Emma's 1st Bolder Boulder

I was going to write about my balcony garden success, but then it hailed the other night and I am still assessing the damage...so, I thought I would write about the Bolder Boulder that Gregory, Emma and I ran today!

I have another Bolder Boulder under the belt. This one I can classify as a huge success! No, I did not PR or set any course records. I actually ran the whole way with a 5 yr old boy and his mom. So why would I be so happy about this BB?

1. I finished
2. I did not pee in my shorts
3. I did not go into labor

10 km at 7 months pregnant (8 months for moms who really know this process is 10 months!) is no easy task! There are so many things you need to worry about! For me, the most stressful part was how to manage texting my loving husband every friggen km!! I was allowed (by my husband) to run the Bolder Boulder under a certain set of rules. It makes me feel better to think he was concerned for my general well-being and his unborn child. In reality, I think he was worried I was still going to beat him.

The first most important rule was doctor’s clearance. 2 weeks ago, I got that. I could see Gregory’s look of disappointment in the doctor’s office when the doctor said “I don’t see why not, as long as you are comfortable and keep the HR down.” Baby’s happy, healthy and measuring up fine!

Second rule was wearing that darn support belt that makes me need to pee every 2 minutes! Trust me, this is a BIG difference from having to pee every 5 min vs 2 min. BUT, I did it because it made my husband happy and it helps stabilize the “jiggle”.

Third rule was that I had to text Gregory every km to let him know Emma and I were doing fine. Why he wouldn’t run with me I don’t know??...hmmm, perhaps a little afraid of what damage his 7 month pregnant wife could do?? Or he was afraid to run with a “fat lady”?

Fourth rule is the “fat lady” needs to eat during the run. So I HAD to take a gel and cliff shots with me for this “long distance” event.

Seems fairly simple and straight forward….

Well, not really…I had a few dilemmas. First, what to wear? When I was renewed in the Brooks ID program last year and had received my racing uniform (size small!) I did not know I was pregnant. The uniform is still in its plastic wrap. Well, I did what any pregnant woman would do; I wore Gregory’s clothes (except for the shorts, they still fit if I wear them low enough…but the shirt has to be long enough to cover my butt crack).

I had a moment yesterday when I was reviewing pictures from this past week and was shocked to find that my butt was really “THAT BIG”…Gregory tried to be nice and tell me it was the camera angle. When I could not roll over in bed that evening and used every ounce of energy to get up, he confirmed that he was lying by calling me “Shamu” and “ how did you get so fat!!??” while laughing his a$$ off at my struggles….as you can tell, Gregory and I have the most loving, caring relationship. I think he was taking his Bolder Boulder insecurities out on me.

Back to race morning. We arrive “early” because Gregory and Mitch have the “fast waves”…. Ouch! That hurt my ego….moved from the AB to the GD…but, I digress again. Gregory does his warm-up and puts on his game face. Mitch and Gregory have an ongoing battle; this is the second year of them racing Bolder Boulder. Gregory tried to sabotage Mitch the day before by having him climb to Ward. I tried to stay out of the testosterone fest and hang with Renan (Mitch’s awesome, very PATIENT wife). However, it was not like Renan was in the most excited mood either; since she found out the day before her husband had signed her up for a 10 km race, not a 5 km race…..

Fun times…

So, it comes Gregory’s and Mitch’s time to line up for their race and I say goodbye to each; then I turn around to wait with Renan and POOF!! She is gone. Just like that, sucked into the crowds of the BB. I am alone, pregnant and people are looking at me weird. That’s right, I am pregnant…why don’t I just put a sign on my back that says “bad mom”…would that make you feel better? What these people don’t realize is that my little Emma is like a puppy waiting to go for a walk. She kicks and moves and gets so excited when it is “run” time…then we run and she sleeps. I wonder who she gets that from??

