First post-baby race

Yesterday I ran the Utah Human Race 10k.

As far as training goes, I was able to run 5 miles on Tuesday (2 days before the race), but had to run really slow.

I knew I'd be able to finish, but that I'd definitely shooting for my personal worst. :)

The race start was pretty dang cold, but at least it wasn't snowing.

I started out nice and easy, and after I found my stride and a good song came on, I decided to run a little faster, but not much.

On mile 2, the unthinkable happened.

My ipod died.

Not the battery. The ipod.

The screen was on and fully charged, but it just locked up and wouldn't play music anymore.

Noooo!!

Haha, I am so dependent on my music.

I do think my pace slowed down after that, but after about a mile of feeling bad for myself, I got used to it and it wasn't that bad.

I ended up finishing in 1:01:40, way faster than I thought I'd do.

About a 9:55 mile.

Not bad for having a 7-week-old baby!! I was going to be stoked about 1:10!

So glad I've been able to run this soon, it's definitely giving me hope for that marathon in June!

I registered in the Athena division. I figured if I'm gonna run with all this baby weight I might as well! So I finished 4th in my division, haha... out of 24. :)
I finished 183rd out of 396 females in the 10k. So I did (just barely) finish in the top half out of all the women! Woo hoo! Feelin' good about that!

I am sore as all get out today, but happy to be building muscle and getting back in shape!

Return to running

I'm running again!

I want to shout it from the roof tops!

Running after having a baby is a major sign that I'm getting my life back.

It makes me feel empowered and happy.

It makes me feel young.

Being a mom of four kids sometimes feels like responsibility, responsibility, responsibility all day long and running provides me that outlet to just do something for myself. Even if it's just 20 minutes. My entire attitude changes that day.

And it also burns calories, which is a major plus right now.

Micah turned 5 weeks old on Saturday, November 3rd.

So on Monday the 5th, I decided I would try walking a couple of miles and see how I felt.

I felt great.

So on Wednesday the 7th, I thought I would just see what would happen if I ran a mile.

I put it on a 12 minute mile, being super cautious.

It felt really easy.

It felt so easy, in fact, that I went ahead and did 2 miles.

I didn't run the next day to see how that initial run would affect my body.

Besides a little lower back pain and some sore inner thighs, I felt fantastic.

So that Friday I ran 2.5 miles, and on Saturday I did 3.2. I even dipped into the 10-something pace and still felt great! I could not believe how well my body was adjusting to running again. I still can't believe it. I've never had a comeback this strong. I don't know if it's because I ran those 2 half marathons while I was pregnant or because I let my body heal for almost the full 6 weeks or both. But whatever it is, I'm loving it.

This week Micah is 6 weeks old and I ran 2 miles on Monday and 3 miles yesterday (Wednesday) and felt great. Yesterday I did a 10:30 pace for the first 1.25, and then a 10:00 pace for the rest of the second mile. On my 3rd mile, I kept upping my speed little by little and finished at a 9:30 pace. I actually dipped down into an 8:57 sprint for the last tenth of a mile and I felt that a little, but it wasn't that bad! So far so good!! No weird pelvic pain or anything.

So, because I have been feeling so good, I decided to run a 10k turkey trot with some friends from my ward next week. I hope I don't pay for that. I'm going to run 5 this Saturday (realllly slow) and that should give me a good idea of whether or not I can really do it.

And speaking of girls from my ward, I have an amazing group of girls that love to do races together and today we all signed up for the Big Cottonwood Marathon in September. It's a new race (first time just a couple months ago) but everyone is RAVING about it. These girls did the half and said it was hands down the best race they've ever done. They said it was the only downhill course that was really downhill the entire time. And they give you your race photos for free! They said the organization was amazing, too. So I'm really excited about that. So now I've got the Utah Valley Marathon in June and the Big Cottonwood in September. Woo hoo!

**Update**

I set out to run 5 on Saturday and only made it 4. Yikes. I really felt like an idiot for registering for that 10k on Thursday. I'm so glad I did it though because I learned a valuable lesson- slow down!! Today I set out for a run and decided I would go way slower (11 minute miles +) and just see how far I felt like going. I got to 3 miles and felt great. Got to 4 and still felt great. So I did 5 and it wasn't hard (just took forever- 56 minutes). On Saturday I was trying to pull off a 10 minute pace and it was just too fast. So now I know that I need to take this 10k really slow, and that will be my ticket.  Seems silly to sign up for a RACE just to run slow, but it will be really cool to log a 10k before Micah is even 2 months old! Huge improvement on my recovery after Kyle- it took me 6 months to get up to a 10k! I know the biggest difference has been having my own treadmill, but I'm still stoked about how well my body is responding to running!

