Gasparilla Distance Weekend 2026

It's my favorite race weekend of the year! Time to go down to Tampa for Gasparilla! 

On Friday, I originally planned to get an early start (around 10am) so that we could stop for lunch at Long John Silver's in Ocala, but of course, that didn't happen, so instead we picked up Arby's on the way out of town, stuffing ourselves silly with too much roast beef and mozzarella sticks. 

The drive was uneventful, and the VRBO was easy to find. The neighborhood was a little sketchy with really narrow roads, but there was off-street parking so I didn't have to worry about getting sideswiped. The house itself looked like a 20-something with a small budget decorated it. Like, it was cute, and you could tell that they tried but there were far too many "Live, Laugh, Love" type stickers on the walls, and not enough usable furniture. They went for Instagram-able (and missed) instead of Livable. The bed was comfy, though, and the couch was a definite butt-sucker, so even though it was a little tacky, the house was perfectly fine. 

While Hubby settled in and put stuff away, I made my way to the expo for Packet Pickup. I had zero issues getting the correct shirts that I requested (and never had to pay extra for) as well as my hoodie (new swag!). I'm happy that the hoodie fits well, though I wish it was a tad bigger/sloppier. Maybe with a few washes, it'll soften up a bit. 

Back at the VRBO, I'm sure we ate dinner, but I can't remember what it was, lol. I set out all my gear for the next morning, then took a hot bath. With some snacks, we curled up in bed to snuggle and play on our phones.

Saturday morning came far too quickly, and I woke up early to gear up, tape up, and eat up, before waking him up to head to the start line. Coming toward the race area via Channelside was beautiful! All the trees had little twinkle lights in them, and the cruise ships were lined up, ready for another day. Unfortunately, coming from this direction made it a little more difficult to get to the parking garage, and we were cutting time super close as we headed toward the start line! I think I got to the corrals while they were playing the National Anthem, yipes! 

Tired but ready to go!

There were some people handing out free samples of Celsius so I grabbed a Fizz-Free Blueberry Lemonade - I figured the caffeine would be helpful, and if it was gross, I could leave it right there. It was actually pretty good... no funky "energy drink" aftertaste, and I think I drank pretty much the whole thing. 

Am I an "Energy Drink Girlie" now?

I met Hubby after the start line and we walked to the Publix, then he peeled off and I was alone with 15,000 of my best friends. I settled into my pace, just walking today, and trying something new, I pulled up a podcast instead of music. (Spoiler alert, I liked the podcast idea!) I enjoyed the beautiful sunrise, and nibbled on the (stale) donut from The Rough Riders. 

They must get them the night before... they're stale

I made it to the Halfway Split (about 4.55 miles) under 90 minutes. My estimated finish time was 2:45. And yes, I know that's slow. 

Thumbs Up for Being Slow

My biggest fear for this race every year is being shunned to the sidewalk on the way back. There's a certain point where they'll put you on the sidewalk so that they can open the roads, and you have to stay there until you get to the 5k Turn-Around point. I've been shunned before, but this time, I made it! I got to stay on the road the entire time, which felt like such a huge win for me for some reason. 

5k Turn Around

The first 5k runner didn't even get to the Turn-Around point until after I passed it, which was rare. Either he was slow or I was faster than usual... who knows? But soon, the hoards of bodies were coming my way, and I had to hug the curb to ensure that I didn't get run over. Thankfully, none of them were really rude this time around...there've been some years where speedy folks (usually young men) will practically run me over because I'm in their way, I guess? Like, do you not see me up here? I'm huge! You can't miss me! 

Here they come!

I crossed the finish line, feeling good, with an official time of 2:50:31 (18:18 pace). 3,717th overall finisher, out of 3,755 total finishers (I beat 38 people!) 255th in my age group (out of 259). 

I got my medal and my finisher towel, then I got a kiss from my hot husband, and then grabbed some snacks on the way off the bridge (Froot Loops in a bag, Gatorade, etc). 

After a hot bath and some quality time with the massage gun back at the house, we headed over to Long John Silver's for lunch, then went to a place called Mr. Putter's Miniature Golf, which was the coolest putt-putt place we've been to so far! It's an inside course, but not one of those over-hyped blacklight course. They have 3 courses with good obstacles, not just humps and dips. One hole is Twister-themed, where you have to spin the wheel and do what it says. One hole is chess-themed, and one player can set up large chess pieces as obstacles for the other player. One hole is Skee-Ball-themed. And so many others. But my absolute favorite was this cool Wall Hole Puzzle Thing (does this have a name?) You put your ball in the wooden diamond, and drag it up a wall full of holes. If you get it to the top of the wall, it will roll it over to a Plinko-style board where your ball will bounce down. If you lose your ball into one of the lower holes, it will come down onto the green (black?). I went first, and damn if I didn't just LOCK IN to this thing like solving it was the only thing that mattered. It was like discovering a superpower I didn't know I had! And yes, I got it all the way to the top. Because I'm awesome. 

I am LOCKED IN (and I think I'm supposed to stay on the white dot)

Hubby went next, and while he enjoyed the task as well, I don't think he was as INTO IT as I was. I mean, even after we cleared the hole, I went back and did the wall again! It was fun!

He loved it as well

We did all three courses then headed back to the VRBO - I was exhausted! And I still have a second race to go. 

