We Took the Scenic Route - Gasparilla 8k & 15k Weekend 2022

So, normally, I break up my Gasparilla Weekend reports into separate race reports, but I'm just too lazy to do that this time around, so buckle up, my dudes, this may be longer (but much more entertaining) than a typical run report. 

We left around 11:30am, picking up drinks at Circle K and lunch from McDonald's, then getting on I-75. For some reason (that I still don't know...), it was extremely busy, both North and Southbound. As we drove south toward Tampa, I made an extremely stupid, and uneducated decision... 

See, in my brain, Veteran's Expressway (SR-589) dead-ended on SR-529 in the Disney area. So let's get on the Turnpike, I said! It'll be a no-brainer, and we could avoid all of this mess on the interstate. 

So we took the Turnpike... and it just got stupider from there. Repeatedly, Garmin kept telling us to turn around, or take the next exit, and I - being so sure of myself - continued to ignore those directions. 

See, the Veteran's Expressway does NOT connect to the Turnpike. Like, nowhere close. It's much closer to the Gulf side of Florida, wheras the Turnpike runs diagonally through the center of Florida. So every mile I travelled on the Turnpike, we were driving further and further away from where we were supposed to be going! At one point, Garmin tried to get us to leave the Turnpike and get on State Road 50, through Groveland, but again, I thought I was smarter than Garmin, so we didn't. 

We went all the way to SR-429 before I realized I was a damn idiot, so then we had to get on Interstate 4. Oh, man, it was so much worse than I-75, too! Yes, we were on I-4, on a Friday afternoon! It was terrible!!!  (We wasted 35+ miles because of my bullishness). 

But hey, on the upside, we ticked off a few new Florida Counties that we've never been to/through, so I got that goin' for me, I suppose.   

Red line (how we should have gone)
Blue line (how my smarty-pants ass went)

Not only was the traffic, and the misdirection, raising my stress levels, but also the fact that the Expo closed at 6pm, and we were getting in to Tampa pretty late (without the screw up, we'd have been there by 2:30pm). My "mildly curious" anger turned into "grumpy" anger by 3pm - we'd been on the road for almost 4 hours at this point - and we still had to detour to the hotel first. Because of stupid Covid bullshit, Hubby couldn't come in to the Tampa Convention Center without proof of vaccination OR proof of a negative Covid test (yes, this meant that I had to go get a stupid Covid test just to Show My Papers to gain entrance to a building). 

Now trusting Garmin, we followed the detour to avoid the crazy traffic on 275, hopping on to the Selmon Expressway... only to be rerouted BACK ON to Interstate 275 just minutes later!! Luckily, the exit to Veteran's Expressway was just a few minutes away, and the hotel was just a few after that. We got checked in, in a room right  at the top of the stairs (the one area I specifically requested in which we didn't want to be put), then I turned around and left. 

Back in the car, I discovered that, while I was checking in, Hubby had set the Garmin up to take me to the Convention Center, so it was ready for me when I came back downstairs. Awww, how sweet! I set it to "Avoid Highways" so that I could drive on surface streets (to avoid the Interstate craziness again), and headed out...

I parked at the Fort Brooke Garage, because it's the one near the trolley line and I can remember how to get back to that (i.e. I won't get lost). I Showed My Papers to gain entrance to the building, then showed them again to be branded with a stupid fabric wristband that I was required to wear all weekend (it wasn't a star, and it wasn't yellow, but it sure did give me some similar vibes). Upstairs, I picked up my bib, bag, and swag (woo hoo, another hat!), walked through the very small Expo, then headed back over to the hotel. We picked up dinner from Wawa next door (penne was a huge fail, but the burger was delicious, then we finally unpacked, I set out my race stuff for tomorrow, and headed to bed.

 

Pro Tip: Take a photo of where you parked so you don't forget

I woke up Saturday morning in pain... what the hell is wrong with this bed? It's so firm!! I was somehow sweaty and cold at the same time! Oh, and a huge pet peeve... the fitted sheet was really just a badly tucked-in flat sheet, so half the bed came unmade throughout the night. And we have two more nights here... sigh. 

I drank some OJ, tried to poop, and tried to will away the sinus headache I got from the down pillows. I woke Hubby up at 5:30 and we headed out about 20 minutes later. I was in my corral by 6:30 (cutting it way too close for my preference), and off I went! I met him at the overpass, and we walked together to Publix, where he likes to wait for me to finish. I put my earbuds in, put my game face on... and walked, lol. I ate a Honey Stinger at Mile 1 to make up for not doing it beforehand, then had to poop at Mile 2 (eww, potties). I walked again until Mile 3, then ran all of Mile 4. I pulled out my chews when I diverted to Gandy (about Mile 4.5), and noshed on those while I enjoyed the shade that Gandy provided. I rain again until Mile 6 (so I could put some distance between me and the few folks behind me... I was way back of the pack this year). 

