Nancy Reagan Would be Proud - Say No to Drugs 10k Race Report

(Click on the photo to go to their site)

Back in September, I needed to find a December race to round out my 1-race-per-month schedule.  There wasn't anything really good in my town, but I saw this and decided it looked awesome!  It was close to where I grew up (I may have even played at Coachman Park, it sure sounds familiar anyway...), cheap (I used a promo code to save 20%) and came with a great medal and LS tech tee!

The race was an out-and-back, but what made it special (and challenging) was that it went out-and-back over the Clearwater Memorial Causeway!

10k and 5k Race Map

View of the bridge from my parking spot

So, I left the house around 4am (this was one of the more far away races I've done) to arrive around 7am.  Since I was so early, parking and packet pickup was a breeze.

Packet Pickup - why is the alphabet backwards?

I was able to get a great parking spot, super close to the start/finish lines!

See the tiny red arrow? It's pointing to my car - I got a CLOSE spot!

After getting my bib, I headed back to my car - it was only 48º out this morning, and I was cold!

Brrrrrr (for Florida, anyway)

I stayed in the car as long as I could, but evenually geared up, pinned on my bib and got out of the toasty car.  Unfortunately, my body decided it was now time to pee, so I had to get in the very long pottie lines.  Ugh, I wished I did this an hour ago!

Very long line for potties (which equals very well-used potties)

After that hell, I wandered around, keeping warm, checking out the Park and the tents.  The big tent had 16 lines for pancakes and OJ after the race.  It also had massive amounts of seating at long cafeteria-style tables for eating the aforementioned pancakes, after the race.

All roads lead to pancakes

All roads also lead to orange juice!

I got a picture of the start line and the medals.

Start lines are always so full of promise

Soon, one of you will be mine

At this point, it was time to line up, so as I generally do, I put myself on the left, about 3/4 of the way back.

I can see the start line... WAY up there

This was the group behind me.

This is the only time I'll be in front of you!

Start time kept getting delayed, but I just used the time to get a selfie of myself in my cobbled-together winter running gear.

Still getting used to this cold-weather running thing - fleece head wrap OVER a hat

Gloves under my running jacket; which was over a LS running tee

Soon, though, we were off!  We ran past the Pinellas County Courthouse, which I may or may not have been to before.

We meet again, PCC

We rounded a few more corners, then it was time to begin addressing the crazy - The Clearwater Memorial Causeway. This bridge was finished in 2005, is 2,540 feet long (or just shy of 1/2 mile) and has 74ft. vertical clearance, meaning it's 74 feet above the water.  Not the highest bridge I've run, but it's got a mean elevation to it!

Promo Shot courtesy of Say No to Drugs Holiday Classic

As usual, the pack is thinning out early, and I'm stuck with the "Hey, let's go walk a 5k" girls.  You know the ones, they dress in the cutest workout clothing from Kohl's, Target or Victoria's Secret and wear obnoxious shirts that are glittery and bedazzled. And, of course, walk five across a race route without giving a shit about people behind them.  Yeah, those girls.

Like, Oh My God, Becky, we're walking on a bridge, tee hee!

The view on the downhill is gorgeous, though, so I just ignored the other people.

Hello, Ugly Shorts Man

I tried to take a photo once I was going downhill to give you an idea of the elevation.

She seems to be cold

Once back on solid ground, one lane of the road was open to traffic, and there were big caution signs to tell traffic about traffic delays.

CAUTION: Crazy people giving up a cozy Saturday to run over huge bridges

Wow... Okay, so after I took that photo, the 5k route split from the 10k route.  And apparently, 90% of the people I was walking with were 5k people! All of a sudden, I was a lot more alone!

It's cold out here....

Hello??

...and there are wolves!

Oh, yay, there's a person!

I just realized, I have no photos of mile markers! I don't think there WERE mile markers, now that I think about it!  (I think this is maybe halfway?) We had to cross another bridge, but it was a very tiny one, and it welcomed you to Clearwater Beach (which is different than just Clearwater, BTW).

