So, on April 6th, we went to the lovely city of Detroit so I could run the Cocoa Classic Half Marathon.

I should preface this by saying, to the people in the RunningAhead forum, that I am pregnant.

The cats are pleased.

So, anyway, there's that. I apologize in advance for the fact that I only have 4 more races scheduled until June (They are all halfs, but the reality is that I may have to dump down to the 10K or 5K versions, or not run them all together, who knows? Not me.), and after that, I PROBABLY won't run any.

I entertained the idea of some local 5Ks, but I tend to dislike those, so I probably won't. I also tried to get Frank to say he'd run some 5Ks with me here in town and he'd rather be lit on fire in the middle of a desert, so that probably will not happen either.

Baby, if you end up being a runner, it's all because of ME. Not your dad. Just to make that clear. On the other hand, if you turn out to be a rocket scientist that is wildly successful and smart, I'm not going to lie to you--that was probably your dad.

So, drink it all in now while you can, because this might be the last race report in a while, or maybe there will be 4 more, or whatever, who knows, but at some point, they will stop, because I will have other things to do in the fall.

Yes. Yes, I'm going on a trip. You are staying home, but I'm going on a trip that will include a lot of drugs.

Alright, well there's no need to be a hero, and yes, Rosalita was a teen mother and had a litter of kittens before we adopted her. Don't judge her or us for her bad life decisions when she lived on the streets.

So, anyway. If you did not already know this, pregnant people's insides are all jacked up because they are growing another person inside them and all. I've mostly had a good time of it, no morning sickness or anything, but the thing that runners love the most...was just not happening for me.

That's right. Poop.

I know. Your dad loves taking care of all the cat poop issues now that I'm pregnant and we have a cat with IBS. You're welcome, Frank.

So, I maybe worked that out a bit with some scary medicine from the pregnancy-safe list, and that's not too bad of an issue, but I made the poor life decision to eat alllllll of this on Friday in one sitting:

I mean, let's be fair. Don't even count the chips or the pickle. That's hardly anything. And the other thing is a tomato sammich. But then there's the tuscan tomato soup, and also maybe a cream puff.

Suffice it to say that I did not feel well the rest of the day, and, look, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but it was gas, and I felt 27 feet wide, and if I could only have just burped or farted, things would have looked a lot more chipper for me.

Ok, well. But it's true. Unfortunately, this feeling did not go away into Saturday. My car ride to Detroit was uncomfortable.

However, upon getting to the "packet pick-up," and I got out and started walking around and I felt better. I say "packet pick-up," because it was a shit-show. It was a few card tables along the side of the road. Um. Ok? Also, no signs. So, I went to the pick-up line, only to be told, after I waited for nothing, that that was not the half marathon line.

Oh. Good. That's not annoying.

But, I got it, got my swag, and we got out.

We made it back to the hotel (barely, because let me tell you--Detroit is a BLACK HOLE. Our Tom-Tom did NOT want to connect to ANYTHING the entire time, sending us around in circles and making us change our dinner reservations 2 times because we could not GET there. My Garmin would NOT connect to anything.) and checked in. The hotel was nice--a two-room suite. Which is nice and all, but no tub, no fridge, no microwave. So. I'd rather just have one room with those things. BUT. You could not beat the fact that you could see the start line from our room.

So, after we settled in, we walked to the restaurant. Only, guess what? Frank's phone also did not want to connect to anything and we walked around for a while before we found it. This did not make me angry at all.

BUT, I took some pictures that I thought were pretty, and also, we saw a horse.

Not a lie. When we walked past that horse, Frank said "NO YOU CAN'T TOUCH IT." But. That little girl was allowed. He still said "don't touch the horse, it's working." That thing was a massive beast, but so am I these days, and I was hungry, so I didn't press the issue. But sometime. Somewhere. I will run into you again, you magnificent stallion. And I will pet the shit out of you.

So, we finally made it to the restaurant (The Detroit Seafood Market), where I ate the HELL out of some lobster mac 'n cheese. SWEET MOTHER. It was amazing. However, I ordered the seafood paella, and that wasn't a great idea. It was good. But Frank's scallops looked SO much better, and I should have gotten the crabcakes I thought about instead. I had regrets.

I felt pretty good after walking around and apparently my stomach was on board with running this thing.

