The further along I get in this pregnancy, the shorter the race distance becomes, but I am just grateful to still be running and racing.
Truthfully, racing and running faster almost feels easier than doing an easy run, but I’m sure the distraction of the race, the adrenaline, and having a different mindset makes my perceived effort feel less.
On Sunday, I ran the Spenard Roadhouse 5K as part of the Anchorage RunFest race series put on by the Anchorage Running Club. To me, it is the last big race of the summer, and it actually kind of felt like summer this year. Normally, the weather is overcast, rainy, and 50*F, but this year it was sunny and very comfortably for racing in the low-50s. It was pretty windy in sections, which a lot of people complained about, but I didn’t think the entire course was that bad–there were definitely stretches of gusts, but it was on our back for some of the time too.
Going into this race was the least nervous I have been for a race in a long time. I hardly had any nerves, which was a strange feeling, but then again I really shouldn’t have any, right?! I did a short 15-20 minute warm-up, one more stop at the bathroom (so I was at least a little nervous since I was ‘nervous peeing’), I situated myself towards the front of the pack because this race generally doesn’t bring too many fast people. I did get a little anxious when I got to the start of the race because umm, Bart Yasso introduced me!!
I did a few last-minute striders, and all of a sudden Bart Yasso was announcing over the microphone, “And here we have Michelle Baxter, 7 months pregnant running the 5K today. She has won a race at this event in the past, so don’t be surprised if she passes you.”
Ha! So that basically makes me BFFs with Bart Yasso, right?! Craig said I looked so embarrassed. I think Craig was even more excited that he introduced me as he was freaking out after the race.
The race itself went about as good as I could have hoped it would go. My legs really tightened up during the first 10-12 steps of the race causing me to slow down a walk a few steps before I could get my legs moving again. This didn’t surprise me as that has happened in the past and happens every time I try to climb the stairs. I’m sure it is a pregnancy thing and will hopefully go away when the pregnancy is over, so just annoying in the meantime.
After I got my legs moving, I was fine and felt much better during the rest of the race. My splits were kind of all over the place with the downhill at the beginning, wind at our back for a while and then into the wind after the turnaround with an uphill portion at the end.
Splits:
Mile 1 – 6:39 (downhill)
Mile 2 – 6:59 (into the wind the second half)
Mile 3 – 7:28 (hill)
I ran this race when I was 7 months pregnant with Cullen and beat my time by about 1 minute, which was exciting. I think my better fitness level is carrying over throughout this pregnancy as I’ve bettered my time on every race during this pregnancy compared to last.
I am hoping to do one last 5K at the end of September if everything continues to feel okay. I get occasional cramping when running but otherwise not the pain I had when pregnant with Cullen. However, running during pregnancy is still difficult!
