Anyway, most have probably already seen it on facebook, as I am having a really hard time keeping up with this blog. Anyway, I found out I was pregnant after I had already signed up (and paid for) a trail half marathon. I decided I wanted to try to still do it, mostly because I didn't want to waste my $30 I had spent on an entry fee! haha... anyway, I trained with a friend from church, Rachel. She just had a baby in December when we started to train in February.
{To warn you, this is really long, and may be boring for some so feel free to just look at the pictures.}
When we first started out, I was slightly faster than her (not much though, as I hadn't run since Octoberish...), understandably as she had just given birth which was followed by a big surgery shortly after. Anyway, I thought it would be great because I could just take it easy and run at her pace and I wouldn't have to push it. Well, as the weeks went on, she kept getting faster and faster and I was struggling more and more. I could definitely feel a huge difference trying to get in shape for something when you are pregnant. I felt really really sick the first trimester. Not in the mornings though, the mornings I felt great, then around 1-2ish each day I would start to feel so nauseous and disgusting. I never did actually throw up, unfortunately, because I really felt like if I could just throw up that feeling would go away. It didn't matter what I did or didn't eat, I felt great in the mornings and horrible in the afternoons/evenings. The only time I didn't feel gross is when I was running.
My running partner Rachel and I:
I got the clearance from my Doctor (it was actually the nurse practitioner) to train for the race, who said to just keep going with my physical activity and thought it would be fine.So around 12 weeks, Rachel and I did a 8 or 10 mile run, I don't remember... anyway, we went really fast. I felt HORRIBLE afterward. My whole body ached, I felt sick, I felt extreme exhaustion. I thought I could just take it easy, but I am just too competitive, I decided I needed to tell her so that she could help me take it easy. So I told her I was pregnant and after that we kept the long runs around 9:30-10 minute mile pace, which I felt bad, because I know it was so slow for her, but I didn't want to feel exhausted after. She was so supportive and would run my pace with me, then we did our short runs separate and she would go so fast during the short runs and my short runs were so hard and I would go just as slow or slower and I would skip runs all the time. If I wouldn't have had her to meet for my long runs on the weekends I probably would have given up because I was just feeling so crappy.
When we had only 1 or 2 long runs left I had another Dr. appointment where I met with one of the actual Dr.'s (there are 3 and you rotate each time). Anyway, I told her about my race, just because I wanted her to tell me things I needed to be careful of and she told me I shouldn't do it! I was so annoyed because I had already gone through the hardest part of the training and after one more week it would be tapering (where you start cutting down miles and resting more). The reason she didn't want me to do it is because she thought I would fall while I was running. I was so annoyed, in my head I was thinking "who falls when they run? I have never once fallen when running." I kept asking her for other reasons why I shouldn't do it and falling was her only concern but she was adamant that I not do it. This stressed me out big time. I made a temporary decision not to do and I asked, "so what is the farthest I should run?" She asked me what I had recently run and I told her our last run was 10 miles and she said, "you can run up to 10 miles then." That is when I decided I was still going to do it. If I can run 10 miles, 13 really is barely any different. Her only concern was me falling which I felt I had control over, so I decided I was just going to do it (plus I had already bought the shirts for the race).
Anyway, so the next day was our 11 mile run which we had decided to do on a trail for practice. I told Rachel the story of what happened at the Doctor's office and we were both laughing and making fun of her that she said I might fall, like who falls? So we do this 11 mile trail run (our first trail run of the training), and I tripped like 5 times! I never did fall, but Rachel ended up falling about 9 miles into it. After that run, I felt bad for making fun of my Doctor and not trusting her. I also hurt my leg really bad on that run and couldn't walk or run for almost the next whole week. I decided I would not do anymore trail training runs and when I got to the race just go really slow so that if I were to trip, I would be going slow enough to catch myself.
The week before the race I had a last minute opportunity to go to Disneyworld with my brother and his wife and two kids who are close in age to Cheyenne. He is in the military and got tickets for 4 days for $100 ($25 a day) to all 4 parks! It was such a great deal, I couldn't pass it up. Plus, they live in Texas and I never get to see them, so I was really excited for it. The first 2 days I wore flip flops all day and by the end of the 2nd day my feet were KILLING me! So the 3rd and 4th day I wore these sketcher tennis shoe things, that are more for looks than support I am sure, because I got horrible blisters! The day before the race I rested all day, but my legs were killing me from walking all 4 days and my blisters hurt and I wasn't even able to do any of the runs I was supposed to do the week before.