Finally I see my wave moving closer to the start and I hop in. Immediately, I have a woman asking me “how far along am I” and I tell her. I was waiting for the “wow, is that safe?” But instead, I was surprised with a “That was me last year! I have a son; this is my first race back”. I instantly start to feel better, more comfortable. Then, looking to the left of me, I see another pregnant runner! OMG, this is “MY WAVE” …made specifically for pregnant runners, I am sure of it! Truth be told, everyone is different and I would never put Emma in jeopardy, but I do know I am the exception. Most pregnant ladies give up the impact sports long before this point. I AM lucky in the way that I carry Emma and that I still have a pretty stable core….for how much longer, I don’t know, but I am thankful for what I have and I am ok carrying around 23 extra pounds for 10 km.

So, to sum it up, the way I felt is similar to the nervous energy you have when you look around at a race (when you are racing) and see all the “fit” people and feel you are different even if you are not and nobody really cares if you are.

Anyhow, back to the race. Feeling a bit more confident in myself I double check to make sure I have everything I need. Gels, check! Cliff block shots , Check! Double knotted shoes, check! Phone, check! Ipod, check! Support belt positioned correctly, check! My butt crack is not showing, check! …

Now all that is left to do is run/walk/crawl to the stadium. It seemed a lot more daunting than it did last year. Yet again, last year, I was 23 lbs lighter and biking over 100 miles the day before was “normal”. Then again, carrying a baby is a unique challenge in itself; dealing with Gregory’s taunts and teasing tops the cake!

Then the gun went off and I started my forward momentum. I had to be careful not to go out too fast, because if I do that, I tend to huff, puff and come to a screaming halt within 50 meters and the day is done. Yes, I can blow my load if I am not careful. I kept telling myself “nice and easy Chewy”……

I must say, there is something a lot more appealing to doing the Bolder Boulder when you don’t go from 0MPH to make your eyes bleed pace within 100 meters. I could get used to it!

Before I knew it I was at 1 km…and I already had to pee. I was supposed to text Gregory at that point, but there was a wee bit of a problem. I can’t text while running and if I stopped, I would most likely pee in my shorts when I started running again. Text update would have to wait until I found a porto-john or a bush. It is kind of hard to be discrete when you are running amongst 40 000 other people and you are a 7 months pregnant…

So, the game was to distract myself from the “need to pee” feeling and keep shuffling along. I LOVE the support on this course. It is so much fun with the live bands and crowd support. So many people were cheering and offering high fives. I actually got into the moment and went to go give a spectator a high five when I realized that I had forgotten for a moment that I was pregnant, but the spectator clearly hadn’t. It was if she was frozen looking at this freak of nature running with a big pregnant belly; for some reason if weird’s people out. She kindly gave me a high five, but with a look of confusion and utter horror that I was running.

Oh well, time to focus on the toilet. 2 km passed and still not toilet; I had to text Gregory or else I would have more to worry about than sore/tired legs at the end of this. I stopped and pulled out my phone and then went to the task of finding G’s contact info and texting. Clearly this was inefficient and making a huge dent into my already slow time. Some people then came to ask if I was ok, because of course, a pregnant lady who stops at 2 km into a 10 km race to pull out her phone must be in labor. I reassured the gathering crowd that I was fine and I was texting my husband because he “would not run with me!”

I then started up again, resolving to myself that no one would notice if I happen to “pee myself” because I am wearing black shorts. Fortunately, I made it to 3 km where I was able to “relieve” the problem without dropping my phone, gels, shots, ipod and any other unnecessary item required for this journey into the toilet. I did not care if my butt crack was showing at this point.

Onward bound!! 7 km to go

Off I went again into the hilly part of the course. I told myself I would be walking the uphill’s should Emma decided to take up residence in my chest and poke my lungs with her feet (a recent favorite activity of hers). Thankfully, she decided to keep napping in my lower belly and only stretch out a few times. Oh, if she knew how hard her mom worked to keep her happy! This subsequently leads to lots of bouncing on the bladder and low and behold at 4 km I had to pee again…oh boy, this is fun!

