Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2016 Recap!

Be sure to read all about the expo the day before!!!

I actually slept really good the night before this race! Yay! We woke up early because we needed to pack all our things and get checked out of the hotel. We also chose to park at the finish line and take the shuttle to the start line. So we had to get up earlier for that.

We made it in plenty of time...or so we thought. When we got close to the parking areas traffic was at a standstill! We were all panicking that we weren't going to make it on time. Luckily, despite the traffic, we made it onto a bus and to the start line with time to spare. We still had time to potty and take plenty of pictures before heading to the corrals.

Where the bus dropped us off had us walking straight to the start line. So we were able to stop for a few pictures! Yay!

I wanted my standard before the race picture....but I could tell something was wrong! Larisa was behind me!!!!! It was great seeing her!!!!

And don't worry! I still got my picture!!! ;-)

We left the start line and headed to meet our Sole2Soul Sisters for a group picture and prayer. 

Then it was time to head to our corral. We were in corral 4 but there were people that were supposed to be in corral 20 that were in our corral. Very frustrating. Rock 'n' Roll definitely doesn't enforce the corrals like they do at Disney.

It didn't take long and we were standing under the start line! It was time to Rock 'n' Roll!!!

We were off! And it was very crowded! We had to weave in and out of runners everywhere. The first mile we turn a few times until we end up on St. Charles Avenue. 

Jenny needed to adjust her sock because it was hurting her calf. So she stopped to do that and I took a selfie with the first band!!!

We kept on running down St. Charles. The course never got any less crowded. I forgot how big this race actually was. Luckily we were still able to keep a fairly decent pace. But the coolest thing about this race is as you are running down St. Charles you can see the elite runners heading back on the opposite side of the street! They are so crazy fast!!!

We turned around and started heading back around mile 4.5. We started looking for our Sole2Soul Sisters! We yelled at them as we spotted them!

I loved seeing all the Mardi Gras beads still dangling from the trees!

And beads on the power lines!

Around mile 7.5 we turned onto Magazine Street. We could hear the bagpipes playing before we saw them! They are always out front of The National WWII Museum in kilts playing the bagpipes! It's one of my favorite parts of the race! Gives you chills!

I just love running in New Orleans! 

Around this point in the race I decided to SnapChat a quick video. I told Jenny what I was doing but I don't think she heard me! Isn't she just the cutest??!!!

Around mile 9.5 we made it to Jackson Square!

And we passed Cafe Du Monde! Yummy!!!

We passed the French Market and made it to mile 10! At the mile 10 water stop the race crew was waving American Flags as we ran by. It was soooo awesome!!!

We then made a left hand turn onto Esplanade Avenue. This road would lead us straight to the finish line! There were tons of spectators out cheering us on! We even saw this lady who was dancing under a disco ball! We couldn't resist a selfie with her! She was so awesome!

Before long we had made it to mile 12.5! And they had the huge Brooks inflatable guy out this year!!! I missed him last year!

We ran under him and then turned left to go around the New Orleans Museum of Art. The finish line was now in sight!!! 

We did it! We ran the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon the weekend after Princess!!!

My Garmin time was 1:58:27! My official time was 1:58:23!!! I was so pleased that we had finished the half under 2 hours on Princess legs!!!

We took our finisher picture!

And then we headed straight for the chocolate milk!!! I LOVE chocolate milk after a long run! And yes...we took TWO lol!

We then headed to a sunny place to sit and wait for our friends! We had to take a few after pictures of course! I LOVED my shirt and wanted a picture of the front and the back!

As we were sitting there we were chowing down on our food! We got lots of yummy food coming through the finisher chute!

I looked up at one point and guess who was coming towards us? Heather!!!!

 It was great seeing her as always!

Not long after Donna, Susanne, and Susie finished. It was then time to head to the marathon finish line and cheer for our Sole2Soul Sisters that were running the full. I always love cheering at the finish line and seeing people run in! There were several times I got teary eyed! 

And I LOVED seeing my friends all running in together! I was so proud of them!!!

After all our runners had finished it was time to pack it up and head home. But first we were starving and needed some food! This steak definitely hit the spot!

Rock 'n' Roll put on another great race! I always love running New Orleans and will definitely run it again next year!!!

QOTD: What is your favorite Rock 'n' Roll race?

The Weekly Chase #168!

Happy Monday y'all! It's back to work and school for us today. We had an amazing Spring Break! I so wasn't ready for it to end. But....we only have 7 weeks until summer break!!! Yay!!!

We enjoyed the last few days of Spring Break. Friday it rained all day long. So we stayed home. I did venture out real quick to borrow the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding from my friend Donna! I had never seen it and we had plans to go see the 2nd one on Saturday. So it was the perfect rainy day activity! And the movie was hilarious! I LOVED it!

For dinner that evening we had pizza since I planned on doing a long run the next morning. And we rented the movie The Martian. It was really good!!! And I enjoyed snuggling with this little guy during the movie!

The rain brought in cooler weather so Saturday's long run was perfect temperature wise. It was still really windy though. But I still had a great 8 miles! Everything was so green from all the rain!

It was so pretty out that we spent most of the morning outside. The boys played on the trampoline, Andy worked on the lawn mower and then cut the grass, and I enjoyed swinging with the boys on the playset! 

Love my tractor man!!!

