The Half

In a previous post I mentioned that I don't like seeing a race pace with a 9 in front of my mile times. Never mind...yesterday's Fairfield Half saw me walking up ALL the steep hills (there are SO many) and my chip time put me at a speedy 11:00 per mile pace! If I'd realized, and hadn't had to stop and pee (but only once!), I would have squeaked out a 10:59. Oh well. A far cry from my half PR last fall with an 8:42 pace...of course, on the Fairfield course I've never even broken 2 hours, so I at least should compare apples to apples. At any rate, I felt good after, not nauseous and pukey like last year, and I'm not even sore today. It was nice to take it easier, not have any mental pressure of "Go faster!" but rather find me telling myself "Slow down!" I did squeak out a few consecutive sub-10 minute miles in some of the middle, flatter stretches of the race. Later talking to a friend whose sister is a gynecologist, and complaining that I feel like I shouldn't be slower or feel so much going on around my uterus because I'm not showing, she said her sister told her that even when a pregnant woman isn't showing, she does move differently. That made me feel better...because it's true for me. There are all these ligaments I never knew about before, that I can feel now, when walking or running, and it's just....different.

I'm posting a picture I took this morning so I can keep a little bit of track of when and how my belly changes. So far, not much. This is 14 weeks. In the morning. By afternoon, I definitely look fat (not pregnant).