Senior Bowl Charity Run 10K 2016 Recap!

The Senior Bowl Charity Run is a race in my area that I run every year! They have a 5K, 10K, and a fun run!

Since the Senior Bowl is all about football I usually wear my favorite college football team colors to support them! And just in case you don't know...I'm an Auburn Tigers fan! ;-)

You never know what the weather will be....there are several years it was FREEZING cold and others where it was hot and super humid.  This year the weather was pretty perfect! The temps were in the low 60's at start time.

It only takes about 15 minutes to get to the start area from where I live. Donna and I rode together! We parked and then headed to the Senior Bowl office where we were meeting some of our friends.

Then it was time to head to the start line area! They always fly a HUGE American flag! I love it! 

Of course we needed a few in front of the start line pictures! 

I also found my friend Paige who was there with her church group that she had been training to run a 5K! 

The 5K started first...and then 15 minutes later it was time for the 10K to start! 

I LOVE this start line selfie with my friends Kirstin and Jim!!! 

I didn't really have any goals for this race. I was just planning on running it by feel. I knew I wanted to come in under 55 minutes. But other than that I didn't have a goal. 

I started out running pretty fast. I looked down at one point and saw a 7 minute pace. I knew I needed to slow down so I would have the endurance I needed to finish 6.2 miles! 

This course is super flat, fast, and so pretty! There are numerous times where you are running under the canopy of trees! 

I felt amazing this entire race! I kept a pretty steady pace once I found the pace that felt good. 

Around mile 4 I saw a spectator on the side of the road with a cute dog and she was wearing compression socks and a Boston Marathon shirt. I knew instantly that she was a runner. As I got closer I saw that it was Elizabeth from Running For Bling!!! 

She saw it was me about the same time and shouted "Hey Mindy" to me! I said hey and since I was running and my brain barely works while I'm running I asked her why she wasn't running this race. She reminded me because she had run a marathon the weekend before! Duh! I so knew this but couldn't think of that while running lol! Anyone else have dumb brain while running??? Elizabeth ran the Marine Corp Marathon the previous weekend so she was still in recovery mode. She was super sweet and snapped these pictures of me! You can see I was talking while she took the pictures lol! It was great seeing her out on the course!

So...do you see the guy that was running right beside me? He ran beside me or slightly behind me for most of the last half of the race! It wouldn't have bothered me much if he hadn't been breathing like he was going to die! Kind of annoying! 

With about a mile to go I saw Tim And (my favorite photographer) out on the course snapping away pictures! I said hey to him and he commented on my new hair cut (I had gotten it cut the day before)! He always takes great pics! (And you can see the annoying guy slowed down some...he is about two runners behind me at this point)

Finally we came to the point in the race where we were so close to the finish! You can see the RSA Tower in the background. 

At this point there were two women in front of me that looked like they may be in my age group. I had passed one of them at one point in the race but she ended up passing me a little later. I tried my hardest to get in front of them but I just couldn't. 

Finally I made it to the finish line and had energy to sprint in! 

I stopped my Garmin and saw a finish time of 50:17. I knew I had beat last year's time of 52:34. But I wasn't sure if I had PRed or not. I had to look it up! Sure enough I had PRed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My previous PR was 50:40! I was super excited and proud!!! 

My official time was 50:27 (preliminary results said 50:32) and I placed 3rd in my age group!!!! 

This race isn't chipped timed though. You run in to the finish and tear off the bottom of your bib to hand to the officials. So I'm not sure whether to use the official time as my PR or my actual Garmin time. Either way....it's still a PR! 

Tim saw me and Paige enjoying the finish line festival after the race and like he does best...he took a picture of us! 

The bad news...my friend Donna fell during this race. She hit her chin pretty hard on the pavement. She was all bruised and skinned up on her chin, nose, elbow, and knee. She was ok but in some pain. 

The awards ceremony had a late start of 11:30 but I didn't stay because I knew Donna needed to get home. She ended up going to Urgent Care later just to be sure she didn't have a concussion. She was fine...just bruised up. 

I wanted one more picture in front of the fountain before we left! Donna took it for me. 

I didn't think she would want one with her injuries but she did! Good for her! 

Since Donna works within walking distance of the Senior Bowl office, she picked up my age group award for me yesterday! So sweet of her!

This race was a great one like it always is! I was super surprised and super proud to PR! I will be there again next sure for sure!

QOTD: When a race isn't chipped timed what do you count? Your Garmin or the race's "official" time?

Gulf Coast Half Marathon Mandeville 2016 Recap!

Be sure to read all about packet pickup and the day before the race!

My alarm went off at 5:00 AM race morning. I slept the best I think I've ever slept the night before a race! Donna said she slept great too! I'm not sure if it was because there were only the 2 of us rooming together so we each had our own bed or what. We also talked about how we weren't stressed out about this race at all. So I'm sure that helped too!

Donna and I got ready in record time and made it to the lobby by 5:30. We were so excited because our hotel offered breakfast starting at 5:30! Usually the free breakfasts don't start until after we have left for the race. So I was so excited to eat a bowl of oatmeal and have a cup of coffee!!!

