I was in my first Half Marathon this weekend—the American River Parkway Half— in Sacramento. When I embarked on this journey nearly five months ago, I wasn’t out to set any world records, just to finish. But not just to finish, to finish PREGNANT. That’s right, I was 34 weeks pregnant when I participated in this half marathon.
This wasn’t just any half marathon, this was the only half marathon in the country with a separate course for runners and walkers. I hadn’t run since I found out I was pregnant so, I decided to train for a walking half marathon. You might think walking a half marathon is easy but, it’s the same distance as a running half marathon, but you spend much more time on the course. It is physically and mentally exhausting.
After the end of my first trimester which, by the way, was also physically and mentally exhausting with extreme bouts of fatigue and morning sickness, I decided to start a walking half marathon training plan. You can find the exact plan HERE.
For 14 weeks I walked five days a week with one day each week being my endurance walks, all while being pregnant. My OB thought I was crazy but didn’t discourage me from trying to complete it. He just told me to listen to my body and stop if I felt any pain, pressure, and illness.
The lower mileage walks were fun and exhilarating, but the longer (seven to ten miles) began to really wear on my body. I started noticing that my pelvis was “clicking” while I was walking and, after awhile, started hurting. That’s when I enlisted the help of a chiropractor. I used a chiropractor during my last pregnancy where I was, ironically, doing walk/run 5K’s. This time, it was way more severe, but my weekly visits really helped to lessen the pain and keep me mobile enough to finish the training.
Everything was going great with training until I had my longest endurance day— the dreaded 10 miles—three weeks out from the race. This walk was longer but not unlike the ones I had completed before. But right as I hit the ten-mile mark, I felt a pop in my calf and then instant pain behind my knee. I could walk, but it was sore.
I woke up excited but apprehensive that morning. I had injured my calf during my longest training day (ten-miles) a few weeks prior and it still nagged me during longer walks. But the day of my first half marathon was finally upon me. No more talking about how someday I was going to do a half marathon. I must have checked a dozen times to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. I had spent a week stretching and making sure I was completely prepared for this journey.
My husband and two of my three kids were coming along to cheer me on. We packed the car and arrived at the race site before the sun arose by my master plan. We were NOT going to be struck in traffic, and we WERE going to get parking in the park. We were prepared to enjoy the atmosphere of my first half marathon!! It was going to be perfect.
We left our house with plenty of time for unexpected issues and due to my great/crazy planning, we waited for nearly two hours before anything happened. This was more than enough time for me to doubt my decision to do this. I was VERY pregnant after all. No one would blame me if I just dropped out of this race now. I mean for goodness sake, most pregnant woman can’t even walk around the block, and I thought I was going to walk 13.1 miles. My BIGGEST fear was that I was going to get out there, overestimate my abilities, and have to flag down the EMTs to take me back. Or worse, that I would go into labor right there on the course. But, guess what, it didn’t.
At 7 am, we made our way to the starting line. I got in line with 400 other crazy souls to embark on a very-long-walk. I don’t know if it was the hormones or my nerves, but I was very emotional as I waved my family goodbye. I decided to take it one step at a time.
