5k Race Recap

Saturday morning I participated in a 5k (my fourth race of the year and third while pregnant). I ran it last year, but pushed LMS in the jogger while doing it. It's a hilly course, so I didn't attempt a repeat this year :) Instead, LMS hung out with some friends while I ran (and walked).

I had planned on running all the down hills and walking up the hills, and I mostly managed that. Unfortunately a ligament on the side of my stomach started hurting almost as soon as I started running. I was wearing my support belt, but it didn't alleviate the pain, which I found interesting and a bit annoying. Walking definitely felt better than running. I managed to walk fast (years of practice keeping up with taller friends!) but my downhill runs were slower than I had planned.

Last year I wasn't ready for the hills, so this year I made sure to increase the incline on my treadmill workouts. Not pushing the jogger helped too, but the hills were easier this time around.

This race actually has an off-road option for the second mile or so. I wasn't able to do it last year because joggers aren't allowed on that portion. Since we skipped the jogger this year, I opted to go off-road instead of staying on the road. It took us on a dirt road/track through the woods and made the course much more enjoyable.

Because I took it way easier than I usually would in a race, I had plenty of energy for a really good kick on the last little downhill stretch into the finish line. That was an unusual feeling :)

My finish time was 40:02, but since that was the time I saw as I crossed the finish line, I don't think they took into account the time it took to get to the start line. Despite the heat (it was really hot and humid), the hills, and the ligament pain, I was only a smidge slower than last year, when I pushed LMS in the jogger and had a finish time of 39:23.

I'm happy with how I did. And honestly, the fact that I'm still able to run at all is wonderful. When I was pregnant with LMS I could barely walk without massive amounts of pain. I was definitely not running. I'm hoping if I can keep as active as possible as long as possible it'll be easier to start running again once I hit 6 weeks postpartum.

LMS ran the kids race again. Because of her recent birthday, she ended up in the heat with the oldest kids. She was probably the youngest in the group, but did quite well. I even managed to randomly get a really good picture of her running.

Isn't this a great picture?