On the way to the race I was just dreading it. I knew I was going to go so slow, and I was worried my blisters were going to hurt. I kept telling Jeff, I am probably going to get last place and my time is going to suck, and I just have to be okay with that. I was more excited just to finally announce that we were pregnant, that is what I was so excited for. It had been so hard to keep that secret! I kept telling Rachel before the race that she needed to go ahead and not wait for me, because on all of our runs she was so much faster and wasn't ever as tired or sore as me afterward. I told her I wasn't going to try to stay with her and that she better go ahead because if the roles were reversed and she was pregnant then I wouldn't stay back for her. I told her it was a race and I really thought she was going to win it. I know she could have. This is Rachel nursing her 5ish month old baby 10 minutes before the start of the race:
The problem was that she had researched the course beforehand and I had not. People kept telling me there was a brutally crazy hill that climbed like 850 feet or something in 1 mile. Well, luckily I had no idea what that meant, and I had run up hills before so I couldn't imagine it being something I couldn't handle. Anyway, so the start of the race Rachel is feeling great, I am trying to just stay with her, but not push myself too hard. We get to some hills and we talk about how we need to pace ourselves up the hills and let ourselves go downhill. For some reason, I don't know when I started doing this, but naturally when I run, when I get to a hill, I pick up the speed going up hill.
I remember back in high school forever long ago, it might have even been middle school I ran a couple of times with this awesome runner, some of you may know, Sara Thon. She would always go faster up the hills, and I would get so annoyed, because I wanted to slow down. She said she loved the hills. I never understood that. I thought she was crazy. At that point in my life I didn't really enjoy running at all, I did it to stay in shape and because I wanted to win races, but I never really liked it. Anyway, I don't know when I started that same strategy but I know I have been doing it for several years. I guess I just think going uphill sucks whether you are walking, going slow, or sprinting, so you may as well get it over with as fast as possible.
Anyway, so whenever I get to a hill, I naturally just push really hard up the hill. In my head it is me vs the hill. Its like my competition is that hill and I am not going to let it win or slow me down! So back to the race, we get to the 3rd mile (the start of the monster hill) and every other person around us is walking. Rachel says "everyone is walking, they know how long this hill is." In my naive mind who doesn't know how long the hill is and have never walked in a race in my life, I say to her, "that is crazy, I don't want to walk!" She said, "I do!" I was so surprised because she is so tough. She had told me that she freaks herself out in races, so that coupled with knowing about the hill ahead of time I think psyched her out.
I didn't know she stopped to walk but I went into the me vs the hill mode where I don't notice anyone or anything around me and just kept running. This thing was straight up hill! I mean, many people if only walking would have to stop and take a break. I felt like I should be grabbing on to the hill like I was rock climbing to keep from sliding back down. I kept going slower and slower but forced myself to keep the running motion. I was the only one still running for a long time, finally my breathing got the better of me and I started worrying about enough air getting to the fetus. I was so annoyed because I didn't know taking it easy in this race would mean that I had to WALK! Anyway, so I would walk bent over at the waist to get as much air in as possible for 30 seconds then I would run for 15-30 seconds or as much as I could and alternated that sequence until I finally made it to the top of the gruesome hill. When I got to the top I looked down and didn't see Rachel and was confused because I had thought she was right behind me.
I didn't know what to do. Should I wait for her? We were running partners and I had no intention of winning this race or even getting a good time. But, to me it was still a race and I couldn't just stand there or continue to walk, it is just so against my nature. Anyway, I decided to just go slowly because I knew she would catch up to me (after all the hill was over... or so I thought). Then this girl passed me that I didn't know. I looked down at my watch and I was only going like 10 minute mile. I looked around me and there wasn't anyone else in sight. I have a history of getting lost on courses, so I decided to just stick with her to be safe (as in not getting lost). Another guy came up behind me and passed us, so it was the three of us running in a row for about a mile or so. Then we got to another hill which in any other run I would think was a monster hill, but after completing the previous hill, just thought of it as a little hill. The other two started to walk. I did not feel like walking anymore so I went around them and just steadily made my way up the hill.
The next 5 or 6 miles I was all by myself going up and down more hills. I had no idea it was an out and back course, so after a while people started passing me going the other direction. Every single person I passed would say to me "you're 2nd female." When the first person said that I was really surprised because there were at least about 50-75 people in front of me at the beginning of the giant hill. I figured I was middle of the pack female. At first I was like oh that is cool and I was thinking "good when Rachel catches up to me she can totally win." Then after a while, I started to become worried because I still hadn't seen Rachel. I started thinking "oh my gosh what if she fell down the hill and I was not there to help her."
