The 30K race was today and I was nervous going in to it. The longest I've run is 17 miles and by the end of that run, I was done. Being pregnant and trying to run long is really hard because I get so tired. I wasn't sure how this race would go, but I just wanted to finish.
The morning of the race, I was running a little behind. I picked up my packet, pinned my number on and barely had enough time to use the bathroom before the race started. I ran into Heather Loughton in the line to the restroom and she said she just wanted to enjoy the run and go at a comfortable pace. That was perfect for me. I was planning on running 7:30 per mile, so we planned to run together.
After the first mile, I was desperate to find a bathroom. It was awful, all I could think about was urinating. The baby sitting on my bladder makes it so I can't hold off going to the bathroom at all. There was a bathroom at mile 3, so I stopped to use it. I felt bad because Heather stopped and walked through the aid station to wait for me.
This was how it was the entire race...I was searching for the next bathroom. I felt good running, I just had to urinate the whole time. I ended up stopping 5 times to go to the bathroom. One time I had to squat behind a parked truck and go. I feel like urinated consumed me the entire run.
The last 2 miles were awful! I was done and didn't want to go anymore. I wanted to walk, but Heather kept me going. I'm so glad I had her to pull me through the end of the race. I don't think I could've finished it without her. My finish was pretty pathetic, but I did it. I ended up with a time of 2:20.08, which is 7:31/mile. I took 5th place overall, but won the entire series!
At the end of the race, one of the male pacers was asking me if I'm going to run the Ogden Marathon. I told him I wasn't because I'm pregnant. He told me I have a huge advantage over other women because I have so many red blood cells and I should really think about running it. This guy has obviously never been pregnant and had to use the bathroom every other mile. I can't image running a marathon and all the bathroom stops I'd have to make. I don't think I could run that far either. I was done around mile 16 today.
I'm so happy I completed the series. It was really well run and I really enjoyed it.