After yesterday’s 20 mile run, I was ready to lay horizontal for the next few hours! I was absolutely exhausted, both emotionally and physically.

Luckily our hotel, the Tampa Marriot Waterside, included a gorgeous pool area which, despite the below picture, was the perfect place to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather all afternoon.

I went straight from the ice bath to the pool lounge chair. After learning the hard way that Aleve should never be taken on an empty stomach, I enjoyed a small bag of pretzel thins while the boys were off getting lunch.

Lunch couldn’t have come soon enough! This delicious barbecue grilled chicken sandwich with sautéed mushrooms and onions was gone in no time! The fries were a little mushy so unfortunately they weren’t enjoyed nearly as much as the sandwich.

I spent the afternoon alternating between water, Corona Light, Cigar City Good Gourd beer, and Miami Vice.

Luckily, I had good friends to relax and drink with poolside.

      

Unfortunately, at 5pm we had to head up to our rooms to get ready for the wedding which meant saying goodbye to Meghann and Derek! 

I was especially excited for my wedding attire since I was able to use my late grandmother’s earrings and clutch. Neither of which hold much value to anyone else, but to me I felt like she was looking down on me all night.

The wedding organized shuttles to transport guests from the hotel to the church and then to the reception, a gesture which we appreciated greatly as out of town guests who were ready to party!

The Catholic wedding ceremony took place in Tampa’s beautiful Sacred Heart Catholic Church.  The wedding  was shorter than we expected as it turns out there are two types of Catholic weddings: wedding ceremony and wedding mass. Last night’s celebration was a wedding ceremony instead of mass which meant the following:

Mass Or No Mass

If the ceremony takes place without a Mass, the ceremony concludes with nuptial blessings and a final prayer from the priest. He then tells the congregation, "Go in peace with Christ," to which they respond, "Thanks be to God." If the ceremony includes Mass (which adds only 15 minutes to the service), the priest asks for the "sign of peace," in which everyone shakes hands with their neighbors. Holy Communion follows. Finally, the priest recites a concluding prayer and nuptial blessing asking for strength and protection for the couple.

After the wedding we boarded the shuttles for the reception at Palma Ceia Golf and Country Club. The evening weather was perfect for a cocktail hour on the back veranda overlooking the palm trees and golf course!

We enjoyed the cool evening weather with their signature cocktail, a French Martini, and passed appetizers which included escargot stuffed mushrooms and rack of lamb.

 An hour later we were seated for a sit down dinner before a night of dancing. The decor was gorgeous and the food was some of the best wedding food we’ve enjoyed. Everything was cooked perfectly and seasoned well. As soon as we were seated for dinner, my post long run hunger caught up with me which meant I enjoyed the meal thoroughly!    

After dinner it was time to party! We realized very quickly that Puerto Ricans truly know how to party!

We danced from 10:30pm until 2:30am enjoying both Puerto Rican music and Top 40 hits alike!

It was a wonderful evening with old friends but by the time I hit the bed at 3am I was beyond exhausted! After staying up for 22 hours straight all I wanted was our hotel room’s king size bed and compression socks!