Goblin Gallop Photos

Ok, I'm posting the link just because I'm laughing at myself in these pics.  Why not, right? 

 Goblin Gallop 5K photos

Goblin Gallop 5K

Not much to say, except that Baby's first 5K went MUCH better than her first 10K.  Cool morning with lots of sunshine.  This is a very family-friendly suburban race.  There were close to 2000 runners/walkers but that included people in costume (Wonder Woman, an electric banana, and a cat among them), people pushing strollers and even a dog on a leash or two.

We signed up for the Goblin Gallop as a way to do one last race together with Erin before she moves to Germany in December.  And, since none of us are going to be here for Thanksgiving, we knew we had to find something else.  E's been an amazing friend and support the past few months especially and we will most definitely miss her!  You probably can't read my hat in this photo, but it was a thank you gift from my boss for convincing her to sign up for her first triathlon.  It reads "Run You Mother!"

Once again Baby M scored her own race bib, this time courtesy of Nikki, #1600.  So we lined up at the start and I wished Stuart and our speedy friends well.  Not much to say, other than, dang it takes a LOT longer to walk 3.1 miles than it does to run them!  But, I managed to pass more than a few people during my lovely little jaunt and then of course ran the last 50yds to the finish line smiling for the official photographers.  Why not, right!?

Reporting in to my OB the next day got another look of amazement, but he was cool with it...and with the idea of a Turkey Trot at Thanksgiving if I'm still feeling up to it.  yay - race season still might not be over for me and the McNugget. 

Yowza! Getting bigger and bigger.  Here I am at 25wks together with baby daddy Stuart.

Working out without running - is it a workout?

As part of my new, non-running workout regimen, I decided that I should again give prenatal yoga a try. You always hear that it's the greatest workout ever for expectant women, but truth be told, I've never really seen your basic yoga as a 'workout'. And I don't expect that late in my second trimester that yoga dvd will be telling me to prepare to kick butt and work up a serious sweat! Nonetheless, it was cold and rainy out, so I spread my yoga mat, shooed the dogs away and popped in the dvd.

I was right, this wasn't exactly a calorie blasting, sweat inducing workout, but many of the stretches felt so much better than they otherwise do. Although I'm seeing my body change daily, I'm not always consciously aware of the impact that has on muscle tightness and my already pathetic flexibility. At one point, I felt like making sure I told our childbirth instructor that I was doing this - she'd be proud.

I also did a fairly good job of not feeling like I was in competition with the instructor to stretch further, breathe more deeply or hold a stronger and longer plank pose. Again, even for someone who isn't a star athlete, the lack of competition is another flaw of yoga in my book. This is part of the reason I avoid yoga classes, usually, it's not fun to compete when the others in the class don't realize that we're racing for the deepest downward dog!

The one piece of any home yoga workout that I don't get is the mental element. First, because I sent Stuart to the store while I did yoga, I got no less than four phone calls -- "Where are the frozen berries?", "Which organic yogurt brand do you want?", and my personal favorite "They don't have quinoa, can we use kiwi instead?" (although he was kidding on that one!). Second, is the aforementioned dogs. So, instead of making my way through the guided relaxation they proscribed, which involved me laying on my side, instead Ally the spaniel wandered over and plopped in my lap and we spent ten soothing minutes cuddling and petting. Definitely a relaxing activity, so I think it counts.

Overall, this wasn't as satisfying as a run in the rain with Nick the dog, but I'm going to try and make it a regular part of my week at least until Baby M makes her appearance.

Actual Conversation with my OB

Actual conversation with my obstetrician this afternoon...

Me: Hi, Doctor.  So, I'm still having this tightness in my lower abs when I stand or walk around.  Should I be concerned?

Doctor: Um, so could you tell me again why exactly you ran six miles on Sunday?

Me: Well, technically I only ran 2 and walked the other 4.  But, I'm a runner and triathlete.  It's what I do.  And, you said activity was okay.

Doctor: You're fine, nothing to worry about.  Baby's just adjusted position and you're getting bigger.  But, no more running.

Me: I can still walk, right? I mean, I have a 5K in two weeks!

Doctor:  sigh.  Yes, you can walk.  But no more running.

So, on the To Do list for this week -- buy my first ever pair of walking shoes.  Renew my membership at the swimming pool.  First of many sacrifices of motherhood!

Boo! Run for Life 10K

Baby M, aka the McNugget, has her first race under her belt!  We've got a 5K at the end of the month but a few weeks ago I was bemoaning to my friend Erin how much I missed racing this season since the less-than-satisfactory Kinetic Half Iron was my only real race of the year.  She promptly emailed me the link to the Boo! and together with Stuart and our friend Michelle, we got ourselves signed up.

When Stuart and I picked up our packets on Saturday I asked if they had a spare bib, but that McNugget and I would share a timing chip.  The volunteers thought it was adorable and handed me bib #740.  Coincidentally, when I was born my family's street address was 740 Vancouver Dr, so I took that as a good sign for my little one.

Sunday morning was cool but a beautiful sunny day for a run.  We snapped a few shots by the car before lining up at the start.

Me, McNugget, Erin and Michelle

Dad, Mom and Baby before their first race together

We all lined up, with Stuart and Erin promising to circle back and find me on the course after they'd each crossed the finish line.  Before I knew it most everyone was ahead of me although I knew there were still runners behind me.  My first mile was a not bad 12min/mile pace, the second was a bit slower 13:30.  But then my lower abs started to get a little tight.  As Erin pointed out later, I haven't exactly worked my core muscles in a few months and they were being forced to hold up a lot of extra belly weight.  So, I slowed to a walk.  It was still great to be out there, and the folks at the aid stations thought it was great.  Lots of thumbs up and silent cheers, at first I wondered why until I realized that they were all hearing impaired and out there volunteering as a group at the race. 

