I finally achieved my goal of running 1000 pregnancy miles. It was not easy but I did it.

11:13 pace.

That was the average pace that flashed on my watch during my Monday morning run. It’s a far cry from the 7:25 average pace I was training with prior to getting pregnant. The funny thing is – 11:13 pace Monday felt just as hard as my previous tempo pace. It’s amazing how quickly things can change.

I’ve always been hard on myself. My husband will be the first to shake his head in agreement with that, and some of you I’m sure have seen it from my years of blogging on here. In some ways it has worked against me, but in other ways it has pushed me to always strive for something a little bit more.

Pregnancy unfortunately didn’t take that away. I still found myself being hard on myself and frustrated with how quickly my body was changing. I found myself annoyed with how quickly I slowed down in comparison to others I knew running during pregnancy. Yes, there’s that comparison again.

Monday morning however; I had a breakthrough. It’s easy from the outside looking in to see that I’m 36 weeks pregnant and any miles are good miles at this point, but for someone who’s used to a lot more sometimes it hasn’t seemed that obvious. Monday morning I knew I needed to take my miles down a bit and I knew that my body was tired. It’s growing a baby, getting bigger, and my joints are starting to relax a bit.

Monday I simply didn’t care one bit what the pace said on my Garmin. I just cared about completing the miles. I knew it was going to be slow, I’m pretty sure I waddled most of the run but it was simple about accomplishing them then going all out. I’ve reached the point where there isn’t one thing about my body that’s the same anymore. It’s caused aches and pains and sometimes frustration, but taking the time to step back and really look at where I’m at has put a lot in perspective.

Our bodies are amazing things, but they also have limits. No matter how hard we push sometimes our body needs rest. At this point in this journey I’m on I’ve learned that it needs rest and while it can still run it doesn’t mean that it can go forever.

I do look forward to running postpartum and to getting my old routine (mileage wise) back, but for now I have to embrace this phase and stage of running that I’m in. It isn’t always fun but it’s been the most rewarding phase I have gone through. The prize at the end is so rewarding it doesn’t matter if some days are a struggle.

11:13 average pace or 7:25 average pace I’m still out there doing what I love and what keeps my body strong and healthy.

Last week was a big milestone when it came to running during my pregnancy. I hit 1,000 running miles while pregnant! I began tracking in the beginning after my friend Meridith gave me the idea and shared her pregnancy training with me.

I didn’t set many goals during this pregnancy, and the goal of hitting 1,000 miles was honestly a bit of a stretch goal, but I like having something to work towards. I don’t know the total amount of miles I’m going to end with, but each mile from here on out is just icing on the cake.

I’m celebrating the miles because it was one of the few goals I had, apart from listening to my body and staying health for this little boy. Sure, there are always areas I could have approved but I have stayed strong and now we are on the final home stretch!

So today, I celebrate my 11:13 average pace and I celebrate 1,000 pregnancy miles!

What is a goal you’ve hit recently?