Later that morning Andy's parents, sister, and nephew all came over. We went out for some lunch. And then we did some shopping. It was great spending a few hours with them!

We had a few more errands and so we decided a Starbucks stop was due. I never go through the drive thru but since the whole family was with me I decided to that day. The barista still knew it was me! When I got up to the window she gave me my drink for free!!! So sweet!

Later that afternoon I met Donna and Paige at the movie theater. We saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and it was just as good and funny as the first! We laughed so hard!!!

After the movie I went home to the family and cooked a yummy dinner of spaghetti and Caesar salad. Perfect end to a great day!

Sunday morning I woke up to another cool morning. I had a great recovery run! 

Then we headed to church that morning. After church we went out to eat for lunch. Then the rest of the day was spent getting ready for the week.

Now it's time for the Weekly Chase! It's a new week and I have new goals to achieve! I hope you will link up your own goals with me too! And feel free to use the badge below in your post too! You can grab the badge HERE! :-)

Here are last week's goals!

• Goal #1: Run every day! Yes! I had so much fun running in daylight all week!
• Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. Yes!
• Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories. Yes!
• Goal #4: Move 11,000 steps or more each day this week. Yes! I had a few days where I had 20,000 steps! But Friday was tough since I stayed home all day due to the rain. I got in my 11,000 but I had to walk around the house a bunch to get the steps in.
• Goal #5: Run at least 1 run under 2 miles. No. I was on Spring Break and it was so pretty outside that I just wanted to run! 
• Goal #6: Have fun with my boys during Spring Break! Yes! We did something with friends almost every day! They said they had fun!

Here are my goals for this week!

Every week goals:

Goal #1: Run every day! 

Goal #2: Roll, stretch, and ice daily. 

Goal #3: Maintain my weight by logging my calories.

Goal #4: Move 11,000 steps or more each day this week.

Goal #5: Run at least 1 run under 2 miles.

Goal #6: Get everything copied for memory books. I make a memory book for my preschoolers that I give them at the end of the year. Since we only have 7 weeks of school left I need to get started on these. The first step is to get everything copied. 

Goal #7: Shop for Cub Scouts camping trip. The spring campout is this weekend. I need to get all the food the boys will need for the weekend. 

So that's my plan this week! It's also going to take a bit to get back into the routine. I know we can do it!

Happy week of accomplishing your goals!

QOTD: What goals are you chasing this week?

Fitness Friday...April 1st Edition!

Happy Friday y'all! I'm a little sad it's already Friday. Because that means my Spring Break is almost over! :-( But I'm counting down until summer vacation...only 7 weeks of school left!!!

We have had a relaxing and fun Spring Break! We didn't go anywhere extravagant but we had fun hanging out with friends every day!

On Monday we met the Brendels and Bishops at the park. The splash pad was also open so all the kids had a blast playing in the water! Shame on me...I didn't take even one picture! I know....what is wrong with me??!!

On Tuesday morning I got some blogging done while drinking my mermaid coffee! Did you read about my last day as a mermaid during Princess weekend? And did you read about the Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans Expo?

After lunch we met the Brendels and Bishops for some froyo! Well....the kids had froyo!

The mommas had Starbucks of course! 

After our yummy treats we headed to a different park to play! The kids had another blast!

After the park it was time for dinner. We ate at my favorite chicken finger place with the Brendels!

Wednesday afternoon we met the Brendels for lunch. Then we went to Blakeley State Park to hike! We had so much fun exploring!

We also found the "Hanging Tree" in the old town! Yikes! And yes...the song from the Hunger Games started playing in my head lol!

It was a fun afternoon involving my favorite element....exercise!!!

For dinner we met Andy at Chicken Salad Chick. He needed to work a little late so wanted to eat dinner with us. After dinner the boys and I went to Petco to look around. Cullen needs a new scratching post because he has scratched his to pieces! We always love looking at all the critters. And this snake was creepy! He was trying his hardest to escape!

Thursday morning after my run I took a nice long walk. The rain was coming in later that day and I wanted to soak up as much sunshine as I could. 

That afternoon we met the Brendels at the movie theater. We saw "Zootopia!" It was super cute!!!

Now it's time for Fitness Friday! I LOVED getting to run in the daylight all week long! It's going to be hard to go back to early, dark mornings next week.

• Friday- 2.51 mile run in 20:02 average pace 8:00

• Saturday- Crescent City Classic 10K in 52:06 average pace 8:24

• Sunday- 2.54 mile run in 20:21 average pace 8:01

• Monday- #plankaday 2:05, 2.52 mile run in 20:16 average pace 8:03

• Tuesday- #plankaday 2:05, 2.26 mile run in 18:17 average pace 8:06

• Wednesday- #plankaday 2:05, 2.16 mile run in 17:26 average pace 8:04

• Thursday- #plankaday 2:05, 2.51 mile run in 20:25 average pace 8:08

It was a great week of runs! As I mentioned above, I loved running in the daylight! I am definitely longing for summer now!!!

I'm no longer training for any races. There is one 10K at the end of April that I haven't made up my mind yet whether or not I'm running. But for now I'm just running to run. I'm going to try to get in a 5-6 mile run this weekend if I can. But it's nice to not have the pressure of training! 

Happy weekend y'all! 

QOTD: What was your best run or workout this week?