Sun Running

A week and a half ago I met a goal. It's fun to meet goals. It wasn't a goal I had for long - in fact I only created it somewhere in the first half of March, and met it mid-April. It was created more out of an indignant attitude than anything - and no, I'm not about to say anything terribly noble. I'll explain.
It started brewing in my mind a couple of months ago when my siblings were discussing who was all going to run the Vancouver Sun Run this year (this is a yearly tradition for most of them). When the question came to me, I cocked my head like a confused dog and said, "Arrrrooo???" But it came out more like, "Uh, no, I'll pass," and went on to explain that at six months pregnant, a 10km race was out of this question especially since I haven't been a regular runner since I became pregnant with Hudson - over three years ago!
I've had several issues with starting up running again since stopping in early pregnancy last time (on the advice of my practitioner at the time; advice that I don't necessarily believe to be true, but that's besides the point). The biggest one was that I have IT band syndrome (all of us Riggins kids have it), which results in severe stabbing pain to the outside of the knee a mile or two into a run. Until last fall, I didn't really know what it was and so could not take proper measures to keep it in check.
Also when I was asked if I was going to be running this year, I had just come out of several months of fatigue and all day nausea due to this current pregnancy, and though I've kept up with regular exercise in other forms, it just all seemed a little crazy to me - so I declined.
But it bothered me.
I've been looking forward to doing stuff like this with my family since moving out here. Half marathons? Not quite yet. Triathalons like my hero sister-in-law? Not in this lifetime (I'll never be a swimmer and am quite content with that!). But the Vancouver Sun Run - that I could do! Just not six months pregnant. The mindset I had was that you don't sign up for races you don't intend to run. Pretty basic, hey?
But it continued to bother me until I sat down and had a look on the Sun Run website. What I discovered there was something that completely changed my mind - it stated that there would be tens of thousands of participants in the race, and that around half of them would be walking the 10km.
Ah ha! So I wouldn't be a lone loser straggling along behind the true athletes. Well then. That changed everything. And then it got me thinking a little more - what if I could run some of it? So after I signed myself and Ty up for the race, I strapped on my knee band and started to do a little training, which both encouraged me and made me nervous. The Braxton Hicks contractions, lowered lung capacity, a walnut sized bladder that had to endure a two pound human and a watermelon sized womb crushing it twice a second for half an hour, back and side pain I could surprisingly handle. The knee pain I could not. I remembered from working on my feet all of last pregnancy the many nights I had to have a warm water bottle tucked around my knee because of the same type of pain - apparently IT Band syndrome is aggravated with pregnancy, due to loose connective tissue and added weight. So I added specific stretches to my running routine, which seemed to help a bit. I got to a point where I was happy for even just getting myself out there to do something I thought wasn't in the cards this year - and so I set no real goals for myself (my special secret goal was to run half of it, but I knew that was asking for alot, so I just kept it to myself), just wanted to wait and see how everything would go!
Race day came on April 21st, a Sunday, and it started with me and Ty dropping Hudson off at 6:30am at the grandparents and catching the West Coast Express in to Vancouver. We met Chad and Laura at the station in Mission, then picked Nadia and Devan up as we were going through Maple Ridge. I felt quite good the whole train ride there, even though it was a rainy, cold day. It cleared up a bit as we got into Vancouver, which I felt added a little more positivity to the day. Once there, we picked up our race kits and headed over to where we were supposed to start.
However, there was a big, fat problem.
There was an eight foot fence separating the sidewalk from the road where we were going to be running, and the only entrance we could see was quite a ways away, and entirely blocked by the thousands of spectators cramming up the sidewalks (a little perplexing - why so many people wanting to see the first few minutes of the run, when we weren't even going to finish there?). We heard the warning to get to our places and knew we had to make some decisions. Someone spotted a garbage can propped up against the fence, and so it was decided that we would just simply vault it. Ty thankfully jumped over first so he could give me hand should my giant abdomen get away from me as I hefted myself over the top and send me hurtling into a horrified crowd of fellow runners. Gratefully, that never happened. I got up on that garbage can, placed my hands on my sucked-in tummy for a second and said a quiet apology to my tiny son who had no say in the matter, followed by a quick threat to my normally weak upper body that it better come through for me this time, and then just swung myself up and over, much to the uneasy stares of the onlookers (I'm pretty sure I even heard an, "Oh no," from someone in the crowd, ha!). Soon all of us were over, and waiting for the race to begin. Many people had worn yellow and blue in support of the Boston Marathon, and it was really neat to be standing in such a huge crowd - 45,000 of us to be exact! Not so neat later on getting stepped on, and elbowed whenever those blasted orange cones directed us to all funnel together for certain distances - but whatever.

The sea of runners.

All of a sudden the race began and we were off - yep, quickest 100m dash to the bathrooms you've ever seen. This was part of the plan. That initial line of port o potties are apparently never occupied, so it really only takes about one minute off your total time - and every bathroom we saw from the train station to the starting line had HUGE lineups, so this really was the best bet (especially for my above mentioned bladder issues).
After this we really began the race. Ty told me he would be running or walking with me the whole time, which I thought was so sweet, as I knew my sisters and Laura had time goals to beat. I should mention though, that although my husband is very naturally athletic, he is not a runner, and does not do many physical activities (unless he's subbing for a PE class!) on a day to day basis. PLUS, he had just bought new shoes the day before the race, and did not wear them once before we started. I knew he would be ok though.
Anyway, sure enough my sisters and Laura took off right away, which left me, Chad, and Ty to jog together for the first 1.5km. At that point Chad decided to get a little ahead of us too, so for awhile it was just me and Ty running together. I was shocked at how quickly the miles were ticking by, and extremely pleased that my knee was holding together and not giving me too much pain! Plus I was having no Braxton Hicks, the babe had been lulled to sleep, and once my breathing and cardio regulated themselves I actually felt pretty great.
 Just after the 4km mark, I was more determined than ever to meet my secret special goal of 5km - and even though there was quite a big hill to get up (which I hadn't trained for at all) before that halfway point, we pushed through it, and made it! We jogged along for a few more minutes, and then I told Ty I would be happy to walk for a little bit. Soon though, the road started to go downhill and I knew that if we started running again, it would be the momentum I would need to run a little extra. We ran until 7km, where we stopped for water, and then walked for 1km. When we saw the 8km sign, Ty suggested that we try to run the last 2km - and though I had some pretty sore hips and I had to hold my right foot at an uncomfortable inward position for my knee to have relief, I thought, "Sure, why not!" and we were off again. I actually found it really motivating to have people along the side of the raod cheering everyone on, either with clapping, cheering, or just a funny sign or two (our favorite was "Worst Parade Ever"). They also had music playing at different points along the way, which I was not pleased to hear at first, thinking that we were only going to be hearing "Sandstorm" and "Who Let the Dogs Out" on repeat (though anger is usually a good motivator for fast running!), but it turned out to be live bands who mostly quite decent.

There were a surprising amount of people in costumes. I remember being passed by this guy!

Anyways, we crossed the finish line at a much better time than expected - about ten minutes slower than my sisters (though Devan was running with cramped up legs from a vicious Power Yoga session the evening before!) - and I was more than happy with a total of 8.5km ran!
So there you go. It was a good day altogether. A sore day the next day (Ty was hobbling too, though!), but so worth it!

Yay us!