Hop in Your Step

I managed to make it on the local news with friends as we walked to the Crescent City Classic 10K yesterday.



Forgive me for the hopping.  He made us do it.

Happy Easter!

Crescent City Classic 10k Recap

The Crescent City Classic is an institution in New Orleans.  Every year, some East African wins the thing, followed by over 20,000 people running, jogging, walking, drinking & eating their way to the finish line.  People who never run the rest of the year manage to make it out for this event.  Since the race is the day before Easter,  many people come out in festive gear to start the festivities.  I, of course, was no exception:

Thanks, M, for procuring the tutus!

M, M's future sister-in-law & Goldilocks
Check out those death rays of sunshine!

There were 4 of us wearing bunny ears, 2 tutus, and 2 of our "Runners are my Peeps" signs.  Sadly, we didn't really stand out with so many people dressed up.  My camera died this morning so I wasn't able to get any action shots on my phone.  You'll just have to believe me.



The highlights?

Starting line:  In the picture (at left) the starting line was WAY up ahead.  It took us over 4 minutes to cross after the gun.  And to make it even better, we were already sweating before we got this close.  It was a hot one with Easter so late this year.

Mental note for next time:  tutus don't breathe well.

Mile 0-1:  Already achieved the state of dripping with sweat.  The crowds were insane so we were zig-zagging all over the place and still barely able to stay under 10:00 miles.

Mile 2:  Jello shots!  They were a bit melty & STRONG.  I learned a lesson though:  If you make jello shots for a race, don't use red.  Go for yellow or something that won't stain.  I had to slow down to avoid drippage since they were no longer solid.

Miles 2-4:  Missed several unofficial beer stops on both sides.  The mob of runners made aiming for anything challenging.

Mile 4:  Mimosas!  This is probably the best thing that happened to us.  They were huge chunks of ice floating in the drinks.  The cups were pretty full & held way more than I would normally drink at a water stop, but I chugged most of mine because it tasted so good.  At this point, we weren't getting much shade and the heat was beating down.

Mile 4-5:  M's future sister-in-law was having a rough time by now.  She's visiting from out of town and her last run was at a high of 47.  The New Orleans heat was taking its toll so we ran this mile slow & steady, aiming for all the shade we could find.

Mile 5-6.2:  At this point I ran in by myself.  The heat was brutal and I mostly wanted to finish fast.  I ran a couple minutes faster per mile for this last one just to get it over with.  Plus, its fun passing people when you're wearing bunny ears & a tutu.

Post-Race Party?  Yes, please.  It was significantly bigger than many full marathons I've run.  There was a stage with a band.  TONS of free jambalaya, red beans & rice, Abita beer, chocolate milk, gatorade, water and Pepsi products.  Event shirts for sale.  Even free 2011-2012 calendars with pictures from past events!

Legs, Spazz & Goldilocks downing some jambalaya.
(Goldilocks was much happier than she looks in the photo)

Spazz & Legs enjoying their red beans & rice

Rehydrating* with my Abita beer.

My goal today was to have fun, which I definitely accomplished PLUS I got a couple free drinks.  The best part is since this is my first 10k (I know... crazy), I now have a PR that involves jello shots & mimosas.  Bonus!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Race Recap: Gulf Coast Half Marathon

See?  Great scenery!  Wait...
Is that a port-a-potty?

Pros:
1.  The medal is a bottle opener.  Need I say more?

2.  You're running in a beautiful location.  Not that we could really see it because it was (thankfully) overcast and misty most of the morning.  But the background noise was the calming crash of waves and the scent of salt water was in the air.  And as you can see (right) they thoughtfully put the photographers at particularly scenic locations.

3.  Post-race Party?  Great.  Plenty of red beans & rice, beer (Land Shark), bagels and bananas at the finish line.  I went back to run Goldilocks to the finish and her pace is a bit slower.  We didn't hit the post-race party until 3+ hours after the start but there was still food & beer.  Unfortunately for her, that's never a guarantee at her pace so we were psyched they didn't run out early.  OH!  And as a special bonus, everyone got laid at the finish line.  Or is it lei'd?  I always mix those up.

Looks like I just jumped out of a pool

Cons:
1.  It was HOT!  A bank sign said was 74 degrees before sunrise on our way to the race.  Plus a ga-jillion % humidity.  I was sweating before we started.  The webpage advertised that the average temperature at the start is 57 degrees.  Liars.

Goldilocks & I.
*Note that my shorts are SOAKING and
plastered to my legs.  SEXY!

*approxiate

2.  Almost no spectators.  We were basically running on the ONE road on the island so not much traffic could get through.  I actually didn't mind the calm, but a lot of people did.  If you want people cheering, this race isn't for you.

Lemon-Lime Gatorad-ita
Patent pending.

3.  No Gu <shrug> and the Gatorade was mixed SUPER strong.  But with all that we were sweating this probably wasn't a bad thing.  If you salted the rim & added tequila, we would have had some tasty margaritas.  (I thought of it first! Don't try to steal credit!)

Overall?
Good race.  A bit pricey.  Quiet.  Great post-party.

As an added bonus, this guy was labelled as me.
Our numbers weren't even close.
Too bad I didn't get a picture of a male model...

Gulf Coast Half Marathon

I'll wait to give the full race report until the official pictures come back, but I will tell you that the race went well.  I accidentally came within 1 minute & 5 seconds of my half marathon PR.  Seriously.  This was definitely an accident.

My plan was to take it nice & easy.  A couple reasons why:

1.  The weather was hot and muggy.  A bank flashed 74 degrees as we arrived before sunrise.  Felt a smidge like doing a duathlon with both the swim & run at the same time.  Besides, this was intended merely as a training run for Nashville.  Don't go crazy.  Just do the miles.

2.  My Garmin decided to not turn on this morning.  This is the second time it's done this ever.  Last time was the Little Rock Marathon.  I even checked to make sure it was charged last night, so I have no effing clue what happened and am kinda pissed since it's only 7 months old.  It wouldn't even turn on for a second to show me it was a dead battery (that is, until after the race.)
Saved

3.  I was in costume.  Sorta.  Not a full costume, but Goldilocks & I found some killer $1 bunny ears at Walmart that were too good to pass up.  Added to this, we made some clever signs to pin on our backs.  It was a big hit:

Goldilocks & I

The ears were kinda a pain to keep steady until 3-4 miles in when my hair was nice & sweaty - gave it a little grip.  Let me just say that there is nothing so gratifying as passing a ton of people when you're in costume and they're not.  Plus, on an out-and-back course, it's a huge boost to see the smiles on people's faces as they catch sight of the ears.  You can't help but smile yourself.

Ever run in costume or get a boost from someone who did?