Outside again

There was a brief break in the rain yesterday, so when I was home for lunch, I packed up my running gear and took it back to the office with me. It has been ages since I've run outside (since early December maybe) and luckily my office is one block away from my favorite in-town running route.

I was only planning on running about half an hour, but I was geared like it was a 10 miler. Water bottle, cell phone, Garmin. I hate taking that much stuff, but I figured better to be safe than sorry. I have been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions this week, which is totally normally at this point in pregnancy, but I was still a bit unsettled about the idea of not taking all of that stuff out there with me. Better safe than sorry I guess (is this a sign of me being one of those over-the-top over-protective mothers?).

The run was fine. About 45 seconds into it though I realized that there was a good chance I might pee on myself a little bit. So my quickly my goal for this run went from "just getting out there" to "make it one mile to the bathroom in the pavilion at the park across the river." It took a good 5 minutes for my huffing and puffing to stop and my breathing to get back to normal and conversation pace. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that I maintained a pace somewhere in the 10:20-10:45 range. I did think about really pushing it at the end of the run to get in the last .25 miles, but I decided against it. I think I could have done it, but I am making a conscious effort when working out to say "well, you have done plenty - no need to overdo it."

I did make it across the river to the bathroom and then around my office a bit. I ended up running around 2.75 miles in about 31:00. It's the first time I've worked out in 10 days, first run outside in 5 months, and I am 20 weeks pregnant on top of that. I'm pretty happy with the results. At this point my belly isn't big enough to mess with my center of gravity, but I don't know how doable this will be four weeks from now. I may have to become an elliptical girl.

Oh, and in three weeks I am running a 5k. It's at a battlefield nearby and it is a very neat event. Some gentle hills, lots of monuments, and race day staff decked out in the Blue and the Grey.