The Louisiana Marathon

Marathon number 9 was all sorts of fun.  The Louisiana Marathon was held in Baton Rouge, so Britt and I made a girls' weekend of it.  The boys stayed home.  And while I was sad not to have my number 1 fan there, we still had a great time.

Britt was impressed that this man was playing a keyboard while waiting for his flight.

We arrived in Baton Rouge, checked into our hotel, and made our way downtown for the expo.

Bib Number.

We stopped for pizza at a place called Schlitz & Giggles (hilarious!) and met the vice president of the 50 States Club.  Britt thought he was our waiter and struck up a conversation with him only to realize he was there to run his 360th marathon, not serve us pizza.

Bien Venue!

We decided to eat at the Pre-Race Pasta dinner... or "Pastalaya" as they called it.  We were both very excited because Bill Rogers (Boston Billy) was a featured speaker.  He won the Boston Marathon 4 times, so we had high expectations.  He stepped up and garbled some nonsense which left us wondering if he was perhaps high on drugs. 

The next speaker was named Matt Long and we'd never heard of him.  He turned out to be AMAZING.  He was a NYC Firefighter/Iron Man who was run over by a bus, given a 5% chance to live, and came back to do run another marathon.  If that's not inspiration, I don't know what is.  He totally made up for Billy.

On race morning we were supposed to take a shuttle from the hotel to the race start.  But when we came down to catch the shuttle, we were told that the shuttle wasn't coming.  F.  Luckily we were able to grab a ride with some runners who had driven to Baton Rouge.  Talk about unnecessary stress!

Good morning, Louisiana!

The Capital.

This is only the third year of the Louisiana Marathon, but it was very well organized.  Once we got to the race start, things went very smoothly.

Our goal going into this had been to break 3:30.  I was feeling very intimidated by this number.  If you talked to me during training, you know that I was less than dedicated this time around.  I felt like the lack of recovery from Chicago, plus the holidays and cold weather were all used as excuses not to train.  I only got a couple of really long runs in and my weekly mileage was low.  I knew Britt had really been training, so I was concerned about keeping up.

The race started and the weather was perfect.  We ran through beautiful neighborhoods and I ogled over the green yards with flowers and orange trees in the front yards.  We ran past plantations and through the LSU campus.  Our pace was quick, but I felt great.

Then the feeling you never want to feel in a race came... I needed a porta-potty.  Nooooo!  As we approached the aid station at mile 14 I saw one up ahead.  I told Britt I was going to sprint ahead and to go on without me, that I'd catch up.

After the quickest potty break ever, I hit the gas and sped off to find Britt.  It didn't take me long as I saw her up ahead running the opposite direction of the race towards me.  She's crazy.  We'd lost a minute and a half and we were determined to make up time. 

Unfortunately, my mental state was not where it should have been.  I was seriously struggling, but when I checked in with myself, I couldn't find anything wrong with my body.  I was tired, but nothing hurt.  I just wasn't there. 

I pushed on for as long as I could.  I didn't want to let Britt down.  But I knew I was slowing her down.  Finally at mile 22 I stopped to walk and told her to go on.  She yelled at me.  She's scary in a Jillian Michaels kind of way.  But I knew I couldn't hold her pace.

I let myself walk for one minute then picked it back up.  I instantly felt better.  My pace wasn't as quick, but it was still a good pace.  I made myself smile and enjoy the last miles while I pushed myself to finish strong. 

I crossed the finish line in 3:33:36.  And I felt great!  I was so happy to PR, despite my lack of training and mid-race potty break. 

I hobbled through the finishers' shoot looking for Britt, but she was no where to be found.  Turns out she crossed the line about 3 minutes before me and hopped the barricades to try to see me finish.  She must have just missed me!

Eventually we found each other and made our way to what will forever be known as the best post-race party there ever was.

Post Race fun.

This post race party was serious.  Tons of restaurants were there serving up Cajun food, including an entire "vegan village" serving up vegan red beans & rice and jambalaya.  Heaven.  I was in Heaven.

There was also live music and beer.  Lots and lots of beer.



This dog is even enjoying the beer.

We had our fair share of beer.  Maybe more than our fair share.

Did I mention there was beer?

We finished running around 11:00 in the morning.  We closed down the party around 4:00 in the afternoon.  Runner's high, beer, delicious food, and sunshine.  What more could a girl ask for?!?!

The next day we headed out for beignets at Coffee Call.  They are supposed to be famous for their incredible beignets which are said to be even better than Café DuMonde in New Orleans.  Yeah, I haven't heard of that place either.  But it sounds legit.

Our order of beignet fingers were ah-mazing.

There's a reason the south is high on the obesity scale.

The place was bumpin'.  We were lucky to find a couple of stools at the bar.  People, these things were good!

OMB.  Oh my beignet!

Our next stop was LSU to meet Mike the Tiger.  On the cab ride there I discovered that Britt thought Mike was a statue.  She thought we were driving all that way to see a statue.  Goodness.

I told your ass I was a tiger!

Mike is real.  In fact, he's the sixth Mike the Tiger in LSU history.  And he was napping.

It turns out we had more fun with Mike the Statue.

Can't. Get. Up.

I'll just stay here.

We followed some athletic looking fellows to find that the LSU track team was practicing.  This made me so so so happy!  We grabbed some seats in the bleachers and watched the whole thing.  These folks were fast!

Track!

Wanna race?

