The baby is officially 23 weeks now and approximately 11.5 inches long, 1.1 pounds and is estimated to be the size of a large mango (yum!). As of today, there are 114 more days until the baby arrives (give or take). That is BANANAS!! We had a pretty crazy weekend of running races, celebrating birthdays, and trying to get things done around the house.
On Saturday, Ben and I ran the Ratttlesnake Run. I was really a last minute decision on this race because it's pretty hilly (214 feet of elevation gain), off road, and a bigger-sized race. Last year, I ran my best time ever of a 42:24. This year, my goal was to maintain my normal 10 minute average and just keep running the whole time. I was able to pull off a 47:59 (9:38 average), but because the race was so crowded/off road, I took a small tumble in the first mile.
I was so upset with myself for putting myself and the baby in a situation that could have been potentially dangerous. Several people around me helped me and really it was not a bad fall, but I made the decision at that moment not to sign up for any other races for the rest of my pregnancy. I'm certainly still planning to stay active and continue to run for as long as I can, but the whole racing environment has too many uncontrollable variables to risk.
Ben ran a 41:19 (8:16 average) and got 3rd place in his age group! Those long legs of his really give him such an unfair advantage! I was really upset about the fall after the race and we unfortunately did not stick around for the age group awards. We decided to go to Olga's Bakery instead. If you've ever been to Dade City, you know about Olga's - it's the best. I did not indulge in one of their amazing donuts, but Ben did!
After breakfast, we went over to Ben's parent's house to celebrate his mom's birthday. We were commenting about how this is going to be our last birthday celebration without a baby, which is a little crazy to think about. We had a really nice visit with lunch and one of my favorite Raposa family traditions - homemade birthday cake of your choice! Ben's mom picked a pineapple cake, and his dad baked it (with some help) perfectly!
On Sunday morning, we headed over to PHSC for the annual 5k/Run with the Quistas to support the Women's Cross Country team. When I worked on the New Port Richey campus, I was the advisor for the XC team, so this race is one that we do every year and I absolutely LOVE this race. The course is nice and flat and super familiar. Here is a shot of the faculty/staff team before the race:
The race went really well. My goal was again to just run the whole time and maintain my 10 minute average. I finished in a time of 29:06 (9:21 average), which was good enough for 2nd place in my age group! I felt really well throughout the whole race and just tried to keep my heart rate low and "run all the tangents" like Coach Winterling taught me.
Here's a photo of Ben's steal of a second place age group award from Tim:
Tim (1st overall faculty/staff), Ben (2nd age group), and me (2nd age group):
Today, I spent some time reading Alysia Montano's blog. You may remember from this past summer that she famously raced her signature 800 meter race while 8 months pregnant. She wrote about having a goal to run until she was 30 weeks pregnant and even included some of her weekly pregnancy workouts.
I realize that she is a Olympian and a high caliber athlete, but I feel like her outlook on exercise during pregnancy is something I really want to emulate. I'm not sure how much longer I will be able to run, but 30 weeks seems like a good goal to work towards for now. This weekend coming up is the Frankenfooter half marathon and it's safe to say that this will be the only half marathon that I'll be running any time soon. That is all for now - until next week!
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