2021 Review: Blogging, Pregnancy, and Running

As 2021 comes to a close, I am sure you have also spent a little time reflecting on this past year. I cannot help but be grateful and feel insanely blessed. Between my pregnancy and running plus my time at home with Mitchy, it was incredible. There were certainly some challenging and frustrating times, but I have reframed my outlook to view the hard times as learning experiences and nothing more. Life has been good to me in the grand scheme.

Pregnancy and Running

The most obvious highlight was the birth of our perfect baby girl Natalie on October 1st. She was 9 days past her September 22 due date, but I was excited to have an October baby. With the exception of morning sickness (by morning sickness I mean all-day nausea and food aversions for 5 weeks), I had the easiest pregnancy. I believe I felt so great because I maintained a high level of fitness from start to finish.

In addition to lots of physical activity, I prioritized healthy eating even more than usual, tried to get adequate sleep, and always stayed hydrated! I am going to do a shameless plug for myself and just say I am a badass little mommy because I ran the duration of my pregnancy, even week 41. I also ran my entire pregnancy with Mitchy, but this time around I was much faster and ran longer distances. On 9/11, I ran 9.11 miles with a friend when I was 38 weeks pregnant. It was a pretty impressive pace too. My doctors fully approved all of my running. This is important to note because every pregnancy is different and doctors should always be consulted to ensure mom and baby stay healthy and well.

I guess what I am trying to say is that whether pregnant or not, I truly enjoy running that much. Running while pregnant is empowering though, and it really benefitted me. It is easy to fall into a routine or live by the "status quo," but life is more fun when you push boundaries (safely, of course)!

Blogging on Run to the Table

Another noteworthy event of 2021 was launching my new blog Run to the Table! In just about 6 months, I have already learned so much about blogging that I wish I had known years ago. The key takeaway is that I now know just how little I actually know. I feel like I start to get a grasp on a concept and then there is something new that I discover. Fortunately, I am eager to learn and put forth the time and effort to keep this going long-term. For now, my blog is just an expensive hobby, but I am confident it won't always be this way.

I have plans to really invest in myself in 2022 to continue to hone my skill set. In addition to blogging, I am thrilled to spend another year home with my little ones. I have several running goals too. I plan to finalize those over the coming weeks. Who knows, I may even do a blog post? This was always my intent, especially with my rebrand. My niche truly is running and eating...ha!

Final Thoughts

Thank you 2021 for helping me see just how powerful, impactful, and nurturing I am. It is true that each year makes you a little wiser and smarter, and I really am starting to see how this plays out in real life. This year also reaffirmed that I love pregnancy and running. Growing a human inside of you is pretty much the greatest honor and so cool when you really think about it. I am not meaning to imply anything, but I am thankful that I have been able to do this twice now.

Here are a few other highlights:

• Rob's mullet (he's been growing it out since June)
• Mitchy's tractor hat (iykyk)
• The BEST neighbors who feel like family!
• Pool days
• Lots of baking - this granola is an all-time favorite

Last but not least, never let anyone dull your sparkle. If people treat you like an afterthought or worse, kindly move on. You can't please everyone or force a relationship. Your greatest asset is YOU, and that includes your mental health as much as your physical health.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, loves! Let's do big things in 2022!