Saturday I ran my December race, which was a small 5k to raise money for groups that support the troops. I always enjoy participating in races that are for a good cause.
It was 31 degrees when I arrived at the race location, 35 minutes before the start. I'm not sure what the temp was when we started, but I do know it had warmed up some. The bright sun helped things seem warmer. When I left an hour after the race started, it was 48 degrees.
I've been cold a lot lately (I blame screwed up pregnancy hormones), so I had one too many layers on. I could have removed my outer layer, but my number was pinned to it and I didn't want to mess with it. Note to self: err on the side of being a little chilly at the beginning rather than "just right". "Just right" won't be "just right" for long, as I saw Saturday. I didn't overheat too badly, but I was a bit too warm for comfort.
I really like the course for this race. About two thirds of it is on paved roads and bike paths, but the other third is on gravel paths, which is a nice change from most 5ks that are strictly on the road. The gravel paths were a bit uneven in places, but nothing like the trail 5k and trail 15k I did earlier this year.
I was tired all week, so I was worried about how this race would go. I think my fueling has been ok this past week, it was more an issue of dealing with all the physical changes that occur when pregnant. I remember being pretty tired at this stage last time too. Getting to bed earlier would definitely be beneficial at this point.
Despite how this week's workouts went (not well because of how tired I was feeling), I felt good during the race. I did have to stop and walk a few times, and my pace did slow down as the race progressed, but I never felt exhausted and my legs didn't feel like lead, like they were earlier in the week. I did take a nap when I got home though :)
My Garmin said the course was about .1 mile off (3 miles instead of 3.1), but maybe I'm just getting better at running the tangents? :) I was able to finish in 33:25, which makes it my PR for the year. Yay me! And I did it while pregnant! Double yay!
My next race will be the New Year's Day 5k that I PR'd at two years ago, which I WILL do this year so I don't screw up my "at least one race a month" goal again. I skipped the race at the beginning of this year because I was a little under the weather and I thought there'd be another race I could do that month. For whatever reason, there's only one local race in January. We'd have to travel 2-3 hours to find another one, and I don't like traveling that much for shorter races. I don't understand why there's not more races in January in our area. It's not like we live in the north with lots of snow and ice.
This year I ran 14 races; at least one every month except January. In July, August, and October I did two races. Last year I only ran 7 races, so I doubled that and it felt very manageable and not overwhelming. In June I start my 40 by 40 goal which will require an average of 20 races a year for two years. Being pregnant means I'll start out slow, but I think I'll still be able to do it.
I feel good about my running this year. How about you?
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December 5k: 33:25 PR! pregnant
Turkey Trot 5k: 34:22 pregnant
Halloween 5k: 35:26 ran in costume, barely pregnant
October 5k Trail: 38:05 second trail run
September half: 2:51:01 first half marathon since getting pregnant
August 8.5 miles: 2:06:58 first trail runAugust 2 mile: ~40 min? Mud Run with Sunshine
2nd July 5k: 35:27
4th of July 5k: 34:15
June 5k: 38:11 Ran with jogger
May 5k: 39:23 Ran with jogger
April 5k: 37:40 Color Run
March 5k: 37:33
February 4.5 miles: 1:49:55 Mud Run
January: ---
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