We left the hotel around 5:45 and were on our way to the state park where the race begins and ends. We made it in plenty of time and with minimal traffic. We had enough time to use the real bathrooms in the park and not the porta potties! Score!!!

The temperature was in the 60's and it was humid. Last year I remember it being cold and us sitting in the car for awhile before the race to stay warm. Not this year.

After using the restroom we headed to our meeting spot to take a group picture. There were about 15 Sole2Soul Sisters there! We were all wearing orange shirts with the words "Fight the Good Fight" from 1 Timothy 6:12. This shirt was in honor of our fellow Sole2Soul Sister Leah who is fighting cancer. We were all so happy and blessed to be running in Leah's honor!

Before long it was time to line up in the chute! Everyone crowded in and I couldn't get exactly where I wanted to be. But I did find Gina, Kristi, and Beth so I stayed with them!

Mike, the race director, warned us the cannon would go off but I still jumped when it did! It was loud lol! Then we were off! 

In my training I had been staying around an 8:45-9 minute mile. So that was pretty much my plan for the race. 

I had to do a lot of weaving in and out of people the first mile since I couldn't get further up in the chute like I had wanted. But once I got out of the crowd I was able to keep a pretty steady pace. 

I was feeling great from the start! My legs were great and my breathing was great! I got into a great steady pace! I did more of running the way I felt rather than paying attention to my pace. I realized that I was running faster than my training but it felt good so I just kept running that way. 

This route is so pretty! You start out in the park and then you exit out of it, run down a highway, and then you enter neighborhoods with tons of beautiful houses! 

I was surrounded by people most of the race. But it wasn't too crowded. 

I decided to do water stops the way I had been training. That meant stopping around mile 3.5 and mile 7-8. Thankfully this race has TONS of water stops! 

Every mile marker was clearly marked with signs which I love! 

Around mile 4.5 I turned onto my favorite part of the course...running along Lake Pontchartrain! The water was beautiful and all the houses were gorgeous! 

At mile 6 we made a right turn into a neighborhood. I just kept cruising along and enjoyed looking at all the houses! 

We weaved in and out of neighborhoods until around mile 9. Shortly after reaching mile 9 we turned onto the bike trail (Tammany Trace). This part of the race always seems to take forever. You are so close to being done but still have about 4 miles! 

While on the trail there was a guy in front of me. I was running in his left blind spot. I was keeping a steady pace but couldn't go any faster to pass him. I finally told him I was sorry I was running right on him and he said that it was ok because I was keeping him motivated! I told him we were running the same pace and it was helping me too. We talked a little but mostly just ran near each other. We were both pretty focused. 

After what seemed like forever we finally took a right hand turn off the trail and back into the park. This was around mile 11.5. Not much more to go. The guy stopped for a water stop but I kept going. Not long after reaching mile 12 he caught up to me. I said, "There you are!" He replied, "I'm back! Only one mile to go!" 

He ended up running a little faster than me that last mile but he was still in my sights. Y'all! That last mile was TOUGH! I was so ready to be done! But I didn't want to slow down. 

FINALLY I see this sign! And I LOVED it! That's exactly how I was feeling lol! 

Once I saw the finish line and the time clock I started sprinting! I knew at that point that I was really close to a PR! 

I ran across the line and stopped my Garmin! But I didn't even look at it right away. The guy I had been running with at the end had stopped at the end of the chute and told me great job and fist bumped me. I saw him later and we talked a bit. He was super nice! I told him thank you because he helped push me!

I finally looked down at my Garmin! Woohoo!!! I had done it! I had PRed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My official time was 1:52:23!!!! That was an 8 second PR! Hey...it's only 8 seconds but I'll take it!!! 

I stayed at the finish line and watched Beth, Kristi, and Gina finish. Then I went and found them. 

The official race results were posted and I found out that I was 5th in my age group! Pretty sweet! 

After looking at the results we went to our cars to put up the glass they had given us at the finish line. I didn't want it to get broken. I also wanted to change into my flip flops lol! 

On the way back from the car I ran into Jennifer! She had a cold so it wasn't a great race for her but she did it! 

She told me that the race director, Mike, had just called my name over the speaker to come see him. He had told me earlier to not leave because he had something for me. So I found him and he blessed me so much y'all! He and his family had gone to Hawaii this summer. He told me he had had this since then and had meant to mail it but never got around to it. 3 weeks ago he was going to mail it and his wife told him to just give it to me at this race. Y'all! He bought me the Starbucks mug from Waikiki!!! I was soooooooo excited!!!! 

The after party was amazing like always! There was lots of yummy food! I had a bowl of jambalaya and a peanut butter smoothie sample! Yum! There was also a live band like always and they were amazing! 

Once everyone finished we talked for awhile with everyone and then we headed to the car. 

Donna and I got back to the hotel. We had a late check out so we were able to get showers! Yay! We dressed in our race shirts and then met Sherry, Mindy S., and Rachel at Zea's for lunch. By this time I was starving y'all! 

I was so hungry that I FORGOT to take a picture of my food!!! But I had an amazing cheeseburger, grits, and french fries! So good! 