Getting Ready for my Comeback

Just eight days away from my due date, the end is in sight.

I ran two half marathons during this pregnancy, but it still feels like an eternity since I've run.

I haven't run at all since the Provo City Half in May.

Since then it has been lots of walking and elliptical training, but nothing too serious or consistent.

I know what's ahead of me.

Slow runs.

Aching pelvis.

Injury.

It's all bound to happen.

I've been there before.

I know that a 10-minute pace will soon feel like an all-out sprint.

I know that the first time I hit 5 miles again, I'm going to feel like an Olympic athlete.

I know that I'm going to have good days and bad days.

But mostly, I know that I will get back to where I once was, I have no doubt about that, and that is comforting.

I think at the end of my other pregnancies, I was scared.

Scared that I would never get back in shape.

Scared that I wouldn't be able to run as fast as before.

Scared that I wouldn't have the discipline to just get it done.

But the fourth time around, I just feel peaceful.

I know I will get there.

I know it will be hard.

I know it will take time.

But I'll get there.

The only thing I am scared about this time is the fact that I'm already registered for the Utah Valley FULL marathon in June. This is new territory. Running a full marathon just 8 months after having a baby? I know people do stuff like that, but I'm no Kara Goucher or Paula Radcliffe. Can you believe those ladies? Superhumans.

I think the hardest part about training for this marathon is going to be time.

Newborns are very time-consuming.

And when you exclusively breastfeed, things get even more tricky.

Justin and I have talked about it a lot, though, and he has been really understanding and supportive- I am so grateful to be married to a man who is supportive of me and is a team player. He doesn't seem bothered at all if he has to get up early with the baby if I'm out on a run, take care of the kids on Saturday mornings when I have long runs, etc. 

Aaand the thing that gives me hope is that we finally bought a treadmill.

It's a nice NordicTrak commercial treadmill that we got at a discount retailer. 

I've only used it for walking so far, but it seems nice and I have high hopes that this will allow me to get my runs in a LOT easier.

Alright, official marathon training starts in February!

So I have November, December & January to build my base before then.

Wish me luck!

Week 19: Provo City Half Marathon

Just before I hit my 19-week pregnant mark, I ran the Provo City Half Marathon.

The course starts just above Vivian Park and runs by Bridal Veil Falls, a beautifully serene course that I'm no stranger to. The Riverwoods 10-miler and the Halloween Half follow this same route and why shouldn't they? It's beautiful.

I do wish the course had started a little higher up the canyon- it wasn't nearly as much downhill as I was hoping for- but a great course nevertheless.

I started the race off at my comfortably aggressive pace. I never wear a Garmin in races (because I will almost always sell myself short), but I'm assuming I was doing just under an 8 minute pace at the start. Had a lot of fast people around me.

HAVE to mention THE most bizarre race behavior I have ever seen on mile 1.

This guy, who did not look particularly fit or experienced, probably in his 40s or 50s, came SPRINTING by me full speed ahead. I don't know how to explain it. Like... there were a lot of fast people ahead of me and he was like... leaving them in the dust, running for his life. Huge swinging arms in karate chop position... it was quite the spectacle.

I looked around me in amazement to see if anyone else was shocked and it was all eyes on him.

Less than a quarter mile later, I passed him as he was walking.

Weird.

And apparently he did this for quite some time, because my friend who finished about 15-20 minutes after me said she saw him doing the same thing.

Okay.

So this is probably going to sound really annoying since I'm pregnant, but I think this was the easiest half marathon I've ever run.

Nothing notable... no difficult moments to overcome... unless you want to count the part around mile 10 when I had recently passed the port-o-potties and thought I was going to doo-doo my pants. Lol, I'm glad only a couple of you read this blog. haha

I seriously thought I was going to have to stop at someone's house and beg to use their bathroom.

But lucky for me, it went away after about a half mile.

Whew!

