"I ran a marathon while pregnant.." You?

Plenty to report since my last blog post.  It took me a while for this post on my first half plus one, because I needed time to remember and do a true report, so here it goes…

November 13, 2011- I wasn’t exactly cleared by my doctor to run the half marathon, however she didn’t say “no” either- she just didn’t say anything at all. So, exactly one week before the half I decided I felt well enough to run and went ahead and signed up. I waited to make sure me and baby were progressing well, and we were!

The race was a blur, but in a good way! Surprisingly, the miles went very very quickly.  My brother in law Craig and Chelsea (aka my running angels) were with me almost every step of the way (Chelsea took of at mile 12).   I wore a descriptive preggo shirt with a “Caution- Baby on Board- Slow” sign on the back. And: “Running for Two, First Time Mom, Fifth Time Marathon, Pace be with us” on front.

I was worried and a tad scared pre-race week. I was worried I would have to go potty often, I didn’t go once. I was worried I would be super slow, I wasn’t- I ran much faster than I trained at. I was worried, I would fall, I didn’t. I was worried there wouldn’t be enough water- there wasn’t. Well at least between miles 8-10! But no worries, my parents and brother Forrest were at Mile 9 with water to pull me through. I was worried I would get ugly looks and comments from anti-pregnant people doing anything other than sleeping. It was the opposite, the race was filled with motivators.  I received several pats on the back and probably at minimum three positive comments per mile! My little Lincoln is quite the STAR! : )

I had an absolute blast on the race route. It felt great to go out there without worrying about pace!  Of course I had a secret goal of 2:45 and a realistic sharable goal of under 3 hours. Every runner usually has those two goals!  But I knew there was no way in heck I would met my secret goal, but I did! I came out quite ahead with a time of 2:38!  I probably only walked a total of 10 minutes max, which is way less than I was training at. I think that was a great unplanned strategy on my part. Train slower and use the strength for race day.   

The race was a “big party” for me.. . I was surrounded by great music, I cumbia’d through one of the water stops because the music was so motivating. I found myself singing out loud to several of the bands, not worrying or caring what any one around me thought!  I was surrounded by great friends, I think I saw a familiar run group face at least every two miles. I would try my best to catch them, say “Hello, good job, looking great, keep it up.” And they smiled and I’m sure were thinking .. hell I’m being passed by a pregnant person (but in a good way).  There was even an array of food on the course. Does a small boy carrying a dozen of Shipley’s donuts count? Craig grabbed one for us three to share. They ran out of beer by the time we reached it, but that was fine this year.

That was my party in a nutshell.  I truly am thankful to be surrounded by great friends and family that pushed me through to gain the confidence that I did to finish the 13.1 miles, even with a 25 week old fetus in the tummy. Of course, there were those that didn’t think it was the best thing for me, but once I made them realize that running was in my blood- I think they simmered down a bit!

Crossing the finish line was phenomenal- truly! Its’ difficult to place words on what it feels like to finish something that you have dreamed of doing for so long. Its’ one thing to complete a half, but its’ another to finish with something so precious inside you- my first son. I once made fun of avid runners who ran marathons and called them crazy people who liked to brag about themselves and didn’t have anything better to do so they ran to occupy there time. The truth is- I was just jealous. It took a while for me to get over myself and realize that I could do it too! So, here I am five half marathons later- Not only am I an avid runner, I’m a runner who had the courage and the training to finish a half marathon with 23 extra pounds of true “baby” fat! I am now in the “I ran a marathon while pregnant” group and it’s the best feeling ever!