Race Report: Four Miles

The Four Miler has come and gone again. I walked my way through the race at a respectable (I think, for being 27+ weeks pregnant) 16:09/mi. My target was about 16:00, so I'm pretty happy. As usual, the course was crowded with amateurs walking three and four abreast, making passing difficult. And yes, gentle readers, this Mama was indeed passing people the entire race, despite having lined up in the 14:00 pace group.

Nearly every mile was exactly 16:09, and I'm pretty impressed w/myself for keeping such a steady pace despite the heat and the hills. I saw no less than 5 ambulances dispatched out onto the course to pick up runners who had succumbed to one or the other.

I saw several other preggos walking and running the race. Hats off to you, running pregnant people! I even saw one very brave woman carrying her newborn in a sling. Some of the spectators had apparently never heard of pregnant people staying fit and not only did I hear several comments of "Look at that pregnant lady," but one random woman even asked to take my picture. Specifically, a side view of my belly. Ummmmm, okay, thank you ever so much for making me feel like the bearded lady at a carnival.

Feeling like the bearded lady is actually quite a bit better than feeling like Violet Beauregard post-chewing gum and pre-squeezing, which is how I felt after bolting from the four miler to go roast in the heat as our home team got trounced in football. I had quite the waddle going by bedtime last night. A warm bath and a good night's sleep has mostly cured it, though today's physical state is best described as "creaky."