It's Not My Body, It's My Mind

**The is the post about the RAGE I've been alluding to**

Here is a very talented artist's rendering of me as Psycho-Stephanie (as Liz likes to call her):

Since I've entered the third trimester I've been reading all about the good (and by good, I'm being sarcastic) things to come regarding my emotions. Most things I've read say that I can expect a return to my "first trimester moodiness". Hmm . . . that's funny, I don't remember feeling homicidal one minute, deliriously happy the next and crying the next during my first trimester. I have a theory.

I blame my huge increase in moodiness on my inability to run. I honestly believe that running (for many miles at a time - not just the 2 I'm doing now) during my first 22 weeks of pregnancy, settled me. For the last 8 weeks, I haven't been able to run nearly as long (or far) as I used to and mentally I'm suffering. I'm not concerned about my body (I'm still getting some jog waddling done), I'm worried about my mind.

This theory isn't a unique idea. I read many posts from other running mommies that say their families literally push them out the door for runs if they haven't been for a couple of days. Apparently these mommies become unbearable without running - and they're not even pregnant right now. I'm sure my body has enjoyed the rest (while it's working hard to nurture a baby) from running, but I don't think my mind has enjoyed the time off.

OK - so going back to 6th grade science and I'm going to apply the scientific method to my theory.

My Hypothesis: Running (if you can believe it) helps me to cope and regulates my pregnancy mood swings.

Experiments: This is difficult since I can't really start running 10 miles a day again. I'm going to try a couple other things -

• Do more cardio and sweat more (to the best of my ability and without harming myself).
  
• Use my hypnobabies relaxation techniques and try to visualize myself running (we used to do relaxation and visualization for swimming all the time, so this isn't really as crazy as it sounds). Maybe I can trick my subconscious mind into thinking that I HAVE been running and get some endorphine benefits for my efforts.
  

Data: I'm going to try the above techniques for the next TWO WEEKS (ending with my February 7th Weekly Workout Summary) and see how it goes.

Conclusions: I'll report on if any of this helps with the crazy little roller coaster (known as the 3rd trimester) of emotions I'm on.