I took a Gu around mile 9. I've been avoiding the caffeinated Gu's since I've been pregnant, but that was what they gave me and I took it. Wooeee! That thing gave me so much energy!!

Seriously, I felt on top of the world the last few miles.

I had so much energy left, I felt like I could keep going forever.

It was a fantastic feeling.

Also, I don't know what was up with the finish, but the mile 13 marker was wayyy before the finish line, probably more than a quarter mile. I felt fine, but if I had been dying at the finish, I would have been hecka ticked about that. 

K, here I am in all my fatty glory!

 Sorry they're so teeny, but I can't copy the bigger pictures off the race photographer's website. 

It's probably better that way. :)

It was a fantastic race, and I felt comfortable the entire way... great way to say goodbye to running for a while. I honestly felt like I was holding back for most of the race. I was with a group of 3 people for miles and normally I would have done everything I could to stay with them, but when I stopped to walk through a water station and they pulled ahead, I let them go. This wasn't my day for pushing myself into the ground. I really was amazed when the 1:55 pace group never passed me. I was waiting for them almost the whole race and was shocked they didn't pass me up.

Chip Time: 1:52:35
Pace: 8:35/mile
Place: 335 Overall (1100 Finishers)
Gender Place: 141
Division (Female 25-29... my last race in this division): 37 out of 159

So... I was planning on running for quite a while longer in this pregnancy since I'm feeling so good, but I'm having an issue and my OB suggested I might want to quit running if I don't want to make it worse. Sorry, no details on that one, haha. I'm at such a loss right now, I don't even know what to do with myself. Guess it's time to hit the bikes and ellipticals and say hello to an old friend: walking.

I just deferred my Utah Valley Marathon entry to next year, so next race is June 2013!

Salt Lake Half Marathon

I've always wanted to run the Salt Lake Half Marathon.

But since it is so much pricier than other races, I always pick something else.

But this year, the Sunday before the race, my sister (who had bought the spot from a coworker) got shingles (shingles! what the...) and couldn't do it.

So that is how I stumbled into running the Salt Lake Half at a reduced price... which was still way more than I've ever paid for a half, but whatever.

There were five other girls from my ward running the half as well, so Friday night we all went downtown together to pick up our bibs (which was a scary experience since they were being really strict about i.d.'s... and my bib was for Pamela Hansen, age 50... but I got lucky and the kid in my line was like oh well, whatever). Whew!
Then we drove the course.

Um.

I never want to do that again.

Isn't that dumb? Aren't you supposed to train on your course, know your course like the back of your hand and all that? I didn't like it. It seemed SO far. Call me crazy, but I love the element of surprise in not knowing your course. Maybe you just call that inexperienced, but whatever, I like it. I don't want to hold back because I know a hill is coming, I want to just give it all I've got no matter what's next.

Anyway.

After we drove the course we went out to a fabulous Italian restaurant called Brio and I got the best variation on spaghetti I've ever had (chicken pomodoro something or other.. had marinara on angel hair and LOADS of garlic).

We got home pretty late and I went to bed at about 11:30, a lot later than I like to on race nights.

Saturday morning I got up at 4:45 and we all drove up together. The jitters and giddy butterflies we were all having the night before had turned pretty serious. We were all ready to get it done. I found myself in a bit of a hydration pickle because I knew I had to hydrate like crazy, especially being pregnant, but that would also make me pee like crazy! I decided to still just drink a lot.

We parked our car downtown and headed to the TRAX station (you had to ride TRAX to the start at the University of Utah). I had to pee. Bad. So did one of my friends. It was still dark out and she ran across the street and peed behind a Taco Bell. She came running back and said there was a perfect spot with bushes and that was all I needed to hear. Totally peed outside a Taco Bell. So worth it.

We got on the crowded TRAX train and happened to sit next to an older man that one of our girls knew. He was talking about his recent 100-mile run and his upcoming Ironman. He had white hair and his wife was gray and they had both been racing forever and looked fantastic. I so admired them. :)

We got to the start early and I was able to pee again before the race started. Perfect.

Pretty soon the race started and I started off like I usually do, somewhat aggressive on my pace.

I don't know how fast I was going, but I do know that when I hit mile 1 and the little clock at the mile marker said "00:06:08" that it was wrong. No way were we going that fast. I figured it was more like an 8 minute pace. Mile 2 said "00:11:26" and I almost laughed. I hoped no one thought that was correct. By mile 3, they had it right and I think it said about 24 minutes. There we go!