This was a tiny bridge compared to the Causeway

We went up a bit on Coronado Drive (which was still 1 lane for us and 1 lane for traffic) on Clearwater Beach before returning back to State Road 60.  We passed the Clearwater Municipal Marina, and at that point, I realized that I was really close to being last.  I tried to put some pep in my step, but I was freezing still, and just wasn't feeling this race.

For some reason, I felt the need to take a photo of the Municipal Marina sign. You're welcome?

Returning back to SR 60, there was a nice paved trail that we could walk on for a large portion of the return, so we didn't need to worry about traffic. 

Tiny Clearwater Beach bridge, now via walking trail

Crossing from Clearwater Beach to Clearwater via pedestrian bridge

It had great views of the waterway, too.

Good morning, sunshine!

The trail led to a nice wide open sidewalk on the Causeway.  I'm sure it was just me, but damn if it didn't seem steeper on this side!

Also, at this point, another runner and I had been pacing each other for a few miles. He was maybe middle-age, and wearing really ugly shorts.  Right before getting on the trail, I passed him (I seriously think he was looking for a bush to pee in, not even kidding).

The Causeway had a cool spiral exit ramp for the sidewalk, so I was able to make up some speed on the downhill.  Unfortunately, so was Ugly Shorts, and he passed me at the end!  Oh, hell, no, man!  He was the ONE runner I thought I was going to beat!

Wheeeeeeeeee! What I wouldn't give for a bike!

Yup, there he goes. 

He was very close to having a wardrobe malfunction; his ding-dong was danglin'

So, now I'm the last runner.  I got a pretty white unmarked cop SUV to accompany me.

What up, PoPo?

Lastie selfie!!

Own it, girl. You're last.

It was the most disheartening 1/4 mile.

Yep, that's what the fuck I did

But, I powered through, actually 'ran' through the chute and finished in a very pathetic 1:45:26. My slowest time ever. 40 seconds slower than the Tacachale Trail Run that I didn't even know was a trail run.  And, I've officially had a DEAD LAST FINISH.

DLF wasn't not nearly as disheartening as I feared

I was so slow, they had already begun tearing down the finish line!  I was able to grab a guy to take my photo. He asked me to take his too, but by the time he was ready, half of the banner was gone!  Sorry random guy!

Where is everybody?  Out of range of the camera, checking results

I got my medal and my bottle of water, then wandered over to the Pancake Tent to get some food and a raffle ticket (one of the big selling points of the race).  Well, as you can imagine, there were no raffle tickets left, but I was able to get food (which NEVER happens!)

I'd say I've made better, but this is what mine look like too

If I do this next year, perhaps I should pay attention to which pancake line to get into. My cakes were made by a 6-year old (no, seriously!).  They weren't all that tasty, nor fluffy, so I didn't eat much of them. I did drink my juice, though.

Enjoying the sunshine, watching the awards presentation

After milling around outside for a few minutes, I decided I just wanted to go.  I headed back to my car, got a fancy pic of my medal with the bridge in the background and took off.

It's not tilted, so it's not artsy

And, as if I wasn't cold enough, it was STILL only 48º outside!

It's Florida, dammit, why isn't it warm?

On my way out, I scored some free samples of Noosa yogurt, one of each flavor. I'm still trying to like yogurt, and while I'm pretty sure I won't like this kind either (spoiler alert: I didn't), it's nice to be able to try them for free.

None of these were good, but you know I have food issues

I changed into better clothes at a local convenience store then headed to Countryside Mall. This was the mall that I spent a LOT of time in as a kid, after Pinellas Square and Seminole.  I always liked this mall because it has an ice rink inside of it!  You could go skating... in a MALL!  I always wanted to do it as a kid, and finally tried it when I was around 10 - and swiftly fell on my ass and broke my hot pink acrylic bangle.  No more ice skating for me after that; I'll stick to quad roller skating at Rainbow Roller Rink, thank you very much!