My Sunday race starts later than Saturday, so I was able to sleep in a little bit before heading to the race. As we walked by Hattrick's, we saw a HUGE crowd outside, watching the United States Men's Ice Hockey Team play the Canadian Men's Ice Hockey Team (and subsequently kicking their asses in OT). 

USA! USA!! USA!!!

Skies were grey as I made my way to the start corral (I left hubby at Publix), and I was hopeful that we might get a little drizzle to cool us down. 

Race 2, I got this

Within 2 minutes of starting, the drizzle started. So refreshing, cutting the heat we were dealing with. Then the wind started kicking up, too, and I knew that we'd be getting more than just that drizzle. 

Oh lawd, it's comin'

Since it was wet, I didn't take a lot of photos this time around, but I'd estimate that the heavy rain started by Mile 1 or 2. It was pouring here in the Halfway There photo. 

Everyone is soaked at this point

It came and went over the next mile, then came back with a vengeance near Mile 4. My halfway split (about 2.45 miles) was under 44 minutes, and my estimated finish time was 1:27. I saw this one guy using his entire brain, covering himself with a large piece of cardboard (leftover from a water stop). 

Think smart, not fast

All I had was my hat, so I enjoyed the bounty that God provided for us, and danced in the rain instead. 

Florida rain comes and goes

Thankfully, the rain ended before I got to the finish line, but by then I was absolutely soaked to the bone! My official finish time was 1:31:22 (18:23 pace). I was 3,038th out of 3,181 total runners, and 234th in my age group out of 244 runners. Because of all the rain and wind, I was not mad at that finish time. 

I got my medals and towels, then headed toward the snack tables. I ended up sweet-talking one of the volunteers in giving me an entire case of individual bags of Frosted Flakes! (Future Lazy here from July - I'm still eating Frosted Flakes, lol). 

Why do I always lean?

Over the course of the weekend, I came in 230th for the Michelob Infuse Challenge (15k + 8k together), out of 235 total participants. 

Official Results

Back at the VRBO I peeled of my soaking wet clothes, indulged in another hot bath, had some snacks, and relaxed on the couch for a few hours. As expected, I was getting blisters on my heels, but I noticed that one of my toes was hurting and I assumed it was because my toe - with a longer than needed toenail - was being squished against the front of the toe box when I walked. 

We went over to Yard House for an early dinner around 5pm. I was hoping that eating early would mean that it wasn't busy, but no luck there... it was full and loud and busy. I ate too much chicken, hubby ate too much cheeseburger, and we rolled ourselves back to the VRBO to enjoy some extended snuggling. 

Monday morning meant it was finally time for one of my favorite parts of coming to Tampa... a trip (or two) to La Segunda Bakery. We stopped first at the flagship store in Ybor for treats to bring home. We didn't go as insane as we have in the past, but I still brought home three loaves of Cuban bread, some cookies, a pound cake, and 2-3 other pastries. Then we went over to a different La Segunda on Kennedy Boulevard, to have our sit-down lunch - I got a Cuban (of course!) and he got the 1915 Club again. Both were delicious, both were too big, and both became our dinner when we got home. 

We made a pit stop at Russell Stover, and, well... the shit went off the rails. I've talked about the Russell Stover Outlet before, but in case you're new here, the RSO is a store in Wildwood that is part "Real Store" and part "Clearance Rack" in the back. We go for the clearance stuff. It's typically leftover candy from whatever the last season was (so for this trip, it was mostly Christmas candy and some really leftover Halloween candy). Each season usually has some specific flavors that we like - Christmas has peppermint, for example. Halloween has pumpkin (ew). Easter might have marshmallow or coconut (ew). Christmas and Easter are my two favorite holidays, because of the candy offered, so we try to stop for at least one season, if not two. 

Anyway, we always think we're going to behave and get a little handbasket, but within 10 minutes, we swap out for a cart! To be fair, it's easier to see what I'm getting and what he's getting if we can split it up in the cart.

Photo: Courtesy of Anonymous Yelp Reviewer

We each picked up a little bit here and a little bit there as we walked around the big room until... there it was... a full case of their gooey (not chewy) Milk Chocolate Caramels. 

$37.99 for a 24oz Package (75pcs per package)

These are the individually wrapped caramels that they offer in bags or in their Pick-a-Mix products. It's similar to what a Caramello used to be (before Hershey ruined it). Judging by how hard it was to find a photo of these, it looks like it's a "Christmas Only" special candy. Now, when I say a case, I don't mean, a small flat, or even a small box you might get from Amazon. I mean... A CASE. Full to the brim with these luscious, golden-wrapped treats. I kind of drooled over it for a few minutes, touching the box lovingly, joking about how I should get it. But it was a case... I can't do that! That would be insane. Plus, it's $75!!! 

So we kept walking around the room until we got to the other side where there used to be a set of Fire Doors, but now had a sign that read "Come See Our New Room!" Uh... more candy?? Yes, please!! When we talked to an employee, they said that they'd only recently converted a back room into another "clearance rack" room, so when we got there it was still pretty empty. 

Photo: Courtesy of Anonymous Yelp Reviewer

They had a fun Easter Bunny cutout for us to take photos with, and of course we did! 

It's funny that our go-to pose...

...is exactly the same!

In the first "clearance room" prices were generally 50% off of retail price, but back here, prices were 75% off, like a Final Markdown kind of thing. I picked up a handful of their Milk Chocolate candy bars for a quarter each; a few bags of their foil-wrapped santas for a buck a bag. I found out when I got home, though, that all of these were already past their Best By date (everything I've eaten so far is perfectly fine, and it all went into the freezer when we got home.)

