Time is flying. I’m just shy of 15 weeks and haven’t even mentioned running yet with my new training partner! Let’s recap the 1st trimester of running, shall we?
Since I felt pretty good throughout the 1st trimester I was able to sustain decent mileage (in my opinion).
Miles per week: 35-40*
Long runs: 10-13 miles
Race: ODDyssey Half Marathon
*with occasional drop back weeks of 30 miles
Pace
My pace slowed almost immediately, like I was running through molasses. At first this drove me crazy. I was getting passed by everyone and I was not happy about it. It took me a few weeks to put aside my pride and just enjoy myself. Now I pretend I’m training for an ultra – the slower you go, the better off you are. Just cover the miles and don’t worry about pace. Now that my mindset has been changed, running is pretty damn fun!
Long run fatigue
I didn’t experience much general fatigue in my 1st trimester but long runs got rough. 13 miles was definitely my limit. I would get so tired I began to walk up hills and incorporate short walk breaks whenever I felt like it…just to cover the distance. This helped immensely.
I also noticed that my standard bedtime on a long run day became 8PM. Party hardy.
Boobs
I didn’t see this one coming! My $15 Champion sports bras were no longer cutting it. I have never really felt my boobs bounce while running (and I prefer it that way!). I swear it happened overnight. I woke up and had boobs. I finally sucked it up and bought more supportive – and expensive – Nike sports bras. I have a new respect for you well-endowed ladies and what you have to endure!
Races
1) Broad Street Run – 5 weeks pregnant (DNS)
I call this “sidelined with a case of pride”. I debated back and forth about this one. Race it? Run it for fun? Racing it was risky. It was so early in my pregnancy and 10-mile race pace is pretty punishing. I had a hard time justifying it and Matt felt the same way. Running it for fun was doable but you know what they say about race results living on the internets forever? I thought my slow pace would raise eyebrows (or maybe no one cared?) so I played it safe and sat out of the whole race. Damn pride.
2) ODDyssey Half Marathon – 10 weeks pregnant (1:59:31)
My first race of 2013! This race was on my bucket list for awhile but I never seemed to fit it in. It’s a small (3000 runners), low-key race in Philly. Runners can dress up in costume and can jump off course to participate in obstacle courses and games (I did neither).
Two remarkable things happened during this race: I didn’t stop to pee AND I didn’t walk. I felt pretty incredible actually. Obviously I had no time goals but secretly I wanted to come in under 2:00. Mission accomplished.
Splits
Elevation profile – sadly this is considered “hilly” by Philly standards.
Around mile 11, I met a RTLR reader (hi Dave!). This was the first time anyone recognized me for the blog and I must admit it was pretty awesome and gave me a nice little boost.
I wonder what I was looking at? And why is that girl on her cell phone?!
A medal that’s also a bottle opener? Perfect…6 months from now.
It feels good to finally recap a race on the blog, even though I didn’t technically “race” it. I have 2 more half marathons scheduled for 2013 – the Philly RnR in September (should be doable) and the Philly Half Marathon in November. I will be about 8 months pregnant so we’ll just have to wait and see with that one. I may be delusional.
And 2014? Oh, I have big, big plans 