Anyway, after checking out some stores and grabbing a cute top at JCP, I hit the food court for some protein.  My go to meal, if I can get it, has become Chick-fil-A nuggets and fries. 

Hello, 12 piece combo!  Get in me belly!

While sitting in the food court, I got a text from my mom. She didn't know that I was in town (oops), and she wanted to get together.  I told her I could get to her around 4 and we could do an early dinner.  I finished shopping (I don't think I got anything else), and headed out.  On my way to mom's, I stopped at the Last Chance Thrift Store - another blast from the past - to check it out. I love thrift stores because you never know what you're going to find. Unfortunately, I struck out this time; I only got some nostalgia.  I also passed an Old Time Pottery, which I love, so I popped in for a bit there.

I ended up at mom's a bit earlier than 4 and she buzzed me up (she lives in a retirement condo).

I feel the need to ride my Big Wheel down the hallway

We ended up chilling in her cute little apartment for a while, then just having an early dinner at McDonald's of all places!

I think I left around 5ish, so I could get home at a decent time.  She talked me into going up US-19, rather than go back to the interstate.  I honestly only did it to say that I did it, so she would stop harping on it (she always says I should go that way), but I have to admit, I did like it better.  It takes about the same amount of time, even though you may have to stop for red lights in small towns. It's also nice, just in case you need to stop for gas or munchies. So, yeah, mom was right on this one...

Bear Crossing - a long standing family in-joke.

Okay, mom was right - this way IS easier and more peaceful.

Anyway, I got home around 7:30 or so, had some Publix fried chicken for dinner then passed out in bed. What a long day!!!

The next day, I checked out my goodie bag.

I was pissed, still, that they didn't even have a shirt in my size - I'd had to get a men's large, rather than the x-large I requested when signing up.  It's a great shirt, but it won't fit me for a while.

Long Sleeve tee with a honeycomb pattern to it. Nice, but the boobs don't fit in it.

 The medal was also really cool.  As big as my palm, nice and colorful. 

I really love the medal

 Finally, there were the typical pens, notepads and BioFreeze.  I love when they give out BioFreeze!

BioFreeze!

So, did I like this race? Kind of. I love the medal. I love the route (even the bridge). I'd love the shirt - IF it fit me. I would have liked the pancakes, if they were made correctly. I was upset that they ran out of shirts in my size, and ran out of raffle tickets. I, obviously, was upset that I finished last. If I'd only done the 5k, I would have beat over 150 people with my shitty 50+ minute time!  But, no... I had to try to be badass and do a 10k.

Would I do it again? Maybe.  I want to do it again, just to not be last. Is it high on my list for 2016? Not really.

Location: Coachman Park, Clearwater, FL

Host: (Who put on the race)The Say No To Drugs Race Team

Race Fee:  $25.00 + 2.50 Race Sign Up – 20% Promo Code

Packet Pickup: Very organized; picked up pre-race

Parking: Arrived very early, got a spot three rows away from the park

Support: (on-course) I only recall two or three water stops. The last water stop was packing up by the time I came by.(Still had water for us though)

After Party:  16 lines for homemade pancakes; prepackaged syrup and butter. Also bananas, oranges and OJ. LOTS of tables for sitting and eating (under tent AND in the sun). Raffle tickets were already gone when I came in. Noosa Yoghurt also giving out samples. Awards going on while I was eating – very loud, but very organized and fast paced. Pancakes (or syrup, couldn’t tell) were gross, so I chucked them after a few bites. Could’ve been me?

HEADACHE NOTES (for reference)

·         Hydration:

o   24oz water while driving

o   20oz PowerAde after packet pickup

o   1/3 of Nathan while running

o   16oz of large PowerAde after race

o   2 Bottles of water (16oz) after race

o   1 Diet Coke with lunch

o   2 Diet Coke with dinner and while driving home

o   24 oz. water with dinner

·         Drove Interstate TO race; drove US 19 home

·         2 Hours at mall. Didn’t try on any clothes, so I didn’t CARRY any clothes

·         No headache by the time I went to bed.

