2018 Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon

The 2018 Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon took place almost two weeks ago in New Orleans, Louisiana! I absolutely love this race and continue to return year after year. It's fairly easy for me to get to and this race always hosts a fun time...so why not, right?!

One of my favorite parts about this race is the timing. The race usually begins around 7:30 a.m. (the 10K at 7 a.m.) and depending on the hotel location, it's usually just a 10 or so minute walk to the corrals. LOVE it!

This race begins in Lafayette Square and ends in City Park, so if you do have a drive to begin the race, you park your vehicle at City Park and there are buses available to shuttle you to Lafayette Square.

We were in corral 3 and squeezed into the corral about 15 minutes before start time. I actually saw people policing the corrals this time around (which I've NEVER seen in the 9 years of this race) so that was nice! However, people were still climbing through the corral gates and entering where they weren't supposed to. That part was kind of annoying, I'm not gonna lie.

With a gorgeous National Anthem to begin the race, we were off not long after!

Mile 1 came around and I was really feeling good. My body felt great, I felt great, the weather was PERFECT, it was just an overall good day!

One of my favorite bands along the course was the same second line from the 5K the day before! They were awesome! Bonus: we got to hear them coming and going - after making the turn and heading back, they were facing the opposite way and still playing! I loved it!

Bead covered trees are a staple in New Orleans! Such a cool sight to see!

This course led us through a good part of downtown New Orleans before bringing us back into the French Quarter and through Jackson Square.

I stopped to take this picture and someone on the side walk (not a runner) hollered "Must not be from around here!" I had to correct him....yes I am, I just think that bead covered trees and the sights of New Orleans are really cool! He actually agreed with me...haha!

Another fun part of this race was the extra additions that were added by Rock 'n' Roll this year. I had my sights set on spotting them since so much promotion was done for them ahead of time.

This guy was super fun, too!

We made it to the French Quarter around mile 9 or so!

Out of all my years running this race, I've never stopped to order beignets during the race. I will one year. How funny would it be to cross the finish line with a Cafe du Monde bag in hand?! Hah!

It might not have been a Disney race, but I spotted "characters"...

Y'all know I had to stop for a picture!

Oh yes, and lesson learned with this race - always. carry. wipes. or. tissue. in. your. flip. belt. Ya know, sometimes port-a-potties run out of TP and it might be nice to have your own... let's just say I wasted about 10 minutes or so trying to locate some. Lordy. My life.

Anyway, around mile 12 is when runners made the split between the half and the full marathon.

...and of course I had to take my usual mile 12 picture!

Oh yes, and a new fun feature for Rock n Roll races is their app! It's seriously real-time tracking and I LOVED IT! I was able to see just where my friend Melissa was located and when I realized she was close to me, I looked up and there she was....

...making the turn for the full! How cool is that?!

So, after rounding City Park and crossing the finish line I turned to take a picture of the banner when I saw this dude waving at me. At first I thought "That dude just photo bombed my picture"...then I realized that it was my Goofy buddy Scott (from my running group back home) and neither of us had any idea that we were near each other!

How funny!

After chatting with Scott for a few, I gathered the post-race goodies and headed off to find my cheer squad. Not pictured above: 1 eaten banana.

We browsed the merchandise tent for a few minutes before walking over to find the Remix Challenge tent.

Medals, medals, medals!

This year, I actually had time to enjoy the post race party which was wonderful!

Hearing Cowboy Mouth again was really cool because it had been SO long since I heard them play.

My crew was amazing! Love these guys!

After hanging out for a little while, I left my guys to head back downtown to my hotel to shower and get ready.

What's nice about these races is the buses to take you back downtown to the starting area so you don't have to take a taxi or paid transportation. The buses don't take you directly to the start line, but they take you pretty close! It was just about another 12 minute walk to my hotel from the dropoff point which wasn't bad!

Also, there was a PJ's on the way to the hotel so of course I had to stop! YUM!

After my friend Melissa returned to the hotel from rocking her full (with a huge PR!), we got ready and headed downstairs to Ole Saint, a restaurant owned by Deuce McAllister of the Saints! I had the mac & cheese with roast beef debris and it was really really good!

...and with that, our amazing weekend in New Orleans had come to an end! We really enjoyed our time here, running another Rock n Roll event and seeing our friends! Until next time...laissez les bon temps rouler! (Let the good times roll)

No Time To Spare (A Tale From The Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Expo)

Happy Tuesday, y'all! We are back home from a long weekend in New Orleans and I can honestly say that we had a BLAST during our stay! The initial purpose of visiting New Orleans this past weekend was to run the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon on Sunday. However, when I booked our hotel and noticed that it made more sense rate-wise to stay Friday night too, the 5K that was scheduled for Saturday morning also became on my radar. 5K+Half Marathon=Extra Bling. I'm in!

I did make a huge mistake here though - I didn't register for the 5K before online registration closed. Whoops. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal and I could simply register at the Expo....until traffic happened.

