were the days) but they really were ratty and getting loose and baggy and the elastic was utterly dead. 

- I did acquire four new sports bras, 1-2 sizes up, all from the local Nike outlet store. I am fond of Moving Comfort Alexis bras, but fairly sports-bra-agnostic when I need them urgently. 

For yoga and spin classes, I wear:

- my ancient Danskin capris from when I used to dance; that was in college and a couple kilos worth of free pizza ago. Glad I kept them! These, too, have a broad waistband (yay), but they are also kind of baggy (boo) and I have to roll them up to the knee so they don't get caught. Still, they function. 

- these beautiful, magical maternity capris received as a Christmas gift from my in-laws. INCREDIBLY comfortable and extremely versatile. Every time they're dry, I nick them off the laundry rack to wear them - a good sign they're in heavy rotation. 

- I have caved and ordered a couple more pairs of maternity activewear pants from Target, delivered to husband's place, so that I have something to wear in the Arctic temperatures of Boston in winter, because heck yeah I intend to walk or run. (Winter note: I anticipate being able to carry on using my current long-sleeved tops and fleeces, so the bottoms are the only thing I expect I'll really need.) 

To swim in, I wear: 

- the same Arena two-piece style I've been wearing for about three years now. Initially I liked it because I have a long torso that doesn't fit comfortably in one-piece suits; now I like it because ROOM FOR BELLY. The folks at the pool can go ahead and stare. I can out-swim most of them anyway. 

I've put these in storage: 

- Nike capris and Oiselle capris - too much constriction right at the waistband especially when bending over or seated

- I haven't even tried the Mizuno short tights on in months, the waistband is definitely too narrow 

- all my Nike t-shirts, due to insufficient stretch; they're narrower-cut and while they have room for my shoulders there isn't room for the belly these days so they flap/ ride up. Any shirts like this can go into storage.

Key takeaways:

- At some point style and dignity will both exit your life. Just get used to it.

- Wide waistbands are a godsend.

- So are stretchy, lightweight things - the stretchier the better.

- Do not attempt to squeeze into pre-pregnancy sports bras. Being able to breathe is kind of essential to being able to work out. 

- Beg, borrow or steal (ok, cave and buy) one or two dedicated maternity pieces. Tops are not essential. Bottoms are way more useful and comfortable, and you'll be glad of it. 

Blasts from the past

So I thought I'd treat you to some old photos...

My best marathon, Tokyo 2011 

Unfortunately there's no actual action shot from Tokyo, or if there is I can't remember where I put it. 

I run exactly one marathon per year, which explains the enormous time lag in between these things. My first marathon was in December 2009; my second (which I don't even count as a marathon because it was an enormous mess) was in December 2010; my third was in February 2011. Between 2011 and 2012 I decided to enter the fun-and-pain-filled world of triathlons, so my last marathon was in December 2012. 

For Tokyo, my goals were

- finish

- finish without injury

- finish under 6 hours

From 0-4km: We were very early, so we stood around in our respective holding pens freezing our butts off. But the weather was absolutely perfect for running - 10 degrees C and sunny and warming up. 

At precisely 9.10am the horn went off; so did fireworks..it was mildly confusing for a few minutes. We started walking forward and it took me about 15 minutes to reach the start line. After 4km, my rain jacket came off and went around my waist.

In a long and honourable tradition of wearing completely the wrong thing for races, I wore: thin running gloves, a sports bra, a long-sleeved polypro shirt, a rain jacket, thermal tights because I did not own any full-length running tights and do not now, shorts, running socks, and sneakers. I bet you're REALLY sad there are no photos. 

From 4km-25km: i had planned to take little walk breaks every 5km, but just felt so good I kept right on running. If I had kept up this very, very even pace, I would have made it in under 5 hours. 

