Tuesday, June 8, 2010

28 weeks pregnant with a race report

Two weeks ago, I had a shock with my doctor abandoning me. Sniff, sniff. And just to make things even better I received a few irritating pregnant comments. Last week, however, was much better. I'm fairly certain I found a new doctor. I have an appointment to meet her; hopefully I'll like her.

Also, there was a workplace fun run last week! It was advertised as a 5K, but the fitness center fellow who measured out the course informed us at the start that it is was actually a 3.2 miler. Then he said, "well, if you want to be technical it's closer to 3.3 miles." Ahhh, non runners are so funny, aren't they? If it's closer to 3.3 miles it can hardly be called a 5K, but that's okay. It was a race to get people out and moving. There were 40 people who ran, mostly men (a number of others walked). It was a lot of fun! I've been looking forward to the fun run because I miss racing and I knew this would be low key. I wound up running 23:37 and being conservative and assuming that the course 3.2 (rather than 3.3) that's 7:22 pace. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't really race or run super hard, so I'm pleased with the pace. Plus, I'm packing on an extra 16 pounds now...ugh. Oh, also, I was the first female finisher and came in 6th overall.

Being as pregnant as I am, I did receive a lot of attention before, during, and after the race. To my relief, though, it was all good. Only the company nurse seemed concerned, but she's older and not a runner (so I'm not counting her). Everyone else had fun cheering me on. A guy I passed even shouted out "great job, my wife ran until a week before our baby was born and it was great." I was surprised because like I told Nick "who wants to get passed by a pregnant lady? I wouldn't..." People were surprisingly gracious. Below you can a picture of me running the race at 27 weeks and 4 days pregnant. The guy in blue, who ran with me most of the way, had a 3:20 marathon debut. He finished a good 30 seconds ahead of me, and apparently complained to all the running guys that I pushed him to run faster than he wanted to. (I only know this because Nick was in the locker room and later divulged the information to me.) I don't believe him though. He looked just fine to me.

You see that baby belly peaking from the bottom of my shirt?

Overall, running is still going well. I am slowing down though. My average pace from week 14 - 25 was between 8:33 and 8:43, but the last few weeks the average pace has slowed to 8:46 - 8:48. I would expect that at some point soon there will be another slow down. I'm surprised I haven't slowed more given the extra 16 pounds I'm lugging around. I guess I'm adapting well to being HUGE. Anyway, below you can see my stats. Oh, I almost forgot, I had my gestational diabetes test and I'm not diabetic. YAY! They also tested my iron levels and I'm not anemic either, so double yay!

Training Journal 5/24 - 5/30
Total Miles Run: 50.35
Total Time Running: 7:22
Average Running Pace: 8:46

Training Journal 5/31 - 6/6
Total Miles Run: 46
Total Time Running: 6:45
Average Pace: 8:48

18 comments:

Running and living said...

Awesome, Katie. You "almost" make me want to be pregnant and racing:) 7:22 is smoking, I wonder about finding one of those calculators that take weight into account and take the 16 lbs off...Plus, you did not actually "race" it. Amazing.

Unknown said...

VERY cute, little belly peaking out!
I agree, great pace and are you actually feeling the 16 lbs. in the legs or ???
I hope you LOVE your doctor!

Michelle said...

You are amazing! And you look great. What happened to your doctor? My normal pace is usually 8:30 (unless I am running with my new running group--then it is about 8 or a smidge under!) so you can still smoke me!

Julie said...

Hi Katie,
Oh, darn it! Your running slower because of being preggers still beat my recent 5K by 13 seconds! You are amazing! I love the pictures:) Good Lord Katie...you are a beast! I can't wait to see what kind of damage you do after this baby is born! You are one speedy mama:)

I hope that you have a fantastic week Katie!

X-Country2 said...

Girl, you ain't huge. ;o) Just kidding.

Awesome race. That's my non-pregnant 5K pace! Way to show those boys what's up.

sea legs girl said...