But I kept thinking about that damn case of caramels. I didn't need it, I didn't need it! My freezer is overflowing, where would I put them? I'm fat dammit, and I can't lose weight if I'm surrounded by delicious chocolate (she says as she buys candy bars and foil-wrapped santas). 

I looked at hubby and he just knew... without saying a word, he pushed the cart and led me all the way back to the first room and I heaved a case of caramels into - onto - the cart and we rolled ourselves to the check-out counter. And, of course, I'm a Russell Stover Rewards customer! With all the money we spent on chocolate, I had enough points to get a prize! A 3lb Assorted Chocolate box (that retails for $75). We carted our treats to the car, shoved them in wherever there was room (we had to work around the leftover lunch and loaves of Cuban bread, lol) and headed home. 

Who can't smile when they have THIS.MUCH.CHOCOLATE??
Yes, that's a case plus three full bags.

We haven't even opened this one yet!

So for now, the Frosted Flakes and the caramels just live in my dining room (ETA: since I took this photo, all that caramels have been put in the freezer, and we're slowly eating all the boxes of Frosted Flakes). 

Frosted Flakes on top / Caramels on bottom

Yes, you read that right... It's just under TWENTY POUNDS of caramels!

Oh and because I was curious, I pulled up the Russell Stover website to compare prices and do the math. A 24oz bag of these caramels retails for $37.99. That's a unit cost of $1.58 per ounce, or $25.28 per pound. Compare that to the case of caramels for $74.99 - unit cost of only 24¢ per ounce, or $3.79 per pound. Huge difference!

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Now, for something gross (but no photos, you're welcome)... 

Remember how I mentioned that my toe was hurting after the first race? It never really got better, just stayed painful for a few days. Well, when I finally got around to clipping my toenails, I discovered a blister under my second toenail (the This little piggy stayed home toe). I clipped it and all this... liquid... got all over my fingers! Now I have a hole in my toe, and it hurts again, dammit!

ETA May 28 - The toenail never got black or funky, but it finally fell off at work today, with a tiny little baby nail underneath it. So if anyone's curious how long it takes for a toenail to fall off, the answer is about 3 months. 

Race Notes                                                          
Location: Bayshore Blvd, Tampa, FL
Host: Gasparilla Distance Classic Association
Race Fee: $136.10 ($120 Challenge {15k/8k} + Processing Fee and Tax)
Packet Pickup: Easy to find within the Tampa Convention Center; bib pickup first, then shirt/challenge swag/swag bag. Contained within the expo
Parking: Hectic but well-controlled via Tampa Police downtown; we park in Fort Brooke Parking Garage every year ($15 each day, so $30 total, well worth it).
Support: Water and Gatorade on course, very abundant. No fuel for 15k or smaller distances. Community holds up fun signs. No booze (like Gate). Rough Riders hands out {day-old} donuts from Krispy Kreme.
After Party: I don’t go to the party, but the food option afterward is amazing… Bottled water, cups of Gatorade, bananas, bagged snacks from sponsors (this year was Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, fruit cups, Cheez-Its, Gatorade Protein Bars). There’s obviously tons of beer, since Michelob is the big sponsor.
Results:   https://results2.xacte.com/#/e/2622/searchable 

I Love Frosted Flakes - Gasparilla 2025

Well, folks, for better or worse, I made it to Gasparilla Weekend. No training at all. No walking except for random parkwalking. No gym for weeks. At my heaviest weight. At my least flexible. Yeah, I wasn't looking forward to this, but I paid for it and didn't want to be a quitter. 

Before we left, we had to head over to Hubby's check-in with his nephrologist. His labs continue to be stable, so his Chronic Kidney Disease isn't worse but it isn't better, either. She changed his meds around a little bit, and we'll come back in a few months for a follow-up. 

After that, we came home to pack and relax, then left around 1pm - we weren't able to check in to the VRBO early, so it didn't make sense to leave earlier than necessary. We picked up Chick-fil-A for lunch and had an easy drive down the interstate. We checked in the VRBO (super cute!) then I headed out solo to the Expo for packet pickup. This late in the day, it's much less busy, but some of the vendors had already left, too, which sucked. I got my two shirts, which weren't matchy-matchy, and the final Challenge Jacket (they'll do something new next year), which was more fabric-like than the ones in the past, which were more like rain jackets - I love this one so much more! 

There wasn't a lot of cool swag being given away, and a lot of the booths wanted you to use your phone to register for something or another to get swag. Yeah, no... I'm not into that. I found my name on the big board then made my way back to the car, and then the VRBO. 

For dinner, we went to Trip's Diner again. I don't know if it's because it was busier, or because it wasn't "new to us" but I don't feel like it was as tasty as it was last year. It was still very good, but not "roll my eyes backward" good. 

Back at the VRBO, I laid out my gear for the morning, set my alarms, then filled up the tub for a hot bath. Except it wasn't hot. The bathtub was an old-school cast iron tub, and because it'd been so cold lately, the cast iron was freezing, so all of the hot in the hot water was immediately cooled down, and I ended up stewing in a tepid tub. Boooooo. We relaxed in bed with books and Twitter until I eventually fell asleep. 