As usual... in the back

At one point, I realized that the Tail Cop Car was in FRONT of me!? Then I realized that the gaggle of We're Here to Look Cute and Walk, too! Teal Tee ladies were in front of me too! But I passed them miles ago and they were dead last at one point... How the fuck are they way up here now? Trying to think positive here... maybe they were dead last and ordered to turn around (I've seen that happen before), and now they're in front of us... but still (!) the Tail Cop Car should be behind the actual last people, not hanging out with middle-age Wine Moms... So I made it my mission to get in front of the gaggle and the cop car, and I did! 

This may be one of my most favorite race photos ever!

But I paid for it... it's just so fucking hot out here today! Looking at my data later (at the hotel), my heart rate went up to 150bpm, which isn't the best (it's about 88% of my MaxHR). Between the heat and my heart, I was just over it... I walked the final few miles. As I crossed the finish line, my name was announced! First time in doing this race, I had my name announced. Hubs had a huge smile on his face, like, yeah, that's my sweaty overweight running wife, right there!! You all heard her name!! For some reason, my results never showed up online, but my watch shows that I finished just under three hours, with a time of 2:45:11. While obviously not my best time for this course (that was 2:37 back in 2015), it wasn't my worst either, so yay for me! 

This year's and last year's medals 

I picked up my water, my ice-cold sweat rag, and my medal. I took a quick picture with my 2021 and 2022 medals, then headed back to the car. Since we were only on the 2nd floor, and after asking if I was okay with it, we took the stairs. My HR was back through the roof, and I was a little dizzy. When we got to the second floor, he realized that he took me to the wrong garage!!! So I had to go back downstairs, cross the street, then back UP more stairs, to our car, in the correct garage, lol. 

Back at the hotel I crawled into a hot bath - and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep in it, only to be woken up when the water got cold!  I relaxed in bed after, with a soda, a Milky Way, and a White Cherry Gatorade (eww, it tastes like hot feet). After a while, we perused Google for some lunch ideas and settled on a restaurant nearby called "Mom's Place," which may be one of the best kept secrets of the Tampa area... I got pancakes with bacon and a single scrambled egg. Hubs got a Ham & Cheese burger (yes, a burger with shaved ham and cheese on top!). Everything was delicious, although the bacon was just a hair too crispy for me (yes, I know I'm a Bacon Snob). The pancakes were spectacular. They were yeasty, malty, something-y... I can't put my finger on what made them so damn good, but I inhaled them. Both meals, with tax, were $25!

Pancakes w/a side of bling

One scrambled egg & three bacon strips

Full of carbs back in the car, Bad Influence Hubby turned to me and said, "Hey, wanna get some ice cream and watch some airplanes land?"

Uh, yeah!

First, Garmin took us to DeConna, but that looked to be some sort of warehouse, so we looked for a different place and found something called "The Revolution." They're a small local ice cream store, with just 3 or 4 locations in the Tampa/St. Pete area.  It was started by Bill Workman, making ice cream in his home kitchen for his friends and family, breaking the mold with ingredients like habaneros and candied bacon. The company loves to give back to their community, events are organized through churches and clubs, and even their shops serve as galleries for local artists! 

Inside was empty (thanks, Covid) with just a few employees, but the employee who helped us out was awesome. We had no idea what to expect, and she walked us through a lot of choices, allowing us to sample anything we wanted. 

So... non-binary people should choose one of two... binary... options? 

I sampled Mint Want Cookies (Mint-based ice cream w/Andes candies, chocolate chip cookies, and cookie dough) and felt it was too much... If it was JUST mint with the Andes, it would have been delicious, but the fully baked chocolate chip cookies threw it off. 

Flavor List from The Revolution's website

I ended up with Porky's Delight (vanilla ice cream loaded with bacon and bacon brittle) and hubby got What's Up Nutter Fudger? (chocolate ice cream, crunchy peanut butter, and peanut butter wafers, suckas!). I loved mine, but actually wished there was NO bacon in the ice cream, only more bacon brittle. The brittle was something that was added as a topping, not mixed in, and the bites with brittle were delicious; the cold bacon was weird. When I asked the employee if the ice cream base had been "bacon infused" or "brittle infused," she refused to answer. But there was something besides vanilla in that base, and it was delicious... I could eat a vat of it! Two cups of ice cream cost about $10, which isn't bad for local, handcrafted ice cream of this quality. The flavors were a little too... out there, maybe?... for my liking though, and I probably wouldn't go back. 

