So much to catch up on over the last 6 months! Jash and I have been very very busy as we
found out in March that we have a baby on the way due in November! We are just thrilled with the news as it was
planned and we are very excited to start a family together. Now let’s get into the 6 month flyby!
March I ran a wonderful little trail marathon up in
Washington with my good friend Margaret, we just met up at the start and kept
running together the whole race! It was
wet and muddy and cold, but with our great convo and catching up that we had to
do the hours just flew by.
For this race I had no idea at all that I was preggers and
no warning symptoms or anything, it was just good old normal running fun! Later that month on Jash’s birthday we
decided to take a test and we passed! We
then knew our little one was on the way!
In early March we had already broken group with permits
approved for a large remodel project on our house so we are continuing on that
project with the goal of having it mostly or as much complete as possible
before our little tot arrives! It is certainly
keeping us on a schedule and focused on efficiency. Jash is doing a wonderful job with the
building and I am helping out as much as I can, I did the demo of our master
bedroom as well as removed all the shingles from the roof. Apparently I am better at taking things apart
vs putting them together, but it all needs to get done! Below is our before picture stay tuned for
the after and progress pictures!
In April I ran the Vernonia marathon for the second year in
a row and just loved it! Knowing that I was prego for this one was an
interesting mind set because I didn’t yet really “feel” different and could
still run great. I just made sure that I
was eating and drinking a lot and listening to my body and had no problem with
it. It was interesting to think about
the little person in there while I was running but still just a vague concept
really. This race was really nice
because I was able to take the early start to stay cool and had a lot of time
on the trail out there by myself. It did
get hot at the end which goes along with the hot summer that we have had this
year in the NW. I was still able to go
back to the house after this race and work all day on the remodel with Jash and
are awesome friends that were helping us take down a giant 150 foot tree!
In May I ran the capital city marathon on my birthday which
was very cool! I have never done this
race before so I was excited to get in a local event on my day. I was able to drive up that morning to the
start and pick up my bib which was super convienent and I love a race that I get
to sleep at home in my own bed the night before. At this event I also met up with Margaret at
the starting line and we did a celebration picture as she was also celebrating
her birthday.
At this point we still had not told anyone about the baby
tot but I was starting to feel a big preggo and it didn’t help that for this
race the original weather forecast had rain and colder temperatures, but then
when I showed up it was 65 and sunny at the start and only getting warmer. They were off on their timing of the storm
and it hit on the entire drive home, which made for hot running conditions and
bad driving conditions, what a treat! The marathon felt different for sure this
time as I was thinking about the little tot and worried about the heat. I hadn’t gained much weight yet at this
point, but I was trying to be very careful with my exertion level, probably a
little more cautious than what I needed to be, but I still got it done and had
fun doing it! It was a wonderful way to celebrate
my birthday and after I drove home to be with my Jash and celebrate with a cake
he baked me!
In April I also landed a new job and promo that I had been
going for at work. This was thrilling news
for both Jash and I as I was looking to do something different at work and had
been working on getting the promotion. It
caused a bit of mixed emotions about the pregnancy for me, as now I had to
consider when to tell people and how, which is harder when you are new to a
team, but also I was really excited about this new job and group and could not
imagine taking time off in the future when I was having so much fun!
Later in May we took a trip to AZ for some fun in the
sunshine! It was a totally relaxed time
where we spent time lounging by Billy D Miller’s pool, hanging out with friends
and family, and running around. I also
was able to tell my family in person about the baby to be so that was pretty
exciting and great timing of the trip even though we planned it before we even
knew we were preggers!
In June I ran the Vancouver USA marathon where I paced for
the first 18 miles and then handed it off for my partner to take them
home. I was pacing the 4:45 group and
was a bit nervous about the baby as we still had not told many people, but I
was starting to perhaps look a little prego.
If anyone did notice they did not say anything to me which was
nice. I was hoping that I could hold the pace for
the entire race as I have done in the past, but I set a goal of at least making
it to the half way mark totally on point.
I was pretty happy to run strong to mile 18. My tummy felt totally different for this race
as it was to me obviously there and I could feel it move. Not the baby exactly but just having it be
bigger than normal was a strange feeling while running. I enjoyed the event and it was much cooler
towards the end than it had been in years past (I have run this race as a pacer
every year since it started in 2010!), but I was still a bit warm for my prego
self! I had fun on this one and am very happy that I
was able to pace it and help others achieve their goals! I was also very happy this one was close to
home as I took a very nice long nap when I got home!
