I did 2 races in June, the Playtri Festival sprint triathlon and, the following weekend, the Wounded Warrior half marathon. Both were practically right in my backyard, as they started in Las Colinas just a few miles from the house. They had something else in common too: I was running (and swimming and biking) with a baby on board! Yes, I'm expecting baby #2 early next year so every time I run now, I'm a human jogging stroller carrying the little one along for the ride.
I had signed up for those races months ago, when Honey Badger (our nickname for the little one) wasn't in the picture yet. Since I was very early in the pregnancy for last month's events, I really wasn't feeling any pregnancy symptoms and saw no reason not to do the events as planned. I exercised as much as I could throughout my first pregnancy and feel certain it played a role in helping to keep me and baby healthy throughout. I did, however, resolve to be conservative with my speed, err on the side of caution when it came to staying hydrated and taking in nutrition, and take walk breaks liberally as needed.
It's kind of a hard mindset adjustment to make. Being an athlete necessarily involves learning to be comfortable with discomfort and pushing past it. The brain is conservative and likes to send warning signals when, sometimes, we can still safely go further and faster-like a gas tank that reads near empty when it could really go another 50 miles. So, to become a runner one learns to distinguish pain from mere discomfort, and to (carefully) push through discomfort, until one day you realize that today's "easy" pace is faster than your "race" pace of just a few months ago. All fine and good, and part of improving as a runner.
But now, when that little voice in my head says "you're getting tired," "you want to stop," or "time to walk," I can't just dismiss it. Because maybe it's my brain being overprotective, or maybe it's my brain saying "this might not be good for the passenger on board." Research seems clear that for women in good health with low-risk pregnancies, exercise is not only not harmful, but actually beneficial. However, I also have to remember that my new overriding fitness goal is getting my baby and myself to our delivery date as healthy as possible, so I'm not shooting for PRs these days and will be more inclined to cut a run or bike ride short if I'm feeling tired.
So, having said all that, here's what my little one and I have been up to:
Playtri Sprint triathlon
I did this event in 2008 and 2009 so it was nice to return after a 2-year hiatus this year. After the Tri for Humanity sprint in late April I knew my run leg would be solid but I needed to improve my swim and bike legs and, easiest of all, get faster on the transitions.
Easy enough plan to determine, but it turned out not to be so easy to follow. My bike frame cracked in the TFH sprint and long story short, I finally got a replacement frame under warranty but it took them weeks to get it to me-weeks I should have been out riding but wasn't. I rode the stationary bike at the gym a few times, but I'm just not an indoor cardio person. The silver lining though is that it was just the reason I needed to finally get a tri bike like I'd wanted, so I trekked out to the Aggie-owned Tri Shop in Plano and got set up on a sweet Orbea tri bike. I only got a few rides on it before the race but that was enough to make me comfortable taking it on race day.
I did, however, get some more swim practice under my belt and every session I'd do at least 3 reps of 500 meters at a time. I knew the swim distance would look really long in the open water so I thought it would be reassuring to know I swim that far without stopping in every practice swim.
For transition practice, I laid out a mock transition area outside the garage and practiced running in from the "swim," putting on my bike gear and running out. I practiced it over and over, changing the order or layout, until I was consistently fast. Then I did the same with T2, the bike to run transition. On race morning I laid out my transition area with everything in its ideal place just as I'd practiced it.
Race morning dawned warm but pleasant enough for June. The international (Olympic) distance race started an hour and change before the sprint, but since we had to get our stuff into transition before their race started that meant I had about an hour and a half to kill before my race. I'm not fond of dead time on race mornings-who wants to get up at 5:30 on a weekend just to sit around and wait? But eventually it was time for my wave to get in the water.
Swim
The bullhorn sounded and we were off. I was reminded, again, that no amount of laps swum in the pool can truly prepare you for an open water start. You can't see in the water, you don't know how deep it is, and oh yeah, there are dozens of other swimmers around you, running into you (it's not like there are lane markers to keep everyone in a straight line) and hitting and kicking as everyone tries to make their way toward the first buoy. Partially because of all the contact, and partly to help with sighting, I found myself going to breaststroke sooner and more often than I had planned. All told, I wasn't as fast as I'd hoped on the swim, but I was still faster than I'd been before. Before my next triathlon, I want to do some open water swim practice that more closely simulates race conditions. I'm slow enough that I'd improve significantly just from more pool time, but at some point if I really want to turn this from a weakness to a strength, I'm going to need to embrace the open water aspect.
