Mardi Gras half race pictures part II

March 2, 2010 by

My lovely running buddy KarenTook some great pics, as did her husband, so I stole some to put here. Check out her blog for the story from her view! also, www.marathon-photos.com has the race pics up! my bib was 13376

here are a few I thought I would share
Ice cream at the riverwalk the night before

In front of the hotel. We are such nerds. It’s ok.

cheerleaders along the way

This is mile 4-5 maybe, when I was still in my right mind….maybe haha!

Museum of art with Disney banners! This was mile 12. AAAHHH

Here we come!

We did it!

So that’s a wrap folks! I so enjoyed this race! Thanks for reading and looking at my pics!
Tomorrow I am going to do a light cross training workout, we will see what happens!

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Mardi Gras RnR Race Recap!

March 1, 2010 by

I had a BLAST this weekend! The weather was beautiful for the race, I met my goal, and the whole weekend was fun. I feel like I can’t recap without telling some of the details of the weekend and showing pictures, so I hope yall don’t mind I add that in, too! Here we go!

Friday night we drove down and stayed at my parents house, Karen and her husband Jason stayed too. Then Saturday we drove downtown, checked into our hotel and headed to the expo!



we went back to the hotel to drop our stuff off then shopped in the french quarter
front of our hotel

race goodies

we shopped, ate at the riverwalk then walked back to the room and tried to get some sleep!
the next morning we got up at 5 and at about 5:15 I heard sirens, and a band and looked out the window and saw a 2nd line band leading a large group of people already haeding to the start. We were still in the room getting ready! oops.

ready to go!

we walked down to where everyone was hanging out until we could get into corrals at 6:30.

it was a beautiful sunny day but slightly chilly, but it was great for running once we got going.

we were in corral 13 of about 21 maybe. you can see the start curved to the left, see the balloon arch? that was the start!

love this one!

there was a wave start and they let a corral go every 3 minutes or so. we didn’t start till 29 minutes after the start!

when we got close I started getting pumped and singing and dancing and embarassing myself. Then it was pretty quiet, and the announcer made a joke about Drew Brees being there, and so i SCREAMED rally loud, WWWAAAHHH! DREW BREES, WHERE! I LOVE HIM!
some people laughed and some looked at me like I was crazy. It was funny.
yay here we go!

there were bands at every mile

We started out at a good pace, not super fast, but fast enough, and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to keep it up. It takes me about a mile to warm up but after that I felt great and we kept a great pace for us.
Karen and I were talking and I was taking pics of the pretty houses to post for yall. I love these old houses.


love there two

this poor girl. Her running skirt was about 3 sizes too small, and it was riding up her butt

we hit the 5k mark at 33 minutes, which I was happy with because I ran my first 5k 9 months ago and my time was 33 minutes so I was stoked this was my split on a half marathon!

there were a couple times the half and full courses split in different directions

this was about mile 4

run Karen!

there were beads all in the trees from the Mardi Gras parades

at mile 4.5 we stopped to take some GU and drink water so we stopped to walk a few seconds while we partook haha. That was when this guy stopped behind us and says “I have been following you ladies for over 4 miles, I am not a stalker yall are just keeping a good pace” Well, alright then! haha
we kept on grooving, and then Karen’s heart decided to speed up and go crazy so we stopped for a minute or two until it stopped. We hit the 10 mark around 1:08 and miles 7 and 8 flew by and we headed back downtown on magazine

St. Louis Cathedral is to the left (out of the pic)

cafe du monde is on the right with the green awning

about this time, I got an AWFUL cramp in my right side, like someone was stabbing me. We stopped and walked for a minute, then it went away. at mile 9 we got to the GU station, and walked for a sec while we ate that and got some water. Soon after, the cramp came back, and it was the most AWFUL pain! I could barely walk. I tried to stretch, change my breathing, it was awful. I kept apologizing to Karen! It went away after a minute or two and we were off again and I am happy to say it never cam back.

