Here I Go Again

I ran the Oakland Half Marathon with Stephen about a month ago. It was my first race after having my second baby. It was also my last race while I was pregnant last year. I felt like it was the perfect race to get me back to the starting line.

When I ran Oakland in 2010 I was 14 weeks pregnant. I ran the whole way with my friend Sam. He was using it as a training run for Boston and had logged seven miles before the start. Our game plan was to meet up the start and average 8 minute pace. I didn’t see him at the start, but he found me by mile one. By mile nine he’d confided that he had a ring for his girl friend and intended to propose when they were in Boston. I was thrilled with the news. We ran a comfortable race and the course just flew by. Afterwards I hung up my racing shoes (note that I said racing shoes, not running shoes), had a baby (months later), and attended Sam’s wedding.

One year later I plug my Garmin into the computer to charge it and I notice that the last run logged was the Oakland Half. 7:40 average pace. Not bad for a pregnant gal taking it easy.  I was impressed. I was far from a 7:40 pace these days.

My goal at the Oakland Half this year was to 1) cover the distance, 2) have fun running a race again, and 3) beat two hours.  Very achievable goals for the pre-baby me, but I was a little skeptical I could manage all three goals this time out. I say this because it’s been a real struggle for me to run post baby number two. Not only to run, but just to exercise in general. Juggling two little ones through a wet and cold maternity-leave didn’t leave me many daylight hours to sneak out for a run. I also found that you just don’t get as much family support the second time around. Where it was almost guaranteed that someone wanted to come over to hold the baby twice a week after number one, this time I felt isolated. And I swear, every time I started an exercise routine, one of the munchkins would wake up from their nap.  To make matters worse, the new baby didn’t want to have anything to do with the jog stroller. All this to say that it was a real struggle getting back in shape the second time around.

I achieved all my goals, though the last two miles of the half were a bit miserable. Stephen and I ran the whole race together. I know he could have run much faster, but he had goal number two in mind too. We laughed and called it a “date” because it’s not often we are doing something for ourselves sans kids these days. We averaged an eight minute pace. Respectable. I laugh though thinking that I could run faster pregnant than I could six months after having a baby.

So here I go again. I am starting my running journey once again- this time with two kids and a house in the suburbs. I am not sure what my goals are for this year; I am still working on that. I did throw my name in the Nike Women’s Marathon lottery. Doesn’t it seem appropriate to run the same marathon for your 10^th as your 1^st?