Also, by mile 3, I realized that my legs had their work cut out for them.

A lot of running comes from your core and when your core is slowly turning into a pregnancy belly, you lose some strength. So my legs had to compensate. They actually started burning on the first mile. The rest of me felt fantastic, but feeling my legs that early in a race was a new one.

Nothing notable happened for the first half of the race. I did have to stop and pee around mile 5 or 6. Had to wait for a port-o-potty, too, which kinda stunk (hehe), but it was worth it.

I also BARELY noticed at the end of the water table that they had gels so I grabbed one and saved it until about mile 7 or 8, I think.

Right at mile 9 was when things started getting exciting. For the entire race, I kept telling myself, "It would be so cool to do it in 2 hours. Or even just under 2 hours." I thought if I got 1:59:59, I would be ecstatic, because the 1st half I ever did was 2:00:06, so if I could beat that pregnant, that would be awesome.

At mile 9, the little clock said 1:15:00.

I did some math in my head and that's when I knew it would be almost impossible for me to not finish in under 2 hours. And I knew it would be faster than 1:59, too. I was happy. Especially because I didn't feel like I was pushing THAT hard. I was pushing, that's for sure, but not to the point I usually do in races.

Right at that moment was when I saw Justin and the kids for the first time.

So much happiness all in one moment!

There is nothing greater in a race than seeing your husband and kids cheer you on.

This next photo is about mile 11 or 12. It was starting to get hot.

You can see Jarom waving to me, he was so cute. I'm kinda being blocked by the policeman here.

And no photos of the finish because it was super crowded, but I was definitely happy to be done. I found this patch of grass right outside of the finishers chute and just laid down. Also helped myself to three Creamies, which the kids were pretty stoked about. :)

And here I am showing off my 16w5d prego belly!

And here's the wrap-up.

I finished 753rd overall out of 3496 finishers, 276th out of 2132 females, and 12th in my age 50-59 female division, haha!

Chip time was 1:52:28.

I was thrilled about that because that is only 10 minutes more than my Halloween Half and this race didn't have nearly the downhill that the other one did. Plus I'm pregnant and weigh 10 lbs. more, so I couldn't have asked for a better race.

Had to drink LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of water and whatever other liquid I could get my hands on afterward (chocolate milk, gatorade, even soda)... I was so thirsty. So in my next half on May 5, I don't care how many times I have to stop and pee, I'm gonna drink a lot more along the course. I have nothing to prove to myself in that race so I'm going to take it way easier. So don't expect any sub-2 hour times on that one!

On my running mind...

When my mom was visiting for my sister's wedding at the end of February, we talked about her running days- a topic I like to get on with her.

I've probably shared before, but my mom was quite the track star.

When she was in high school (in the 1960s in Tucson, Arizona), her school didn't yet have a girls' track team. But when they saw her run the mile during P.E. class, they knew they had to have her.

So they asked her to join the boys' track team. 

She joined and she was good.

She said it wasn't long before a couple of boys quit because they weren't going to be beat "by a girl."

Hahaha..

They did eventually create a girls team, so she was a bit of a woman pioneer in that aspect. :)

She ran and trained a lot.

Kind of scary, but my mom said she only weighed 98 pounds her senior year.

She is 5'7".

She said she did not try to be that skinny. She was adopted into her uncle's family (at age 5... she lost both of her parents at that age which is another story for another day and very tragic/traumatizing) and there were 10 kids altogether so they were not allowed to just eat whatever they wanted. She said she had a good breakfast (her grandmother lived with them and cooked for them), every day had a bag of chips and an apple for lunch, and a normal dinner. But they weren't allowed to have seconds of anything except vegetables. Anyway, I just can't believe she was that skinny. No wonder she was so fast!

She practiced every day after school. She was very fond of her coach. (When we were growing up, she took us to the track and the running trails at the park and taught us the running techniques that her coach had taught her). 

In high school and college, she competed in national competitions and against women from all over the world. She once beat a woman who was the national champion from her country (somewhere in Europe, I can't remember which country). She said she had no idea that woman was a national champion and that she was neck and neck with her for most of the race. She was glad she didn't know who she was, because she said she's sure she would have given up. But to her, she was just another competitor and she was going to beat her! And she did.

