Race #3 while pregnant is in the books! And I’m happy to say I snagged another pregnancy PR!
Friday night was the Twilight 12K and 6K, which also marked 20 weeks pregnant, so what a better way to celebrate than run a race, right?! Craig and I have been running this event for several years, and it is always one of our favorites.
I love this event, and even though it means racing at 7:00p.m., it is worth it for the potentially finicky stomach and the fact I have to think about the race all day. Over the years of running this though, I’ve figured out what I can (don’t want to) eat, when I need to stop eating, and how I want to feel going into the race. Thankfully I nailed it this year.
It was a great evening and *knock on wood* this event has always had great weather; thankfully this year was no different. It was a little windier than normal this year, which slowed us all down, but oh well–nothing that can be done about it. Otherwise, it was sunny and warm. And naturally my twin, Hallidie, and I showed up wearing very similar outfits. (The same thing happened when we traveled to Hawaii and Minnesota together. Ha!)
Overall, I had a great race and one I can’t complain about. I felt (relatively) good the whole time but probably stated out a touch fast in the beginning. (But to give myself the benefit of the doubt, the first mile has some downhill portions.) I settled into a pace around mile two that seemed sustainable for 3.7 miles. I kept glancing down at my watch to check my time, but my watch must not have been picking up a good signal because it said that was over a 7 minute pace most of the time, but I felt as though I was going faster than that.
I ran 11 seconds faster than I did when I was pregnant with Cullen, so I was happy about that. I also thought 6th place for the women was pretty decent for one of the most competitive races all summer.
I’ve got a few more races I want to do this summer, so I’ll keep plugging away as long as I can!
Here are my workouts during my 19th week of pregnancy. I took this week pretty easy with the half marathon and 6K being just six days apart. I was hoping to run a long run Sunday after the race, but when I started my run on Sunday, my calves were getting so tight that I had to call it after a few miles. I used to have this problem in college, and then got orthotics from a podiatrist, and thankfully that took care of the problem. However, then I actually stopped wearing them after having Cullen, and they haven’t bothered me since–until now that is. I think going back to my orthotics will help, but I don’t love them because the heel is pretty thick and doesn’t fit into most of my shoes very well. I’ll deal with it for the time being, but I hope I can go back to not needing them in the future.
Week 19 of workouts – May 27 – June 2
Monday – off
Tuesday – 5 miles | easy run | 8:47 average pace
A nice, easy, quiet morning run before Craig went to work. My only complaint was the two small dogs (“yipper snappers” as my dad calls them) came out from their yard and chased me for a couple of blocks while trying to bite my heels.
Wednesday – 7 miles | easy run | 8:43 average pace
I took all my runs easy this week with two races being six days apart. I ran with and paced ladies from the Hightail Training Group during our evening session.
Thursday – 4 miles | easy | 8:17 average pace
I ended up running about 12 hours after the previous night’s run. It wasn’t ideal, but that’s when running fit into my schedule the best.
Friday – Twilight 6K | race | 6:46 average pace
Such a fun race/event! I always encourage everyone to do it!
Saturday – 4 miles | easy | 8:34 average pace
Four easy miles about 12 hours after the race Friday night. This is when I first started to notice my tight calves.
Sunday – 3 miles
I was really hoping to do a long run this day, but it just didn’t happen. My calves were incredibly tight, and I was feeling too sluggish. Usually I’ve been running about 4 days in a row and then taking a break, so after 6 days of running, I think my body was ready for a break.
Hopefully I can get a long run in later this week or next weekend because I would like to run one more half marathon if my body lets me!
