Photo from Mount Royal, Frisco, Colorado.

"That is happiness; to be disolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep." - Willa Cather

Saturday 29 September 2007

Tale of the 5 month pregnant half marathon.

What an incredible morning! The race went really well. I kept up the same pace pretty much the whole time and only had two bathroom stops (okay that is a lot for the 1 hour and 46 minutes it took me to finish). It would have been a lot more than two, though, had I not realized I had a bladder infection yesterday and had SR order me some Nitrofurantoin stat.

If you ever need to restore your faith in humanity, you should wear a "5 months pregnant" t-shirt to a half marathon. Men and women alike were so supportive. And despite was SR had predicted, the women seemed proud of me and not jealous or judgemental. And there were many fun comments directed at me...

Did they charge you twice?

Bet that kid's going to be a runner!

The rule is they take 1/3 off your finishing time.

Man, if you beat me, I'm going to feel like shit; you're carrying a whole other person. To which I responded "Glad it's inspiring you just like it is me."

I saw SR after the half-way turnaround and he was in third, looking very strong and fast. He managed to stay in third the whole race. We were quite happy at the end and embraced for a long time, partly because we were so cold. And then I ate 6 large sugar cookies and half a bagel.

I couldn't believe how good I felt the whole race! Somehow I didn't overdo it, but still managed to go fast enough to feel good about my time.

I certainly put my foot in my mouth when we were talking to my future boss in the urgent care... He had told me he was a "serious runner" during the job interview but he didn't pick up on the fact that I was a runner, too. Anyway, after the race I asked him how he did and when he told me his time, I said "Wow, I'm 5 months pregnant (showed the shirt) and I beat you!" He looked pretty disgruntled after that. But SR and two other residents were laughing heartily. Oh, well.

One of our best friends, Justine (pet name), took second overall despite the fact that he had started out with a good lead. I guess the pacing bikes led him down a wrong street for about a minute and then he couldn't catch up to the first place guy. He seemed pretty calm about it, though. And happy overall because his first child was just born on Thursday.

Yes, it was a great day.

Pictures of the race will follow shortly.

7 comments:

Olga said...

Love those comments! Glad you felt good, and laughed at the boss coming behind:) And the time is?...it's not important, I am just curious how much you'd run when you give birth:) Gonna have to start making goals and plans!

sea legs girl said...

Thanks, Olga! The time was 1:46. A good 13 minutes slower than the non-pregnant time, but I'm okay with that :).

Olga said...

I just read it at his blog, I am a dummy:) Heck, my PR was 1:43! Now I don't believe I can break 2 hrs...jeez, that's too much fast running for me. Awesome! next year is a marathon, and lets break 3 hrs! Then go on 50k and smoke it in 4. I've got plans for you, Girl, in case you didn't notice:)

Olga said...

Tomato juice - good on stomach, calories (though very little), salt (nice amount), I like the taste to break away from HEED and gels sweet stuff. Tomato soup - soup after 50 miles is PRIME energy source, it has calories, salt and it's warm to keep your stomach working. They usually serve chicken noodle, potato, broth or tomato. Since I don't like to chew on things while doing an ultra, I go for liquid soups, and I do like tomato as you had guessed:) At this race potato soup was pretty bad, very plain and with big chunks of potatoes. Soemtimes I can get a piece of boiled potato with salt on it, but may be 2-3 times in a 100M. Some people eat burritos or beans in cans, turkey sandwiches, PBJ (I hate those). Some AS serve hot breakfast with sausage and eggs and pancakes (I had it at Wasatch, but I wasn't racing by the morningm just making it to the end). Eating food might be good, but takes a lot of time and an iron stomach - I don't have either when I race:)

Joy Joy said...

I don't know if you get comments from old posts, but here goes anyway. I read your blog often--I am 26 weeks and an avid runner. I did a half marathon 4 weeks ago--about an hour slower than normal--but it felt so good! Thanks for all the inspiration!

Shawnie1101 said...

Your blog is inspiring! Getting ready to run the Boston Marathon at around 4 months pregnant. Was trying to figure out if I should wear a shirt saying so. I think my answer is "YES!"

sea legs girl said...

Awesome, Shawn!! Please let me know how it goes. I say definitely go with the t-shirt. Why not show other women it can be done :)? I hope it is a great experience, and really, don't forget to tell me about it!!