Preggo Week 27 Recap: MandaRUN & More

Preggo Week 27 Recap: MandaRUN & More

(November 19-25, 2016)

MandaRUN 1/2 Marathon

(November 20, 2016)

On Sunday, the rain poured in the early hours of the morning.  But, I bundled up and bundled my little one up and we went out to the Auburn Fair Grounds to run the MandaRUN 1/2 Marathon.  This would be my first race pushing Ellie in the stroller.  

MRTT group pic - pre race 

Ellie & I pre-race 

I thought this race would be a fun half since it's a point to point race from Auburn to Loomis.  Thinking it wouldn't be too tough of a course as it's a net downhill.  However, it turned out to be a lot more challenging than expected.  Of course, I know I made it extra challenging by running while 27 weeks pregnant and pushing a toddler in a stroller.  I did think this is like 3 x 13.1 so it almost felt like I was doing an ultra.  ;-) 

But, the course was tougher than expected.  Lots of hills!  I expected a few hills coming out of Auburn but I felt like half the race was hilly.  Also, hills with a stroller is extra tough, both on the uphill and the downhill.  And pushing a stroller, you're working additional muscles.  

The good thing is that the rain stopped for the whole race. I ended up warming up fairly quickly and stripped off my extra layers.  Good thing about having a stroller is it's easy to stash away extra clothes.  The country roads were really pretty too so that made for a pleasant run.  

Sweating pushing the stroller up a hill 

Photo credit: Leigh Arevalo

Around mile 10ish, my calves started cramping BADLY.  I was taking a lot of walking breaks.  Shortly after mile 12, my calves cramped so badly, I stopped dead in my tracks waiting for the cramp to pass.  Around that time, my friend Roxana sent me a text, cheering Ellie and I on.  That was some good encouragement to help motivate me to just get to the finish.

While I went a lot slower than expected, Ellie did amazing in the stroller!  She hardly fussed at all.  She enjoyed seeing the sights and napped for a few miles or so.  I only had to stop once or twice to tend to her (mostly to get her a snack or find her binky).  We did sadly lose her Big Bird toy somewhere on the course. 

Coming into the finish was fun seeing some of my friends cheering us on.  My legs were definitely ready to be done.  But, I'm happy we made it!  :)

Ellie was excited to get a finisher's medal!  She wore it all afternoon, even after we got home.  

Ellie- post race with her medal

Three things that went well

1.  Ellie behaved really well for being in a stroller for about 3 hours.  I'm glad she's a good stroller running kid.  I did well to keep her warm and have stuff to keep her entertained (toys and snacks).  But, I think I'm lucky that she seems to enjoy being outside and just cruising along, seeing the sights. 

2.  Seeing many of my MRTT friends and getting to run with some.  It was a fun race seeing many of my running friends from MRTT!  Many of them ran WAY ahead of me but I got to see a number of friends along the way and that was nice!  (Btw, congrats to those who ran good races and thanks to those who cheered me on during the race!)  

3.  Me, Ellie and baby made it the 13.1 miles to Loomis.  Getting us all to the finish is definitely something I would say went well.  :) 

Coming into the finish!

Three things that could be better:

1.  My calves cramped really badly.  The extra preggo weight and probably extra stress pushing the stroller made it hard on the calves. I had extra calf pain around this time of my pregnancy last time.  I think I need to do some more strength exercises as well as put extra attention to rolling the calves between runs.

2.  Fueling.  I think I didn't take into account the added effort of pushing a stroller and hills.  Should have fueled a bit more frequently.  

3.  I overdressed.  I had a tank, a long sleeve and a jacket on and within a couple miles, I was stripping off the extra layers as well as my visor.  I didn't need to wear all those clothes.  I know better.  I think I was worried about the rain too much.  I was lucky, I had a stroller to stash the extra layers into.  Otherwise, it would have been annoying to have to carry all those extra clothes. 

Three things about the race itself:  

1.  The course was marked really well and what a beautiful course!  

2.  It was a small race but the support was great.  Nice seeing many friendly faces along the course and everyone was so encouraging to me and Ellie!   They also gave me a great finish announcement.  

3.  Saw a lot of "Go Paul" along the course.  During the race, I wondered who Paul was.  Found out afterwards that Paul Robbins (from Fox40) ran the event.  I was bummed I didn't get to see him.  I'm a fan!

All in all, it was definitely quite the challenge but I had fun and so grateful I can share such fun adventures with my daughter!  :) 

post race baby bump pic

The Rest of the Week

After MandaRUN, I definitely took a few days for my body to recover, especially my calves.  I also tried to not let the work stress get to me too badly as it did last week.  

Other than that, my pregnancy seems to be going well.  Baby is squirming a lot more and I feel him kicking and moving around quite frequently.  He might be quite active like his sister Ellie!  :) 

On Thanksgiving, I started the Holiday Runstreak Challenge.  This challenge is where you run at least a mile a day from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day.  I got a couple runs in to start the challenge.  I am definitely noticing myself getting bigger and running slower.  So, I've been doing more interval run/walks.  That's been helpful.  I just want to get through CIM (the marathon) in about a week.  Then, I'll just run for fun the rest of the pregnancy.  

Black Friday #OptOutside Kid Hike

On Black Friday, I joined a couple other moms in taking our kids for a little hike around the Auburn Overlook area.  

In the past, I have taken Ellie on many stroller runs and a few hikes where I carried her in a baby carrier.  This time, I let her hike herself for quite a bit of it.  I carried her for some but she was eager to hike on her own.  It was fun to see her enjoying being out on the trails.  Makes me a proud and happy mama!  

Miles for Week 27:  25.88 miles

Miles for this pregnancy: 605.85 miles