We headed to bed around 9, and got to sleep until 5:30 since we were so close to the start line. I got up, had some breakfast, got dressed, and I was ready to go.

But, that's not to say I wasn't terrified.

Through pregnancy, I've only skipped three runs, all because I was tired. I made it through all of my planned runs, and I always felt fine. I had slowed down on the pace a smidge, and during the race, I planned on going almost 2 minutes per mile slower. I know running is excellent exercise, something I've been doing for over 5 years, and is my "normal." I knew it was advised to continue with it as long as you feel able, although, maybe slower and eventually much less as you progress into the later months of pregnancy.

However. That does not mean that there isn't an inkling of doubt hiding in the folds of my brain. Well-meaning people (family members) are fully against me running. So, the idea that, if something were to happen to this baby...the running would be the first thing that is blamed? Really got to me.

No matter how many times I said to myself "If I don't feel well, I will quit," or "I will walk through every water stop," the feeling that I was being judged and was not fully supported would NOT go away. I had tears in my eyes at the start line, as I asked Frank what I should do. He said to do it. He believed that I would absolutely put the baby first should anything seem off, and most of all, he just believed in me and in the fact that I know my body well enough to know what I'm capable of.

So, when the gun went off, so did I. I cried the first mile.

I should stop to say that my garmin did not at any point give me any information other than the elapsed time. So, I had no pace information at all, or no mileage information. I was surprisingly at peace with this, and I just decided to shoot for 11-minute miles, walking through water stops, and I'd be fine.

Once we hit the water front, I cried again. The sun had come up, and it was glistening off of the water, where chunks of ice were floating by. It was beautiful, and it was my first race of the year. And I got to share that with my kid.

I thought a lot about the baby during the race. Mostly about keeping the baby safe. Even if I didn't need a break or need water, I stopped and drank at every single stop. I wondered if the baby was sleeping. Was it like being rocked to sleep? Was the baby annoyed with all the bouncing? The baby couldn't possibly hear anything, right? Would the baby be a runner? Just the week before I had seen those little tiny legs, with those little tiny toes on the ultrasound, and I wondered if the baby would run.

An amazing thing happened at mile 1, 2, 3, and it kept happening.

I was hitting 11-minute miles. Perfectly. Every time.

I had told my body on some level to be prepared to run this race slower than I was used to, and it responded. I felt relaxed and safe. Even if this was the last half marathon I run before the baby, or EVER. It felt amazing to have this opportunity one last time.

Now, that's not to say that running a race 2 minutes per mile slower than you're used to is not mind-numbingly boring, because it is. There also was zero crowd support. So, at times, it was boring, especially once I realized my Running Mix was not shuffling, but EVERYTHING on my iPod was shuffling, and that included some Pet Music that I got off of a CD from the animal shelter, a Cirque Du Soleil song, and Ring of Fire. Those are not running songs, friends.

My back and hips hurt a bit along the way, but I was never really that winded, so I carried about my way.

What I did NOT appreciate was the man who kept RUNNING RUNNING RUNNING then stopping to keel over on the side of the course. Just run slower, dude. At one point, I SERIOUSLY wanted to say "you can keep running. I'm growing another human right now at the same time, and I'm still running." But I figured he wouldn't like that.

What I ALSO did not appreciate was the 5Kers starting at 9am (two hours after us) and merging with us at mile 11. Do you understand how crappy it feels to be slowly plodding along, then to MERGE with a HERD of people, fresh-faced after running ONE mile? Then to see some of those people STOP TO WALK?

Again, I really just wanted to say "suck it up, I'm busy creating brain folds on my fetus right now."

You're welcome. It's probably one of the last things you'll ever thank me for, and possibly one of the last things I'll ever do for you before I start to just day drink in the bathtub all day with the door shut. When you ask your dad "do I have a mother," and he answers "she's the woman behind the door," just remember this moment we had together.

So yeah, frustrating people who wouldn't suck it up. EXCEPT to the dude that got carried away on a stretcher because he slipped on a patch of ice (I saw that ice after he was rolled away, so I'm going to guess that's what happened). Godspeed, son. No need for you to keep running. Not your fault.

But, I kept going.

And out of nowhere, the finish line came. There it was.

And I cried again. I cried because this was my baby's first half marathon. Would the baby ever be a distance runner? Would they ever come to see me run another half marathon? Would they wait with their daddy with a sign and cheer when their mommy ran by?