We took our ice cream back to the parking lot of Pinsetters Bowling Alley and just watched airplanes take off and land for an hour... very interesting, honestly! I've never really seen it before, and it was very educational (especially for him, since he's still leery of flying). Back at the hotel, I was still somewhat sore from that morning's event, and I'm fending off a "too hot and dehydrated" headache, but otherwise, feeling pretty okay. We ended up just relaxing in bed until I zonked out at 8pm!

Sunday morning, the more relaxed morning, had me waking up in pain again from the crappy bed. We were up and out the door by 8am, got there by 9am (for a 9:15 start, again too close for comfort). As I started, I felt better than expected, so I ran more than I expected to. To try to ward off the heat, I started using my "Chilly Towel" before I even got to Mile 1 (that may have helped more than expected, now that I think about it). I ate the rest of the chews I opened yesterday, when I got to Mile 1. Also, it's breezier than it was yesterday, helping to keep the course cooler than yesterday. At Mile 3 I realized that I could possibly come in under 90 minutes, but my official time was 1:31:02 (missed it by 1:02). Still felt really good, though! One of my better times for this race. 

Me and thousands of my closest pals

Wait... could I do this in 90 minutes? 

I got photos with all of my medals (including last year's medals), picked up water and Cheez-Its, then hobbled over to the car (in the correct garage this time, lol). We picked up sodas and sandwiches from Wawa, then got back to our room for a hot bath and a snooze.  

The medals I earned this weekend

The medals from this year and last year

We tried out Ford's Garage for lunch, and I was impressed. Hubby got the Crispy Chicken Sandwich, and it was so freakin' good, while I got the Ford's Signature Burger (my server was confused and forgot to make sure my burger had bacon on it, but it was till okay). Both meals were very good, and we'd definitely go again. Slightly overpriced - $42 with tip, but $6 of that was soda, that we don't normally get, so...).

Crispy Chicken (with Honey Mustard sauce)

Ford's Signature (with Tillamook cheddar, bacon, and BBQ sauce)

We spent another hour or so at the Tampa Airport, because I wanted to see if our duffel bag would qualify (size-wise) as a Carry On or Personal Item. Plus, I just wanted to see the inside. See, neither hubby or I have flown as adults, and he's very phobic about flying. But we also want to fly somewhere on vacation, so we're trying to deal with his phobia. And we figured just taking the mystery out of an airport (and watching planes land, as we did yesterday) was a smart idea. So we wandered around, just observing. Unfortunately, it seemed like TPA was having some air-conditioning issues, so we cut our people-watching short, headed back to the parking garage and watched more airplanes. We could see how they taxi, and get to the gate and stuff. Watching the logistics of 'driving' and 'parking' airplanes was really cool to see. 

Just low-key scoping out the airport

Back in the hotel, we relaxed for a while, munching on some snacks. I took stock of my aches and pains; surprisingly, no headache, no major muscle aches, no sunburn, no chafed lady bits! The only issue was minor muscle aches (to be expected) and blisters on my right foot. Eventually, after some very... energetic cuddling, ahem... we refueled with those sammiches we bought, then conked out for the night. 

Monday morning, I was able to sleep in until about 9, before having to get up and pack. We looked around on the internet to find something fun to do, but both of us were wiped out from a long weekend and the bad sleep, so we decided to just grab some lunch then head home. We went to Jason's Deli, which we know is a great place for a filling sandwich. I got ham, bacon, and swiss on French bread and it was just... meh. Also, the potato soup was mediocre too... I should really stop getting the soup! Hubby ordered a ham sandwich on a croissant, but got some sort of ham/turkey with cheddar and honey mustard on a croissant, and it was amazingly good! I can't find this thing on their menu anywhere, so I have no idea how to recreate this order. 

Should we head home now? Nah, let's go get some Krispy Kreme! So, we got a few donuts. As we ate our donuts, I asked again, should we go home now? Nah!... let's go to Buc-ees! (Essentially, by going to Daytona Beach, we added 2.5 hours of driving time to our trip! But who cares?! Adventure!!)

Yes, y'all, we trekked all the way across the damn state to go to Buc-ees. We took State Road 50 across Florida, a long drive behind slow people, over to the Turnpike, to 408 to Interstate 95. We jokingly had a "Who could buy more snacks?" competition (which I won, of course) and then we picked up dinner at Chick-fil-A and McDonald's. The drive home from Daytona Beach got us stuck behind a semi, but we were in bed by 9pm, in the best damn bed I've ever been in (God, I love my bed, I love my pillows, I love my down comforter, I just love my bed!) Too bad I have to go back to work in the morning though!