A lot of people run Tokyo in costume, and it's around here I was passed by Darth Vader ('may the force be with you'), Michael Jackson, a guy running with a webcam on his head, Stitch from Lilo and Stitch, Keroppi, a Pokemon or two, and oddly enough, the 5:30 pacers. This stretch was pleasant and uneventful, but beginning to slow down a bit from 21km onwards. My nose got sunburnt. 

From about 9km onwards i would think 'Trudy, Trudy, Trudy' to myself and imagined my favourite coach  at the back of the pack on her bike, bearing down on me and yelling nasty things - but this always made me laugh and kept me going. In real life Trudy is a fun and pleasant person COMPLETELY unlikely to yell nasty things at anyone, ever. Which made me laugh harder when I thought about it. Which means those race photos probably feature a ridiculous grin on my face. Bet you're REALLY, REALLY sad there are none. 

21km - at this point I was still on track to finish under 5 hours, which to me was kind of amazing. Tokyoites were lining the streets and cheering everyone on. There was ample water and food from organisers even though we were in the middle/ back of the pack, but even if there hadn't been, people were just handing out chocolate, candy, fried chicken (!), etc. 

30km-36km: leg cramps struck, despite several salt capsules and sports drinks. I started walking a bit ('run until you cramp, walk until you uncramp, rinse and repeat'). at some point I ran out of water and there were no more water points for another km or 2, so I broke my rule about accepting candy from strangers. The Sour Lemon bomb i got from a little old lady was only the best thing I've ever tasted, but other people were handing out things like miso soup, if that's more your...cup of tea. 

Things begin to go downhill from 27+km onward...or more literally, uphill and downhill and uphill... 

36-42km: I did the 'run until you cramp, walk until you uncramp, repeat' thing. While checking splits on my watch, I realised I would go under 5:18 (my previous PB was 6:18) if I could finish the last 6 km in an hour and 15 minutes. I miraculously uncramped 2km from the finish line, and ran for my life ('I want my PB, I want my PB dammit'). got to the finish line, checked my time, broke previous PB by more than an hour (don't think I'll ever do THAT again), cried tears of joy. 

After the marathon I remember waddling back to my hostel and falling asleep for four hours, then going out for dinner (okonomiyaki!) with a couple of friends. I very distinctly remember the restaurant had no elevator. 

My first marathon, December 2009

"What Not To Wear For A Marathon": nylon shorts that became soggy and immediately chafed. No cap on a very hot day. My nose got sunburnt. (See a trend?) Yes, that's the same Nathan handheld bottle strap I used till last year, when I mysteriously lost it after last year's Standard Chartered marathon. 

I'm flying here, but (as usual) cramped and walked along the way. I don't know if that means I could've pushed harder! 

My first half-marathon, December 2008

I look extraordinarily serene, probably because I am running about two km per hour, but still having a much better time of it than the guy behind me. 

What Not To Wear: Do not, under any circumstances, steal your little sister's Nike shorts while she is away at university and wear them for the first time during your very first half-marathon. (If I recall correctly this was due to spectacularly poor laundry planning, and all my non-ratty shorts were in the wash. This was when I was still using the same shorts I'd used in high school.) Because while you are theoretically the same size, you two are also completely different shapes and your thighs will not be happy. 

This was before I discovered the existence of Bodyglide. 

Also before I ever kept a training journal, so I'm afraid I have no idea what to tell those of you who are training for a half-marathon how I did it. I finished in 2:43:31. It's funnier now that I'm trying to bust 2:10. 

---

This morning's 'long' run was terrible and literally a wash. I don't know what I ate last night that did me in, but I had a stomachache when I woke up, felt like throwing up for the first 10K of the run, and when I finally stopped feeling nauseous the skies opened up on me. For the last ten minutes before the downpour it was very breezy though, which was terrific. 

On the bright side, it's only just occurred to me why I like margarita Clif Shot Bloks -- they taste nothing like margaritas and everything like sour plum candy. I bet they're more of a hit in Asia than anywhere else.