Mile ten is where it started to suck. I have no pics till the end bc I was hurting! My fet ached and I was wearing down. My longest training run was 10 miles so I was not surprised this happened at the ten mile mark! I looked at my garmin, did some math and realized if I wante to hit my 2:30 goal, we could NOT slow down!
I saw the museum of art ahead and knew we were withing a couple miles bc the Crescent city classic ended at the same place. we took a right and I saw we had to go around a lake, but it was a trick! when you ot to the lake you had to go RIGHT down a road, then back up THEN aroun the lake. What a tease! This is when Karen’s knee started hurting so we stopped for a minute, got some water, and then kept going.
We got to mile 12, and I realized we were only a mile away! I passed a girl groaning with every breathe and I wanted to turn and look at her and say “I feel your pain!” I was so close to my goal and was pushing myself so hard. We could hear the finish line music, so close! The last mile was TORTURE! We rounded a corner and had two tenths left and we started into a flat out sprint! We ran about a 9:20 pace and crossed the finish line at the same time. It seemed to go in slow motion. As soon as we crossed we yelled WE DID IT and hugged. I was SO HAPPY to be done I could cry! Not only did we reach the goal but we ran under it by 2 minutes. we ran a 2:28:07!!
sorry this is blurry but I was moving!
We got our medals and our food, took our pics with the backdrop and met Karen’s husband and then went and found my husaband. He ran a 2:14. I was so proud!
we sat down and it felt so good to sit!

the music stage. we left before sister hazel and cowboy mouth came on b/c it was 10:30 and they were not coming on till 2:30 and later!

after party

we walked back to the shuttle, then walked back to the hotel to shower and check out then we headed back to my parents for lunch, then drove back to MS and got home about 8:00. WHEW! It was great but so tiring. I am sore but not near as bad as after the Disney half! It was a great experience, and a very organized race, I highly reccommend it to anyone! I leave you with one last photo:

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Race eve

February 27, 2010 by

Happy race day eve! We got up this morning, took our time, came downtown, checked into the hotel. Then we went to the expo and walked in the French quarter. Then we walked to the riverwalk and ate and hung out. It was a nice relaxing day. Now we are in the room winding down before bed.
The race is at 7 in the morning! I am getting nervous! I will try to remember to Twitter my time when I am done so either follow me on Twitter or cone visit the blog for Twitter updates. My phone will be in the room though so it will be a little while.
Hope everyone has a good night! We should have good race weather! I can’t wait!!!

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The Green Monster

February 26, 2010 by

No, not the green monster hiding under your bed! 🙂
I have been dying to try a greem monster smoothie for quite some time, but I will admit it, I was petrified! Have you ever heard of someone having an irrational fear of a SMOOTHIE?!? Well, not smoothies themselves, but it’s what is in it. SPINACH! Yes, ew. I do not eat many greens, I do not eat salad, and I was about to drink a smoothie with SPINACH in it? I was determined to get over my fear. I knew this would be good for me, a good way to get greens in. I had bought all the ingredients last weekend and I was just putting it off… Till this morning when I realized my spinach was going bad HA! SO I finally faced my fear, and realized my fear was….stupid. Yes, stupid. I got all nervous and got my heart rate up for something that just tastes like a banana smoothie. My only problem was I didn’t blend it long enough so i had tiny bits of spinach, not a lot, but still. anyway, It wasn’t half bad. Here is the recipe I used:

-1 large banana
-1.25 cups milk
-2 cups baby spinach
-1/2 scoop protein powder
-1 tbsp flax seed
-ice

I put the spinach and flax in first, then powder, milk, banana, blend away! Then I added about a cup of ice and blended some more. this is the before and after:

I am so proud of myself for stepping out of the box! I think next time I will add strawberries for a strawberry/banana smoothie. The possibilities are endless!!

I leave this afternoon for New Orleans, woo hoo! SO I am not sure how much I will be blogging. I will at least try to update twitter, so you can follow me on there by clicking on the twitter link in the right sidebar, or check back here for my twitter updates on the sidebar. Have a good Friday everyone!

QOTD: What is your favorite smoothie mix/blend?

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Feeling Good!

February 25, 2010 by

Some of you may remember that I have been feeling nervous and worried about this race. Well I just had a GREAT run! 51 degrees, sunny, beautiful! Well, would have been to cold to just lay out in but great to run in. ANyway, I wasn’t paying much attention just going, and realized I was going pretty fast for me! All three miles just felt really good and smooth and I wasn’t tired. It was a great run!

