Wednesday, October 12, 2011

2011 Gulf Coast Half Marathon Recap Part 1 – Packet Pickup!

Hi friends!  I’ve been super busy lately and feel like I have way to much on my plate a lot of the time! 

I had a great weekend away – out of town with the girls just hanging out, relaxing, doing our thing, and running a half marathon!

Knowing ahead of time that an LSU game was taking place on Saturday afternoon, we left at 7 a.m. and only met minimal traffic coming into Baton Rouge. The line of traffic on the bridge to get into Baton Rouge was quite long and we were glad that we weren’t stuck in it! I probably shouldn’t mention that the driver of our vehicle (*cough*Heather*cough*) was a Gator fan and threw quite a few Gator chomps in the air at the LSU fans….I also shouldn’t mention that the driver of our vehicle was my running buddy, Heather. Yes, I was mortified. :0)

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We made very good time and arrived at Varsity Sports at 11 a.m., just as they were opening!

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I loved all of the enthusiasm! Made me even more excited for Sunday!

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We made our way through the store and out to the back. The instructions told us to find our name, remember the number next to our name, then go to the packet table to retrieve our packet and race number!

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After we got our packets, we spent a little time visiting with a few new and old friends!

This is Katie.  We’ve been tweeting back and forth (#RunLA) for a while but never had the chance to meet up!  It was great getting to meet her!

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The set up was very nice! Lots of volunteers were available to help with any needs!

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I also got to see my long lost friend Heather! When I saw her, I ran up to her and tackled her.  Well, not throw down on the ground tackle, but I did surprise her!  Hah!  I say that she’s a  long lost because we are used to seeing each other at least three or four times a year – so far this year, we’ve only gotten to hang out twice. :0( Heather is a Running Skirts sales rep so she was at the race doing her thing! :0)

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Three hott ladies read to run the race! :0)

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I loved loved loved my race bib! I was able to personalize my name and I thought that was so neat! Thanks Joe Relaxo!!

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A course map was posted which I spent lots of time inspecting! :0)

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After packet pickup, we walked over to the Broken Egg for lunch. I’ve eaten here many times in the past for breakfast, but never for lunch – I had no idea what to expect!

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The Broken Egg has paper table covers on their tables and each table has a cup of crayons…..well, you see what happened next….

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This was Heather’s creation!  Hah!

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Ready to EAT!

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Heather’s quesadillas

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Amanda’s grilled chicken

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I had a chicken alfredo pasta and it was amazing!! I definitely felt as if I had enough fuel to get me through 13.1 miles the following morning! :0)

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Such a cute, quaint little place! :0)

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I love this! I want one! :0)

After we ate, we drove around downtown Mandeville, by the lakefront, ,and finally over to the park to check out our starting location for the race the following morning.

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After we figured out where to go, we drove to the hotel and even though we were an hour early, our room was ready and we were able to take a NAP!  I slept for TWO hours, seriously!  It was an amazing nap!!!

We watched some of the LSU game, then we walked over to McAlister’s for dinner!

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QUACK!

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Our running group friends had the same idea so we sat for a while and talked with them!

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We had a really good time!  It was fun hanging out with just the girls!  Yes, I even remembered my tumbler mug.

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My dinner!  I create this every time – pita (or wheat bread…depends on my mood), turkey, lettuce, and orange cranberry sauce.  It used to be on their menu as “The Patriot” but they took it off a few years ago…

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Who has dinner the night before a big race without desert? NOT ME!  After we ate, we walked over to Menchies for Fro Yo!

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About a year ago, I had my very first Fro Yo experience here at Menchies thanks to Heather.  Yes, it’s her fault I’m addicted. Thank you.

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Speaking of Heather, look who joined us for dessert!!  Hi, friends! :0)

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He always does this when he takes my camera. Goof ball.

We finished our Fro Yo, then walked back to our hotel and got our things ready for the race the next day!

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Here’s all my clothes laid out, ready to race!!

Coming up: Race day!!!

3 comments:

  1. Looks like the pre-race was fun, I can't wait to read the race report!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the table drawing. Too funny!

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  3. Hey lady! What a GREAT recap!! I found you through Claim Your Journey (#RunLA). I wish I had found you a bit sooner, then we could have had a meet up after the race! I look forward to following you.

    ReplyDelete

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