Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2022

Over the weekend, Jason and I traveled to New Orleans to run the Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon. (I ran, he spectated!)

This was our return to "big" racing since you-know-what shut the world down, and it was all around an amazing weekend!

Usually, I also include a synopsis about the Expo - but this expo was super small and there wasn't anything vastly exciting about it, except they did include a few fun photo ops inside the convention center floor.

Dressing for this race was a bit of a fiasco because I couldn't decide what to wear. A friend reminded me not to overdress but I also didn't want to under dress either. It was in the 30's which is COLD for us southerners, y'all!

Ultimately, I decided on layers - a long sleeved shirt under my Raw Threads New Orleans shirt, plus a throw away sweatshirt on top. I could have skipped the sweat shirt altogether but oh well. I also skipped the compression socks and went instead for capri length tights. Overall I was happy with the decision!

I also woke up to see two cruise ships docked just outside our window! Hello return-to-normacly!

Dressed and ready to go!

I also went into this race with somewhat of a funky attitude. Rock n Roll changed the course COMPLETELY this year and I was panicked on how to get to the start line. I used to be able to wake up, get dressed, and walk right out of my hotel to the start line. Now the start line was at least six miles away, at the University of New Orleans. Thankfully, Rock n Roll came through with busses to transport runners to the start line. 

All was super organized and very impressive!

Something new this year was the inclusion of the red light/green light system. Corrals still existed (so runners knew where to line up) but instead of releasing corral by corral, runners would line up in a chute, one by one all the way across, and start running whenever the red light turned green. It was super quick but also very different and I wasn't expecting that!

This new course was 100% on the campus of the University of New Orleans and on Lake Pontchartrain. 

The weather was BEAUTIFUL and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!! Somewhere around mile 1.5, I took off my sweatshirt which messed with the buttons on my watch and reset the dang thing! So, I ran this race without any idea of my overall time, I could only see my pace. My original goal was to run it in a 2:05. Could I have broken the 2 hour mark again? Maybe. But, I stopped to take off my sweat shirt which took precious seconds and I stopped for photos at the beginning which also took precious seconds. In another day and another time (and with the right mindset), I could have likely done it. I seriously felt SO great during this entire race and around mile 11.5, I was sad it was almost over. The overwhelming gratitude of being back, running again with a large crowd, doing this thing I love on such a gorgeous day - you can't beat that!

The course atmosphere on this race route was great, too! I just love the overall atmosphere of New Orleans! It's so much fun!

I do have two grievances about this race...

With the course change, came in the added HILLS. Oh, the hills. I sure hope they didn't advertise this as race as a flat course because I'm from Louisiana and I know flat - this wasn't flat. I seriously lost count of how many overpasses and bridges and roadways we ran up and down. It was seriously too many to count. However, I made it a goal to power up all of them and I made it every time!

Second - this course was WAY too crowded. In the past, the 10K'ers started before the half marathon. This year, it was all looped in together. I understand why they did that, and I was happy when we split at mile 3. I didn't care for the fact that we looped back in with the 10K'ers at mile 8 or 9. I seriously thought I took a wrong turn and had to scan other runners bibs to make sure I was still going the right way. The two lane roads were way to crowded and congested. 

Traditional mile 12 photo!

I LOVED the medals this year!! Aren't they beautiful!

I seriously love how much they put into this overall race from start to finish (Expo to post-race). There's so much rich history and culture with New Orleans, it's fun to see it showcased at the race!

I also knew of a runDisney friend running this race, Jackey! I hung around the finish line to say hi! It was so nice to meet her!

Remember the watch debacle? Well, I knew the "overall" time when I crossed was around 2:10, but I had no idea if I'd reached my goal time or not. After finding a spot to sit and relax, I opened my app and.....

I got it!! I couldn't believe my eyes! 2:05!

Thankfully our hotel let us have a noon check out, which gave us a few extra minutes to hang around the finish line. The buses were also taking runners and spectators back to the Convention center area which was super convenient!

After showering and checking out, we made brunch reservations at one of the Ruby Slipper locations and took a Lyft to the restaurant.

