June 5k Recap

before the race

I haven't run/spent time on the treadmill since my May 5k- I've just been too busy working on the patio and the treehouse. Backing off my treadmill time has helped my hip and glute pain tremendously. Working on the patio and treehouse brings its own set of aches and pains (all that bending and twisting while cutting wood, putting it place, and screwing it down), but has kept me active and moving.

with my friend B

I've run this race the last three years, so I know what to expect- you're either going uphill or downhill, and it's hot and muggy. My plan was to run the downhills and walk the uphills and hope I didn't overheat in the process, and that's pretty much how I ended up doing it.

I ran (slowly) the first .7 miles down the hill, walked .7 miles back up the hill, ran .4 miles into some woods until I hit some hills and started walking again. From that point on, I walked most of the rest of the race, with little bits of running here and there, when I encountered a downhill. As I've said before this is a tough course with lots of hills. I had no intention of running the uphills and saved my energy for the downhills. Despite that, I still walked fast on the uphills (I can't help myself). All the walking I did in the last half left me with enough energy for a good sprint into the finish, passing 5 or 6 people along the way. Best finish line sprint I've ever had :)

walking back up that .7 mile hill

This year I finished in 41:19, which is a 13:24 minute/mile pace. My mile splits show just how much I slowed down as the race progressed- this was the result of walking rather than running.

mile 1: 12:25 minutes
mile 2: 13:38 minutes
mile 3: 14:38 minutes

This was my slowest finish yet for this race, but that doesn't bother me. I haven't run in a month and I'm 34 weeks pregnant. The fact that I'm running at all is huge. When I ran this race while pregnant with River, I wasn't as far along, and was able to finish faster, but not by much. Running while pushing a jogger slows me down but is still physically easier than running while pregnant.

2014 38:11, pushing River in the jogger
2013 40:02, pregnant with River (23 weeks)
2012 39:23, pushing Sunshine in the jogger

I had less ligament pain in my stomach this time than when I ran this race when pregnant with River (or some of the previous races this year), which I expected based on my experience doing the 4 mile race while 36 weeks pregnant with him- I had less pain then too. I think by this time the baby's big enough that there's not as much bouncing around to cause the ligament pain. I did have some discomfort that I originally thought was the baby bouncing on my bladder, but as I ran I had the thought that it might actually be him bouncing on my cervix. Good thing I don't have an incompetent cervix.....

Despite being a tough course, I keep coming back to this race for several reasons. It's super jogger-friendly (which is why I ran it the first time- Mr M was out of town and I wanted to run a race that would allow me push Sunshine in the jogger), and every year there's more people running the race while pushing joggers and strollers. In fact, one of the top-finishing guys was pushing a double jogger (super impressive!). This race also has such a great vibe- it's a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project and the support of local companies is impressive, as is the number of people who come out to run and walk the race.

I have just one more race before my due date- I'll be walking the 4th of July 5k that I ran last year. I'm going to have to restrain myself not to run the downhills and force myself to walk the whole thing. While I'll be 38 weeks pregnant, and technically full-term, I don't need to be inducing early labor. The 4th of July 5k will also be the first race towards my 40 by 40 goal. I think a 5k while 38 weeks pregnant is a great first race for a goal that involves a variety of races.

2015 races
June 5k           41:19      34 weeks pregnant
May 5k          40:05      29 weeks pregnant, pushed River in the jogger
April 5k         42:36      28 weeks pregnant, pushed River in the jogger
March 5k       35:32      22 weeks pregnant
February 5k  33:55       20 weeks pregnant
January 5k    33:25       12 weeks pregnant