When I wrote my Bluenose Marathon 5k Recap post, there was one rather important piece of the missing from the puzzle!

I was almost 11 weeks pregnant when I ran my 5k in 35:29 seconds.  To say it was my worst 5k running time was no joke.

To say I was happy with my time, that was an understatement. I was thrilled with my time and still am.

I took about 3 weeks off from running during my first trimester because  I have a nasty head cold  and I was either passed out on the couch (even before Lilly’s bedtime at 7pm when Saï was home) or I was in bed by 7pm (after Lilly goes to bed) when Saï wasn’t home.

I couldn’t function, read about that here.

I couldn’t do dishes, laundry, workout/run, talk on the phone, watch TV or blog.

All I could do was sleep. I slept for 10-12 hours a night – I’m not kidding!

Okay – so back to the main point of this post – Running the Bluenose 5k in my First Trimester of Pregnancy.

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I ran all winter knowing we wanted to have another child soon. I ran because I wanted to be healthy for my daughter, husband and family. AND, more importantly, I ran because I wanted to be as healthy as I could for the next child that comes into our life and be healthy during my pregnancy.

So,  I ran. I had good runs, bad runs; in the snow, rain and heat of the spring.

I continued to run when I found out I was pregnant.

I also found a new hobby – it’s called “let’s try to eat and keep food in your body”. I have been quite ill during the first trimester – completely different to when I was pregnant with Lilly.

Race Day:

I had to tell Jennifer that I was pregnant because it was only fair that she knew I couldn’t run the race that I really had wanted to; sub 29:16 minutes. She was pretty excited for us and even hesitated when I told her and Robin to go ahead without me when I knew I couldn’t keep their pace.

It was a great run. I walked more than I normally would have. I took in the view on top of Citadel Hill – and seeing the 10k and 1/2 Marathoner’s at the start area and the sea of purple “I Run This Town” shirts was pretty cool.

I saw a pregnant women (probably 6-7 months along) running with a shirt she made; it said “Born to Run” on her belly. Pretty cute.

I later found out an old soccer buddy ran the 10k at 13 weeks pregnant – that made me rather excited.

I finished the race in 35:29, again my worst time….but now my BEST time knowing I was pregnant.

I had no pain during the run. No pain after the run. I drank water or Gatorade at each station and made sure I had lots of food after the run – along with an amazing smoothie from Pete’s. I had lunch with my daughter, husband and sister and then took a long 3 hour nap.

I was exhausted.

I did it! I successfully ran a 5k race, pain-free, no problems while I was almost 11 weeks pregnant.

Future Running Plans:

Well, I set my goals back in January of this year, they were to run 5k’s in the spring and 10ks in the Fall. When setting these goals I wasn’t sure if running 10k’s in the fall would actually happen and I have decided not to run them as I physically don’t want to push myself at that point in the pregnancy. Lilly was born 4 weeks early with no known medical reason – so I don’t want to push it too late in pregnancy, just in case.

My new goals:

• 5k Bluenose Marathon May and 5k Sole Sisters Run in June 2012 – done and done.
• Run 1-2 days per week and workout at home – as long as I feel good
• Fall – run as long as I can, add in more walking, swimming, prenatal yoga
• Late Fall/Winter – Have baby #2
• 2013 – Run the Bluenose Marathon 5k under 29:16 or 10k under 60 minutes.
• Run another 1/2 Marathon in 2014

Running a race in my first trimester was I choice I made. No one forced me to do this, however all the important people supported me and I’m sure thankful for that.

I’ll keep you posted to see how my running develops/changes over the next few months. Sole Sisters (start of second trimester) update to come.

Happy Running!