She Got Swaggah! - Bridge of Lions 5k 2021 Race Report

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Yesterday was my second in-person race of 2021, the Bridge of Lions 5k in St. Augustine. Lord, how I've missed real races! 

Hubby took the day off so he could come with me (but I think mostly he took the day off so he wouldn't have to sit at work when I dropped him off 2 hours earlier than his shift, lol). The drive was easy, though I had to stop at a convenience store in Palatka to tinkle and pick up a bottle of water since I forgot my personal water bottle (I'm so out of practice!).

We parked at Oglethorpe Park and walked across the bridge to the start line. Packet pickup was easy and quick, and I heard that there were 1,2000 people registered! Apparently, I'm not the only one who was happy to get back to in-person racing!

As as become tradition, the crowd sang the National Anthem and then we took off. Hubby walked with me until we got to the grassy area in Davis Shores, where the two lion statues are. He headed back to the car, whereas I put in my earbuds and started running. 

I preferred the mini bottles (St Augustine water is sulfurous!)

I ran until I got to the car around Mile 2, where I swapped out my water bottle for an icy Gatorade. And a kiss from Hubby, awwwww.

Woo hoo, 2/3 of the way finished!

I prefer Glacier Freeze, but this was fine

I finished with a strong-for-me time of 57:13. I was 1021st out of 1074 total finishers, finishing 76th out of 82 in my Age Group, and 604th out of 642 in my Gender Group.

 

She got some swaggah comin' across that finish line!

I picked up my medal, then got some water, a few snacks, and made our way across the park back to the car. 

 

I'm happier than I look... The humidity is killing me!

I stopped at the 7-eleven on Pope Road to change clothes and get a drink. When I got back to the car, Hubby suggested that we do Long John Silvers for lunch (even though it was only 9am at the time), but he forgot that there wasn't one in St. Augustine. And it was too early to go to Schooner's (which was my original lunch plan). 

Usually when I'm in St. Augustine, I'll go shopping, or go to the beach, but neither of those are his preferred ways to spend a day, so we kind of just looked at each other, like "I dunno... what do you wanna do?"

He pulled up the Garmin and discovered that there was a Long John's in Daytona Beach, and it was only about an hour away (I always forget that Daytona is so close!), so...... What the hell, let's adventure!

 

The drive was as quiet as a drive on Interstate 95 could be on a Saturday morning, but we found our way to Long John's, only to discover they were closed when we got there, and when they did open for lunch (more than an hour from when we arrived,) they'd be Drive Thru only.

Fucking Covid Stupidity!

 

Well, how about Dairy Queen?

 

Nope, they're closed. 

 

We ended up at Huey Magoo's, and we gave it a second chance. Again... I don't see the appeal; it's just a Zaxby's. It was fine. Nothing to write home about. Lemonade was good, but so sweet it gave me a stomachache for the rest of the afternoon. 

 

We also checked out the second Buc-Ee's in Florida (much smaller than the one in St. Augustine), and eventually just came home... Not a big adventure, I suppose. 

 

Smokin' Nacho Puffs are the BEST of of these flavors!