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!!

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!