Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The Grove 5k (er, 2.88 mile) RACE REPORT =0

Yeah, so my friend Erin is training for Ironman Arizona....she was also one of the girls that came out to cheer me on in my own IMAZ adventure and we're in a book club together and our husbands are both in "anesthesia class" together (as I like to call it)....anyway, she sent me an email saying that she knows i'm not running really anymore, but that there was this really cool 5k race at UCSD and it was all about sustainability and their triathlon club was sponsoring a race that was completely "green," and all that jazz.....was I in?

I thought quickly about our plans for Saturday, we had to head up to the OC for Dave's brother's graduation weekend, but Dave had to go in to work Saturday morning for a bit. So, YEP! I was free. 5k at 25 weeks.....sounded reasonable to me. I could walk it and just take my time.....and just have fun with it.

Seriously, who was I kidding?? Have "fun" with it. Right.

My "race report" makes me laugh I was constantly comparing my "morning ritual" that I performed on Saturday with all the other pre-race rituals i've done. By far..Saturday was the BEST.

The race started at 9:00, I was meeting Erin at 8:15. Typically I would probably get up at about 6:30-have some oatmeal, no orange juice, slather on sunscreen, stretch, pick out a visor, clean off my sunglasses, stretch some more, get to the race start at 7:45 or so, do some stride outs.

Saturday went like this: My alarm went off at 7:15 (and I was a wee bit tapped from celebrating with Stephen and Sassy Shan at their fabulously smart PhD party the night before at Dussini, nevermind we got home at 10:30, I was still tired =0). So I rolled over and went back to bed, woke up at 7:40. Yikes, I was late already. I down some cereal with milk and orange juice. Milk and OJ a recipe for disaster in a typical race for me. I was already late. Parked in the parking garage and had to haul ass for maybe a half mile? I was late so I decided to run to the start area....not bad!

Met up with Erin and we chatted and before long we were lining up on the track. It was a small race maybe 150 people? I told Erin to go ahead and I was just standing there, not really nervous, just excited to have a different "venue" to "race" at! I stood there wondering how fast I could really walk a 5K, then I wondered if people would make snide comments about being pregnant and in a 5K.....I just thought "well, just walk and see how you do."

Someone started the race and everyone took off....I mean..EVERYONE. Everyone was running....I was like "wait, isn't SOMEONE walking?". Then I thought "f* it, i'm running." I ditched my walk and off I went .....about an 11:30 pace. We did one lap around the track and then up a small hill.....where I was still getting passed by people.

I turned around and...

I was LAST. LAST people, dead....F'ing last!!! I chuckled...and said "Ok, Mer, you are 25 weeks pregnant you really do NOT need to be finding your competitive spirit at this point," my next thought "whatever, there is a woman up there in a tennis skirt (I KNOW what a running skirt looks like, this was NOT one of them) and she was also wearing an SDBC bike jersey and shoes that looked like they were for gardening. She...was...going.....down. *Cue catty music* where was this coming from? Seriously, Mer, just enjoy the walk, it's a chilly day, just have fun with this.

I can't, I can't do it.....I was after "skirt/bike jersey woman." I couldn't really catch her in the beginning because she was quite zippy as it turns out. D'oh. At the one mile mark, people started to walk and I was like "a-ha!!" I have found myself amongst those that have the endurance to do the mile, but can they hack it for 3.1??? *cue more competitive mean music*....(I realize i'm being a tad ridiculous but I secretly enjoyed that they had to slow down to walk) and I was hoping when I "flew" past them at my rapid 11:30-12:30 pace that they would say "Hey, she's pregnant and i'm not letting a pregnant woman beat me."

I carried on and the eucalyptus grove was an awesome place to run, not flat really, but such an interesting and really pretty run. I was so focused on catching skirt/bike jersey woman that I forgot about the possibility of rattlesnakes...but I was careful enough to walk down some of the paths that were rocky (not worth risking Plus One right!?).......

Finally, I see skirt/bike jersey woman, I pass her for good and catch a few others along the way.....I see Erin at the top of this little hill waiting for me (she backtracked after finishing since she's like super fast) and she's like yelling next to me "GO MER GO!" and we see a few people and she's shouting to people (all four of them along the finish line) =0 "she's running for two!" I say "you are SO DEAD Erin!"......I seriously didn't need the shout out, but it was cute =0.

As it turns out it was 2.88 miles and I finished in 35 minutes! Didn't care about my time at all, what I did love is that I BEAT skirt/bike jersey woman! It may sound catty, but it just reminds me that I really do love racing and even if it's little milestones like picking a person to pass, it's all fun for me! And as it turns out, I felt GREAT running, so yesterday Dave ran with me around the lake about 4 miles.......it took me about 50 minutes but I was running! So, I guess running is "back on" for now...but it's not an everyday thing and I just do it when I feel like it.

My friend commented the other day that she thinks it's funny how i'm such a "swimmer" and i'm not swimming, but RUNNING. So true. Who knew? I guess at this stage in my pregnancy I want the fastest workout possible and running always makes me work the hardest. So...running it is, for now! Not to worry, I still go by my doctor's guidelines: no dehydration, no running in the heat, and keeping my pace conversational (which is somewhat laughable). I remember Amanda running with me for the first time and she jokingly said "I find it hard to believe that you would ever have a hard time talking." Sure enough we started our run (with Angie too!).....and she was very surprised...I cannot talk when I run, unless it's a whisper.

SO! That's my "race report" so glad I ran!!

8 comments:

ADC said...

You are so funny. Great race. Love the competitive spirit.

Dave said...

I'll admit it, I got beat by a pregnant woman in the last mile of a 5K once. :)

Anonymous said...

That was great! I am extremely competitive too.... I can see myself doing that in a race. I think it's awesome that you are running!

Marit C-L said...

OMG - this is HILARIOUS! I LOVE it! I can totally see you and Plus One gunning for tennis skirt/bike jersey gal. :) HA! Way to go you two!!!! :) Thanks for making me laugh so hard in the morning... yep, I hear the music and I can see the competitive gleam in your eye...

Shan said...

OMG I totally bust a gut when reading this - esp about the SDBC bike lady - I can totally picture it!!!! HAHAHA Now I really wish I was there that morning!

Don't worry about rattlesnakes in the eucalyptus groves - I've run in there hundreds of times and never saw one!

Nice work - you've got me beat on the number of races done in the last year :)

LOVE ya!

Mel said...

I laughed :) I did the same thing..did a 5k pregg and my thought was I wonder if people knew I was preggers or just FAT!! Isn't it so fun as you really don't feel like you are running but more like a waddle AND how was your breathing???
AS SOON as you push that baby out you are going to have the major "itch" of running again:)

Jennifer Yake Neuschwander said...

Great story Mer. So funny.....can't wait to see you soon.

Trigirlpink said...

Skirt/bike jersey woman?? Did you at least tell her "this is a 5K sugar, save your bike jersey for the charity ride", when you went by her????
Ha! Good on you for reelin' em in being last outta the gate AND staying fit through your pregnancy! You Go Girl. :-)