It was a cold and windy day for the Ocean Drive 10 miler today. I was definitely nervous and thinking I had no business doing this run today, but in the end it turned out fine! I finished just under 1:55 which is a high 11 minute mile pace - very slow! - but it was a nice day.
With this morning's crowd and atmosphere, I was excited and ready to get in a run down the shore with a bunch of other people. The goal - finish! It was so cold though, all I could think about was that my boobs were killing me! I don't remember this with Nick in pregnancy, just after they hurt, but they have been hurting ALOT (and especially when it is cold!)
The first mile I felt like a normal runner. I started out with pants on. I can never be too cold so I couldn't start with the shorts! I had a bunch of new gear on - jacket I got for Christmas, bondi band, and compression socks (review soon). Lately, my calves have been so sore for the first 10 minutes of outside running - it happened again today. Mile 2 the pants came off - shorts underneath and I tied my favorite running pants around my waist for the next 8 miles. Mile 3 I was thinking, a 5k would have been a perfect distance, good enough! And by mile 5 I really thought, 5 miles would have been nice. I was hanging in there until around mile 8 when I got a side stitch that was killer! It was so windy and I wanted to be done! I had to walk on and off to the finish. All in all, it was a nice day, I was able to get in a run that I wouldn't have been motivated to do alone, and it was my third OD10 in a row : )
For me, when I am not racing, I tend to enjoy things that I don't notice otherwise - the scenery, the atmosphere, the fans. It is a decent but very quiet course that is mainly on streets through the shore towns. The last 1/2 mile was on the boardwalk - wish there was more boardwalk running! The marathon course is really flat, but you are on your own! There are not many fans out, and it would be hard to motivate. Last year I did 20 miles of it and it was definitely a nicer day and more people were out, but I'm not sure if I could run the full marathon after experiencing today. Some guy turned to another runner and said "I can't believe I paid for this" - he was doing the marathon.
All in all, it was a good experience, I am a little sore but feel good.
Nick and I post race:
Way to go! You're going to be golden, come fall training.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the 10-miler! It sounds like a great event. It's nice to just take it all in some times.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you had pants tied around your waist for 8 miles! That would drive me crazy!
Congrats on your third in a row! 10 miles is such a fun race distance.
ReplyDeleteGood job girly! So proud you stuck it out! You're gonna have to start making sins for Nick to hold when you pass him! That would be great motivation!
ReplyDeleteGreat job enjoying your race!
ReplyDeleteWhat I want to know is - how the heck did you get your running pants off over your shoes? I'm starting to get so ungainly that I would have been on my butt,legs akimbo in the blink of an eye! Ha ha!
ReplyDeleteWell done. I can't imagine doing 10 miles - 5 -6 is definitely fine by me at the mo and even at that I'm introducing walking now - 3rd trimester big belly! So glad you enjoyed it though - it is really good to soak in the atmosphere - all too easy to forget why we do these things in the first place.
Oh and while I'm posting - there were a lot of good points re: burn out after babba number 2 and coming back too soon. I do not want to be negative as I've had a lot of bah humbug comments which can be very irkesome. You can do it - you've nothing to prove; you are clearly very determined, diligent and talented, but I know that after training for the Fling (53 miles over hilly trails taking 12 hours) after my longest race had been 16 over 13 hills taking 3h50, I definitely needed some off time where I just enjoyed running for the sheer pleasure of it before starting training for the Ben. Our bodies are pretty special things and will do a lot asked of them, but we must remember to take care of them to be too in order to get the best out of them. Better to recover and then run well than to keep churning out the miles and stagnate. Hope that sounds as supportive as it is meant to, rather than negative bahs!
More snow! Nooooooo! I want Spring now too!
Kaz.
yay for doing 10 miles!!
ReplyDeleteGreat job! Glad you had fun out there and enjoyed the race. Fun pictures!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on running such a strong race!
ReplyDeleteSounds like it was challenging but you made it through. You are doing a great job running through pregnancy!
ReplyDeletefun! good job! was this your baby's first race??
ReplyDeleteWay to go!...plus Nick looks so proud! I thought of you at my half when I saw a pregnant lady running...so cute!
ReplyDeleteGrea job! 10 miles is a long freaking way w/ a belly:>
ReplyDeleteyou look good Natalie and it sounds like you're keeping things up nicely. Just keep going woman!
ReplyDeleteAwwww, such wonderful pictures of you and your family.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great race!! :D
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Sounds like you had a great day. It's amazing you are still doing 10 milers. You should be really proud!
ReplyDelete10 miles while pregnant is so impressive! i can't imagine! great job and i need to take your advice and enjoy the scenery, etc.
ReplyDeleteCongrats!! You are amazing. That's such an impressive distance and pace - wow! You look great too, and you have such a beautiful family. :)
ReplyDeleteYou looks so happy in all of your pics! I am so impressed with your 10 miles. WOW! Nice job.
ReplyDeleteNice run girlie!! :) Looks like you guys had lots of fun! Nick is getting so big- more cute every day too!
ReplyDeleteNice job and cute pics! My calves were really sore too toward the end of my pregnancy. I think running slower and without much core strength puts a lot more pressure on the other parts of your body.
ReplyDeleteYou're doing awesome, keep it up!