gasparilla 5k

for the first time in quite a while im actually writing a blog about running (well kinda running) and not about pregnancy (well kinda not about pregnancy). crazy, i know. (dont get used to it, not much else is going to probably be on here between now and may haha)

this past week we headed off to sunny/warm/snow-less florida for a week away with some good friends. were sad that krystle and jared live so far away now but im not going to complain about being able to go visit! krystle had nicely found a 5k for us to run while we were there so that we werent too lazy (read: so that the boys didnt just drink every day... which somehow didnt work out as we had planned) and of course i jumped right on board with this idea (back when it was discussed/decided in november... when i was still able to run 3 miles. oof).

i even bought a run running top for the race!

apparently this whole gasparilla thing down in tampa is a huge month long ordeal with pirates or something... and that showed in this 5k. 11,635 people ran it. ?!?!?! i have never run such a crowded 5k before, thats for sure. and the race was split up into two start times, 9am for those predicting under 35 minute finishing time, and a 9:45 start for those over that. still the start was very crowded, and made finding any sort of groove almost impossible. there were also pacers which i have never seen at a 5k before. interesting. and we got pirate medals which was sweeeeet. arrrrrgh!

a brightly colored crew

before we left the house i tried to tell the boys that it wasnt cool to wear the race shirts to the race. but when we got to the race, EVERYONE was wearing them. i guess i missed the memo. (dont worry, i still wouldnt have done it).

my run a few days before this race back here in maine was windy and about 28 degrees, so the humidity and temps in the 70's on race day... although more desirable than the cold... was not what i was used to. i think i was sweating before i even started running. sexy.

but at least  i  we looked cute hehe

i had told ty right before the start that i would run with him (i wasnt feeling like i really wanted to try to run fast... haha, fast), but he said for me to just do my best and would see me at the end (sercretly i wanted to make sure i still beat him hehe). as we started off through the start line, i was already weaving in and out of people walking (we started pretty far back in the crowd). i was up on the sidewalk, trying to maintain a good pace but not get out of breath too early. within the first two minutes we were climbing up a small draw bridge with a grate on it... i hate grates! i avoid them on sidewalks whenever im running, and there was no way to avoid this bridge! it was wobbly and i hated every second of it, but after the bridge the rest of the race was flat with an out and back turn around course. the first mile seemed to go by fast but already i could feel my feet were starting to hurt, and i wasnt all too excited about that.

at about the 1.5 mile mark, the sun came out. and it. got. HOT. there was no shade, there were so many people, and i didnt have any water with me. my feet had pretty much gone numb and my lower legs were tingling (something i hadnt felt before). i thought that this was due to the different type of road/hard concrete and attempted to just walk a little/stretch it. walking was a joke and i felt like my feet didnt want to work anymore so i just said screw it and kept trying to run (slowing down a lot). a water stop came just after the turn around and i took a few sips and dumped the rest over my forehead/back of my neck. that felt heavenly.

brayden came up next to me at the water stop to see how i was doing and then went ahead. i didnt even try to keep up with him... i knew i was going to cut it close to the 30 minute mark i was shooting for, but at that point (like i did when i ran mdi marathon in october) i knew i needed to make sure i was staying focused on keeping myself and the baby safe as opposed to some time goal, wanting to run more, etc. my feet hurt bad, my stomach was so tight and also feeling tingly (BH contractions at its finest), and although i could see the finish line ahead, i just kept things slow until i crossed the finish line.


time: 30:50
2,664 out of 11,635 (hey top 22%, not too bad haha)
893 out of 6852 women (13%)

side note/fun fact: there are 117 pages of results online just for the 5k, and the last person to finish (71 years old) had a time of 3:39:42. like i said, this was a race full of things i have never seen before! very fun though and i wish i could have done all four races (5k, 8k, 15k, and half!) everyone had a great time (i think!) but no one wanted to go running again while we were there (and the drinking continued).

post race beers, yummmm

sadly i was beerless

but i got a few high fives for my tshirt!

yay medals!

21st 5k

82nd lifetime race