·         10am Sunday, now I have a headache, but could be that I laid in bed for 3 hours watching TV…

You Know the Drill (Crown, Part 2)

Now that I've been Roto-Rooter'ed out, it was time to go back to the dentist and get fitted for my crown. 

I'm an old hat at this by now.  Cassie got me bibbed up with the fabulous purple spit-bib while Dr. S numbed me up and threw down some Novocaine.

Once numbed, he came back in.  I put on my sunglasses and opened wide while he said - with a completely straight face - "Yup, you know the drill." 

Then he realized what he said and we just both giggled like teenage girls. 

Anyway, he handed me the cool sucky thing and went to work shaping my tooth.

I love being in control of the sucky-thing - I'm a moist gal

Once shaped, it was time to laser trough my gums.  Mmm, so meaty.

These are the best glasses ever!

Then, it was time to take a bite impression so that the lab could make my new crown.

The pink stuff is the goo that holds the tooth impression for the casting

Once all that was done, I was sent off on my merry way. I'll be back on New Year's Eve so I can ring in the new year with a new tooth!

Another Crown, What Fun! (Part 1)

So, here we are again. Continuing with my multi-million dollar treatment plan, I'm on to tooth #5, the one next to the canines, on the right.

My those front teeth are pretty!

Dr. S came in and numbed me up (I originally typed "nummed" me up, but that's how porn starts...)

The Instruments of Torture

Sufficiently numbed (not "nummed"), he goes to town on poor little #5, but stops after about 30 minutes.

Bad news, he said.

I need a root canal on this tooth.  The infection wasn't bad, but it was enough.

Luckily, he was able to score an appointment with Dr. Kathy Tyler of Endodontic Associates for later that day.

So, off I went after getting some lunch.

Wow, her office sure is a lot... nicer... than my little strip mall dentist's office!

It's like a "Pretty Woman" version at a dentist's office - I feel too poor to be here

Although, no matter how much they filter the air, you can still tell it's a dentist office!

I filled out some paperwork and agreed to the horribly obnoxious cost of $1105, should my insurance not cover the procedure. (If it WAS covered, I *only* owed $255...)

Soon, a hygenist/assistant called me back and had me sit in a (really comfortable) chair, then took some x-rays. I like that they have the machines right in the same room - no need for the patient to get up for an x-ray.

Digital x-rays, now served tableside

The tooth in question is the one on the right, with the big white dot (an old filling)

Next, Dr. T came in and numbed me up. I don't know what type of topical anesthetic they use, but it sure works a lot faster than Coast!  She topically numbed the gum area, then within seconds was going in with the big guns - again, MUCH stronger stuff than what Coast uses.  She left me there to enjoy the view for a few minutes, until I was totally numb.

The endodontist's workstation is behind the chair, so when they lower you down, it's all within reach

Very tropical, with lush greenery and bamboo

Once I was numb from my nose to my chin (felt that way anyway), it was time to go in.  I politely explained the iPod and sunglasses, and then disappeared.

Halfway through the procedure, she tapped me on the shoulder. I pulled out one of my earbuds to hear what she was saying. She had pulled out the root by then, and she was actually SHOWING it to me!  (I'm a curious person, and had already peppered her with questions before she began). It was about the length of a grain of rice, but very thin, like when you pull a string from the hem of your shirt or something. It was also very white.  She said that when roots die, they shrivel up to be very skinny, but when they're still alive, they look like a tiny tapeworm. Um, eww? But, cool!

She finished up and added root filling, to fill the holes where the roots were, then we took another x-ray to ensure that she got everything she needed.

