Am I crazy? I'm probably crazy. Not that I am the first ever pregnant lady to run a race but my last minute decision to enroll in the Rock 'n' Roll Running series 10k in Nashville was purely fueled by my horrible FOMO.
Now, if you know me, you know there is no challenge I won't accept - the first challenge being staying active during my first pregnancy ("check"). I have not been nearly as intense as I planned to be but active none-theless and pregnancy has been great so far. Insert co-workers planning to run the Half Marathon...
Prior to the Race
This was no secret, my co-worker had been planning to run the Half Marathon for months, and I mean full color-coded calendar with training dates and the whole nine and an open invitation for everyone on site to join her. As the weeks went by (Starting in January) I kept saying to myself that I wanted to do it but I had NEVER done any running past 6 or 7 miles at once, not that I couldn't, I just was holding myself back - I am pregnant mind you and a running body pre pregnancy is very different than how I was feeling now (or so I thought).
Fast forward to Packet pick-up/race registration day and my FOMO was in full swing, I went along with my co-worker to pick up her packet and ended up signing up to run the 10k (she ran the half). At this point I had 2 days to prepare, so I ran around trying to find a "bump support band" and anything else that I thought would help me get through it. I searched somewhere like 15 articles about running while pregnant and physched myself up about it.
The FOMO must have gotten the best of a few others too because on the day of the race, 5 other coworkers had registered to run the race (10k, half, full, etc.) and there was a big group and some friendly competition!
Race Day
Bright and early on April 22nd, 2023 I woke up, used almost an entire roll of KT tape to tape the baby bump (for support), got dressed and I headed downtown to meet my buddy and get out my pre-race jitters.
The 10k Race was before the Half/Marathon so I was wished luck as we parted ways. By 6:30am the street was packed with racers getting ready to start, shortly after we began the race.
I usually run about a 10:30min/Mi and the weather was good and I had a good warm-up so to not have run more than 1 mile in months, I did pretty good for myself Finishing at 1:12:39 with an 11:44min/Mi.
Now I get to add my first 10K Medal to my collection of holiday 5K medals that I treasure dearly.
All of this to say - FOMO is real, you can do anything you put your mind to, and Running is always rewarding - Always. I have never regret a race and for sure have never regret a medal!
I'm thinking that I will try to run the half this next year and see how much faster I am without the little Olive in my belly.
Here's to running further and faster than ever before!
LB