the ollie

I learned a few tough lessons after I became pregnant with Riley in the fall of 2006. I went into my pregnancy in the best shape of my life, but the fatigue that came along with the first trimester was tough. I gave in to it and exercised less and spent a lot more time on the couch. I didn't eat as well either and it left me with a lot of work to do once the pregnancy was over -- 50 lbs to lose to be exact.

After a year of eating healthy and exercising, I was finally able to lose the pregnancy weight. I then focused on my endurance training to see if I could improve my fitness from where I was at in 2006. I was encouraged to hear the women atheletes peak in their late 30's - early 40's. It seemed to prove true when I ran my Mother's Day Marathon in May, beating my best time (set at age 28) by almost 30 min. My way of thumbing my nose at middle age...ha.

When I got pregnant in July, I decided that this time around things would be different. So, despite the nausea and fatigue, I've been watching what I eat and exercising at least three times a week. I've continued running, trying to maintain as many of my recent fitness gains as possible.

Each September, I enjoy running the Ollie 5 mile road race. This year's race was my fourth. In 2006, I had just become pregnant and although my legs felt heavy I ran a pretty good race at a 9 minute per mile (mpm) pace. The next year, I was 3 months post-partum, and I ran an 11:22 mpm pace. Last year I ran the race at a 9:27 mpm on a hot, muggy day. This year at 12 weeks pregnant, I was just hoping to run at least a 10 mpm.

I wasn't sure how fast I would run it this year. I am running noticably slower than earlier this summer, but since I run trails, I don't get a good gauge of my mpm. Since my two runs earlier in the week felt slow and labored, I figured that a 10 mpm pace would be reasonable under my "delicate" condition.

One of the things I love about running is that you never know what kind of a run you'll have until you start. I have been sleep-deprived and had a great run and I've run in ideal temps and conditions where my usual course felt really hard. It's such an intricate and complex thing, that it's just this big unknown until you get going.

This year's race took place in conditions that are well suited for running. The temp was about 60 degrees and there was light rain for most of the race to keep us cool. I felt great throughout the race and ran at a faster pace than expected. I ran the race in 45:31 which is a 9:17 mpm pace, only seconds per mile slower than my best time on the course.

I was so encouraged by this -- it shows me how much the training and eating well have done for me. Hopefully it will also mean an easier pregnancy for me this time around and a faster recovery once the baby is born.

Jonathan had some problems with the button on the camera so I don't have any video of me crossing the finish line, but here's a video with some pictures of me before and after the race and pics and video of how the boys kept themselves occupied while Mama was off running:





Shelby