Saturday morning, I woke up around 5. Got dressed and tried (unsuccessfully) a few times to poo, then brought a glass of OJ to bed while I read for 10 minutes or so. I woke Hubby up at 5:30 and we were in the car by 6. We were in a parking space by 6:25, which is better (but still not the best). Hubs dropped me at the start line with a kiss, then I got in my corral to stretch and warm up and wait until it was my turn. Over the start line, I met up with Hubs at the 5k tent and walked together to Publix, where he left me. Today was going to be only walking, no running. Of course, this put me pretty far in the back almost immediately. 

Around Mile 2.5, I met up with a woman who looked like she was having a hard time; turned out that she had recently had knee surgery and was cleared to run, but stepped off a curb wrong just a few days before and totally jacked up her knee! She didn't think that she'd be able to finish this, but was hoping to at least make it to the 5k mark before quitting. Because I'd slowed down to check on, and talk to, her, we were really close to the back at this point - I could see the sag wagon and cop car behind us. 

After I left her, I shed my fleece top in front of the Rough Rider truck, hoping that I'd be able to pick it up on the way back. I started getting the gotta potty feeling after that, but skipped the potty at Mile 3, thinking that there was another one near the 8k turn around area. Unfortunately, that entire area was fenced off for construction, so I had to go about another mile to the potty by the Star Wars tent, and it was disgusting. Dribbles all over the seat, and a runny pile of poo on the back corner of the seat. But I had to GO so I just got heaps and heaps of TP to clean off the seat so I could go. Not my best potty experience, but at least I didn't drop my water bottle in there! When I came out a few minutes later, I was last last. Like, the cops and sag wagon were way up there in front of me. Fuck. 

I kept going, assuming at some point that someone would tell me to quit, or get on the sidewalk, or something, but no one ever did. At the Halfway Sign, I talked to someone who looked official who said that they were probably going to open Gandy soon, and I'd probably have to get up on the sidewalk, and I should just turn around there, so I did. I only cut off .4 miles (really, Gandy seems so much longer!), but I apparently missed a timing mat, and mentally, it fucked with me...

Now I'm in front of a good number of people who did that extra .4 miles, and I feel terrible! I decided that I was just going to keep my pace and not freak out about anyone passing me (they're obviously faster than me to begin with). Maybe .25 miles after turning around, this old woman with trek poles walked by me and singsong said cheater, cheater, cheater! Like, bitch, get the fuck away from me before I kick your poles out from under you. You don't know me. 

Anyway... at this point, the sky was darkening and the wind was kicking up and the temperature was dropping and I really thought it was going to storm, but all I had to battle was a heavy, cold, wind. It was blowing right at me, making it feel like I was walking through mud, and it was hard to get a good deep breath. I wished that I hadn't thrown my fleece on the ground! I had about 2 miles to go before I could get it back, and I realized that I was stupid and put it on the wrong side of the Rough Riders truck. See, the 5k course turns around at the Rough Riders truck, so my fleece is now part of the 5k course! And if I didn't get there before the speedy 5k people, there was no way I'd be able to get it back. (For safety reasons, I wouldn't be allowed to cross over to that side of the road). So I picked up a little bit of speed, watching the 5k side of the course the entire time, and I was able to veer over there and grab it, as I saw the Timer Car coming my way. I crossed in front of the Police Motorcycles to get back to my side of the road with just a minute or two to spare before the lead runner came by, whew! I put my fleece back on and got warm, watching the speedy runners go past me.  

I'm ready to finish!

I trudged along the last mile and a half as the super-speedy folks whizzed by me. Some offered encouragement, most just ignored us. Because I missed the timing mat at Gandy, I have no official time, but my Garmin says that I finished 2:57:10, doing 8.9 miles. I met up with Hubby in the finish chute, and he said that my time looked like I did pretty good, and I had to tell him that I didn't complete the entire thing. I didn't tell him about Pole Bitch. I was grumpy and almost cried but kept it back. I got a warm, dry, finisher towel, some water, some Froot Loops with Marshmallows, and some Pringle Mingles (love saying Pringlemingles). Spoiler alert, the Froot Loops were nasty... The loops pulled moisture from the marshmallows, so the loops taste stale, while the marshmallows - which I thought would be crispy like Lucky Charms marbits - were soft and chewy (eta - it might have only been this bag; other bags I munched on at home were perfectly fine). 

Back at the VRBO, I tried again for a hot bath, but this time it was the water heater that failed - the water heater was too small of a capacity to provide enough hot water for a tub that size, so it was running tepid before the tub was halfway full! Boooooooo!! After some doomscrolling, I used my massage gun on my thighs and calves, which was miserably painful, but definitely needed. I also searched Google for lunch options, but my body had no idea what it wanted; I ended up choosing Portillo's. We drove more than 30 minutes to get there, but it was worth it. I was hoping that I could get a hot dog on a regular (non-seeded) bun, but they don't do that, so I got a spicy chicken sandwich, hubby got a burger, and we got a cup of cheese for our fries, drastically underestimating what we thought 4oz cheese would be, lol! We got a huge vat of cheese! 

The food was amazing - the chicken had a good texture and breading; it was super-juicy (actually dripping and squirting when I bit into it), but my body didn't really want to finish it after I ate about half of it. Hubby burger was delicious, the fries were crispy and fresh, and the cheese was as awesome as you think. The restaurant itself was really well-themed and laid out with lots of different eating areas, we'd definitely go back again. 

We walked off our lunch at IKEA; I was on the hunt for a cute basket or box with a lid that would allow me to hide the home phone router on the white shelf in the living room (instead of hiding it under my side table). Plus, I wanted some of the butter sugar cookies from the café. Sadly, I didn't like any of the basket or box options, and the café had no cookies, so we actually left IKEA without spending a single dollar!! Has that ever happened before in the history of ever? 

