Its been an interesting few days. 

 I actually took both Friday and Saturday off of running to get ready for the Bridge run on Sunday.  It’s the first time that I’ve had 2 days off of running in a row in a long time.  Since Saturday was free we decided to go watch my friend Val’s cross-country meet in Sparta.  It was a great meet and we had a great time, we rode over there with Val’s husband, Derek and her 9 month old daughter, Brooklyn. 

 On the way back we got into a “minor” car accident.  I say “minor” in quotes because there was a lot of damage done to Val and Derek’s vehicle, but everyone was ok.  I was in the back with Brooklyn and she didn’t so much as flinch.  I felt fine.  I was a little worried about the lap belt impacting my baby…but I talked to the EMS guys and they said I was probably fine and just to follow up with my provider this week.  Well, we have an appointment today anyway.

 So, fast forward to Sunday.  The Grand Rapids Bridge run was fun.  My plan was to go out very conservatively.  Since Tim and I had averaged 7:30 pace on our 10 mile run the week before I figured averaging 7:15’s for the whole 10 mile run (I had to stop myself from calling it a “race” since I’m not “racing” for another 6 months).  I wanted to start at 7:30 pace and then work down into the 7:15’s and hopefully finish the last few miles at 6:45 as long as it felt ok. 

 Well, I didn’t start at 7:30, I started closer to 7:15.  I tried to slow it down over the next few miles, but it really felt super easy so I decided to just “go with it” and not pick it up until at least after 5 miles.  

 I passed a lot of people between miles 2 and 4 that got caught up in the adrenaline and went out way too fast.  There was one guy, maybe in his 50’s that I passed and then he decided to “race” me.  It was actually kind of nice for me because I had something to focus on.  He’d pass me and get a little ways ahead and then he’d ease back into his pace and I’d catch him again (I was running the same pace) and I’d pass him and then he’d pass me again.  This went on for a couple miles and around mile 5, another 50 something guy joined him.  I knew they were “racing” me and was laughing inside because I wondered what they’d think if I told them I was almost 4 months pregnant…

 Oh well, it was fun.  I was accepting of the challenge.  Sometime though after mile 5, the second middle ager started to really pick up the pace, and to keep up with him I was running low 7’s.  I didn’t want to go any faster until at least mile 7, so I backed off and let him get further ahead.  Once he did though, he didn’t pick it up anymore and settled into a low 7 min pace along with me.  Sometime around mile 6 my first middle aged challenger dropped off completely.  When I got  to mile 7 I started to pick it up to sub 7 pace.  There were some people to pass and I started counting them, wanting to see how many people I could pass in the last few miles.  I noticed the other middle ager had picked it up too. 

 I started to feel tired around the 7.5 mile mark.  I was hoping to run 6:45 pace, but I was holding steady at about 6:51 and decided I better not try to push it beyond that.  Lucky for me, a lot of people had gone out too fast and were tired and I started passing a lot of people.  I forgot to keep count, but mentally it kept me going.  

 I felt like the effort was comfortably hard.  My breathing was still very much controlled and I was able to say a few sentences to people as we ran.  I even smiled when I saw the camera.  I was ready for the run to be done, don’t get me wrong…it wasn’t a walk in the park and I didn’t want to run a step further then 10 miles.  During the last mile, I was counting down the quarter miles as they passed to keep myself going.  Then with .25 to go I saw the finish line and realized the course was short.  Quite short.  I had 9.88 on my watch.  It was long when I did it the year before.  My friend Val (who finished as the 3^rd female overall by the way, 9 months after giving birth) had it on her watch as 9.95 so it was much closer for her.  Either way, I was glad it was over and not concerned about “getting my round 10 in” for the day.

 At the finish, I was disappointed to find they only had water available.  A ten mile run with a baby on board and a $45 race fee, I thought there would be some bananas, bagels, chocolate milk or yogurt or something.  Just water.  I drank the water and then we waited around forever to get awards.  I didn’t win an award, but Tim did.  I was so happy for him.  He ran the 5K (which was LONG) so he didn’t get a PR, but had the course been accurate, it would have been one. 

 We finally got home and I ate an hour and a half later at that point.  I was tired.  We’d had a very busy weekend.  So I took a hot shower and layed down for a couple hours.  When I woke up, I had a headache that lasted into the night.  I ate dinner, and went to bed as normal.  Then, just before 1 am I woke up with a horrible headache that wrapped around my whole head and prevented me from sleeping.  I thought that maybe I had somehow dehydrated after the run so I went downstairs and guzzled as much water as I could stand and took an acetometaphen (only drug I can take) and layed down again to try to get some sleep.  By the time my alarm went off in the morning and I didn’t feel any better I made the decision I couldn’t go into work.  I’ve never in my time at this company had a sick day!  I just felt awful.  My head hurt and I just felt tired and weak and all I wanted to do was just lay down. 

 I had planned on going on a short run and even that day kept thinking that if I drank enough water, maybe I’d feel better.  In the afternoon I still didn’t feel well.  I had spent the whole day, basically lying around and still felt like that.  I didn’t know what was wrong, but worried about the baby.  I worried something was wrong.  I checked my temperature several times to make sure I didn’t have a fever and I never did. 

 So I ate dinner, walked the dog and went to bed.  I woke up this morning feeling like a million bucks!  Isn’t it funny, when you feel so crummy that when you feel just “normal” you feel SOOO great?!  So I got up early and ran 8 miles.  Still not sure what the heck was wrong with me.  We have our appointment this afternoon and I’m just so nervous.  I really want to hear that heart beat and be reassured that everything is ok. 

 Looking back, I’m glad I took it easy yesterday and didn’t run.  I probably shouldn’t have even walked the dog—but I admit I felt guilty for laying around all day.  I wonder if my body just really needs more time to recover than it ever has before?  I didn’t feel like I pushed the run too hard, but now I wonder if I did.  Either way, it’s given me time to think about what’s really important right now.  Averaging 7:04 pace at the bridge run shouldn’t have been important.  I just have to run easier than I feel like I should.  Its hard when you can’t trust your perceived level of exertion and need to just “take it down a notch”.

Me and Baby running the Bridge Run at 4 months