Anyway, I finally made it to the halfway point got some water, ate my gu shot blocks and turned around. Luckily only about .10-.20 miles after the turn around I saw Rachel and she looked great. I was so relieved. Of course after I turned around I kept passing more and more people and every person would tell me 2nd female. After a while, my competitive nature took over and every time I heard that all I would hear is that I was not the first!
I still had about 5 miles to go, so I just kept telling myself just relax, take it easy, I didn't want to push myself too hard. Anyway, I finally came up on the 1st female. When I was in high school track my racing strategy was to stay behind the first place person, right on their shoulder and make them do the work, then pass them right at the end. I just figured I would do that. When I started coming up behind her she moved off the path, I said "oh I am not passing you." then I stayed right behind her for about a quarter of a mile. Then we got to a hill and were about half way up and I think she was probably annoyed that I was running so close to her, haha... I don't know if anyone races like that in long races... anyway, she pulled off to the side and said "go around me" I was really surprised and said okay, then I looked back and she had stopped to walk, so hopefully she was just tired and I wasn't being annoying, haha... after that there were many more hills and I did have to stop and walk a few more times, but it would always be 15 seconds walking and 30 seconds running.
The last 3 miles or so were steep downhill and since it was the end of the race my competitive nature took over and I did what I promised myself I would NOT do! I sprinted downhill and I was totally out of control. At one point I was going 6 minute miles downhill which is very fast for the shape I am in right now. I was even going "whoa whoa whoa" and holding my arms out like an airplane for balance. This guy was sprinting behind me for about half a mile then he finally passed me, he said, "congrats on the baby, you are one hell of a runner." I wondered if he would have thought the same thing if I would have ate it right in front of him! haha... There was this pond thing you run by and I was hot so I want to get my legs wet so I purposely stepped in a puddle thing right by it and it was SO SLIPPERY. I almost fell! If I hadn't been praying and praying that I wouldn't fall for the previous two hours before that I think I might have fallen! At that point I made myself slow down and be in control the rest of the way down.
Toward the end of the race I passed this kid who was around 16. We were going downhill and he was walking. I told him, "you can do it you are almost there!" He said, "my hamstrings are hating me right now." I told him to keep running, walking would only tighten them more. He caught up to me and said, "I am going to try to stay with you, this is my first half marathon." I had a gps watch and the miles on the course were not marked so I told him exactly how long he had left. I kept talking to him and telling him he was almost there and no matter how tired he got to just keep running, even if it was slow. When we had about 1.5 miles left, he took off. I felt so good like I had helped to coach him:)
When there was about a mile left I passed a photographer, I was like, "are there any more hills?" (there had been about 3 or 4 more since the bottom of the mountain). He said just one more, you have about half a mile left. I said, "kill me now! There are too many hills!!" I was so hot, I needed water, I felt like I was starting to get the dehydrated goosebumps, my legs were so stiff from going down the hill, I felt like I was waddling.
Finally I saw the bridge and picked up the pace until I finished!!! When I saw Jeff after he looked so proud of me, he was smiling and he was so surprised to see me finish so early. Whenever Jeff comes to watch me play a sport he always looks like he is so proud of me. It is so cute and it makes me feel so good about myself. We took pictures and I drank an entire powerade, two water bottles and ate about 10-15 orange slices.
Rachel finished a while later and we cheered her into the finish line. She did such a great job. She was nursing which takes a lot out of you, and she had just had a baby and major surgery only 5 months prior. I ended up getting a cute medal and a gift certificate for a pair of trail shoes and Rachel also placed 2nd in her age group so she got a medal too! After the race the announcer kept announcing on the loudspeaker, the first female finisher is 17 weeks pregnant. That was kind of embarrassing because I felt like everyone was staring at me.
Anyway, I am now 18 weeks and we find out the gender in 2 weeks. We would be happy with either. I think it is a girl and would love to have a girl, but we want to eventually have a boy so it would be nice if it was a boy too because then I would feel less stressed when we have our next one, because I really want to have at least one boy.
Stay tuned for the gender. If you have facebook, I will most likely update that first because it is much easier!
Oh and the quote "Your eggo is preggo" is from the movie juno. The guy who plays Dwight on the office, is the worker at the convenience store and tells it to Juno when she takes a pregnancy test. I thought it was hilarious!