After another mile or so, I realized that a 5K might have been ideal, but maybe a 10K had been pushing my luck and I gained a newfound respect for women like Decaf Jen who are still knocking out half marathons at this stage in pregnancy.  I also gained strength thinking about my Super Star friend making her way through a 50K run down in Florida this morning -- a race I'd been seriously considering tackling with her until those two little pink lines showed up on a pee-stick one Sunday morning back in June. 

Eventually a woman began walking with me, and turns out she was a nurse in town from Fort Myers, Florida whose friends had signed her up for this race without her knowledge.  We walked together for the next few miles at a pretty fast clip until finally with less than a mile to go Stuart and Erin appeared.  I asked Erin to pace Rita in at a run to the finish of her first 10K.  Meanwhile, Stuart urged me on but my lower ab area was getting more and more tight, and I was a bit nervous.  Running was the last thing I wanted to do.  Blog moms -- have you felt this before while running as you got bigger? The same thing happened at my weekly womens run on Thursday so I'm thinking it's normal, but still... anything that feels unusual in that area can make you nervous, ya know?

Anyway, since I was now only walking eventually the last two women behind me passed us.  Yes, Baby M and I were officially going to be the last two finishers.  Stuart ran on ahead to make sure the finish line was still out and the announcer mentioned her name too.  The finish line was a little bit of a let down -- it was basically already disassembled, photographer and announcer long gone, but at least they left a timing mat out.  So with a big and humble smile, I crossed that line to the sounds of my cheering friends and the timing guys. 

Chatting afterwards with Erin and Leah, another =PR= running group woman I acknowledged that my contribution to our Thursday night runs might be limited to 1-2mile walks from now on.  The last few weeks I've been lagging behind finishing after sunset, and I refuse to run after dark for safety reasons.  So, I'll continue to show up, but am going to invest in a solid set of walking shoes to use for the next few months. 

Never fear, I'll be lining up for the Goblin Gallop 5K in two weeks, but am content to be at the back of the pack until little McNugget is in the stroller instead of inside me!

UPDATE: Deciding to be safe rather than sorry, I just spoke with my doctor. Glad I enjoyed the Boo! 10K, since I'm officially walking for the rest of my pregnancy. My running days are behind me for a few months, just to be safe.

On the Hunt...

Ok, any northeastern Ohioans out there in blogland? We're spending Thanksgiving in northeast Ohio -- nearer to Wooster/Massillon (as opposed to Cleveland) and the Turkey Trot I'd been planning on is no longer around.  So, I'm in search of a race.  Worst case scenario I'll take my almost 7mos pregnant self out on the trail near my mother in law's, but a race would be so much more fun!  I welcome any leads within a reasonable distance.  Akron/Canton work, Cleveland or Sandusky don't.  thoughts???

Family race weekend

One thing is for certain, I've definitely gotten to practice my spectating skills over the past year! This weekend was the Army Ten Miler, and my brother decided earlier this year that he'd like to take the leap into longer-distance running so we all signed up.  Stuart, Brad, Erin and a few other friends were all ready (more or less) for Sunday's race.  Brad's girlfriend Millie and I were on cheerleader detail.

Despite much protestation in the day or two before the event from Brad (along the lines of "well, SOMEONE has to finish last, right"), unsurprisingly they all did great! Despite nagging aches and pains, Stuart and Erin finished in 1:33 and 1:30 respectively.  Stuart stuck with Brad for the first six  miles before kicking it into gear, and Brad finished in an awesome first-time time of 1:47...much faster than his projected 2hr+ time.

Meanwhile, Millie got to experience the hard work of cheering for a crowd of 30,000 athletes.  I mean, if you're going to stand there for 2hrs, why just cheer for the 10 seconds that you see your loved ones.  So a million cheers and "looking strong"s and "there's better at the finish line" yells  to anyone I could -- DC Tri Clubbers, anyone with their names or colleges or military units printed on their shirts, wheelchair athletes, and the random people I knew and happend to be in the race including a sorority sister I haven't seen in 8yrs (Go Kappa!), a Girls on the Run mom and a former client.

Now it's time to get excited, though...my race season ISN'T over!! Next Sunday Stuart, Erin, Baby M and I will be toeing the line at the Boo! 10K in Washington.  Is there a special division for pregnant women...maybe I can win an award this time! As for Brad, he was moving a little slowly this morning as we took him to the airport...but I know there's a triathlon waiting somewhere inside his soul.  Give it time.  In the mean time, he and Stuart bonded over some brother-in-law naps that afternoon!

Alternatives

Well, I still miss my bikes.  Coraggio and Cristoforo are tucked safely in the basement, likely not to see the great outdoors until next April.  But, I did the second best thing and headed to spin class this week with Stuart.  As usual, Dave is big on hill climbs and sprints, so it was a pretty good approximation of what riding would actually be like....including the expanding belly getting in the way while in the aero position!

It was a good solid hour, and I felt gratified knowing that I could have gone longer. 

This weekend's the Army Ten Miler and Stuart, my brother and a bunch of friends are running.  Best of luck to everyone, and don't forget to head to our house for the traditional post-party!!