The Connection Runners

Accepting a New Pace

I always aspired to be one of those women who ran consistently through her entire 40-week pregnancy.

While there's no need for me to run a marathon at 39 weeks, my goal was to keep running until I physically wasn't able to anymore, which I assumed would be the day my water breaks and/or contractions force me to kick off my Mizunos and don a hospital gown.

Unfortunately, I think my Pregnant & Running (which would make a much cooler show than MTV's 16 & Pregnant, don't you think?) career is sadly coming to an end sooner than that.

Here's what I've realized: No matter how much I love the sport, it doesn't change the fact that running even a few slow miles per day is getting to be overly difficult and uncomfortable.

Case in point: Tuesday's run with Megan and Erika.

The run started off rather slowly as we were all feeling sluggish. It was a chilly, windy Tuesday, and with knee problems (Megan and Erika) and bellies protruding (me), we definitely weren't speedsters.

We ended up running 3.29 miles @ an 11:00 pace.

It was hard for me. While I wasn't pushing myself to exhaustion or anything, I was definitely looking forward to being done with even a short run like that.

It probably didn't help that I felt like I had to pee the entire time, either.

The other part of my beef with running right now is that I really, really dislike having to run so slowly.

I'm happy to still be running and moving, but it's difficult to stomach a pace like that.

(And a disclaimer: I don't mean to offend anyone who runs at a pace like that regularly. We all have our own happy paces. It's just that 11-minute miles don't make me happy.)

(However, Julia's pigtails and running dates with my gals make me very, very happy.)

So, at this point, I'm not quite sure where my Pregnant Running Career is headed.

At the very least, I do know that I should:

1) Celebrate the running I have been able to do (like finishing the Crim 10-Miler and setting a PR during the Belle Isle 10k).

2) Continue to exercise in whatever form I can, perhaps by adding more walking into my runs or hanging out on the elliptical.

3) Sign up for short races to keep some kind of motivation on the horizon. Kevin and I are signed up for the Wicked Halloween Run (he for the 10k, me in the 5), and we'll probably do the Turkey Trot in downtown Detroit again this year.

4) Leave my Garmin at home. This will be hard. I'm a slave to the pace, the distance, the overall time.

I heart running statistics.

But I heart my sanity more.

Have you dealt with pacing problems lately?