Celebrating 4 miles at 15w4d

It’s officially summer! Why? Because it’s freaking HOT here!  I know, I know… I’m either complaining about the extreme cold or the heat. There are at least two months where I’m happy with the temperatures here. :)

How did you spend your 4th of July? Mine’s been extremely lazy. I also took off Tuesday and Wednesday, and unlike our normal M.O., we’ve really been pretty free of obligations during the holiday. We did stop by a coworker’s BBQ on Saturday, and Dave and I did run in the Palmer Lake 4 Mile Fun Run on Monday… but other than that? Nada. It’s been wonderful!

 

I picked up this great shirt from For Two Fitness. Got a lot of compliments – people loved it and kept asking if it was true! And then were astonished to learn I was 4 months pregnant. It’s pretty supportive and long so as my belly grows, the shirt will stretch nicely along with it. The picture on my blog is from the race last year….ahh, to be 133 lbs again. Some day, some day.

It was a warm one for the race. While it was only 60 when we left the house at 6:25, it was 70 by the time the race started at 7:15… and super hot on the trail. But it was a great race – about 150 more people participated this year than last year, which is always nice.  The course is a nice, easy downhill course from Palmer Lake to Monument. It loops around the lake and then you book it until the end, where they throw in a nice steep hill right before the finish line. Last year, I wimped out and walked the hill; this year, I ran the whole thing (thanks, treadmill boot camp!) We finished in 45:11, about 30ish? seconds slower than my time last year. Not bad for lugging around about 6 extra pounds.

The most interesting and gross part of the race came about halfway through when it suddenly smelled like a dirty diaper. Being that this  race attracts a lot of jogging strollers, I figured someone must have passed me with a dirty diaper in their possession. But I kept smelling it, and smelling it. And soon I realized there were no jogging strollers in front of us or in the vicinity, really. And the stench was bad.  Dave smelled it too, so I know it wasn’t just me.

I’d been playing tag with one woman….she would sprint, then walk, then sprint, then walk. I had it in my mind to pass her once and for all, because I was tired of playing leap frog. At one point, when she was walking in front of me, I noticed it – the wet stain on her shorts that was growing bigger and bigger.  Annnnnd then I put two and two together and realized the stinky diaper smell was coming from her. At that point, I decided to back off quite a bit! Now, I’ll give you crapping your pants during a marathon. I don’t understand it, but I’ll nod my head in a somewhat sympathetic understanding. But 4 miles? On a trail in the middle of nowhere, with lots of bushes and trees and leaves? And you still crapped your pants? Even worse, since it wasn’t running down her leg (she was wearing shorter shorts, mind you), I think she actually was wearing a diaper? Or some seriously plastic undies? Either way, it was not a pretty sight (or smell)

Anyway, here’s to logging my 4th race this year and my 3rd as a pregnant lady. It’s getting interesting, but not so much because of my belly. It’s my boobs growing! But that’s another story for another day. I hope everyone had a safe and fun 4th of July!