T1
After a decent but not awesome swim, a nice solid T1 was just what I needed to feel better about the race. And here, the practice really paid off. I ran over to my bike and without hesitation sat down to put on my shoes and Garmin, then stood up and put on helmet, sunglasses and gloves (I know some people skip the gloves on a short race like this, but hey, it only takes a second and it's not like I was going to podium anyway), then grabbed the bike and headed out. Really, I don't know why I've never really practiced transitions before. Just 15 minutes of practice shaved off better than half my T1 time. What a great return on that small investment of time!
Bike
This was my first race on my new tri bike, and wow, what a difference. I averaged around 20mph and didn't feel like I was having to really push to do that. In fact, I was going fast enough to have a new problem-I was passing so many people I felt like it would be easier to stay in the left lane than have to keep ducking back to the right (as etiquette and triathlon rules dictate) then moving back out to pass again. I'm not a slow cyclist, but this isn't a problem I'm used to having. Despite only a handful of practice rides in between I managed to get 2-3mph faster between the TFH race in late April and this spring in early June-I credit the magical new bike!
T2
After a fast (for me) bike leg, I dismounted and wheeled my bike back to the rack. I did T2 just as I had in practice and again, those few minutes of practice paid off. I headed out on the run feeling pretty good.
Run
Under normal circumstances, this would be where I'd push it, but the warm weather and the baby on board led me to play it a little more conservatively. I ended up finishing in around 25 minutes-respectable, but a few minutes off what I could have done at my best. As it turns out, had I dropped the hammer here I would have taken 3rd in my age group...oh well, next time!
It was a fun event and I've got my sights set on being back in shape to do it again next June. I won't be anywhere close to peak shape, but I think I'll be able to complete it-and the prospect of being cheered on by BOTH my children at the finish line is a fun one!
Wounded Warrior Half Marathon
This was my second race on the Campion Trail, aka my home trail where I do all my long runs. I knew I wasn't going to be fast, so I just tried to have fun and stay cool and hydrated. The highlight of the race was being cheered on by Kevin and Daniel at the halfway point. I don't usually have crowd support mid-race so it was fun to look forward to that.
I still wasn't really feeling pregnant at this point, but I did take it fairly easy and felt good the whole way. I certainly wasn't showing by then (and for that matter, at nearly 15 weeks now, I'm still not), but I did wear a sign announcing my little passenger:
Too Hot to Handle 15k
In mid-July I did the Too Hot to Handle 15k at White Rock Lake. I had signed up for this months ago but closer to time debated dropping down to the 5k distance instead to limit my time out in the heat. But, when we had a bit of a "cold front" that weekend that brought morning temps in the 70s and 80s I decided to stick with the longer distance. I set out determined to run as was comfortable but walk as needed and to drink plenty of fluids. I did pretty well given that, averaging around 10:30/mile. Most importantly, I felt good and had fun. Afterwards I ran into 2 friends of mine, Danny and Phil, who had both raced too. It was fun to catch up with them. Phil and his wife Lisa recently got into running and are now hooked, and he mentioned another 5k coming up that they were planning to do, the Glow Run. He mentioned that he was hoping to finish with a sub-30 minute 5k time so I told him that if I was still able to hold a 9:30ish pace by then, I'd pace him.
Glow Run "5k"
I did a test run the week before and finished a little under 30 minutes, so I told Phil I should be good to go for pacing. However, once we got out on the course we discovered that they had set the turnaround point way too early, so it wound up being only a hair over 2 miles. There was no announcement beforehand about the change or a reason for it. Worse, they were out of water at the finish line-unacceptable for any event but especially for a sold-out event in August. I can appreciate that it's easier to criticize an event than to put one on, but having run in so many well-organized events I know a poorly organized one when I see it, and wasn't shy about saying as much on the event's Facebook page. Judging from the responses, it seems I wasn't the only one who felt cheated by the experience. Given that I was pregnant and not gunning for a PR it was easier to write it off than it would have been under other circumstances, but I felt bad for Phil missing his chance to get his 5k PR. Despite the event not being what it should have been, it was fun to see Phil and Lisa and to run a race with a friend. I'm usually a lone wolf, and fine with that, but it was a fun change of pace and nice chance to catch up with old friends.
So, at 15 weeks gestation, Honey Badger has a sprint tri, half marathon, 15k, and "5k" under his/her belt. Do they make "My fetus can outrun your fetus" stickers? ;)
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