We scratched our 'dessert' itch at Bo's, with a caramel sundae and a Thick & Chunky in bed. After a few hours, we started talking about dinner, and we realized that we were too damn comfy and snuggly to get out of bed, so we had a dinner of Doritos and Portillo cheese and Little Debbies, and conked out for the night! 

I was feeling pretty... okay... Sunday morning. No pain other than "I walked a 15k yesterday" type pain. I think that the massage gun made a big difference (I'm so thankful for the crazy Black Friday sale last year!). 

Because of the construction near the 8k turn-around, the start line had to be moved backward, so this year, the corrals were on Platt Street, between Publix and Parkside of Bayshore. It's a skinny, two lane road, and it was super claustrophobic! Nobody had any idea where their "wave" or "corral" was, so we all just started shoving in. I ended up with the 12-minute pace people (from what I overheard of random strangers talking), but instead of trying to swim downstream to the slow section, I just stayed where I was and let people move past me as we all moved forward toward the start line. This seemed to work pretty well but I should have waited a little bit more... I took off with the 14-minute people. 

I was also stressing out because the race program warned the 8k walkers in the back that they needed to keep a 16-minute pace, or they may be shunted to the sidewalk at some point - I didn't want that to happen, so I was moving faster than I originally planned. But, you know, yay for me... I was moving faster than originally planned! 

I saw Pole Bitch clack by around the first mile, and I just wanted to trip her, but chose not to; she either didn't recognize me or chose not to attack me, so I let it go. 

Nothing memorable happened along Bayshore, so I just kind of zoned out and walked my race. I pulled out my 15k medal at the bridge like I always do, and at the finish line did a quick video of finishing - I was met at the end again by Fitz, which was so cool! 

My official time was 1:37:25, which (as expected) is my slowest time ever (more than 16 minutes slower than the first time I did it in 2015). Because I missed the timing mat on Gandy, I didn't get an official Challenge time, which technically means I didn't finish the challenge. Oh well... I finished it in my heart, and I have the medals to prove it, so let's just accept that I finished it. 

I got my cold, wet, finisher towel and my two medals, then hit up the snack tables for more Pringlemingles, and then at the Frosted Flakes table, I grabbed two bags (I love Frosted Flakes!), but the volunteer said I could have more, so I kept taking one more at a time, then I slyly asked if I could just take the whole box? She said that she couldn't give me a whole box (wink wink), but she wouldn't stop me if I just took the half-full box in front of her. So I did! She even put three more bags in there for me! I lost count, but I think I ended up with about two dozen bags of Frosted Flakes to snack on. My Run Brain was fixated on these bags, and I was like dancing around with happiness with so many bags of Frosted Flakes, lol!

Back at the house, I skipped the bath, but did lots of massaging, especially on my upper thigh/side butt area (apparently, this is part of my IT Band). I wanted to cuss, it hurt so bad, but in that "oh, fuck yeah" kind of way. I got dressed for lunch and pointed us toward La Segunda in Seminole Heights - who knew this was here so close?! Oh, this one is only a bakery (so many HUGE ovens!) - we picked up a still hot as fuck right out of the oven loaf of Cuban bread, an oatmeal cookie and a pound cake for us to munch on later, then drove over to the La Segunda on Kennedy for actual lunch. Cuban for me, 1915 Club on Cuban Bread for him, delicious as ever. He also picked up a chocolate cake slice to bring back to the VRBO for later. 

We packed up the other halves of our sandwiches to bring them home to eat on Monday, and then for some reason, I got fixated on the idea of finding out if Tampa had a Kroger (of course they don't... this is Publix territory). But he googled around and found two locations that were listed as being Kroger locations (directly on Kroger's website), so we went on an adventure! Sadly, both locations were actually just Shell gas stations... WTF, Kroger? Back at the VRBO, we spent time together; I'm sure we ate dinner, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was... it was probably just junk food (probably pound cake and oatmeal cookies!). 

Monday morning showed up grey and wet, a completely rainy morning. We packed up and left the VRBO, heading back downtown so that we could drive the length of Bayshore Boulevard - Hubby's never seen the course at all, and I've never driven it, so we thought it'd be fun to do. Every mile or so, he'd say wow, this is longer than I thought or when do you turn around? or how much further? Though it was rainy, I pointed to the end of the white Bayshore balustrade (way in the distance) and said that we had to walk all he way to the end of the balustrade line along the water before we turned onto Gandy. We drove down Gandy then turned around and came back, driving over the Platt Street Bridge (where the After Finish area is) and then under the Convention Center. I think driving the entire course gave him a better understanding of how hard this is for me... it's not just a simple 15k... it's mental. It just goes on forever, it's so flat and boring and the same, mile after mile. There's no shade on the way back. It's a deceptively simple course, really. 

