Spec, the rainstorm, and the magical pants…

Today was Spec’s first race. Stephanie says technically his first race was the Lavender 10K, when later that day I found out I was pregnant, but since he was really just a clump of cells then, I’m counting today as his first.

Stephanie and I left in the dark, pouring rain to head south to San Marcos. When the last real rain was in April, you don’t complain about a down pour on a race day. We arrived at the race site and I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice, older country subdivision. Lots of oaks and prickly pears, and everything was green from our rain that morning. Plus it couldn’t have been more than 70 degrees at the most. We got really nice tech shirts, and didn’t have to waste too much time before we were off.

Earlier this week I had a couple fantastic runs without major pressure from Spec’s position. It was true good to be true as yesterday I noticed he moved back, and when I run I have the sensation of lots of pressure. It is most uncomfortable on my bladder. Today started with the same pressure. I’ve just learned to run through it, and sometimes a quick bathroom stop helps a little. Stephanie and I ran together for 4 miles and she decided to walk a bit so I went on. Immediately I realized I was just too uncomfortable not to stop at a bathroom, but there were none. And the only bushes and trees were on someone’s property, so not an option. I only had about 2 miles to run, but I didn’t think I could do it with this amount of discomfort. I considered my options. 1. Pee in my running shorts. It was raining, I would rinse off some from that, and I had a full change of clothes for after the race. They would probably smell too bad to keep in the car while we shopped, so I would have to toss them. An awesome pair of Nike shorts ending up trashed. Was it worth it? 2. Pee in some one’s yard and pray no one notices. I would feel like a big jerk doing this. It’s gross, but I guess no grosser than peeing in my shorts. 3. Run like hell to the finish. I chose option 3. Suddenly my pace dipped below 8 minutes a mile. I know, not too impressive, but I am now 4 1/2 months pregnant with double the blood to pump around that I had a few months ago, and extra pounds. I felt like I was flying. I felt like a jerk sprinting past all kinds of folks at the end, like I was trying to put on some big show, but they didn’t know the full story. I sprinted straight to the bathroom, and was relieved option 3 worked (just barely), and I still am the owner of some very nice Nike shorts. Thanks for keeping up my training, Spec.

Next we hit breakfast and the outlet mall. Outlet malls typically are about as much fun for me as sitting in I-35 traffic and about as productive. I’ll go with a list of things I need and leave with nothing, exhausted, hot, and cursing that I wasted a whole afternoon trekking from store to store to find nothing that fits, and nothing that is a true deal. Today’s mission was pants that fit and a new purse. Anything else would be gravy. We hit a couple stores and I had my usual issues…nothing fit, the prices weren’t really that good. We checked out a slightly sad looking maternity store, and miracle of miracles I found jeans. They fit perfect. They were $24. They were coming home with me… I also found a purse. I am a little ashamed to admit I have a thing for fancy designer purses. I found some bonus clothing items I can wear to work. Success….and a very rare productive outlet mall trip.

So, Spec’s first race is in the history books. I really need to find more. Normally these little short, small races aren’t that big of a deal to me, but given the mileage decrease, and the new physical challenges that come up each week it was a lot of fun.