I was resolved not to pee again for another couple of km..even if it does induce Braxton hicks. This is where I draw the line! There are only so many porto-potty’s I will enter in the time frame of a couple hours.

How to distract oneself?? Well, just keep clicking away at songs on the Ipod; listen to about 30 seconds and move onto a new one. Keep looking around at the people around you, which is when I realized that I was matching stride for stride with a 5 year old boy and his mom. His name was “Ryan” and it was his 1st BB. He was having fun and just cute as a button.

At 5 km there was another toilet and I think I knocked out some other runners making a sprint for one. Didn’t drop anything in the toilet, yet I did leave behind my cliff shots because they were “weighing me down” and it seemed like an outrageous Gregory request at the time. It wasn’t a big deal because I still had a gel and then a bunch of college students were handing out chips!

Emma loves chips! We had to stop and eat a few chips….then…oh wait! Crap, I need to text Gregory!

I stop again and whip out the phone. I repeat the process of texting and reassuring the spectators that I was not popping a baby out; I just had to text my husband who thought I was “too slow for him and he needed to run faster to get his testosterone fix!”

Ok, time to get moving again….Cue in Rocky Music at km 6 where there is a hill. I made it 10 steps and then started walking. Well, better than nothing, right?

Top of the hill and then down we go! Downhill’s are so fun…until you realize you have to pee…again! Now this is getting on my nerves, but when you only have 4 km left to go and the only thing bugging you is your bladder and the intensifying craving for more chips and ice-cream. Solution: finish, pee and eat.

I don’t know where km 7-8 went, but I ran them…then I stopped for the 3rd time…no more details needed here. Obviously I hydrated well!

I was then able to smile for the big pictures taken at 8 km….I am sure there were a few extra shots taken of me, because who could miss “Shamu?”

I decided I would hold off until 9km to text Gregory so that he would know I was in the home stretch and ready waiting for me. I pulled out my phone only to see I had a text message from him.

I was expecting something really encouraging like “good job hon! Almost there” or “I am so proud of you”….

Instead, I got “Hurry up Chewy”….

Yes, I have a very supportive husband who would never relish in the fact that he is beating me for the FIRST and ONLY time in a running race….Mark my word on this!

Add to that the fact that my index toe was going numb….don’t ask me why. Never happened before, and I was ready to be done! There is something very strange knowing you only have 1 km left and everyone is sprinting past and you CAN’T! The rule: keep it conversational….deep down inside, I knew Emma was taunting me “just do it mom! Can’t we just go for it?” But no, I behaved…..that is part of becoming a mom, learning patience.

Up that final hill and into the stadium….looking at the crowds and experiencing it from a totally different perspective. I crossed that line with a huge smile and an enormous feeling of accomplishment that I usually only get after those “big events.” For me, this was HUGE! I set my goal and stuck to it (while putting Emma first of course). I took care of my body and prepared wisely for it. I also went in with a realistic set of expectations knowing that I had already met my goal when I was able to toe that starting line. Finishing is icing on the cake. 7 months pregnant and just finished a 10 km run isn’t too shabby.

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the race today, the opportunity to “Take it all in” and take my time. There are many things that I experienced today that I wouldn’t have if I were not pregnant and actually “racing.” It reminds me of why I originally got into the sport and really renews my desire.

All of this being said, it does not take away my slight bitterness when I found out my time and realized it was only 6 minutes slower than Gregory’s!! I think I was sabotaged with all this “texting” BS…..

Once again, this is all Gregory’s fault!!

I Love you Gregory dearest! Congrats on your race and I am so sad you lost your breakfast at 9km…that must have been REALLY tough.

And no, I am not bitter that you took my chips away from me after the race…and told my friends that I could not eat any more because that is why I got so big!