They clip on this cool Dental Dam to separate the tooth they are working on from the others and to keep the area sterile

Now you can see tht tooth has root filling and a temporary filling to get me through the next few days

Once that was completed, she gave me a prescription for Naproxen. I don't do well with Lortab, and Naproxen is just super-strength Aleve, so I knew it'd be fine. I paid the astronimically high bill and headed home. I called Coast when I got home and scheduled an appointment for December 2nd to come back and get finished with this part of the process.

Happy Trails to Me? Nah - Critter Trail 5k Race Report

So, a while back, I needed to find a good November run. I was on track to finish a run per month again this year and didn't want to fail!

However, with runDisney volunteering and Thanksgiving, it didn't leave many options for runs. There was a local run that didn't seem too appealing, and this one. I'd never done a trail run before (well, except for Tacachale a few years ago, but I didn't KNOW it was a trail run until I was actually running...), so I decided to give it a try.

If you live in north or central Florida, chances are, you've heard of Silver Springs. They are the home of the Glass Bottom Boats!  My mom said that she used to take me and my brother all the time, but I have absolutely no recollection of this place.  There is also a water park connected to it called Wild Waters - I remember that, because of a church field trip when I was maybe 11? I had a huge crush on a boy I went to Sunday School with. I hung out with him all day that day.  Sigh.

Anyway, Silver Springs is in Ocala, about an hour away from home for me.  The drive was uneventful and I got there with plenty of time to spare.  I scored a pretty close parking spot, maybe 5 rows away from the entrance to the park.

My parking spot in relation to start line - the flags demarcate the race route

Also, if you live in NFL or CFL, you also know that Silver Springs had been struggling for years to stay afloat as "Nature's Theme Park."  Eventually, they couldn't, and the State of Florida swooped in and purchased the land, to conserve it as a State Park. Many of the locals were worried that Silver Springs as we knew it would be gone, but I can tell you, it's still here, in all of it's tacky southern glory.

Welcome to Silver Springs  - I'm standing in the middle of the race route right now

Past the worn and tacky entrance was packet pickup.  There were more people here than I was expecting, but it didn't take very long to pick up my bib.

Packet Pickup area - it was never super-busy

I had time to walk back to my car and drop off my goodie bag. Then I came back to check out the pre-race activities.

As part of the Real Florida Days Autumn Festival (which was going on at the same time as the race), the State Park Rangers had one of their horses out for everyone to touch.

Oooooh, horsie

There were a few other exhibitions, like fire demonstrations (which smelled great!), specialized plant and animal demos.

Soon, though, we all headed to the entrance, which was the start line.

When there's no corrals, I just hang out in the middle and to the side

Behind me

The race organizers were a bit behind, so we were all just kind of hanging out for a while.  Plenty of time for a footsie.

Peacock Sapphire Sparkle Skirt

With not much pomp or circumstance, we were off.  We ran through the parking lot (hi, car!) and headed onto some trails. Okay, shit just got real. Let's see if I like trails.

Route marker up ahead, turn left

I'm pretty sure I began to hate trails way before Mile 1. Granted, you can't see much of me in the photo below.

#306 sure looks like she's having fun though! (And, girl, you have GOOD LEGS!)

Very quickly, "trail" turned into "sandy dirt road."  I hate shit like this.  It's like a manlier version of a beach. It's soft, it's shifty, and it gets all up in your shoes. This went on for a long time (I'd say 2 out of 3.1 miles).

Everyone was walking on the side of the trail, rather than deal with this sugar sand

Eventually, I made it to Mile 1.  Thank God. Only 2 miles to go.

Why is there a decimal?

I like that, in addition to Mile markers, they had Kilometer markers.

The "K" signs were much smaller, though

I trudged my way to Mile 2.  I was amazed at all the people pushing (or trying to push) regular strollers.   Maybe they didn't realize that "trail" meant "trail?"

Watching her deal with the sugar sand was especially funny

This lady had a hell of a time pushing that damn stroller, and yet she was STILL ahead of me...

