2014 Rock N Roll New Orleans Marathon Recap

If you missed my Rock N Roll New Orleans Expo Recap, click below:

• Expo Recap
• Expo/NOLA Vlog
• Rock N Roll Official Website

------------------------------------------------------------------

On race morning, I began my usual morning routine – breakfast, tea, getting dressed, checking the weather…

As the weather app updated on my screen, I breathed a sigh of agitation. Already I knew it didn’t look good – they were calling for a high between 60-70 degrees, 96% humidity, and a 50% chance of rain. Also, it was incredibly foggy outside.

What do you do on days like that but put your best food forward and continue on?

So, that’s what I did. After a quick outfit change (from capri tights to a running skirt), I met Nicole and Francine in the lobby of my hotel to begin our short walk to the start line.

While they met up with their running group, Jason and I took a few pictures. I have to brag on my husband for a moment here – he is such a good sport. The night before the race, he walked to Walgreens to get Tylenol and safety pins for me…then the morning of the race, he walked back to our hotel to get a set of headphones for me. Not to mention the fact that he was up with us at the start line before the race even began.

Yes, he’s amazing. Ok…back to the race! :0)

We decided to take a port-a-potty stop before the race and had to RUN back to our corrals to make it in time for the start…we might have been at the potties when the wheelchair start began…whoops.

We made it anyway!

Unlike last year, Louisiana Running Company was hosting pace groups for the race. (Last year, there were NO pace groups to be seen!)

Nicole and I decided ahead of time to follow the 4:30 pace group and stick with them as long as possible.

We quickly discovered that following a pace group wasn’t in the cards for us that day. It was too hard to follow them with so many people around and the effort was zapping our energy too fast. We decided to say goodbye to the pace team around mile 2.5 and we watched as the the balloons slowly disappear out of sight.

Never fear, though – we were still having a great time! Nicole was fun to run with and it was her first marathon, I enjoyed experiencing it with her!

As we bobbed and weaved through the crowds, we continued our journey through the streets of downtown New Orleans.

This stretch seemed to go on forever, although it was only 4 and a half miles in length. When we finally reached the turn around point, we were both relieved!

As we neared the French Quarter, the fog grew thicker and the air a little cooler. It was the strangest thing, it literally felt as if we walked through a wall and into a room filled with cool misty air! I know the temperature dropped several degrees. A friend of mine said someone shouted “It’s the Voodoo Apocalypse”!  Hah!

All joking aside, Nicole and I commented how sad we were for people ran this race from out of town – especially those who were there to see the sights. The fog was preventing all of that!

We passed Jackson Square around mile 9 and a half, but where’s St. Louis Cathedral?!

Mid-race beignets, anyone?

I find it amusing that the course passes a cemetery around Mile 12…

We reached mile 12 and I stopped for my usual 12 mile sign picture. Nicole asked why the tradition and I honestly didn’t know how to answer her – it’s just something I’ve done at every Half/Full I’ve run!

Also, I was shocked that we had reached Mile 12 already! Even though we had been running for 2+ hours, the miles seemed as if they had flown by!

The full marathon course split from the half marathon not long after mile 12 and we couldn’t resist a silly picture! Which way should we go?

In my opinion, this split is the best and worst thing about this course. It’s the best thing because if you are having a bad race and decide to split off at the half mark, you can; and it’s the worst thing because the full marathon course takes you right near the finish line at City Park, then leads you out an additional several miles away from the park before bringing you back.

After splitting from the half marathoners, this course thins out considerably (YAY)!

Favorite sign of the day, hands down! It was Superbowl Sunday, after all!

Along the 2nd half of the course, the bands and crowd support were considerably less noticeable. These guys were my favorite water stop of the day, though! They gave us bananas and SUPER water…definitely a boost when we needed it!

The back part of this course is also the hilliest part of the race. Thankfully, this band was a the top of one of the worst hills! Loved their pick-me-up!