After lunch we headed next door to Starbucks for some coffee for the drive home! I had earned that Venti Coffee Frappuccino Light! 

It was such a fun race weekend! I was so shocked and amazed at my PR! I seriously never thought I would beat my previous time! Hard work really pays off y'all! I am also going to say that I think the strength training helped this PR happen as well as my training! 

Thanks for reading!!! 

QOTD: What is your favorite indulgence after a race? 

Crescent City Classic 10K Recap!

Disclaimer: As a Crescent City Classic Blogger I received a free race entry, free pasta dinner, and entry into the VIP tent. No other compensation was provided. All opinions are mine alone.

Be sure to read about the race expo and pasta dinner the night before!

I slept pretty well the night before this race. We woke up early since we needed to park at the finish line and take a shuttle to the start. We wanted to have plenty of time in case we ran into traffic. Luckily we had no issues and found a parking spot pretty quickly. We loaded a bus that took us straight to Champions Square.

We had plenty of time before the race started! We went to the restroom. And then we got free coffee from Community Coffee!!!

All the bloggers were meeting at the start line for a picture. I had plenty of time to make it but they weren't letting anyone through to the start line. The only other option was going through the host hotel...and I didn't have time for that. So I missed the blogger start line picture...again! :-( 

Before long it was time to head to our corrals! All that coffee had me needing to use the restroom again so I said goodbye to my friends and headed that way. But y'all! The line was soooo long! I decided to skip it and headed to my corral. But that meant that I needed to pee the ENTIRE RACE!!!

Before long....we were off!!! I didn't remember this race being so crowded! Especially in the corral I was in. But then I remembered that the first corrals were the seeded runners (super fast) and then they had the corral for the charity runners (all speeds). Then came my corral. So I basically did a TON of weaving around slower runners and walkers. 

About half a mile in we made a left hand turn onto Canal Street. I had to take a picture of all the streetcars sitting there!

And then....there was mile 1! That mile seemed to fly by!

Shortly after mile 1 we made a right hand turn onto Decatur Street. We passed Jackson Square on the left and I took a picture as I ran by!

Then on the right was Cafe Du Monde! 

We passed the French Market. And then we made that left onto Esplanade Avenue. Shortly after the turn was mile 2! 

We stayed on Esplanade the next few miles. But it's a beautiful street so I didn't mind! The trees are pretty and the homes are gorgeous! Plus the course was still so crowded so I had plenty of entertainment around me! And the spectators that were manning "water stops" with alcohol shots and beer were fun to watch!

All this kept me pretty entertained as I reached mile 3!

And mile 4!

Right before mile 5 I could see the finish line and see the Museum of Art. The course was different this year and instead of having to go around the Museum of Art we would be finishing right in front of it! But it was torture to see it and not head towards it. I still had about 1.3 miles to go!

Luckily mile 5 changed up the scenery some as we entered part of City Park.

This part of the race brought back memories of my first full marathon when Andy was waiting for me at this part of the course which was around mile 25! 

In what seemed like forever I finally reached mile 6 and then the finish line! I was glad to be done because it was humid and hot!

My official time was 52:06! Not a PR like I was hoping but not too shabby either. I just didn't have a PR in me that day and that's ok.

I received my medal and took a finisher picture! 

And then I headed to the Race Fest! Remember how I didn't get to use the restroom at the beginning of the race? Yeah...I needed a potty quick!

I headed straight to the VIP tent where I knew there would be real bathrooms and not porta potties. Boy was it great to use the bathroom and then wash my hands with soap and water! Heavenly!!!

Then it was time to enjoy myself! Chocolate milk was the first thing on my list! 

I just LOVED the decorations at the tables! So cute!

Don't mind me....just hanging out in VIP!!!

I also enjoyed a sandwich from Subway! And I might have had some frozen yogurt as well! ;-)

I enjoyed talking with Heather and Jen while waiting on the rest of my group to get there!

I enjoyed hanging out with Larisa too!!!

I love all my blogger friends!!!!

We were having a blast and then all of a sudden it started POURING down rain y'all!!! I felt so bad for my friends that were still on the course! But they were having some fun on their own! When it started raining they just went into the cemetery and got under a tombstone lol!!!! My first words to them after hearing that story was..."Did you get a picture?" They didn't disappoint me! I'd like to think that I taught them well lol!

Before long all my friends arrived in VIP. It was so much more fun having them in VIP with me this year! 

Way too soon it was time to walk back to the car. Luckily our hotel gave us a late check out and we were all able to get showers before the drive home! But first we stopped for coffee of course! I ordered a yummy King Cake Velvet Ice! So good!

We clean up pretty good! And of course it's race tradition to wear our race shirts home!

On the way home we were all starving so we stopped at New Orleans Hamburger and Seafood Co! My hamburger and onion rings were AMAZING!!!

I absolutely LOVE running the Crescent City Classic 10K! I'm so thankful to be a blogger for the race and get to run it each year! It's so much fun! If you haven't run this one please consider it next year! You will have a blast!!!

QOTD: What is your favorite post race meal? I always seem to crave hamburgers!