Show off!

Coming out of the trail system, we made it to Mile 3.  I can hear the finish line around the corner, and man, am I glad to just finish!

No decimal this time

I see it, there's the finish!

At least there was a good crowd who stuck around to cheer us in

Fancy photo (from Friends of Silver Springs Facebook Page)

Yay! I finished my first on-purpose trail race!  I came in at 54:24, which, given the fact that it was trail run insted of a road run, wasn't that bad for me. (Yes, you speedy people who can run 10 or 15ks in that time - you can suck it.).  I was 11th in my age group out of 14. I was 124th out of 172 total runners, so I beat 48 people. I don't think I've beat that many people in a tiny race before, so there's that...

There was a video of all the runners coming through the finish line, and you can see that I have ZERO FUCKS to give at this point. I'm practically stomping my way to the finish line!

Anyway, I drank some water and headed over to the post-race party tables.  There were very nice and very sweet older folks (Friends of Silver Springs members) manning the tables.

She looks like she's picking her butt

There were platters of sandwiches from Blue Highway, bagels, and, weirdly, a huge box of fortune cookies! 

I like that Blue Highway told us what was in the sammiches

I ended up with a bagel, a sammich and a fortune cookie (yes, I actually EAT fortune cookies).

Bagel, Fortune Cookie, Italian Sub

Better view of Italian Sub

Unfortunately, there was nowhere to sit, and I didn't want to cramp up anyway, so I carried my plate back to the park.

I passed the entrance to Wild Waters on the way back, and I was sad to see how old it looked. I'd only been once, but the memories I had were good ones.  It's set to close for good next year, sometime around Labor Day.  I'd like to go back one more time, but I doubt that will happen.

Oh, Wild Waters... How far you've fallen

I headed back into the Silver Springs part of the park and checked out what had become of it, once it was turned into a State Park.

The curved area in the photo below is a promenade or porch that has shops on one side - touristy shops, fudge, ice cream, that sort of thing, but also informational stuff, since it's an actual "Park" now.  I didn't go in anywhere, but did sit at one of the tables outside to eat my race food. the sammich was good, but had some sort of spread or dressing on it that had sogged up the bread.

There was some sort of festival or fair going on, as there were lots of tables set up. More of what I saw earlier before the race - plants for sale, a guy with snakes, some chalk art competition or something. A really weird mix of stuff!

I was happy to see that the World Famous Glass Bottom Boats were still running.

These boats have windows on the BOTTOM of the boats so you can see down into the springs

 Silver Springs Selfie!

Nostalgia shot - in case this view disappears in the future

I walked along a sidewalk, all the way around the spring, for a while, then came back, and happened upon a holiday recital. Most likely a local dance studio (I'm WAY to familiar with holiday recitals...).  I stuck around to watch for a while, but, out of courtesy, I stayed away from the crowds (since most of them were family members, and I knew I would be making snorting, laughing noises... I'm a Judgy McJudgerton.)

Anyway, this was painful to watch.  You can't tell from the one pic I posted, and I decided against posting the videos I took, because I remember being these girls, but damn - dance like you mean it, girls!  There was so much "I don't give a shit" in these performances, it was painful to watch.

For instance, the girl on the far left - see how she's got her hands out and really tucking her knee in? She wanted to be there.  All of the other girls should look exactly like her, but none of them were giving it their all, so it was all half-assed, going-through-the-motions.

I stood through a few different groups - some of the younger girls were cute, there were 2 older girls who were owning it - but all in all, not a glowing review of that dance studio. "Come to my dance studio! I'll teach your girls how to vaguely sway in time to music!"  Yeah, no.

I remember being a girl like this, at Fame, then at St. Pete Dance Company - I loved it!

After the dance recital torture, I headed back to the car. After un-gearing myself and clearing out my pockets, I checked my fortune cookie. How fitting.

