The next race I did was the Bay Area Cross Country Challenge. This race was also a ton of fun. I felt a little silly on the starting line as there was a large number or pros on the starting line in their bunners and sports bras. I did a minimal amount of strides because I felt kinda frumpy in my long tights and tank top with my huge belly plunging through. The race still turned out to be a great decision however as the announcer hyped the crowd up for me every time I came by one of the 2k loops despite being so far behind. This race due to the terrain (dirt/mud instead of pavement) was a little slower than my five miler I did a few weeks before. My time was 23:23 for the 6k course, so roughly 6:15 pace. I'll talk it for being just about 7 months pregnant!!!
My mileage was mainly in the mid 50's this month though I came close to hitting 60 the last week. As far as workouts, I did the races along with a few tempos. Here is a sample week:
Week of January 16- January 22
SUN- BAXC Race! 23 minute warm up + strides, 8 min cool down very slowly!! 6k race in 23:23 in Golden Gate Park. total miles: 8 miles
MON- Ran 60 mins with Liz and YiOu from Concrete Pipeline trail in Fairfax around Bon Tempe and back (same as 1/15) @ 7:15 pace total miles: 8 miles
TUE- 6 miles (easy recovery run) on Crown Road with doggie (Carolina). Needed alone easy day after racing and hilly runs! 42 mins total miles: 6 miles
WED- Ran with Magda 57-58 mins @ 7:15 pace from parent's house in Berkeley down The Uplands, up Chabot adjacent to freeway to Temescal to almost Montclaire village and back home total miles: 8 miles
THUR- Very easy run with a girl from Impalas @ like 8:00 min pace (way too slow, hurt to go that slow!) 63 mins total miles: 8 miles
FRID- Out/ back on Crown road (20 mins per outback) with a random add on in the middle (because I ran into a friend) and then an additional add on in the end. 58 mins total @ 7:10 pace total miles: 8 miles
SAT- 50 mins from house to Phoenix Lake around and back. Didn't feel too good but great, sunny day! 7:30 pace total miles: 7 miles
total miles for the week: 53 miles
Me running in Ocean beach (early February)
Month 8- This month I definitely started to feel the weight of the baby start to settle in. I got some incredible runs in, but my hard efforts started becoming more scarce. For the most part, I would consider a run with a local, fast friend named YiOu up to the top of Concrete Pipe from Ross Common and back. This was about a 9 mile run and involves a serious climb up the mountain. Hills as a pregnant lady, running are so hard! I did this run at least once sometimes twice a week with YiOu and always felt pretty pooped out for the rest of the day afterwords. Additionally the amount of pee breaks I started needing per run were climbing for sure. I was lucky this month if I only had to stop twice, but 3-5 times was more of the average.
We also went to Hawaii at the end of this month! The training there was so hard! The heat + being pregnant made it feel like I was going into labor after some of the runs because dehydration causes braxton hicks contractions. These are not a big deal and easy to make go away after a large glass of pineapple juice mixed with water :-). To solve the heat problem, I ended up running at 7 am every morning to beat the heat. We were there with a bunch of my husband's triathlon friends, so I rotated running with them (while Jeff, my husband, pushed Ramsey in the jogger stroller) and running with one of the guys girl friend's, Rebecca, who was a wonderful companion. Rebecca and I would run an easy 7ish miles at about 7:45 pace together, which was perfect to balance out the 6-8 milers my husband's friends would run with me at closer to 7 min pace. I also took a really easy 3 mile day in the middle of the trip in fear of over doing it and having the baby in Hawaii!
What was great about this month was the increase of attention! I hate to admit it, but who doesn't like a little bit of attention right?? This month I was starting to get so huge (well mostly my stomach) that I could visibly see heads turning in cars and people giving crazy looks while I ran by them. I also got lots of positive attention as well from other women on the trails. They would say things like "You go girl" or "I ran through all of my pregnancies too, you look great!". I don't know if this positive encouragement would have happened to a women running while 8 months pregnant 15 years ago, but it is common enough and proven to be safe now, so I am loving all of the cheerleaders surrounding me everyday!!!
Week of February 13th- 19th
SUN- Ran with YiOu to the end of Concrete Pipe and back in 66 mins (7 min pace) got to the end in 34mins, one of our fastest ever, totally pooped out the rest of the day! total miles- 9 miles
MON- Ran alone in the pouring rain! Just on the roads from woodlands market around bike paths in Marin @ 7:20 pace. 50 mins total and total miles: 7 miles
TUE- Ran with YiOu again from my house (due to rain) ran to bike path (starts in Ross) down to the hospital and back home and then added on another 10 mins. Ran at 7:10 pace, felt great! total miles: 8 miles
WED- Outback on Crown road really easy. Didn't feel so great!!! total miles: 6 miles
THUR- 58 mins from my parents house in Berkeley down the Uplands, then Claremont, then Chabot and to Temescal and just before Montclair Village (same run I did with Magda last month) this time with a new friend named Kelly from UNC and husband went to DUke yay! SHe is fun and fast! SO glad I met her! 7:15 pace total miles: 8 miles
FRID- 67 mins with YiOu (same run as Sunday) to the end of Concrete Pipeline and back from Ross common via trail by Phoenix lake. Hill felt hard!!! Pooped out the rest of the day again! Got an iphone though and Ramsey got his first haircut! (Totally irrelevant!) total miles: 9 miles
SAT- Ran an easy 24 mins from the house downtown to Lagunitas road and back through the Seminary neighborhood (my classic day off loop) don't want to go into labor on the plane to Hawaii tomorrow and haven't taken an easy day in way too long! total miles: 3.5 miles
total miles for the week: 51ish miles (with one day almost off!!!)
Pics of Me in Hawaii!!!!!