After this, we went to the La Segunda Central Bakery in Ybor for pastries to take home (including a quesito, sugar cookie, cinnamon bun, peanut butter cake, and an additional loaf of bread). On our way out of town, I picked up a soda at Circle K then set Google Maps to take us to Wildwood then home, but somehow it planned it out backward, which we didn't realize at first! I was wondering why I was taking such weird roads just to get to US301! So, we got a little inadvertent adventure before we fixed the mapping. In Wildwood, we hit up the Christmas/Valentine's clearance at Russel Stover, though I bought very little since I still had so much Christmas clearance candy from Walmart at home (I got two bags of chocolate Santas, and a few whip cremes). Hubby, on the other hand, replenished his stash of candy - I think we spent about $50 together. We skipped ice cream in favor of actual lunch at Hardee's right down the road. We were the only customers in the entire place, so at least our food was freshly made for us. I got a kid's chicken tender meal AND a small Hot Ham & Cheese sandwich, AND a maple biscuit. Hubby got a cheeseburger meal. All of that food hit just the right spot (though the biscuit was not nearly as good as I'd hoped), and kept my belly happy the whole way home. 

Once unpacked, we jammied ourselves and just relaxed the rest of the night. I plan on working from home tomorrow, and I just know I'm gonna HURT! 

I know you wanted to see my big box of Frosted Flakes!

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Race Notes

Location: Bayshore Blvd, Tampa, FL
Host: Gasparilla Distance Classic Association
Race Fee: $156.98 ($140 Challenge {15k/8k}, Processing Fee $16.98)
Packet Pickup: Easy to find within the Tampa Convention Center; bib pickup first, then shirt/challenge swag/swag bag. Contained within the expo
Parking: Hectic but well-controlled via Tampa Police downtown; we park in Fort Brooke Parking Garage every year ($15 each day, so $30 total, well worth it).
Support: Water and Gatorade on course, very abundant. No fuel for 15k or smaller distances. Community holds up fun signs. No booze (like Gate). Rough Riders hands out donuts from Krispy Kreme.
After Party: I don’t go to the party, but the food option afterward is amazing… Bottled water, cups of Gatorade, bananas, bagged snacks from sponsors (this year was Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Pringles, Gatorade Protein Bars). There’s obviously tons of beer, since Michelob is the big sponsor.
Results: https://results2.xacte.com/#/e/2573/placings

I've Got Concrete Shoes - Gasparilla Race Weekend 2024

About 4 weeks ago, I walked - and DNF'd - Celebration 1/2 Marathon. I was waylaid by Plantar Fasciitis and just gnarly calf & foot pain all the way around. I was devastated, and I felt like such a quitter. Once I got past that little spiral of depression, I had to figure out what to do about Gasparilla, which was just a few short weeks away. I visited my massage lady, who did a lot of work on my legs. I stretched out my calves every day. I went balls-to-the-wall at the gym, using the Elliptical, so as to not have more trauma to my feet or calves. And during non-exercise time, I babied them at work, and stayed off of them when I didn't have to be standing. All in all, I think this helped, because I was able to finish both races this weekend!

On Friday, we packed up and got to our VRBO around 3 or so. The neighborhood looked a little sketchy, but the house is cute as hell! Huge points to the Property Owner who left me some Pepsi and hot chocolate (we'd chatted beforehand and I told her that we don't do coffee). 

She even put a few of the cans in the fridge to chill beforehand

I left hubby there to settle in while I went over to the expo. The table where I picked up all of my shirts ran out of 3x shirts so I had to take 2x instead. Now, they fit, but they were a smidge tight. I could have kept them and hoped I'd fit in to them again at some point, but honestly, life doesn't seem to be working that way right now, so I moseyed over to the 'regular' shirt table (for people who were only doing one race) and sweet talked them into trading shirt for shirt, even tough they weren't supposed to (big thanks to the awesome supervisor guy who gave them the OK to do so!)

I walked around the expo, got lots of swag and such, didn't need to pick up any goo or chews, no good sneaker deals in my size, and eventually headed back to VRBO, noting that my foot was hurting more than expected... Probably because I was walking in flip flops.

We went to a place called Trip's Diner for dinner, a local place that's been in business since 2012, and named after the owner's triplet children. Inside, the place looked so cool and vintage and fun, I knew immediately I was going to love it! And I was not disappointed, either. We would definitely come back here again (and we tried to, but it was so busy then!)

I ordered French Toast with scrambled eggs and bacon, and it was fabulous. I can't even put my finger on WHY it was so good, it just was... and it reminded me of the way that Buc-ee's smells when they're candying nuts. 

Don't be deceived by the looks... this was one of the best French Toast meals ever!

Hubby got fried chicken breast with mashed potatoes and gravy. The chicken was amazing, but he had to deduct a star because the taters were skin-on. He also picked up a slice of Peanut Butter Pie to go, which he ate later as a bedtime snack. 

Hand-breaded chicken and hand-mashed potatoes

Back at the house, I tried to have a bath, but their plumbing was wonky, and the hot water would only come out in a trickle, so the water never got really hot and steamy... I gave up after about 5-10 minutes. I set out my clothing for the morning, set the alarms, then futzed around in bed until it was time to sleep. 

Saturday morning, I got dressed, KT taped my feet, put on my ankle braces and then my Zensah leg sleeves. I also had some juice and took two Aleve to get me through the morning. 

As we walked to the start line, I was feeling positive that I'd be able to finish this - my foot felt like it was about 60% okay, but there was no nasty sharp pain like there was at Celebration. I did a little bit of running during the 15k, which actually felt kind of good, but I didn't want to push it, so I tried to keep myself at a walk. Nothing really memorable happened during this race (thank God), so there's not much to this recap!

Just me and thousands of my friends

Good morning, Sunshine

It's lonely back here

From the Halfway There! sign until about Mile 6, it was an absolute slog... it's very quiet here, with not a lot of people, probably fewer than two dozen at this point, and I'm just drained. My left foot felt heavy like a cement block; I took the two Advil that Hubby gave me before we left the house. 