Me happy after a good run

my girls are so happy to see me unlocking the door!

In other news, I finally got all the Saints stuff I ordered in the mail.

the shirt is a tank top and I am actually considering racing in it Sunday. We shall see!
Hope everyone has a great night. THREE DAYS till race day!

QOTD:What are you doing this weekend?

running skirt giveaway: Endurance Isn’t Only Physical

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More Greek Yogurt and Sunshine!

February 24, 2010 by

So I am really trying to get into this greek yogurt thing. It is growing on me, i just have to learn to eat a whole container at once, I am struggling to get it all down at one time right now. Right now I have been eating Chobani brand. I want to try Oikos, and I found out they sell it at a whole foods type store about 25 minutes from here, so at some point eventually I will mosey down there, but for now, I am sticking to Chobani. I have tried vanilla and strawberry so far. The strawberry I ate plain, I was in a hurry. It wasn’t too bad! This morning I had the vanilla with granola and cinnamon and it wasn’t bad either! definitely an acquired taste but I am getting there!
Have you tried greek yogurt? Well if not, you can get a case of your own, because the Eat, Drink, and Be Hopeful Blog is giving away a case! Check it out on her blog. I plan to try more/new combinations with different toppings and see what i like the best!

I would also like to report THE SUN IS OUT! It REALLY helps my mood, a lot! It is cold though, in the low 40’s, so I think i will run tomorrow, it’s supposed to be sunny and a high of 53, that will be my last run before the half marathon! eeekk!

If you are not following me on twitter, you can do so on my sidebar of this page. It updates twitter whenever I make a new blog post! If you don’t have twitter, you can subscribe via e-mail to my blog on teh sidebar as well.
Hope everyone has a terrific day! We are halfway through the week, woo hoo!

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Mardi Gras Mambo!

February 23, 2010 by

Today is not very exciting, and I am about to head to the gym to run (I SO don’t feel like it!) So I thought I would use today to talk a little about the Mardi Gras Half I am doing Sunday! This is my second half marathon, my first was in January in the Disney half marathon.
The Mardi Gras half has been in existence for awhile, but this is the first time it has teamed up to be a part of the rock n roll series! Go HERE to check out the official site. There will be local bands along the way, and cowboy mouth and sister hazel are playing at the afterparty. The expo is Saturday. Our plan is to drive down to my parents and my friends Karen and Jason are meeting us there and spending the night there as well. Saturday we will go to the expo and check into our hotel, and then we plan to go to the Riverwalk that evening. The race is at 7:00 AM Sunday morning. early, but not as bad as the Disney half (5:40!) After the race we will go back to my parents for a bit then head home. I wanted to go home Monday, but I have no more days off for the school year, so back on Sunday we will go!
I am excited to race in my hometown area, get to see friends and family, and celebrate Mardi gras some more! I have yet to decide what I am going to wear, I may let you help me decide so stay tuned the rest of the week!

By the way, I know I posted my pancake recipe yesterday, but if you go to any ihop today nationwide you get a free short stack! ENJOY! Have a great night everyone, I am headed to the gym for a quick run!

QOTD: What race is your “dream race” to run in? Anywhere in the world! I would have to say the NYC marathon!

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Weatherman, WHAT?

February 22, 2010 by

So I have determined I am in the wrong field. I need to becme a meterologist. I think it’s the only career in which you can be wrong on a regular basis and still keep your job! Today the weather said: rainy in the morning, clearing out by afternoon, high 63.
What the ACTUAL weather was: rainy and gross mist all day, flat out cold, gloomy and overcast, never getting above 46. SERIOUSLY? seriously. So my plan to run outside in this supposed to be beautiful weather…UG! I didn’t bring gym clothes either, so no running today. I did come home and do 15 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes of the Biggest Loser DVD, and some other arm weights. I WILL bring gym clothes tomorrow and I WILL run! BAH!
Ok rant over sorry for that! moving on…Yesterday i made pancakes from scratch! I make them with wheat flour, and chocolate chips. Here is what i did:
2 cups self-rising or all-purpose wheat flour (don’t need baking powder if self rising)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
Syrup