Let me back up for a second. I worked half a day on Friday and stayed at work about an hour later than I intended to but it was for a patient so I didn't mind. By the time I got home, all I had to do was change my clothes and then I was ready to go! After plugging in our coordinates on my phone GPS, I realized that our planned 3 to 3 1/2 hour drive to New Orleans was going to take well over 4 hours and didn't get to leave home until 2 p.m. (Insert big eyes here.) Honestly, we should have arrived around 5 p.m.(ish) and the expo closed at 6 p.m. Of course it did. Somehow I had 8 p.m. in my mind? Totally wrong.


As my brain began to go on overload, I made a few "plans".....Plan B was to attempt to go to the Expo anyway and see if anyone was still around. Plan C was to wake up early on Saturday morning and see if they would let me register on site although their website said no. I also began praying. I know that one good dead doesn't usually repay another but you know what? Sometimes it happens that way.

By the time we made it through HORRIBLE Baton Rouge bridge traffic and TWO wrecks on I-10 by New Orleans, we were finally downtown. I told Jason to swing up front by the Convention Center and drop me off as close to Hall J as he could get. As I approached the Expo hall, I noticed one door open with a security guard standing out front. He didn't say anything to the girl in front of me who entered the Expo hall so I followed suit. I literally made it with zero time to spare.

The 5K/10K/Half/Full registration table was located just inside and a few people were finishing up their registrations. I smiled sweetly at the lady who was working the table and asked if I could register for the 5K? She mumbled something about them being closed already (it was 6:05 p.m. by this point) however, she was SO kind and graciously let me register anyway.

I. Was. On. Cloud. Nine!!

After registering, I walked over to the next lady who issued my bib and asked which corral I'd like to be in. There were apparently 10 corrals and I asked how likely it would be to get in corral 1? With a "no problem", she marked a 1 on my bib! Woohoo!

She also instructed me to hurry over to the shirt area to see if anyone was still around. A lone volunteer remained and he happily helped me find my shirt (and there were a TON extra, by the way).

 
After taking a quick picture with my "registered within 7 days" tag which I found hilarious for some reason, I floated out to the car to meet Jason. Y'all, I was seriously on cloud 9!

We checked into our hotel and I set up my race outfit for the next day. I've only ever run one other 5K in New Orleans, so this was super exciting for me...and a nice way to shake out my legs prior to the half the following day.

Dinner that evening was at Mother's Restaurant, a famous po-boy joint in New Orleans. I'd been there once but Jason never had been and when we visit other cities, we like to eat at places that are local to the area. I liked it, but it didn't "wow" me like my favorite po-boy joint back home. Oh well! The bread pudding however was AMAZING! It seriously rivaled Ohana! (And I've NEVER found that anywhere!!)

With that, our first evening in New Orleans was done and it was time to go to sleep. I did appreciate the later morning wake up call as the 5K didn't start until 8 a.m. and I only had about a 10 minute walk from the hotel! Score!

Stay tuned for more from the 5K and Half Marathon....and fun times in New Orleans!

2017 Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Expo

We arrived at the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Expo around 2 p.m. on Saturday. Expo's are one of my favorite part of race weekends and as we entered the doors of the Ernest N Morial Convention Center, it hit me that it had been over a year since I'd been to a race expo of this magnitude!

I was so excited and mentioned to my friend Heather how the nerves, excitement, and anticipation of race day always hits me once I walk into the expo floor.

A few years ago, we discovered a parking lot across from the convention center which made for super easy access to the expo as well as our usual dinner of pizza located not far down the road. Even though the parking lot is paid parking, this worked out better for us logistically because our hotel was a ways away from the convention center. 

We already had our waivers printed, but if we'd forgotten them, there was a place in the hallway to print waivers. I'll tell you, I was so glad I had my waiver in hand...the line at those computers and printers was rather crazy!

In true Rock n Roll fashion, the red carpet was awaiting our arrival at check in! :)

The bibs are broken down by sections of numbers and there was no line at my section! Score! After picking up my bib, I walked over to the t-shirt and bag table (it was just right behind me).

Rock 'n' Roll really makes this process super smooth and easy!

Of course I had to take a picture with my bib! :)

Next up was the official merchandise area where I was suckered in by baby merchandise. They sure knew how to get me! Heather and I also both purchased a visor!

 

...but it's so cute, yes? :)

Also included in the main merchandise/Brooks section was a photo area where runners could take a photo in front of the back drop, upload the photo to Instagram with a special hashtag, and the photos were  printed and ready in minutes right then and there! Such a neat idea!!

After browsing the official merchandise, both Heather and I set out into the Main Expo area to check out the vendors.

My favorite Sweaty Bands were there and I purchased one to wear for Valentines Day.

I also ran into Mr. Chris with Team 413 and it was great to see him again! We chatted for a few minutes to catch up, then discussed the pre-race prayer service that would be taking place the following morning. Did you know that a small prayer service will be available before every Rock 'n' Roll race that Team 413 attends this year? I love it!

In all, we spent several hours walking around and taking a few of the obligatory expo pictures, of course!

It wouldn't be a typical race weekend with me without a ton of pictures! :)

The expo was great and we had so much fun shopping around checking it all out. This is one of my favorite race series and the expo's never disappoint!

We had a delicious dinner (more on our time in NOLA later), then headed over to our hotel to check in.

In no time, I had my race outfit set and ready for race day! I was so excited to run Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans once again, I couldn't hardly stand it!

Stay tuned for a recap of my race experience coming later in the week! :)