This dish was SO good. I would go out of my way to go here again, just to eat this dish!

Chicken and waffles is a southern staple, but this dish switched it up and added french toast instead. It also included a sweet heat sauce and I drizzled it with syrup. So so good, y'all!

I absolutely loved this past weekend. I had a blast being back in New Orleans with my husband, eating the good food, seeing the sights, and running the half marathon. I'm already registered for next year! Can't wait to be back again! 

Laissez le bon temps rouler - Let the good times roll! 

Swamp Stomp Half Marathon 2021

Another day, another post about racing! It does my heart a lot of good to see races making their comeback. It's just been too long without them! 

As part of my training cycle for Princess, I had a 12 mile training run scheduled for the first weekend of December. Although that Saturday was smack in the middle of two very long and very early Grinch performances, I knew I had to sign myself up for this race or I'd never run the 12 on my own.

Luckily for my friends who are also training for Princess, they had an 11 mile training run that weekend and had never completed a half marathon. So, I somehow convinced them this would be good practice for Princess and they listened to me and registered! What's 13 miles when you're already doing 11, right? Am I right? :)

Although the name of the race is a familiar one, the venue was completely different and I loved it!

We ran through a large new-to-me neighborhood and it was perfect! 

One of the highlights was this giant Grinch I spotted along the way! A friend of mine took her 12 foot skeleton from Halloween and turned him into a Grinch!

A lot of this route was winding through roads, neighborhoods, and a lot of looping around.

I didn't mind the looping around so much until the end. Around mile 8, things really started to get tough.  The humidity as VERY high this day and although the course was flat, this race was just a tough one in general for me. It was a mental battle from mile 8/9, but things like the Just Breathe sign below really helped keep me going!

Signs like this were located all throughout the course and it was fabulous!

Some of it was desolate as there were only about 200 runners running this race and I was somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Don't think I didn't forget the traditional mile 12 sign photo!!

Mile 12 and literally almost done!

I tried to keep a consistent 9:30 pace as long as I could. It worked out really well until about mile 9...then all went downhill from there. Even so, my goal was to finish below 2 hours and 15 minutes and I made it! I was very proud of this time because I worked hard to get there!

All done! I kept reminding myself that I could sit down and relax when I finished running! Hah!

To the left of this photos is the physical therapist who helped with my last round of PT to my hamstring. She truly helped me get back to running and I'm forever grateful to her for that!

I was so proud of my friends for conquering something that seemed like such a huge obstacle for so long! They did great!!

My own little cheer squad was out there to cheer me on, too! Loved having them there!

After the race, we stopped by a local coffee shop for post-race brunch and it was SO good! 

Overall, it was a great race despite the humidity, but no one can control that factor. I loved running through this new-to-me neighborhood and being with my friends! It's so great to have racing back!!

2021 runDisney Virtual Princess Half Marathon

Hi there! Long time no blog! :) To be honest, I don't have a great reason for that. I feel like my greatest blogging inspiration comes to me when I'm on a run and although I have been running a little lately, it hasn't been as much as my norm. I'm definitely trying to get back into the swing of things, though!

 

When runDisney announced their transition to a virtual option for the Princess Half Marathon this year, we had a couple of options. Since we'd already used a few borrowed points to book our rooms for the trip (we did this right at the beginning of corona last year), I knew we weren't really looking at canceling our trip. (Borrowing DVC points then canceling your trip means you lose the points.) So, since canceling the trip wasn't an option, I decided to go forward with the virtual option and run the Fairy Tale Challenge on my own. I also decided to add the 5K on to the list since it was a Little Mermaid theme and I own zero Ariel runDisney items! 

After going over running options for these races, I decided that maximizing the time I had with my family at Disney was my first priority. So, I made the decision to run the Fairy Tale Challenge out of order by running the half marathon at home the weekend before our trip, then running the 5K and 10K while at Disney. This plan worked perfectly and I'll definitely share more about my time running the 5K and 10K around Hourglass Lake very soon!

