Last January, my dad made a New Year’s resolution to run (at least) one 5K race each month.  He’s stuck to it diligently and I even got the fun of running with him in the Schenectady Strawberry Fest 5K back in June.  To get in his November race, he suggested that we run together in a race out here in Buffalo – if I felt up for it – when he and my mom visited two weekends ago.  I’m still getting out there, although it’s more of a run-walk for me, and I’m trying to get in a few more events before I hang up the running shoes for the duration of my pregnancy, so I was all in.  The race we chose was a new venture for both of us – our first cross-country 5K!

The race was held at Hoyt Lake, an area where I used to run regularly when I lived in the city (before creepers started targeting female runners – including a family member of mine – and I decided it wasn’t safe to run there anymore).  I was thrilled to get the chance to run there again.  It’s a beautiful park and I wish it was a safer place for women to run.  I knew I’d never have a better opportunity to run there than as part of a race group.  Plus, the idea of running a cross-country 5K, since it was something I’d never done before, was appealing.

We all lined up in the woods near the intersection of Lincoln Parkway and Rumsey Road.  That’s the start line, above – pretty low-key.  The gun fired and we took off running through the fallen leaves.

The course was set by flags.  If you saw a blue flag, you ran straight.  A red flag meant “look left” and a yellow flag meant “look right.”  The course was well-marked and we were always able to see the next flag ahead – although sometimes we had to look around for it before we spotted it.

Hoyt Lake boasts a pretty running path (again, wish it was safer, because it’s so nice there) but we didn’t use it.  Instead, we were running over grass and mulch, and through mud and leaves.  Occasionally we got to pound a gravel trail for a few feet and that felt like luxury.

There’s my dad running strong.  He looks a little mystified, though – he’s probably searching for the next course flag.

There were a few very steep hills on the course, including two beasts that we ran twice each.  (That’s one of them above, and trust me, it looks much more benign than it actually was.)  Dad is faster than me on a good day, but he very nicely stuck with my trudging pregnant pace.  We kept to a pretty tight regimen of four minutes running, one minute walking, but we walked up the tougher hills even if we were otherwise in a running interval.  Even the 4:1 ratio felt tough, and I’m thinking of scaling back to 3:1 for the Turkey Trot this week.  (I may or may not decide to do that.  The Turkey Trot is all on pavement and mostly downhill, so even though it’s almost two miles longer, it should be easier than the cross-country 5K was, with the wet, uneven ground and piles of leaves drifting around the course.  We’ll see how I feel on Trot day.)

I have seriously never been happier to see mile marker 2.  Mile 2!

Finally, at long last and after my slowest time ever, by a long shot (about 45 minutes – ouch!) we saw the finish line.  We ran through a little corral of parking cones, and we were done.  I have never been happier to finish a race.  Even my brutal day running the Biggest Loser Half Marathon at 11 weeks pregnant felt less strenuous.  (Again, pavement.  Oh, and ten fewer weeks of baby growth to lug around.)

Done, and pretty darn happy to not be running anymore!  We stuck around the finish line and chatted with some of the other runners who were milling about.  One lady had run the cross-country 5K as her first race ever!  Major props to her.  If this was my first race, I would have concluded that runners are nuts and I want nothing to do with this sport, ever again.  It was seriously that tough.

And yes, I did wear a “running for two” shirt so that it was perfectly clear to everyone why I was taking walking breaks and plodding along during my run intervals.  Can’t have people thinking I’m always this slow!  But honestly, as miserable as I was during the race, I was so happy that I was still out there doing events, even slowly, at 21 weeks pregnant.  When I was pregnant with Peanut, 21 weeks was the point at which I was placed on activity restrictions for the first time (the bed rest would come later).  This time around, I am lucky enough to have a clean bill of health from the 18 week anatomy scan (fingers crossed things continue to go well) and permission to keep running as long as it is comfortable and enjoyable for me.  I’m just happy to still be out there.

Have you ever done a cross-country 5K?  Did you think it was insanely hard, or am I just a wimp?