My mom said her greatest running moment was when she broke the 5 minute mile. I know everybody and their dog beats the 5 minute mile these days, but back then it was a bigger deal, especially for a girl! She was a little disappointed though that it was the first mile of a 2-mile race, so it never got recorded.

One other story of note that I always remember hearing as a kid was a time when a girlfriend of hers on the track team got the idea that they should tie their next race. My mom was much faster than her, but I guess for the sake of friendship she agreed to do it. She stayed with her friend the whole race, and right at the finish line, her "friend" stuck her elbow in front of my mom and pushed ahead to beat her. What a little...!! My mom said her coach was very angry at my mom for agreeing to do that.

The best part though? They took a picture of the finish and my mom has a nice, big crystal clear 8x10 (black and white of course) :) of the girl doing her nasty trick. Busted! Everybody knew what she had done.

And lastly, my mom participated in the Olympic trials for the 1968 Summer Olympics. They didn't yet have her event. I believe my mom's event was the 2 miler and they only had the mile or something like that. So she was out of her league in that race. She didn't make it to the Olympics, but she said being in the trials was an unforgettable experience.

My mom has had a very difficult life in so many ways, and I love that she had this shining moment in her life to hold onto.

*****

The other thing I keep thinking about is a high school track invitational in St. George that Justin supervised last month. A boy from their school ran a 4-something mile and didn't even place. He was like 8th place or something. Can you even believe that?? I couldn't. I really think it was 4:36. Just crazy.

Anyway... just some things I've been thinking about lately and wanted to record!
 That's all. :)

Time for truth...

Alright.

The Utah Valley Marathon is just 8 weeks away and it probably seems weird that I haven't talked much about training. 

And that would be because I'm not running it.

Because at that point, I'll be 23, almost 24 weeks pregnant!

Yup!

So for the two or three of you who read my running blog, you're the first to know before I announce it on Facebook and the family blog.

We decided it was now or never and so... my marathon will have to wait.

But not for long.

The Utah Valley Marathon gives you the option to defer your race entry to the following year and that's what I'm doing. I was really trying to talk Justin into running it instead of me, and he finally agreed, but it was too far into training and with his crazy job and all the yard work he's been doing lately, we decided it just wasn't an optimal situation for training for your first marathon.

So.

The plan is for me to run the marathon next summer, just 8 months after having my 4th baby.

I'm not so convinced I can pull it off. Really, I don't think it's very realistic but I'm going to try.

Justin really thinks I can, but I kept a good log of how long it took me just to get back to normal after having Kyle and I was just up to a 10k at 6 months. Yeah...

But the good thing about this plan is that it's really motivating me to stay in shape for as long as possible and it's a major motivator to not gain too much baby weight. I just won't have any time to lose extra weight.

I've been running a lot and I'm feeling great. I'm 15, almost 16 weeks, and tomorrow I run 11 miles. I have a half marathon coming up on May 5 in Provo. You better believe I contemplated still running my full since I'm feeling so good, but I just can't... marathons are so taxing on your body. And even though lots of women are doing it these days, if something were to go wrong with the pregnancy, I would never forgive myself, sure that I caused it with all my running.

I have a new OB and she is awesome with a great attitude toward running during pregnancy. She said she's never seen running cause any problems in a pregnancy and she has had many patients who ran all the way through their 3rd trimester!

I won't be doing that, but I'm really glad that I'm feeling so good for now! It takes a while for me to get big, so I'm enjoying that while it lasts. 

I know we said Kyle was going to be our last, and yes I'm aware we will need to change the name of our family blog :), but this was the right decision for our family and we're all very excited! And in case you're wondering, I'm due October 1st.

_____________________

Update- I did my long run so I wanted to record my miles for the week-
Monday: 8 miles. 9:08 pace.
Tuesday:  Off.
Wednesday: Craziest day EVER. No workout.
Thursday: 3 miles. 8:57 pace. 30 minutes of weights/resistance on arms, abs, inner thighs and butt.
Friday: 3 miler. 9:31 pace. Followed by some indoor swimming with the fam.
Saturday. 11 miles. 9:36 pace. Half of the run was uphill and that really got my pace. But I felt fantastic and so grateful that I can still run!
Week total: 25 miles.