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And so the difficulty begins

And so the difficulty begins

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Well, I guess that’s a little misleading, seeing as how today marks the 31st week of when it “began”– the pregnancy, of course.  It’s hard to believe that 31 weeks have already gone by and that if Yoda goes to full-term, s/he could be here in as few as 5 weeks or as many as 9.  Let’s hope for the latter!

Earlier this week was, I think, the first real “blip” in the pregnancy so far.  It’s hard to describe what exactly it was– maybe GI-related, maybe gas, maybe Braxton Hicks— but our midwife assured us that it wasn’t pre-term labor.  Phew.  The back and “guts” pain that I had earlier this week were incredibly intense.  Fortunately, they’ve mostly subsided, and I finally managed to get some sleep last night.  I guess this is just a taste of what’s to come post-Yoda arrival.  Yikes.

I couldn’t help but wonder if part of the reason these pains randomly began on Sunday derived from me not running.  Last week, post-Vegas trip, I ran on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and elected to not run on Saturday or Sunday mornings because I was feeling tired and a bit achy.   Come Sunday after breakfast, the mystery pains began, which got me wondering if maybe their onset had something to do with my not running (or not really being physically active at all) for 48 hours.  Who knows, maybe my body is so acclimated to “doing” something most every day of the week that if it doesn’t, it goes into freak-out mode?  Once I returned to work on Wednesday, I did a really EZ 3.1 miler during my lunch break and actually walked in the final .75 miles because I still wasn’t feeling “right.”  Talk about a confidence-slasher.  Since I was feeling better today than I was yesterday, I just went out for another little mid-day run, just about 2.1 miles, and while I’m not breaking any speed records (I was averaging around 11 minute miles today), at least I was feeling better… and I didn’t have to walk it in.   11-minute miles aren’t my norm yet, so these past couple runs have been humbling, to say the least.  What’s important to remember, though, is that I have yet to regret going out for a run.  I’m always, always glad I did.

Now might be the beginning of when this pregnancy is going to start getting “difficult,” whatever that means.  Today was also the first time I wore some “maternity” running attire, though I’m being a bit misleading with the quotations because they’re “maternity” insomuch that the lightweight jacket and long pants are non-maternity clothing, just larger than what I usually wear.  At least they gave me some more room to move around and be comfortable… and they should be able to accommodate my increasing midsection for the next 9ish weeks.  Here’s hoping, anyway.

The runs of the past two days have got me thinking about whether I’ll realistically be able to run in Cary’s March Madness half marathon in about 4 weeks.  I think it’s too soon to tell, to be quite honest.  I think it’s just one of those things that I have to assess a day at a time.  If race day comes and I’m feeling well and interested in running the race, I’ll make the trek out to the greater northwest suburbs to go after it.  If not, I won’t.  According to last year’s times, there were some participants who took over 2 hours to run it–some, even 3–so if I do do it, at least I’ll have some company.

Maybe these past couple days were just blips and not necessarily indicative of worse conditions that are yet to come.

Let’s hope so, anyway… 🙂

March Madness Recap

March Madness Recap

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All smiles, post 13.1!

This past weekend, Chicago saw some seriously shitty weather on Saturday.  It was that nasty “wintry” mix stuff that combines wet snow, rain, and wind, which makes you feel like someone’s throwing sharp little knives at your face, and no matter how you cock your head, or how much you grit your teeth, there’s just no way to get comfortable.  Yuck.   Luckily, I wasn’t planning to run our group’s slated 15 miles on Saturday because I was running the Hillstriders’ March Madness half marathon out in Cary, IL, which is located roughly forever (70-ish minutes?) away from Chicago.

The March Madness race is like a secret that you want to share, because you know how good it is, but one that you want to keep to yourself, because you want to stay privy to the information.  I’ll explain.

Apparently, the race is limited to only about 1k runners each year, mostly because it’s on a Sunday morning, and the runners overtaking the rural country roads interfere with the church-going crowd.  (Logic would say to a) hold the race on a Saturday or b) start the race earlier than 8:35, but who’s reason to mess with church?  Anyway….)  That said, getting an entry into the race is like getting a golden ticket from a Wonka bar.  The 2010 race registration opened on New Year’s Eve day and filled in — get this — 5 hours.  Unless you were sitting by your computer, credit card in hand, you probably didn’t get an entry.  I took my laptop with me to the DR for the express reason of registering as soon as I possibly could.

The race, itself, is probably the hardest half marathon I’ve ever run (in addition to the Mill Creek Distance Classic in Youngstown, Ohio).  It’s hilly, and in all the wrong spots — much like the Boston Marathon!  In fact, that’s why many people run the March Madness race … as a Boston tune-up.  Check out the map below; you’ll get my drift.  It’s the best-kept secret that you kinda, but don’t really, want to share.

March Madness Half-Marathon Course

Here’s another picture of my training buddy, Chris, and me, taken right after we finished.  I think we look much more awake and alert than we probably feel 🙂

I ran a satisfying 1:41, slightly slower than last year, and pulled a 12th place finish in my age group and among the top 50 women.  I tried to run the race thoughtfully and not go balls-to-the-wall early on, for I knew what hills lied ahead, and when I finished, though tired, I still had some juice in the tank.  The race, and my performance, definitely made the drive worthwhile.

We’re officially less than a month from the 114th running of the Boston Marathon, kids.  Next up: the last of our three 20-milers before Boston, plus roughly a million Yasso 800s this week.

Bring it on.