After track practice we decided to check out the stadium.  It was all closed/locked up, obviously.  But some worker left a gate unlocked and crazy-Brittney convinced me we should break in!  She's such a bad influence.

What up SEC???

I may have enjoyed the shenanigans and come up with some of my own.

Don't I look official?

Before heading out we had another photo shoot with Mike.  I was finally able to make it up on top.

Senior Pictures!

What do you think the stranger/photographer thinks of us?



We are Boston Qualifiers.  We do what we want.

I'm gonna rip your damn face off!

From there we were off to the airport and headed back home.  We had an incredible weekend full of fun!  I'm so grateful to have such a fun running partner, even though she can be a mean and scary lady at times.  I can't wait to see how far she pushes me in marathon number 10!

Hello.

We had so much fun during 2013.  Four countries?  Two marathons?  Weddings, beaches, big cities, small towns, BQs, lots of food and lots of fun. 

Whew, I'm tired just remembering all the madness.

We've decided that 2014 will a year of recovery.  You will not find us in foreign countries or far off destinations.  You will more likely find us on the couch; watching TV and eating take-out. 

And we are so excited about it.

I love resolutions, but this year instead of a long list I've decided to go with a theme for the year instead.  My theme this year is kindness.  Sounds simple.  But I'm hoping that by focusing on kindness every day (toward my friends, family, students, husband, world, and self) that I will end 2014 a kinder (duh) and more gracious person than I began it. 

And of course I have to have at least a couple of goals, just to keep things interesting.  The two I'm focusing on this year:

1.  Eat/buy/prepare a new fruit or vegetable every week, preferably local or seasonal.

When I first had this idea I immediately thought, "I could do a blog post every week with the food and how I prepared it and the nutritional benefits and where/how it grows!"  And then I thought, "Whoa whoa whoa.  Let's not get ahead of ourselves here."  I don't want to make a commitment that I can't keep.  So instead I've decided to Instagram a photo every week of whatever new foodie find we're trying.  So much simpler.  If I get the itch I'll do a monthly wrap up on the ol' blog.  No promises.

2.  Do yoga twice a week.

I never ever regret a yoga session.  But when life gets busy, it's the first thing to go.  I truly want to practice more often, so I'm going to commit to twice a week and see how it goes. 

In related news, I recently read this article which really spoke to me.  It discusses how we tend to wear our busyness on our sleeve like a badge of honor.  When asked how we are or what we're up to, we tend to answer with "busy".  I don't want to be "busy" anymore.  I want to prioritize my life and my time and move toward something deeper and more meaningful than "busy".  So with that, hopefully this paragraph is the last time you'll hear (or read) me using the B word.  And if you ask how I am, expect an actual answer.

Cheers to a kind, healthy, and uneventful year.

Mexico

My goodness... where has the time gone?

I blame Mexico.  We went to Mexico.  Because visiting 3 different countries in 2013 just wasn't enough.  I'd like to think that Cancun shares the same sentiment as Vegas.  What happens in Cancun...  but that wouldn't be very fun for you, now would it? 

The view from our balcony.

We stayed at an all-inclusive.  It's something we've been wanting to do for a long time, so when the opportunity arose, we said "Screw the budget!" and jumped on it.

The Jacuzzi in our room.

We went with our good friends Kate & Tyler Bachman... and I think we definitely came back better friends...

If you are looking for the Bachmans, they are on their perch in the pool.

Our days were filled with sun, but our nights were filled with free shows, worth every penny.

Mexican disco show?

We literally sat at the pool or beach all day every day.  And no, we were not even slightly bored.

We love Cancun!

It's still winter, even though we were in Mexico.  So the sun went down around 3:30 in the afternoon.  At that time we'd head to our balcony to drink wine, eat snacks, read books, and relaaaaax.

Best part of my day.

There were several restaurants in the hotel where we would meet in the evening.

I can't remember the name of this drink, but it is on fire.

After dinner, you could find us in the bar... where Kate & I became wildly popular.

Kate, me, and our back-up dancers.

Tequila may have played a part in our popularity.

Arriba!  Abajo!  Al Centro!

Did I mention how much fun Kate & I are when we are together???

Just take the shot.

Drew & Mr. Bachman are pretty neat too.

The seniors.

We made lots of friends during our trip.  Not all of them were of retirement age.

Amigos!

And then we were back at it, bright & early.

Margarita!

When they weren't having karaoke night, the bar would play fun games.  And we would win.  Sometimes by taking off our undergarments.

Where is Drew?  Passed out in the corner.



My margarita came in a cucumber. 

The drinks were all included, so it just made sense to try them all.

My favorite: The Dirty Monkey.

Every day there were several volleyball tournaments.  The boys played, but the girls did not participate.

Super intense game of volleyball.

 

 

Truth be told, most of our time was spent drinking at the pool.  But Drew & I made sure to get plenty of beach time in as well.  There's nothing quite like walking in the ocean.

 

How cute is he?

Love.

Are you sick of this photo shoot yet?

I think this might be my signature pose.

Now they are all starting to look alike.

Last one, I promise.

On our last night in Cancun, we realized it was karaoke night again in the hotel lounge.  We knew we had to go.  When we walked in, the DJ saw us and asked, "You sing Britney Spears tonight?"

Champagne + Tequila =  El Awesome

And we did.  We sang the shit out of some Britney Spears... we had to give them one last amazing performance before we left.



Hasta Luego Cancun!

 

It really was the best week ever.  I'm so grateful we were able to spend such a fun & relaxing week with our friends.