I know, I know...I've missed posts!! I also missed racing in the month of May due to moving, etc. so I had to make up for it by running two races this month. I kind of cheated by running two races from the same series, but I felt that it would be easy to knock two of the way that way. So...
On June 14th (Monday) I ran in the Stanley Park 3 Mile Cross Country Race Series held by Empire One Running Club in Westfield, MA. It was a last minute decision to run the race, but I had to get a race in (well, two actually) since I was behind by missing everything in May. Since I had just gotten my Internet working, I had found the race on the Web the night before & figured, "why not?"
It was a warm day, in the upper 70's, but the gun didn't go off until 6:30PM. I had not run very much the week leading up to race day, nor had I run a step during the whole weekend. It had been raining a whole lot & I didn't want to train with the baby in the rain...I know, poor excuse. I also didn't eat well that day. I thought perhaps I could make up for my unpreparedness by allowing myself a long warm-up run, but that back fired on me since I was tired out before I even hit the line.
My legs were very heavy and I suffered a lot of cramps near my diaphram. Even though the course was realativly easy, I still found myself slowing down to nearly a walk. I was quickly losing my place & had to just focus on finishing running & upright. At one point, far from the finish line, I glanced down at my watch. 18:52. I groaned. I could remember a time when I would have been finished already!! I finally hit the finish line with a time of 24:30, which made me 33rd over all and the 6th female. (It placed me 3rd in the 17-29 division). Needless to say, I was not at all pleased with this, 15 weeks pregnant or not! I vowed to do better next time...and that's when I told my husband that we would be back to run this course again. June 14th Results (Race #3/9).
My family was busy with my son's first birthday party & a quick holiday in New Hampshire, so we didn't run the very next week, but I did run two weeks after. (I told myself that as long as another race happened before July 1st, I would be on schedule.) I trained smart over the past two weeks & even did a little pace work on the track. That 8:10 race pace lingered over my head & pushed me through my workouts; it got me out the door, up the hills, and through the heat. And I must say that it DID pay off!
Last night I ran race #4 of 9 and felt much better. I was smart about eating before leaving for the race, and I didn't do nearly as long of a warm up. The only screw up I suffered from was forgetting to bring my water bottle. And that sucked.
The weather was very warm, about 90 degrees and 80% humidity. I was literally pouring sweat before I even started a warm up! I had to stretch a lot because I was getting hamstring cramps during the week, but I still felt pretty good and somewhat confident. For me, this wasn't going to be a "fun run".
When the gun went off, I held back a little. I already knew what this course had to offer & I saw no sense in going for it too soon. I pushed myself through by focusing on my breathing and letting my hips guide me through the woods. I was now 17 weeks along & noticed that my balance was a little off on the trails. There were a lot of roots & rocks, so I had to be extra careful of my footing...I do think that may have slowed me down a little. But, whenever my legs started to feel heavy, I would just meditate on my form, and count 10 perfect steps. Usually after that I was refocused on running "fast".
I didn't feel fast, but I did feel strong, and suprisingly beautiful. I ended up with fairly painful cramps from having to pee, but was able to keep a decent pace. My main goal was to make it under 24 mins. I wasn't even caring about place; I'm pregnant after all! I came through the finish line with a time of 23:51, which made me 24th overall and the second female (and the 1st in my age division)! This certainly pleased me. Not only was I happy to be faster (even though I was two weeks pregnanter), but I was releaved to have another race under my belt. Only 5 more to go! June 28th Race Results (Race #4/9).
So, what did I learn? Well, for one, I am certainly going to plan out my races a bit better from now on! Also, I need to stop slacking on my training & just get on with it. (I also have a rain cover now for my son's stroller.) I set out to RACE 9 races and that is exactly what I am going to do.
