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1997 JFK 50 Mile
A 50 Mile Run While Pregnant I had my doubts about running this race. If you've been following the "confessions" thread on the big list, then you probably know why. If not, well, I found out a couple weeks ago that I'm pregnant again! I considered not running at all, and I considered running part, and I never really considered running the whole thing. (Jeff, now you know why I was so casual about things before the start! ;-) ) But I did run, and I did actually finish! Like I said, I wasn't really planning on finishing, I just never felt really bad until about mile 46, and by then you're so close that you can't quit.
I was just going to take it easy, and I did, having a great time running thru the mountains on the Appalachian Trail. It had been raining the day before (7th Fri in a row!), so it was a bit muddy and the leaves were wet and slippery, but no rain during the race and the mountains were in fog; in fact, the tops of the trees on the ridgeline disappeared into the mist. It was really pretty...except that the trail's so rocky that you *have* to watch your feet all the time, so I only peaked at the scenery here and there. When I came out of the mountains, I told my 2 friends doing crew support that I didn't know how much longer I would run. I felt fine, but I didn't really feel like running any more (that was at 16mi and 3hr, 17min). Neal, my running partner, was ahead of me and I didn't feel like running the towpath alone. The middle section of this run is 26.2mi on the C&O Canal Towpath, which is a wonderfully cushioned dirt path, but it's also flat and mostly straight, following the Potomac River the whole way. Beautiful, but no changes in scenery, and it's very tough mentally to stay motivated. I decided to run from aid station to aid station, they're 3-4mi apart for most of the towpath. (You wouldn't believe the aid stations...M&M's, cookies, PBJ sandwiches, pretzels, powerbars, powergels, powerade, water, and coke were pretty standard, then some had extras like bagels, chicken noodle soup (my favorite!), jelly beans, and more stuff I can't even remember..along w/ vaseline, aspirin, ibuprofen, tape, band-aids, you name it..and some *wonderful* volunteers.) I don't have problems w/ my stomach, so I made sure to eat something and to drink a full cup of Powerade and one of water at each stop. And I never really felt that bad. I'd have a bad patch, but then feel ok by the aid station, so I just kept going. I changed shoes at mile 27 (my shoes were muddy and wet from the AT) and that was the worst, cause my feet didn't like the new pair. I hobbled for a couple miles until I loosened the shoelaces, and then was ok enough to keep going. Part of the fun of running ultras is the other people in the race. I haven't been in any other races where there was so much comaderaderie (I have *no* idea how to spell that) between the runners. Most people do some version of running and walking (8:2 for me) so you're constantly leap-frogging back and forth thru the same people. Everyone gives a smile and a "you look great, go get 'em" kind of thing, and there's a lot of joking back and forth. I ran almost all of this thing by myself, but I never once felt like I was alone. After the towpath, the last 8.3 miles are on a rolling, 2-lane country road. After the flat towpath, the hills are welcome, and most everyone runs the flats and downs and walks the ups...no matter how slight. ;-) One of my support friends "ran" this part w/ me, as I had passed Neal on the towpath and I wanted some company. I was a bit nervous about this part, since I wasn't too confident in my training and fitness...and I was right, this was the tough part. I started to walk a bit more and more, and the miles seemed to take forever to go by. Plus it was getting cold and dark by this time. Suzie was wonderful tho; she was encouraging and supportive, even tho I kept apologizing for walking. ;-) I probably would not have finished w/o her! I still felt pretty good, until we got to the 46mi aid station. After that I struggled to even run the flats, my right knee started hurting (totally psychosomatic I think, since it has been *fine* ever since), and I got really tired. So, I decided to walk it in from about 3.5mi. It was hard to watch all the people I pulled away from on the towpath go by me. It was *really* hard to have the women go by me..I get more and more competitive near the end of a race when it comes to passing and being passed by women..I don't get passed by them very often in the last mile. Then those I never even *saw* on the towpath started to go by. I kept walking tho, saying over and over that I wasn't racing any of them..that I wasn't "racing" at all, and that I had more important reasons to go slow. ;-) Finally, Neal went by, and he was in a great mood and totally enjoying the day. That perked me up for the last mile into town. He ran in w/ our other support friend, and then came back out to walk me in the last 1/4 mile. I did get up the energy to run by the camera ;-) and thru the finish line. 10:33 was my time...actually only 45min slower than 2 years ago. Only giving birth has left me more exhausted, the showers were freezing cold by then, and the food afterwards was awful, but none of that mattered. I crawled into the car in some clean clothes and slept the whole way home, w/ my medal around my neck. Fell asleep in the bathtub at home, and was asleep for the night by 8pm. Sun my quads were sore and I was tired, but now I feel fine and my legs are about back to normal. I've also been eating everything in sight...trying to make up for all those expended calories I guess. ;-) I'd better not have any more kids tho, cause there's *no* *way* I'm running a 100-mile race while pregnant just to top things one more time! ;-) ;-) Laura annapolis, md |
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