Rock and Roll New Orleans Half Marathon!!!

The weekend started with Jason and I travelling the roads to New Orleans, LA on Friday night! We got stuck in HORRIBLE traffic right outside of Baton Rouge for an HOUR AND A HALF! Of course that set our trip back so it took us 4.5 hours to get there instead of just 3. Oh well! We finally arrived at Heather's parents house and we settled in for the night. We enjoyed a nice relaxing evening and we even got to sleep in on Saturday morning (I can't tell you the last time I got to sleep in on a Saturday morning!)!!

We woke up Saturday morning to gorgeous weather and made our way to downtown New Orleans. We stayed at the Wyndham Riverfront so we were RIGHT by the Convention Center which was GREAT! It was so nice being able to walk everywhere we needed to go! We checked into our hotel, then walked down the street to the Expo.

Health and Fitness Expo



YAY It's here!!!



I was SO excited for this Expo since I didn't get to really enjoy Disney's Expo. (It was way overcrowded with people and I was really overwhelmed with it all cause I didn't know what to expect!)



That's US! Me, Heather, and Bobby!!



We walked through and got our goodie bags/shirts, then headed to the merchandise. I had to laugh at the changing rooms!!! lol Jason was given a goodie bag, too! lol This cheery/peppy girl asked him if he wanted one and he was like, "OK!" Hahahha



The first place we went was to the Running Skirts booth but the twins weren't there! :0( Sad times!



One of the next things we saw was the Disney Booth with the Disney Endurance Series Medals! Yay!!!



And this is where we spotted a bunch of Running of the Ears people!! (It's an online community for those who love running and Disney!)





As we were on the way out...this was the Expo hall!



YAY we are HERE and we were going to kick butt tomorrow!!!!

RACE MORNING

We woke up about 5:00 a.m.....that is SO much more do-able over THREE a.m. like Disney!! lol We got dressed and as we were getting ready, we could hear a commotion going on outside. First a Mardi Gras float passed with a bunch of cops leading the way, then we heard a band and saw a ton of people walking behind. They were going to the race start. That was WAY too early for us!!!! lol



Here I am dressed and ready! My fabulous friend, Crystal let me borrow her running skirt to match my outfit!!



Heather and I!



Bobby is a promise kid. He didn't listen when Heather told him not to rip his race number and he ripped it anyway! lol Poor Bobby!!



All dressed and ready to go!




Jason wasn't happy to be up so early!!! lol

We decided to start walking down about 5:50 a.m. The race didn't start until 7 a.m. so we had plenty of time because they didn't let us in our corrals until 6:30 a.m.



One of the MANY bands performing at the race! These guys were at the start!



Heather and I at the race start!!



Pre race goodies!



Crazy lines for the portapotties! Bobby and I went and left Heather and Jason waiting. It was funny cause a lady asked Jason to take a picture of her and her husband and she commented about how Jason wasn't running and how supportive of a husband he was. Heather was like, "Yep! He's pretty supportive!" Hahahah




Jason and I before the race!





There were people everywhere! I read that over 13,000 finished this race!



On the way to our corrals, we saw this! I thought it was cute! :0)



This was right outside our corral.



Heather and I in corral 13 waiting to go...



We made the way...FINALLY...up to the race start. It took us 30 minutes to get there but I LOVED the timed starts. Each corral started at 3 minute or 90 second intervals! It was great!



They had random Mardi Gras floats all over the course. This one is what carried the "elite" runners to the start line (you know, the Olympians, the Kenyans, etc)



At the start! This race started with the Half and Full runners together. Then they split us up around mile 4 or so.

Our corral started about 7:30 a.m. We got going and were excited to be running this race! They had a band at the first half mile and about every mile after that. We saw Mardi Gras floats, people with funny posters cheering us on, fancy costumes, etc..



We made it to mile 3!!



We were making REALLY good time and were excited about how we were doing!!!



I was worried that I would go the wrong way and would end up running the full! lol However, the paths were CLEARLY marked! We stayed separate the rest of the race.



About the 4th mile, we stopped for GU and water. This guy behind us was like "I'm not a stalker...I'm just keeping pace with you guys cause y'all are doing great!" lol!!

At mile 5, I had to stop to make my heart beat right again and the "follower" kept on going.



It was about this point I noticed my right knee and my left foot KILLING ME! I realized it was because of the VERY uneven and broken roads! It was bad!! I pushed through the pain and it was all good!



You could see Mardi Gras beads in the trees/power lines, etc..lol!



We had to stop somewhere around here because Heather's side was going crazy. I didn't mind the break one minute!!!! lol



Halfway there!!!



There was a contest for the best dressed/most spirited cheerleaders. I think these girls were pretty high up on the list! They were SO peppy!!! lol



Running towards the French Quarter. On one of the street corners, we saw a guy with a platter of cut up donuts and cups of beer! He was handing them out during the race! CRAZY!!!! lol



St. Louis Cathedral



Around mile 10, Heather said, "Hey look! It's stalker guy!" I picked up the pace to catch back up to him and I was like, "We're baaaaack!" lol I think he wanted a 2:30 time too but I'm not sure if he made it or not!



Making GREAT time!!!



It was about this point that I started to really feel the pain. I had run 12 miles in trainig and it was a GREAT run but I didn't run it near as hard as I was running this race. We had a goal set 2hours 30minutes and we were SO close so I knew we had to keep pushing through the pain.



I seriously wanted to curl up in here and die. I felt close to that point at least!!! lol



Aaaaaaah almost there! They had us run around a lake and then to the finish! Around the lake, there were people sitting out front of their houses watching the runners go by. This one lady was making mimosas for the runners!!! lol She told one guy "you may hate me later!" lol!!!



Steppers close to the end!



Here we are running it in!



Last mile!



Run to Disney...lol I saw this at the Museum of Art at City Park and it made me happy!!! lol



Woohoo we are almost there and we were really excited cause we knew we got our goal time!!!



We saw the finish line so we started hauling BUTT!!! We were going like a 9:20 pace! lol We pretty much kept an 11:30 pace or so the whole race!



Jason saw us coming...I had no idea where he was at!



Running FAST to the finish!!! After Heather and I crossed the finish line at TWO HOURS AND TWENTY EIGHT MINUTES, I turned and screamed and hugged Heather!!!! lol I was so excited we go our goal time!!!!



LOTS and lots of medals!



We took the official race pictures, got our bananas, water, gatorade, chips, granola bars, etc., then went to find Jason!



He spotted us before we spotted him!! lol



Yay I'm so excited we did it!!!



Bobby was tired, too! He finished in 2:14! Good job, Bobby!



At the after party!



SO EXCITED!



My time on my Garmin! lol





Concert stage. We didn't stay long after.



Lots of people at the after party!



These are the girls in my running group that I've been running with on Saturdays! They did great in their first half marathon!!!



A little cold on the way back to the room! lol



Showered and ready to go back home! We made it home in GREAT time! This morning, I woke up sore and stiff and I hobbled around work all day!! lol