At Mile 6, I had a little more pep in my step because Mile 7 meant that I "officially/unofficially" finished the remaining mileage from Celebration, and I could finally wear my medal. I got here around 2:15. 

Celebration 1/2 Marathon is unofficially officially completed

Mile 7 until the area that we rejoin the 5k course is an even worse slog... It's so quiet, people are giving you the pity "ooh, you're doing your best, sweetie" looks... I kept my eyes open to see the 5k runners, but it just took forever to get there. 

Regular Bayshore Blvd exercisers just kind of stare at you as they pass by

However, once you finally join them, the atmosphere is so much more energizing, because of the people running, and everyone cheering. But it also makes me feel like an absolute slow blob... I get bumped by the fast people who are so in the zone they either don't see you or don't care, I get ignored by the folks cheering on the sides, and I get wet from the water stop volunteers.  

When I got to Mile 9, there was a lady on the right who cheered me on. I have her the "thanks, whatever" wave, but she walked over to me and said that she was checking on 'her 15k people' to make sure that they were really okay. We chatted for a moment as I walked and I left her with my head a little higher, feeling a little bit better. So, thank you 15k Woman, I really was okay after talking to you. 

I finished with a firm walk, with a perfectly acceptable time of 3:00:21 (there were only twelve finishers behind me!) I wasn't mad about that at all because I only wanted to finish and I DID! I met up with Hubby at the fence, then got my towel, water, snack, and medal, then took a few photos before limping my way back to the car. Now that I wasn't moving, my brick of a foot was just throbbing in my shoe. I began to wonder if I'd done some damage today. 

15k Medal and Celebration Medal

At home I attempted a bath again; it was better but still sucky... took 30 minutes to fill the tub and it never got lobster-pot hot (the way I like it). So I gave up. No baths for me this weekend. I curled up in bed for awhile then we headed out to lunch. Thought about going to Nebraska Mini-Mart, but it was crazy busy. We went over to Three Coins Diner instead. Despite great reviews on Yelp, it was just okay for us. It didn't feel like a diner, but a regular local fast-food place (I think the building must've been something else before, like a Burger King or something, it just looked that way, you know?) Tables were old and wobbly. Waitress was a million years old with blue eyeshadow. It was both claustrophobic and too open at the same time. I really can't put my finger on why I didn't like the atmosphere, lol, no matter how I type this up. Anyway, we both ordered basic cheeseburgers and fries, and they were definitely basic. The burger was too rare for my taste, the cheese looked like Kraft Singles, and the bun seemed room-temp, right from the bag. The fries were nice and hot, at least. I'd give it 2/5 stars. Trip's was definitely better. 

Basic Cheeseburger w/Ketchup and Mustard, and fries

After, we headed to Bo's Ice Cream where we each got a mini Thick & Chunky treat (similar to a Blizzard). Holy crap, the mini was still at least 12 ounces! I could only eat a quarter of it before I had to throw in the towel. We took them back to the house and stuffed them in the freezer for later. Full of ice cream, we crawled back in bed to relax and play on our tablets in peace. We gave up and decided on a nap, thinking it would be an hour or so, but at 9:30, I woke up to darkness! I crawled out of bed to set up my clothes and gear for the morning, ate my ice cream leftovers for dinner, then fell back asleep for the night. 

Old School Cool Bucs Flag

Sunday morning, I juiced, taped, braced, and dressed, then we headed back to the race area. He went over to Publix while I made my way to the start line. I did some light calf stretching, and then we were off. I did nothing but walking again, to take it easy on my foot. It was hotter than yesterday (but we also start later too). Again, a very chill, uneventful race. There wasn't any new foot pain; still just the soreness and numbness around the outer edge (outstep?) of my foot. No sharp pain at my heels, and not as "cinderblock" numb as it was yesterday. 

Cheez-It, please stop trying to be cool

My feet feel huge with so many layers!

You heard Bon Jovi, too?

Near the finish, a woman on the other side of the chute cheered me on for doing the 15k/8k challenge, said I was awesome, stuff like that. The chute was being dismantled as I walked through it... I kinda wanted to ask the volunteers if I could carry one of the flags through the finish line, but thought that was a bit too much, so I kept going. I walked right up the middle of the road with no one in front of me and I could see Hubby standing in the middle of the road right behind the finish line like he owned the place (see, perks of being {almost} last!)

As I came toward the finish, Fitz announced me as she came over to me, and we danced across the finish line holding hands. I gave her hand a squeeze and let go, but she called me back and gave me the biggest hug and damn, it felt so good! She's a tiny lady, but bless her heart, she knew I needed that hug! 

Shamelessly copied from FinisherPix website

I finished with a time of 1:38:35, with 37 people behind me. I'm in THIS video, coming in at 5:30 or so. 

(Hubby's the guy with the blue bag)

Fitz handed me off to Hubby, and we went to get my towel, water, medals, and snacks (so many Cheez-Its!) I felt okay-ish as we walked to the car. I wasn't worried about my foot, but I was aware of my foot. 

Look what I did!

Back at the house, I tried to nap, but after 10 minutes, my body wanted food instead. I decided we should head over to La Segunda to get my first taste of a real Tampa Cuban sandwich. On the way, I hit up a nearby Dollar Tree for some new reading glasses (left mine at home, whoops), as well as some Band-aids and stretchy gauze for the massive blisters on my heels. 

