On Wednesday, for the 4th of July, I ran a 5k with my best running buddy Alisa. We ran the Molalla Freedom 5k about 45 minutes south of Portland. I was 37.5 weeks pregnant that day. It was a celebration of running during my pregnancy, and specifically of us being running buddies the whole time! She’s been a great supporter and motivator and it was so great to share this race with her. Zach drove down with us to take a bunch of pictures. Also, you know, to be there in case I went into labor or something (spoiler alert: I didn’t).
We picked a small-town event and boy howdy! We got what we signed up for. The race followed the parade route through the small town of Molalla and there were hundreds of people lining the streets! Everyone was so nice and friendly. Tons of people commented on my “condition” which was fun. Lots of “Oh my, she’s pregnant and running!” “Would you look at that!” I think I blew some minds. Pretty great. There was a friendly local running in jeans and cowboy hat, one guy running with a bag of candy to toss to the kids along the course, and other cute stuff. We high-fived a lot kids along the course which is always fun!
The race itself was brilliantly organized. It was put on by the Molalla Running club with timing by Uberthons. There was chip timing, instant results, track start and finish, accurate course, lots of water and food after, door prizes, etc. Impressive work by Uberthons, and I would definitely recommend doing any of their races here in the Portland area. I would especially recommend this race!
We stuck together the whole time of course, proving once again what good match we are pace-wise. I was feeling really good and may have started off a little fast… sorry, Alisa! According to my Garmin, our mile splits were 10:17, 11:28, 12:44, and 10:00 pace for the last 0.1. I thankfully didn’t have any discomforts at all and felt great the whole time.
Official results:
35:27 (11:24 average pace)
9/13 AG
We finished with big smiles and a hug. We had so much fun! It was a great last race of pregnancy and especially with such great company.
Pictures!
I am 38 weeks pregnant today (Saturday) and will definitely report as soon as the baby is born. Hopefully will get in my last Running for Two update before then since I am clearly still running!
Hope you all had a fun holiday week. Thank you for reading!
5 comments:
I'm so impressed that you're still running and enjoying it this far in your pregnancy. Awesome job, Jen!
You're looking great Jen and you sound so happy and so excited! Really great news. Can't wait to hear about your really really great news!
A spoiler alert that you did would have made for an 'exciting' post! Nice running - hope you keep it going post birth - I'm guessing you'll run super well.
You are amazing. I've been following your journey and am so encouraged! Anytime that running gets hard, I think that you are a whole trimester ahead of me and still going at it strong. For me, the hardest part has been the bathroom stops (sorry if TMI). You'll be busy I'm sure, but I'm so excited to hear how your post-partum return to running goes and if carrying the extra weight makes your legs stronger (that is my dream). Good luck with the last bit of your pregnancy!
It was a great race and I'm so glad we got to do it together. And starting off fast was good for me! Just glad you didn't mind my cursing you.
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