And so (I think) ends my official racing until the tiny human arrives. I’ll still race, but I won’t truly be racing because pushing my body that hard is starting to feel not-so-good. I find myself so affected by slight changes in temperature and weather, and my body is being extra picky.

The weather for this race was much warmer than the Turkey Day Run, but the higher temps plus humidity forced me to slow down to keep from overheating, so I ended up with a slow-for-me time of 25:15. That time was still good enough to place me in the top 5 for my age group (4th place), which surprised me since I really didn’t feel like I was really trying and this was a pretty big race with almost 2400 runners. I even left the race without knowing my official time, which is something I never do.

But I’m glad I did this race. Mostly because I got to wear a silly holiday beagle t-shirt and a sparkly skirt. Because really, when else can I wear such a getup?

The race is well organized with a course that winds through downtown Charleston along the Battery and Bay Street, so it doesn’t get much nicer than that (caveat: there was a super strong fish smell along the Battery and that sort of made me want to vomit - thanks, super-crazy pregnancy senses!).

The starting line was energetic with pounding club music - totally took me back to the crazy clubbing nights of my early 20s and then quickly made me thankful that I was now hearing that music at the starting line of a race while standing shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow runners and not while dancing shoulder-to-shoulder with a bunch of drunk strangers on a questionable dance floor, getting shoved around and trying not to spill my drink. Probably one of the better starting line experiences I've had with the exception of Thunder Road where they revved race car engines.

And there were church bells. Yep, we went from club music to church bells. After the race started and we turned the first corner, church bells started ringing. One of my favorite sounds! Especially around Christmas - church bells chiming in the city just reminds me of home.

I’m supposed to run the Jingle Bell Run this weekend, but I think I’m just going to sandwich that in my long run for the day - running there, running the race, and running home. So no crazy racing or PRs expected then, either! But at least it gives me one more chance to wear a silly holiday running outfit, and who wouldn’t want that?

Results: 25:15 (8:09), 4th out of 224 in age group

Weather: 65 degrees, sunny, humid

Health: Good, just 13 weeks pregnant