In June I also race directed Intel’s Great Place to Run
event for the millionth year in a row- I am losing count, I think that is
because I have done a lot of them, but it could just be because I am
prego. I love this event and sending
3,000 runners out there each time is just an amazing experience that makes all
of the work that goes into it so very worth it.
I am so lucky to have a wonderful team of ladies that I work with on
this event that are not only smart, beautiful, and driven, but they are also a
TON OF FUN! Which of course makes it
just a joy to plan and execute year after year.
I big thanks to them again this year and looking forward to putting on another awesome
event in 2015!
My July race was the Fleet Feet Marathon out on Sauvie
Island on the 4th of July. I
have run this race every yeah as well since 2010 (I moved here just a week
after it in 09 or I would have done that one too!) This race is historically hot, so I was very
worried about that going into it, but just figured that I would do the best
that I could do and take I easy for the tot!
We still had not told very many people about the pregnancy so I couldn’t
announce it, but I was feeling like I was pretty obvious to everyone else. I just
kept truckin along and did finish the race in the heat but I also met a lot of
cool people along the way that ran and chatted with and got to see a few friends
out there that I shared the pregnancy news while we were running, what a better
way to tell your running friends? After
this event I was able to go home and work on the house more which was awesome
and means that I didn’t push it too hard and still had some left to continue
building the remodel with my amazing husband Jash!
7/13/14 we celebrated our first year of marriage and decided
that the timing would be good to announce the baby. By this time we were only 4 months out from
having the baby! We wanted to get the
girls involved so we through it would be cute to let the chickens announce that
they were going to be big sisters:
Which now brings us to August in the NW and it has still
been hot. I am so glad we did get AC for
our house because it has really made all the difference in ensuring a great
night sleep and keeping this hot pregnant runner chick cool! We are still hitting the warm days here but
it has been really good for building the house.
The only time it really rained was when we first started taking the
shingles off- go figure, but we were able to tarp it all up and the house was
safe! This month we traveled to CO for
AJ’s wedding and while we were these I snuck in a marathon the day after. It was a Sunday after the wedding all day
Saturday and we had so much fun at the wedding all day in the sunshine that my
feet were a bit tired from playing volleyball and running around and I had
probably already gotten enough sun.
Nonetheless the marathon had a bright and early start of 6am which meant
a 3am wake up for mama so Jash could get me to the bus drop off site at 4am to
ride up to the course start on this point to point new marathon. All of
that was fine and even though I did not get enough sleep the night before I did
get a lot of sleep the day before the night before so I was not too
worried. The race started out nice and
easy up in the mountains in CO about 12k above where we already were, but the
air was not bothering me at all and I felt like I could breathe just fine. I knew that this one was going to be a
challenge for me due to the travel to CO, and being as pregnant as I was as
well as the strict cut off time they were enforcing and the forecast of 95
degree heat on an exposed course. So I
stared off really easy and knew what pace I needed to maintain to get me
there. I relaxed into it and by mile 5
after a quick pit stop on the forest I was feeling great and doing fine. I am so happy that I do carry my own water because
the first 2 aid stations on the marathon ran out. You never know what you are going to get with
a first time marathon but this is really just unacceptable from a big race company
on a day that is going to get so hot.
They had a lot of people drop out of the marathon and I bet my running
shoes that it was a lot of those people that were not able to get in their
proper hydration at the beginning of the race.
On the positive side the course
was really good for this race and had plenty of police support out there if anyone
got in trouble. There was also a roving ambulance
that I felt like was following me with how often I saw it- but at this point I
am visibly pregnant so I may have worried some folks that don’t realize it is
perfectly healthy for me to be running marathons right now. I
loved the views on the course and was really happy post-race that they gave you
all of the pictures from the course- none of this click to buy crap! Now that is a great model all races should
follow! Overall the race was awesome and
I fought through some hot low points to finish in the cut off and totally not
even last which I feared I would be. The
baby felt great and I am more used to feeling my tummy out there so running was
more normal with it. My body also felt
great overall and I was just so happy to be out there running. Below are some of the fun pictures that we
took from the trip. This was my last
flight before the baby is born as I don’t want to go to far from home in the
third tri. I am happy we had such a fun
last trip and got to spend time with our good friends in CO! More updates to come as we are nearing the countdown
of baby tot the growing moving jumping bean!