The weekend prior to our trip was quite a doozy over here. That big ice/snow storm was rolling through the south and definitely threw a wrench in our plans. Although our trip plans changed, I knew I still needed to get my half marathon in so I decided to go forward with it, even though it was cold, windy, and kind of a nasty day.

The day of my half marathon, I worked until noon. Trying to figure out my eating plan for the morning was a bit challenging, but I went with a banana and some peanut butter crackers about an hour before the run and all went very well!

The route around my place of work is a nice one, but I had to steer well clear of the lake because it was SO windy! Thankfully, I had several options!

The first set of miles felt great and I didn't experience any issues. The only really problem I had was  running towards the wind. It was the weirdest thing - I almost froze when running towards the wind and got incredibly warm when running away from it. 

Around mile 6, I began to get stiff, cold, and I had to turn to a 4:1 run/walk method to keep going. This random leg cramp that I've never experienced before also popped up and all I could think about was my old running coach and how I needed a pack fo salt! Hah! Since there was no salt around, a run/walk ratio had to do.

Somewhere near mile 10, the leg cramp went away and I was able to run the remainder of the race cramp free! Yay!

In the end, I finished with a 10:58 pace and I was 100% ok with that!

Running alone is hard. Running a virtual half is really hard. Running without runDisney is hard. This pandemic is hard. 2020/2021 is hard. Life is hard. Thankfully, I'm still blessed with the gift of running and the ability to "burn off the 2020/2021 crazy" that continues to plague me! Also, I took a little Disney magic along with me by listening to the awesome runDisney Spotify playlists from both Marathon Weekend & the Princess Half Marathon Weekend! 

Throughout this run, I knew a trip to Disney was coming up and that definitely gave me something to look forward to, even though it wasn't the traditional type of runDisney trip we usually take in February!

So, let me know - if you registered for the Princess Half, did you choose the virtual option? If so, where/how did you run your race? 

Relay for Life 2020 (Virtual)

Relay for Life 2020.

None of us ever thought we would have to make the decision to turn our family friendly, festival type event into an at-home, virtual one, but we did! When the idea was first pitched to our committee, a few of us were skeptical, but we jumped on the bandwagon and the outcome could not have been any better!

Not long after the idea to turn our event into a virtual one was pitched, I began to formulate a plan on how to fundraise on my own, and that's when the idea to run the Relay for Life "Virtual" Half Marathon was born!

For starters, I'd never run a half marathon in the middle of the day before (apart from the night time Wine & Dine half marathons at Disney), so I had no idea what to expect. Since I had to work on Friday morning, I set off on this half marathon endeavor after I clocked out a little after 1 p.m. 

It was hot, humid, and on the verge of raining the entire time, but I prayed long and hard that I would at least get a good half of the run behind me without any rain. My prayers were answered!

At first, I was going to drive home after work and begin my run from there (like the Star Wars route), but I decided to stick with the area around my work and have a little change of scenery!

I also thought it would be fun to share a few ACS/cancer facts along the way!

I'm not going to lie, this one was tough. My hamstring was bothering me from about mile 6 until the end and it was difficult to breathe through the humidity. It was the thought of cancer patients and all they endure while going through their journey that kept me pressing on.

There really are some beautiful views around my work. This was one of my favorite places to run when our running group was together!

Like the Star Wars half I ran at home, I also adopted a 4:1 run/walk ratio for this half. Although this run wasn't entire pain free, I made it!

Another 13.1 in the books! 

 
I also wanted to share my reason for relaying...

Our virtual event was held live on facebook that evening, and although it wasn't "true" relay food, we make sure to do it justice!

The links you see to the left are boudin. This is a traditional cajun treat and it's seriously delicious! (Casing stuffed with rice and meat)

In fact, the whole family participated in the virtual relay event! What fun!!

By the end of the weekend, I'd not only reached my fundraising goal but I'd exceeded it thanks to so many generous friends and family!

Despite the fact that Relay for Life 2020 looked COMPLETELY different from anything I'd experienced, it was definitely one to remember!