The foggy, nasty weather also ruined this beautiful view of the river. Oh well.

I’m not sure why I was still smiling here – I think it was because I thought I still had a chance to PR. This was also around the time my feet began to hurt, bad. I felt at this point the way I usually feel at the very end of a marathon. I knew I still had several miles to go – I began a mental check of what went wrong. That’s when I realized the streets – they were slick the ENTIRE way through this race. My body was working overtime because I was pushing myself AND running on wet streets.

I also stopped around this point for a GU and to apply a little biofreeze on my knees.

Somewhere along this route, we spotted our friend (and Nicole’s coach), Stephen. He had ridden his bike out to Lakeshore Drive to cheer runners on. I can’t tell you how much of a pick-me-up he was!! I was very grateful to see a familiar face!

The turnaround point for the Full is halfway up a bridge. What is that all about? Notice the timing mat at the turn around – meant to ensure that runners make their way up the entire length up the bridge. Not cool.

I can’t tell you how glad I was to be on the last stretch of this race. My knees were really bothering me by this point. (My left knee was hurting more than my right – which is the original knee that gave me all of the IT Band pain in the first place – you know, the rehab knee. Lovely.)

I continued trudging on while applying biofreeze sample packs to both knees every 4 miles or so.

The photographer caught us walking up an incline!

I don’t have many pictures from the last few miles of this race. I lost Nicole for a while but could see her in front of me if I looked hard enough.

At that point, I put my headphones in and began listening to my running playlist on my iPhone. The first set of songs to play were from the Frozen soundtrack. I had to laugh at the irony – just three days before this race, the streets of New Orleans and most of the southern part of Louisiana were frozen over – and here I was, running in 96% humidity with temps in the 70’s. This race was honestly one of the most miserable races I’ve ever run (weather wise). Don’t get me wrong, I love this race…the weather was kicking my butt!

We reached City Park and I caught back up to Nicole and tried to push it to the end. As I neared the finish line I realized that I wasn’t going to PR, so I paused and waited on Nicole to catch back up to me. I wanted to be with her as she crossed the finish line and became a marathoner for the first time!

My friend Katie came out to spectate and even made a SIGN for me! I was so excited to see her (hence the grin on my face)!

All smiles – I see the finish line!

Nicole and I crossed the finish line at 4 hours and 48 minutes.

I was exhausted, thrilled, and disappointed (in myself and the conditions) all at the same time. What a rush of emotion!

We snapped this picture and as I turned around, I saw something I’ve never seen before at a race….

…a finish line marriage proposal! How exciting!!

After saying goodbye to Nicole, I set out to find Jason and Katie. She made the “arms” sign for Jason and I about died from laughter when I saw it! He’s a big jokester and that was the perfect sign for him. Good call, Katie!!

Marathon #5 and my 5th Rock N Roll New Orleans race in the books!

I truly do love this race and hope to continue running it for years to come!

We didn’t hang around the finish line festival long, but we did make our way to the Merchandise tent to check out their finishers shirts. I never knew about these special (for purchase) shirts until last year. This year’s shirt was adorable, so I bought it! :0) (It’s a few pictures down…)

On our way out, I spotted my Goofy/Dumbo buddy Scott! He ran a PR in the marathon that day and was also a 5th year veteran!

We chatted with Scott for a few, then boarded a bus to take us back to the downtown area.

After a shower and a little relaxation at Katie’s house, we grabbed lunch at ACME followed by dessert at Café Du Monde.

Check out my awesome finisher’s shirt (that’s a pink fleur de lis on the front)!

Even though this race didn’t go as planned, there’s nothing I could have done about the weather. I have never hurt as bad as I did after this race and I attribute it to the slick streets and horrible weather – just an overall “off” day.

Do I plan on running this race again in the future? Absolutely. This is a beautiful course and Rock N Roll puts on a great event.

Stay tuned for a follow up post with final thoughts of this race. :0)

Have you ever participated in a Rock N Roll event? If so, what’s your favorite?