I don't know ANY of these things.

I don't know any of those things, but I think about them a lot. And I thought about them when I saw the finish line, and I smiled with tears in my eyes because I got to share it with this kid.

That is the first race finish photo I've EVER had a genuine smile on my face for.

So, it ends up that my pace was nearly perfect. I averaged 11:01 per mile.

Now, what happened after the race was not pretty, and myself, along with a MILLION other race finishers, let the organizers know it.

Those 5Kers that merged with us? Finished with us. Meaning, there was a HUGE line that people were waiting in for an HOUR for food after the race.

This. Just isn't good. I'm not saying the 5Kers don't get food. I'm saying the 5Kers shouldn't be finishing as a whole during when mid-packers are still finishing the half. Those 5Kers should have started at 7:30 or 8:00. Not 9:00.

I finally did something I'm not really proud of. But after waiting for 30 minutes in line, and watching the 5kers finish and cut straight ahead of us to get their chocolate, drinks, and food, I finally turned around to the woman behind me, and said, "I'm going to cut the line. We've been here for 30 minutes. Everyone else is cutting the line. Also, I ran the half, not the 5K, and I'm pregnant and hungry and very, very cold."

I got the lady's approval behind me in a hearty "you go girl" fashion, I cut the line, got my sub-par food and cold hot chocolate, found Frank, and went inside and shivered miserably for at least 15 minutes before taking the hottest shower I could manage just to thaw out.

Then, we went to Five Guys, and I murdered some burger and fries, before sleeping all the way home.

The end!

Next Race Report (should it happen): Columbia Iron Girl Half Marathon.

Congratulations, Stacey, on both the HM and the baby!  I cannot wait to "see" your baby's first pics.  And the cats' responses, of course.

was the 5Kers starting at 9am (two hours after us) and merging with us at mile 11.

 

Stupidly organized, I agree with you.   We have a few races here that do that but not many.  Most of them start the half folks first, and then the 5K starts only about 15 minutes or so behind the distance runners.   We 5K folks do our route and are  done and off the course soon enough so we don't bother any of the half or marathon folks.

 

That horse photo you posted was scary...gave me flashback, lol...I once ran right into the butt of a police horse.  And you are right..they are HUGE.  And hard too...you run into one, you bounce right back off of it...about 3 feet back, lol.

 

Congrats on your race and best wishes to you for an easy pregnancy!

Yeah, I mean, no disrespect at ALL to the 5Kers. I'm gonna be one here again at some point. But, it was irritating for BOTH to have to deal with each other. The race organizers SEEMED to be listening to the Facebook posts, and it WAS the first year for it. So, I'm hopeful that they heard what we said.

That horse was a ROCK. Like. Not a normal horse. It looked like a clydesdale hybrid.

Thanks for the best wishes! We'll see how this goes. Baby will either be awesome or crappy. Awesome if it's like my husband. Crappy if it's like me. 50/50 shot.

Congrats on a great race!   Yes, it was slower than your norm, but, as you said, you're growing a human too and that ain't easy.   Hope the rest of your pregnancy goes smoothly and you end up with a rocket scientist runner at the end of the 9 months!

Having the starting line right in front of the hotel sure solves the pre-race Porta-Potty problems.  Congrats to both of you.

Congrats to you and the baby.

Having the starting line right in front of the hotel sure solves the pre-race Porta-Potty problems.  Congrats to both of you.

I KNOW! I'll never be that spoiled again.

Just imagine me, after 11 miles, merging with almost 5,000 5kers and waiting in line behind them.ow.

That happens at the turkey trot at about mile 4.6 for the 10k runners and the 1.5 mile mark for the 5k runners.  It actually is a thing of beauty to be a part of as well as watch when you are done racing as one group gets one side of the 8 lane street and the other group gets the other side.

You are funneled down and around Cobo Hall and arena, through the finish and into Joe Louis arena where there is a massive setup for post race snacks and drinks.

That event draws around 22,000 runners between the two distances, difference is however is that they are equipped and prepared to handle the volume which it sounds like the people at the HCC still need to work on.

Have you emailed the race director with your concerns?  I have done that on an occasion or two about this or that and they usually appreciate runner feedback.  Try it if you have not already, and you just might be the impetus for the change that you seek.