Racing While Pregnant – Mayor’s Half-Marathon

Today I completed my 2nd half-marathon during my pregnancy! I wanted to run at least one half-marathon while I was pregnant, so I feel happy that I was able to complete two—and maybe a third in July if things are still going well. (Here’s a recap on the first one.)

I was a little unsure how this race was going to go since I didn’t get many miles in last week and my lower abdominal muscles didn’t feel quite right on my run on Wednesday. But it is amazing what the human body can do when it is ‘go’ time.

I tried to run today’s half-marathon like I did the last one in May: start out on the slower side and then if I am feeling good after half way, pick it up and cruise on home.

I started out with some pretty decent, consistent splits, but the weather and terrain on part of the course made things a little difficult in the middle of the race.

My splits

Mile 1 – 7:28

Mile 2 – 7:43

Mile 3 – 7:45

Mile 4 – 7:48

Mile 5 – 7:38

I was expecting rain for the race today. All the weather reports were predicting a very good chance of rain with some heavier showers as well. (It rained quite hard last night, and we even had thunder and lighting! I think that was the second time I’ve experienced thunder and lighting while living in Alaska.) I came prepared to the race with a brimmed hat, which is my saving grace in the rain. I also made sure to wear sweat/water-wicking, synthetic socks and bottoms that I knew were not going to be uncomfortable or stick to my legs while running. (I love my Lululemon skirt when running in the rain!)

Once the race got going I didn’t mind the rain for the most part. It wasn’t a heavy rain, and I was too focused on the race for it to bother me much. The first few miles flew by and then at mile 5 it got ugly. . . . .really ugly. The road turned south at this point and we started running straight into the wind. I’m guessing it was about a 25 mph headwind with rain along with it. (I don’t know for sure how strong it was, but it was strong!) This was the part of the course that also had some rolling hills, so I had a hard time keeping my pace under 9 minute miles during this stretch. It was brutal and there was no one for me to tuck in behind, so I just kept my head down and put one foot in front of the other. Since I had run the course before, I knew there would only be a mile of this, so I just had to do my best. Obviously everyone else was dealing with this too.

Sharone, Joanne, and me (Sharon and Joanne ran the 4 miler, and Joanne was 5th overall for the women!)

Then at mile 6 we headed into the woods for a legitimate trail run for the next mile: roots, rocks, mud, bumps, steep downhill, ruts, and all sorts of trail terrain covered the course for that portion. This wasn’t a developed trail either. You could tell they had just gone there the day before with a mower to make a trail for this race. At least mentally I knew it was coming, and I would have to slow down. I had to slow down even more this year because it was incredibly muddy and slippery in many spots, and I did not want to fall . I almost biffed it a few times. You can obviously see just how much I had to slow down in these portions from my splits.

Mile 6 – 8:40 –> strong headwind, rain, and hills

Mile 7 – 9:46 –> rugged trail run

Mile 8 – 8:14 –> potty stop; took Roctane GU

Mile 9 – 8:05 –> a couple of hills and trying to get back into the groove

My mother-in-law (Kelly), me, and Craig

After we got back on the paved trail I was a happy camper—for the most part, except I now had to pee, so off into the woods I went since I wasn’t sure where the next port-a-potty was. It’s all good; it’s Alaska.

For the last few miles it was time to take advantage of the downhills and really push it on home. I was still feeling good—tired but good, so I used the downhills and ran the tangents.

Mile 10 – 7:19

Mile 11 – 7:40

Mile 12 – 7:34

Mile – 13 – 7:44

My Garmin Results

Distance: 13.00 miles

Time: 1:43:24

Average pace: 7:57 minutes/mile

Official Results

Overall, I was happy with my results. I was shooting for a time of 1:40-1:45, and I know if I wouldn’t have had the strong winds, trail portion, and a bathroom stop, I could have easily shaved 3 minutes off my time. Oh well, all is good.

Craig did the 4 miler and took 45 seconds off his mile pace! At the end of May he ran the Twilight 6K (3.7 miles) with an average pace of 9:14 minutes/mile and today he ran an average pace of 8:35 minutes/mile on a longer race! So proud of him for doing these races with me. I have been giving him weekly running workouts, so they must be working.

Craig also wanted me to point out that it snowed on the mountains today. . . .you know, on the first day of SUMMER. Only in Alaska. . . . .

(It is a little hard to see the tops of the mountains because they blend in with the sky, but I promise there is snow there!)