Katie,
That is an awesome time! I am so happy for you that you are still running so fast :). I just had to look back at my 28 week 5k race and you ran yours almost 1 minute faster than me. My first post-pregnancy 5k was in 19:46, so I'm predicting some smoking times for you as a mom! Keep going, girl! I'm hoping for the best for you!

Katie said...

Ana Maria: I have looked into those calculators. The general consensus seems to be 2 seconds per pound per mile. So with 16 extra pounds that would mean subtracting 32 seconds per mile. I'm not really sure if I buy it though. As I've been gaining weight, I haven't really been slowing down. And I'm actually quite a bit faster than I was during my first trimester when I was just tired all the time.

Michelle: My doctor is leaving the practice so that she can spend more time with her one year old son. The problem, for me, is that her replacement takes over in September, but my doctor is leaving in July, and I'm due at the end of August. Leaving me without a doctor for the last 6 weeks of the pregnancy.

Sea Legs Girl: Oh, I have some questions for you! 19:46 is a great time, but what were you running prior to your pregnancy? And when was that first 5K race after your baby was born? My most recent pre-pregnancy 5K was 20:15. I've just been assuming that I should expect to be slower than that. I really do want to break that 20 minute mark though. Once upon a time, in high school and college, I broke 20 all the time. I've even broken 19 minutes, but after college I took a break from racing and now I'm having trouble breaking 20 minutes.

sea legs girl said...

Katie, I ran one 5k prepregnancy and that was in -10 F and my time was 22:30. I was by no means a seasoned runner at that time and just did it for fun. So I don't know how that will help in your calculations. I ran that post-pregnancy 5k 3 months post partum.

And now, since I'm not sure you'll notice what I wrote back to you on my blog, I'll just put the comment here as well (sorry about confusing all of your readers):

"Katie, wow you are one fast babe! Guess it's not surprise you run fast pregnant, too :).

But I need a little explanation here. So I have read studies where rats that are calorie restricted survive longer (though never seen a corresponding study in humans) and I have seen multiple studies in humans that show having a BMI in the middle of the normal range corresponds to living longer. Could you point me to this study/studies that show weighing less correlates with living longer?"

shetha said...

Look at you go! I'm currently 16 weeks and working towards hood to coast, which will be right when I turn 28 weeks. You are my inspiration! If I can keep injury free, I bet I could do it!!! Thanks for being an inspiration :-)

Colette said...

Amazing! You look amazing and you are running so strong....I can't hold a 7:22 pace not pregnant! Great job!

AM! said...

wow. love the post and all the comments.

you will for sure run a sub 20 min 5k post baby. garranteed.

Lindsay said...

that is so awesome! an incredible pace, and while pregnant no less!! i am sure some of those guys were having ego troubles for sure :) lol.

congrats on the win!

LMC said...

Hi Katie, I'm glad to have found your blog. Your running is impressive and motivating. Good for you, running pregnant and ignoring silly comments. Great time for the race! Have a great week!

Felice Devine said...

Hi there! Thanks for stopping over at my blog.

To answer your question, I'm 24 weeks pregnant. Still feeling great, but not running nearly as much (or as fast) as you! I ran a 5k on 6/5 in 27:11 and was pleased. I'm just happy to be running b/c I didn't run at all with my son.

You're doing so great with your running. Keep it up! I just love finding other preggo runners :-)

kristen said...

Um WOW.
If I got passed by you in a race (which I would) I wouldn't be pissed off, I'd be just really impressed.

Well done!

Beccarigg said...

Well done!! You are a running rockstar, seriously!

Jill said...

Hey Katie...I'm a little late (okay, a LOT late) in wishing you a big congrats on your race! You're smoking fast, even pregnant you can kick my butt. Well, at my present out of shape condition anyway :p. I'm glad you're feeling well and still out there giving the guys a run for their money! Excellent race and overall placement, very impressive!!! I hope the new Dr is working out!

28 weeks pregnant said...

Amazing!!!that you are still running so fast....hmmm