So, my goal during this pregnancy is to run 9 races; one for each month of the pregnancy. However, I will have to double up on races this month since I didn't know I was pregnant in March & I will probably have to double up near the end as well since I am due at the beginning of December.
I ran my first race of the series on Saturday, 10 April 2010 at 9AM. It was held in Mansfield, CT and was a delightful cross-country 5k. It ended up being a lot colder than I expected, but was still nice. The weather was over-cast, about 50 degrees, but very blustery. The course its self was a bit slow due to some large puddles, rocks & roots, but a nice one. The hills weren't too extreme, which was nice since I had enough trouble with them as it was! The finnish was a flat field around a backstop, which made for a nice kick.
After all the race announcments at the finnish line, the field of runners (110 of them) walked together across to the starting line. Everyone mingled around for a minute or so while the officials were trying to get people to come to the starting line. No one wanted to toe the line! I noticed that a lot of people were hanging back & saying "No, I'll let the fast people go first", and "I don't want to be in front!" So I stepped up, right in the middle. The gun went off & I took off. At first I felt kind of silly running in front with a bunch of guys and half expected to be over taken by the end of the field. But I kept my place & my pace.
I felt pretty good through the first mile and a half, but at the half way mark I hit a wall. My body desperately wanted to walk, but my mind was actually terrified of being passed! I was still in first and wanted to keep it. That's when my personality split. One part of me kept saying "It's okay to ease up. It's okay to come in second; you're pregnant & everyone will understand. In fact, they will be impressed!" But then the other part of me was screaming back, "No! You are making a point! You don't need to back down just because you are pregnant...that's why you're running in the first place!" The second part of me ended up winning out. When I came out of the woods, I was still in first place.
As I headed onto the field to come around the backstop, I realized that there was an older woman running ahead of me and the loud speakers were saying "Here comes our first female finisher!" I knew this was wrong--that she must have missed the second loop of the course. But still...what if they didn't catch the mistake & gave her the win?! I decided to kick early, just in case. I took off & passed her easily. "The first woman is now the second women..." the loud speakers called out. I hurried around the backstop & did what I could to "sprint" to the finnish line. I dashed through the tape & they pronouced my name (correctly!)
I finished with a 22:59 time, 24th overall (out of 95 finishers), and I was the first female finisher by a full 40 seconds. A small Agusta Pine Tree was my trophy (because of the Earth Day theme). I was quite pleased with myself :) (You can find the full race results here.)
I know I'm not that pregnant right now (five weeks on race day), but I still think this just goes to show that you can still push a little & do great things!
Keep pounding that pavement & go be a Champion!
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