Slowing down...

Since it was cold today, I decided to hop on the treadmill. Imagine my surprise to discover that I'm walking at about half the speed of my pre-pregnancy walks. It was a huge shock to me. I knew that I had slowed down... but I had no idea how much I had slowed.

I did some very light upper body stuff today. And, again, I cut back the weight about 50%. It was a dramatic change.

I figure this change in the feel of my workouts is for a few different reasons:

• My changing body: I'm carrying more weight, and my lungs are starting to get smushed by my insides. (I've even noticed that I get short of breath more easily just doing basic housework.) This means less endurance, less energy, etc.
• I'm less fit: If truth is to be told, I'm simply less fit. I barely moved during the "queasy" phase of my first trimester. And I dialed everything back a notch so I didn't do anything risky during those early days. Since it's been months and months since I've gone on a real run or done any real weight lifting, I've clearly lost some of both my aerobic and strength capacities.
• I'm nervous: Even though I'm in the "safer" zone of the second trimester, I'm still worried about straining my body too hard. If I weren't pregnant, I would be physically capable of pushing myself harder and accomplishing more on the treadmill. But I don't want to do any single thing that might cause problems for me and the baby.
  

So... until this pregnancy is over, I guess I'll just do my best to stay fit with my lighter workouts. It's been hard for me to mentally accept, but I don't really have a choice.