**of course different kinds of butter/milk etc. can be substituted**
– Crack eggs into a bowl and beat until fluffy. Add in the dry ingredients, (omit baking powder if using self-rising flour), and milk. Do not stir mixture at this point.
– Melt the butter in a microwave-safe bowl (like those recommended on SmallMicrowave.co.uk). Make sure that it’s completely melted
-Add the butter to the mix. Stir gently, leaving some small clumps of dry ingredients in the batter. Do not blend until completely smooth. If your batter is smooth, your pancakes will be tough and flat as opposed to fluffy.
-add chocolate chips, beware, they sink to bottom so I had to kind of dig them out of the bottom of the bowl!
-Pour about 3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup batter from the tip of a large spoon or from a pitcher onto the hot griddle(Or your greased frying pan). The amount you pour will decide the final size of your pancakes. It is best to begin with less batter, and then slowly pour more batter onto the pan to increase the pancake size
-Cook for about two minutes or until the pancake is golden. You should see bubbles form and then pop around the edges. When the bubbles at the edge of the batter pop and a hole is left that does not immediately close up, flip the cake gently
-Cook the other side until golden and remove. Want a deeper color? Repeat the steps for another thirty seconds per side until the pancake is done enough for your tastes (color is darker than regular pancakes with white flour)

Here is how they came out, the dark spots are some of the chocolate chips:

Question of the day: What is your favorite pancake topping or mix in?

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Target Pants Review

February 21, 2010 by

So I bought some of the target running pants, and I thought I would take the time to give a little review on the product. First, when i heard the C9 brand was coming out with extended sizes I was stoked! regular pants are too short, and forget putting the in the dryer! The “long” size said on the tag: “for women 5’9″ and taller.” Well, I am 5’9″ so I thought they would fit perfect, and even if they were a SMIDGE too long, I could put them in the dryer.

Well, I bought said pants, and they are SO LONG! Like, almost cover my entire foot wrapped underneath my heel! Seriously? I am 5’9″ and these are ridiculously long! You would have to be about 6’2″ to fit in these! I would think more women are 5’9″ or 5’10” and not 6’2″!!! I was a little bummed about it, but I stuck them in the dryer this morning so hopefully they will shorten up.

They are SUPER comfy, and fit is good other than the length. I got the mediums and felt great in them on my run yesterday (other than the fact that I had to ROLL UP THE BOTTOMS!) I guess that’s how short people feel when wearing regular pants?

Anyway, HERE is the link to the pants. Maybe if you are not abnormally tall/short the regular length will be perfect for you! These pants have some great potential at a great price!

On another note, went to wal mart today and got some spinach, at some point I will be trying a green monster! I am nervous!!
May do some strength training today, we will see!

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Much Better!

February 20, 2010 by

Happy Saturday! It has been a good day. I slept 9 hours, then finished cleaning the closet. It looks sssoo much better. I got rid of some things and packed away some things. I had it all done before Bobby woke up!
Here are some pictures. I put one of the before pics first, just in case you forgot!

and Bobby’s side just because

So I was feeling accomplished! I made smoothies for breakfast and had a banana muffin

Them Bobby decided it was time to shave the dogs (finally!) They were looking pretty shaggy. Bella wouldn’t come, so he did Sassy first. Bella realized it was inevitable, and resigned herself to the fact that she was next.

We just did Sassy, then decided to run and then do Bella after. So we set out for our six miles. It was a beautiful day, low 60’s, I had one pants and a tank top on. Only reason I wore pants was because I just bought them and wanted to try them out. Well, I regretted it a mile in. It was hot!

we ran down our road and across the street to the trails we have been going on, but we went further than usual. There is a low spot on the trail and it has always been covered in water so it forced us to turn around. This is the first time we could cross, yay!


it was an ok run. I averaged about 10 seconds slower than I want to run the half marathon in next weekend, so I was pleased with that.
We came in, shaved poor Bella, and now we have tiny puppies again and not fluffy ones!
Planning to relax, go eat tonight and grocery shop!

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