Gasparilla Distance Classic 5k 022611

So I decided to do another race, this is one of the largest in the Tampa area. So I signed up in January and had a race buddy from church, but then her husband decided he wanted to do the walk and so she just did that with him instead. Might have been a good thing for me, but might have been a bad thing, you'll see in just a moment. I had been fighting a cold, which had gone into my ear and I could not get it unplugged so that was working against me, but I still trudged on.

My scrapbook friend Carol and her husband were here this weekend and so Carol went with me to the race especially since Kevin woke up that morning with what ended up being the stomach flu and it was super bad.

Anyway we got some fun freebies at the pre-race stuff...even Carol got some! Some food and water bottles and bags! And then we walked over to the race starting line.

So here I am before the race. In my cool new Bondi Band, it really did work at keeping the sweat from rolling down my face into my eyes!! WOOHOO! LOVED IT!

Here is some dude Carol took a picture of with his pirate hat on for the Gasparilla Pirate. lol Too hot for me! (Not his body, that long ole hair on the hat! lol)

These were some miltary guys who were running/walking.

Now to my race info...

We got over to the race start line just before 9am and at 5 after then the race hadn't started I realized that it didn't start until 9:30...not sure why I had 9am in my head as the start time. UGH! About 10 mins before the race the clouds disappeared and it got hot really fast. :-( My ear was still plugged so I was worried. I forced myself to ran the entire first mile in 13:36 and then ran on until the 14 min mark and then started my 1 min walk and 3 min run, problem was it didn't last long because I felt horrible. I couldn't catch my breath very well and I was dying from the heat and just not feeling well. I felt like my body wasn't mine, at least not the one I normally run in! lol At one point I know I walked for 5 mins before the 2 mile mark. Then after the 2 mile mark I would tell myself, okay run for 2 mins then you can walk, or run to the overpass and then you can walk under it in the shade. I was just grateful I finished, that's about the only good thing I can say about the race. :-( I finished in a time of 46:45. Certainly not the under 43 mins I was trying and hoping for, but again at least I finished.

Here I am running close to the finish line. I am in the pink top, black bottoms and blue headband.

Crossing the finish line. (That is the official time, not my time, it was timed based on when your bib crossed the start and finish lines, which was nice!)

After the race I felt like CRAP so I grabbed my finishers medal, grabbed a bottle of water, found Carol, we walked back to the car, getting a few things on the way only if there was a short line, and headed home. lol I ended up with the stomach flu later that afternoon which would explain some more of the reason I felt so horrible. All of this makes me grateful I finished as quickly as I did, feeling this way I probably should have been closer to an hour! lol But I finished and will sign up for another one at some point and try again, probably not until Sept when it starts to cool down again because I haven't found one that is going on in April which would be the last month I would even consider doing one in Florida! lol So there you have it, a disappointing first Gasparilla Distance Classic. :-(