This one's a keeper

I was getting ready to leave, when I happened to look down and saw - GASP! - my wedding ring was GONE!!!!

I wear it on my middle finger instead of my ring finger. Many years ago, my fingers got super-fat and I had to have my ring resized. It cost over $200 because I went up like 2 or 3 sizes.  Now that my fingers aren't nearly as fat now, I refuse to resize it back down - I paid for this gold, bitch!  So, I wear it on my middle finger.  I've explained to my husband why, and joked that when I get to the weight I want to get to, he can buy me an anniversary ring to fit on my ring finger.

Oh noez!

After checking and rechecking every nook and cranny I could check, I called Hubby and asked him I'd left my ring in the kitchen. Nope. In the bathroom? Nope. Nightstand? Nope... Shit.  He suggested I walk the trail again and see if I can find it. I love him, but can you imagine trying to find a wedding ring on a sandy trail covered with pine needles? I would never find it. I told him so, and I could hear how sad he was. Then he said he found it!!!!  I left it on the bookshelf in my office when I was lubing up my bra area this morning!  Yippee!! (He met me at the front door when I got home and made me put it back on).

Crisis averted, I needed to go get some lunch. I could tell that I was on the verge of passing-out-hungry, so I found a very close Wendy's and grabbed a Frosty and a Kid's Meal. 

Post-Race Vanilla Frosty

I was eating that kid's meal while driving down the road heading towards the Paddock Mall.   I saw this Jeep and had to shame it. See that pink in the back? Yeah, that's a CAR SEAT. And yeah, there's a KID in that CAR SEAT.  A Jeep with no doors with a kid in a car seat. Is that even legal?

Seriously? What if she got hit by road rubbage or something?  This is SO NOT SAFE!

So, I'm driving down the road, and I see, in the distance, a big yellow sign.  I've seen that sign before, but not in a long time. Is it? Could it be?  It IS!!!  It's a Long John Silver's restaurant!  I literally gasped and threw on my blinker.  I freaking LOVE Long Johns. I've chronicled my LJS love on this blog before, but I can't say it enough. Greasy, crispy, deep-fried planks of heaven.  I love LJS.

I took this photo to tease my daugher - she also loves the LJS

I threw away my (mostly uneaten anyway) kid's meal and headed inside. I get my favorite - the LJS Sampler (1 chicken, 1 fish and 3 shrimp, fries and hush puppies, with some Crispies), and sit down to pig out on this greasy plate of heaven.

Greasy, so bad for you, but so good!

I'm pretty sure I saved the chicken for later (Pocket Chicken™), but I snarfed down on the rest of it before heading to walk it all off at the Paddock Mall.  I think I stuck around for an hour or so, checked out some clothes at JCPenney, then headed home.

Somewhere between Ocala and Home

Unfortunately, I didn't miss the rain, but it wasn't too bad while I was on the interstate (why yes, I do take pictures while driving down the road... you text - who's safer?)

Once home (and wearing my ring again), I checked out my goodie bag and it's contents. I got a shirt, a bunch of old Silver Springs and Wild Waters promo items, all inside a reusable Publix grocery bag. 

Regular (not tech) t-shirt

Granola bars from the post-race table

Old school neoprene sunglass holder

Fresh new Publix bag

Hand-clapper noisemaker, nail file, lip balm, pen and coaster

So, did I like the trail race? No. Am I going to do another one? Probably not. I don't like the path I'm walking on shifting underneath me. Especially if I'm running (which I didn't do much of, because of the shifting). If it had a medal, I would think about it. But a trail race with NO medal and NO tech shirt and NO good after-party? Nah.

Location: Silver Springs State Park

Host: (Who put on the race) Friends of Silver Springs State Park

Race Fee: $27.50 ($25 + Sign Up Fee)

Packet Pickup: Before Race

Parking: Ample

Support: (on-course) 1 water stop; very cheerful volunteers

After Party: Sandwiches and fortune cookies; free entry to SS Park for runners