Well, I survived. That's right, I survived Friday night's Longest Day 10k Road Race at UBC. Yahoo! Not that I thought I was going to die, but I have to admit, I was feeling a little tired during the day and was curious how a 10km race was going to go for me at 7:00 pm.
As mentioned before, I tried to take things slow for the week leading up to the race, just to be sure I was feeling as rested as possible. On Thursday night I ended up going for a brisk walk (despite my friend bailing on me) and unfortunately my hamstrings were feeling a little tight on Friday. Throughout the day at work, I just sat with my legs up, drank lots of water etc. and hoped for the best.
Since the race was being held on campus at the university where I work and my work day is done at 4:30 pm, I had a bit of time to kill before the race started. My husband came out around 5:00 pm and we headed to the campus village to have dinner. Probably against my better judgement we headed for my favorite sushi restaurant and stuffed ourselves with teriyaki chicken bento boxes. Hmm, not my typical pre-race meal, but hey, when the baby wants sushi, the baby gets sushi!
By the time we were done dinner, we headed back to my office building for a quick clothing change. I had my Garmin charging because when I checked it at 4:00 pm, the battery had drained to 0% - I guess the buttons got pushed in my gym bag! Oops! But it was fully charged by the time I was ready to go run. My husband dropped me off at the race start and I had just enough time to check my gear and walk to the start line.
After only standing around for a couple of minutes, the gun went off and the race began. Thankfully the race started with a nice downhill stretch so that was a good way for me to get warmed up and settle into a comfortable pace. I had set my Garmin to time me for 5:1 intervals and it turned out to be the perfect strategy. It was a lovely night, still sunny but not too hot in the sun. I don't know how many people raced, but it was a nice sized group and we all stayed pretty much together for the first few km.
We wound our way around the edge of campus before heading back in, winding through the new residential area and eventually making our way to Main Mall, the main pedestrian drag through the middle of campus. The route was a big loop and I snapped this picture after we had looped around the new library and were headed back down Main Mall in the opposite direction.
Being a smaller race, the mix of runners was interesting. I could tell (from their bodies and their conversations) that there were a lot of very competitive runners there. I think the race is actually a part of several competitive road race series. There were also a lot of recreational runners who all wanted to chat as they passed. I think one of the funnest parts of racing while pregnant is the comments you get. Here's just a sampling from Friday night:
- "Did you have to pay for two race entries?"
- "Do you get to divide your total time in two because of the baby in there?"
- "Wow, you're pregnant???"
- "Holy crap, I can barely do this without being pregnant!"
- And my favorite, as I was looking down at my Garmin "You'd better not be timing contractions over there!" to which I replied "Yeah, they're 2 minutes apart, think I have time to finish??" :o)
I had told the organizers when I checked in that I might have to stop after the first loop (5k) depending on how I was feeling. My goal was to do all 10k, but if things weren't feeling good, I'd just complete the 5k. But, as we neared the 5k mark, I was feeling great. At times the baby was sitting a bit high which made breathing a bit tough, but then he would settle out and lower a bit which made it so much easier to breathe. I think a lot of the positive and funny comments from the other runners and spectators also helped me along. So, I turned off and headed around a second time. And snapped a few photos of course!
By the time I got the end of the second loop however, I was ready to be finished. I can't say I was exhausted, but the old abdominal ligaments were starting to feel a bit sore so I was glad the 10km mark was near. It felt great running up to the finish because some of the volunteers had walked over there now and recognized me and cheered me on. For only about the 2nd time in my life, my name got announced as I crossed the finish line. The announcer said "And here comes 10km finisher Nikki Scott who looks like she's got a soon-to-be-finisher along with her!"
I glanced up as I crossed the finish line and couldn't believe my time was about 1:19-ish. That's not a stellar 10k time for the average runner, but it`s about the same as my last 10k in May so I was very pleased.
I didn't stick around the race fair for too long because I wanted to get to the car before my legs seized up, so I hobbled along to the parkade and headed home.
My official time and results are as follows:
- Total time: 1:19:38
- Average pace: 7:57/km
- 5k split: 38:23
- Overall ranking: 402/423
- Females 16-39 age group: 116/118 females, oh yeah baby!
Anyhow, it was a really great race, but I have to admit I'm a bit sore now two days later. On my way back to the parkade I snapped this awesome shot of myself. Oops, cut my head off. Oh well, this is what a 30-week pregnant chick looks like after a 10km run!
And in case you're wondering, that pink top is about the only one I have left that still fits! So yes, I'm pretty much dressed the same in all of my recent running pictures! It's just the belly that seems to change.
As mentioned before, I tried to take things slow for the week leading up to the race, just to be sure I was feeling as rested as possible. On Thursday night I ended up going for a brisk walk (despite my friend bailing on me) and unfortunately my hamstrings were feeling a little tight on Friday. Throughout the day at work, I just sat with my legs up, drank lots of water etc. and hoped for the best.
Since the race was being held on campus at the university where I work and my work day is done at 4:30 pm, I had a bit of time to kill before the race started. My husband came out around 5:00 pm and we headed to the campus village to have dinner. Probably against my better judgement we headed for my favorite sushi restaurant and stuffed ourselves with teriyaki chicken bento boxes. Hmm, not my typical pre-race meal, but hey, when the baby wants sushi, the baby gets sushi!
By the time we were done dinner, we headed back to my office building for a quick clothing change. I had my Garmin charging because when I checked it at 4:00 pm, the battery had drained to 0% - I guess the buttons got pushed in my gym bag! Oops! But it was fully charged by the time I was ready to go run. My husband dropped me off at the race start and I had just enough time to check my gear and walk to the start line.
After only standing around for a couple of minutes, the gun went off and the race began. Thankfully the race started with a nice downhill stretch so that was a good way for me to get warmed up and settle into a comfortable pace. I had set my Garmin to time me for 5:1 intervals and it turned out to be the perfect strategy. It was a lovely night, still sunny but not too hot in the sun. I don't know how many people raced, but it was a nice sized group and we all stayed pretty much together for the first few km.
We wound our way around the edge of campus before heading back in, winding through the new residential area and eventually making our way to Main Mall, the main pedestrian drag through the middle of campus. The route was a big loop and I snapped this picture after we had looped around the new library and were headed back down Main Mall in the opposite direction.
Being a smaller race, the mix of runners was interesting. I could tell (from their bodies and their conversations) that there were a lot of very competitive runners there. I think the race is actually a part of several competitive road race series. There were also a lot of recreational runners who all wanted to chat as they passed. I think one of the funnest parts of racing while pregnant is the comments you get. Here's just a sampling from Friday night:
I had told the organizers when I checked in that I might have to stop after the first loop (5k) depending on how I was feeling. My goal was to do all 10k, but if things weren't feeling good, I'd just complete the 5k. But, as we neared the 5k mark, I was feeling great. At times the baby was sitting a bit high which made breathing a bit tough, but then he would settle out and lower a bit which made it so much easier to breathe. I think a lot of the positive and funny comments from the other runners and spectators also helped me along. So, I turned off and headed around a second time. And snapped a few photos of course!
I glanced up as I crossed the finish line and couldn't believe my time was about 1:19-ish. That's not a stellar 10k time for the average runner, but it`s about the same as my last 10k in May so I was very pleased.
My official time and results are as follows:
Anyhow, it was a really great race, but I have to admit I'm a bit sore now two days later. On my way back to the parkade I snapped this awesome shot of myself. Oops, cut my head off. Oh well, this is what a 30-week pregnant chick looks like after a 10km run!