The camera doesn't do it justice - it's probably 2-3 inches long!

Protected with cheap adhesive bandages

Wrapped with Curad Self-Stick Gauze (like what you get at the Bloodmobile)

We got lost and turned around a few times when we got in Ybor City, but we made it to La Segunda, and wow, it was so busy! The inside lobby - which was much smaller than I was expecting - was pack jammed full of people, about 20 folks waiting for their orders, and about 10 more waiting to order. We waited in line for about 5 minutes without the line moving before deciding that it might be a better idea to come back later, when my feet didn't hurt so much. We headed over to Nebraska Mini-Mart again, but holy cow, it was busier than yesterday! There was probably 25 people in line, or milling around waiting to order. So... let's go back to Trips? Nope! It was probably three times as busy as NMM, with people parking blocks and blocks away on residential side streets. We apparently didn't take into account Sunday Church Crowd + Gasparilla Tourists! We cut our losses and pulled up Garmin to find a "basic bitch" chain place (like an Olive Garden or TGIFridays) since I was getting hangry at this point. We headed over toward Dale Mabry (home of Titties & Bitches™) and just drove for a while, thinking that we'd hit the busy part of the area, where lots of restaurants were. Unfortunately, we were driving away from Titties & Bitches™, all the way over toward Lutz. We finally settled on that Runner-Up Old People place, Bob Evans. And it turned out to be a pretty good choice, because at 2pm on a Sunday, outside the city center, there was practically no one there - seriously, I think there were only two or three occupied tables. Hubby and I both got chicken fingers with fries and mashed potatoes. 

Tenders, Mashed & Gravy, Fries, Ranch, and Wildfire BBQ (eww)

The tenders sucked (why were they so rubbery?) but the mashed potatoes and gravy were sinful, and those biscuits were positively heavenly. All of it hit that yummy, yummy, comfort food spot that needed to be filled, and we took home the extra biscuit and roll to eat at home. 

Yeah, they probably come from a box, but they're good!

With full bellies, we returned home for naps and snuggles. My foot still hurt pretty bad, especially when I stood up and put weight on it after sitting for a few hours.

We slept in on Monday until around 9, then cuddled and talked about what we were going to do for the day. My foot was feeling a bit better this morning, even without pain meds (I had slept in the ankle braces), but I didn't want to go walk around somewhere and hurt it more. So we thought the best idea would be to go back to La Segunda to pick up pastries and a Cuban sandwich to bring home with me for dinner, then get on the road. We cleaned up the house and packed up our stuff in the car. As a thank you to the cleaner (who had originally rearranged her schedule to allow us late checkout at 1pm, lord I feel bad now), I made a small basket of snacks for her with some of our uneaten snacks (Cheez-Its, Chili Cheese Fritos, granola bars) and a note of appreciation (the property owner said later that the gesture made the cleaner smile and they loved it). 

We got to La Segunda around 11 and the difference between yesterday and today was dramatic! There were only two or three people there. There was plenty of room for us to walk around and look at the pastry cases. While we were deciding what treats we wanted, I overheard the cashier tell another customer that they were out of ham! Ham is a very important ingredient in a Cuban, so this is terrible news! Okay, no worries, there's other locations! From this location, we picked up a few treats to try, as well as two cupcakes to eat for breakfast. They were tasty, the frosting was a little lardy and oversweet, but the cake was good. We also got cinnamon buns, an oatmeal raisin cookie, a pound cake, a five-layer chocolate cake slice, and a quesito (which never did make it into the bag... sad face). We did a quick video of the cupcakes in the car, and the rest when we got home. You can watch this video below, or over on YouTube. 

The second La Segunda was a much bigger location, with indoor seating, so we decided to eat lunch there. I also peer-pressured myself - after seeing basically everyone leaving La Segunda with a long, thin package of what I assumed to be Cuban bread, I knew I had to get one too! For about $4, I got a three-foot long loaf of bread. I ordered a half-size Cuban sandwich (minus pickle) and Hubby got the 1915 Club sandwich. 

I wasn't sure what to expect because Genoa Salami doesn't sound like it would make sense, but one bite told me that it made absolute sense! 

It added a greasy/salty element that a Publix Cuban was missing. This pork was slow-cooked until it fell apart, shredded not sliced. The press was a little underwhelming (but that's personal preference, as I like my bread pressed to be crunchier), but overall, this sandwich was a revelation of what a good Cuban could taste like. Hubby was fully in love with his sandwich as well - it was on regular bread, and pressed. Both of us could only finish half of our sandwiches, so we grabbed to-go boxes. (I'm happy to report that both sandwiches travelled well, and were just as good the next day!) 

Anyway, after Hubby rolled me out of there, we piled in the car for the long ride home. We took the long way home, through Brooksville and Ocala. We stopped by Grandpa Joe's for more sodas to try. 

I hit up the nearby RaceTrac for a potty break and a soda, then we finally made it home a little before dinner time. We unpacked and all that jazz, then I pressed the other half of my Cuban and ate it in bed. I was probably asleep by 9! Unfortunately, I have to go back to work tomorrow.  

So... I'm sure you're wondering... How is my foot? Well, it hurts. It's not as bad as it was in January. But it's not pain-free. Am I going to do Gate River Run? I don't know yet. I'm going to email them tomorrow and see what options they have for virtual, or deferrals, etc. I guess you'll have to come back and check the GRR post next week!