Monday, February 25, 2013

2013 Rock n Roll New Orleans Expo

Happy Monday! I hope everyone thoroughly enjoyed their weekend! I know I had a great time in New Orleans for the Rock n Roll Marathon! I enjoyed spending time with my family, seeing friends, meeting new people, and running the race! Couldn’t have asked for a better weekend! I’ll start off with a recap of the Expo followed by the race itself. :0) 

On Saturday morning bright and early (7 a.m., thank you!) my family and I began our trip to New Orleans! I decided to take a few vitamins before we left (like I always do) – only this time, I took them after having eaten only a few bites of a banana. (Pills make me nauseated if I don’t have food on my stomach.)


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After taking the pills, I ate the rest of the banana, then proceeded to foam roll while waiting on my parents. Not 20 minutes later, a huge wave of nausea hit me and….yep….everything came back up. Before you think it, NO…I’m not pregnant! I thought I felt better after that, so we got in the car and left. We were only about 15 minutes away from home (not quite to the interstate yet) when I made my dad pull off to the side of the road. It happened again.

Standing on the side of the road holding my hair out of my face, I kept thinking about the race the following morning. Was it just the vitamins I took that did this? Have I come down with a virus? What was I going to do? I was worried.

We continued driving and about 30 minutes later, my dad had to pull off to the side of the interstate. By that point, I was dry heaving. Thankfully, there was an exit nearby and we were able to locate Pepto Bismol!  After taking a dose, I fell asleep and didn’t wake up until we were in Baton Rouge. When I woke up, I felt like a new person! No more nausea and….best part….I was hungry! Thank goodness for the inventor of Pepto Bismo. He was suddenly my new best friend! :0)

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We stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Gonzales for breakfast and I ordered an egg, sausage, and fruit plate (didn’t eat the grits).

After breakfast, we shopped a little bit at the outlet mall and I hit up my favorite store….Banana Republic!
Before long, we made it to New Orleans, checked into our hotel, and began the walk to the Expo.

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The Expo was held at the Convention Center complete with new finishing touches to the outside (when I was here in may for a Convention, it was all under construction).

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Ready to rock this thing!!

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My husband didn’t tell me the mask was on my face crooked! Haha!

After walking around the Expo a bit, I received a text from a fellow Run Pink Ambassador, Mindy! She was at the Expo, too and we were finally able to meet up!

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After “talking” to Mindy so much on Twitter, it was nice to finally meet face to face! (She’s a runDisney lover, too!)

We continued walking around and before long, ran into my running buddy and partner in crime, Heather!

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We found a leprechaun and just had to stop for a picture! :0)

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I also spotted the runDisney booth and they gave me a bag! Yay! Even though I was missing out on the Princess Half, it was nice to have a little Disney in New Orleans!

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Steve Gleason was at the Expo with his booth “Team Gleason”. It was neat to see so much support for him, his charity, and ALS in New Orleans!

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We stayed at the Expo for an hour, then decided to find some food! Last year, we had a really hard time finding something to eat because NOLA was super crowded. If we started early this year, we’d avoid all of that, right?

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Wrong. There were LONG lines EVERYWHERE. After walking around for an hour, we finally ended up at a sports bar where I had a flatbread pizza!

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Yum!

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After dinner, we met up with our running group for a team meeting and picture. I love these guys! They are a lot of fun to be around!

Once the meeting was finished, Jason and I hit up Pinkberry for some FroYo, then returned to our room for sleep. I had quite the eventful day and was ready to catch some zzz’s. Perhaps the best part of the day is the fact that my nausea did not return! Yay! I made sure to drink plenty of fluids throughout the day and rehydrate myself before the race.

Up next: Rock n Roll New Orleans Full Marathon Race Recap

6 comments:

  1. Oh Karen I had no idea you had such a rough morning! You looked beautiful when I saw you! I am so glad we finally got to meet! And pizza is my go to night before a race food! Although I didn't eat it this time lol! Can't wait to read your recap!

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    1. I'm so glad we finally got to meet too! Yay! Thank you for the compliment! I think the retail therapy helped a little! Hah! Congrats again! Looking forward to your recap as well!

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  2. I get super nauseated unless I eat before I take a multivitamin - & a banana wouldn't be enough to help me. Maybe 1/2 an English muffin? I wait until I've had a full meal before i take them, because I've been sick many, many times. They are hard on your stomach!

    Sounds like R&R was great! Can't wait for the race recap. :-)

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    1. That's my norm, too...I usually wait until after a full breakfast to take meds. Not sure what I was thinking on Saturday but I definitely learned my lesson! Hah! Thank you! Hope you had a great weekend!

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  3. Some vitamins upset my stomach too..I now only take the gummy multi vitamins..they seem to be missing whatever makes me sick..

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    1. I agree with you! I only take the gummy vitamins as well for the same reason! Guess I should have specified...what I took on Saturday morning was Vitamin C and Zinc tablets. Ah well...I know for next time! :0)

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