The Pittsburgh Penguins are a bunch of punk-ass bitches.
I'm just sayin...
GO WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
RR: Women Run the World 15K
Sunday, May 4, was the 15K of the Minnie Marathon weekend at Disney World. This was my first Disney race, so I did my usual touristy thing and brought my camera.
Since Kay lives about 20 minutes from Disney, she was kind enough to let me crash at her house again. I got to her house after hitting Wide World of Sports and picking up my packet after work on Saturday. It wasn't a bad drive; took me less than two hours to get there. We met Daria and her son for dinner at Macaroni Grill in Winter Garden. Yummy food and good company--can't beat it! Afterward, we went back to Kay's and crashed, since we had to get up at the ass-crack of dawn to get to the Disney shuttle buses. I am NOT a morning person. I'm in the wrong sport.
So here's the start line:
The first half of the race was pretty boring. It started in the parking lot of Animal Kingdom, then ran down the access roads. But then it went into MGM, or whatever they're calling it now. This is the backside of Tower of Terror:
And the streets of "New York:"
My camera batteries died here. I was bummed because around the corner was "Beverly Hills" and some characters. Mulan's dragon friend Moo-Shu blew me a kiss, and I *missed* getting it on my card :-( But then I got the brilliant idea to just switch the batteries, and it worked for a while. Here's the Swan Hotel:
And then we got into Epcot. Here's part of "England:"
"France" from a distance:
"Morocco:"
"Japan:"
"Italy" (probably my favorite:)
"Germany" (homeland of half of my people, lol:)
"Norway:"
"Mexico:"
Here are Kay, me, and Daria after our finishes. Yes, the goofy tiara made yet another appearance. I figured of alllll the races in the world, the tiara would be most at home at a Disney race geared toward women. And I was right :) Photo courtesy of Daria:
The margarita hut was closed. Sadness :(
The Epcot globe:
Bling! Medal and cotton shirt. They gave away tech shirts, but I didn't get one because I couldn't get to packet pick-up until late Saturday, so of course they ran out. But I was okay with it when I saw Kay's--it was positively TINY. WTF were they thinking??
Since Kay lives about 20 minutes from Disney, she was kind enough to let me crash at her house again. I got to her house after hitting Wide World of Sports and picking up my packet after work on Saturday. It wasn't a bad drive; took me less than two hours to get there. We met Daria and her son for dinner at Macaroni Grill in Winter Garden. Yummy food and good company--can't beat it! Afterward, we went back to Kay's and crashed, since we had to get up at the ass-crack of dawn to get to the Disney shuttle buses. I am NOT a morning person. I'm in the wrong sport.
So here's the start line:
The first half of the race was pretty boring. It started in the parking lot of Animal Kingdom, then ran down the access roads. But then it went into MGM, or whatever they're calling it now. This is the backside of Tower of Terror:
And the streets of "New York:"
My camera batteries died here. I was bummed because around the corner was "Beverly Hills" and some characters. Mulan's dragon friend Moo-Shu blew me a kiss, and I *missed* getting it on my card :-( But then I got the brilliant idea to just switch the batteries, and it worked for a while. Here's the Swan Hotel:
And then we got into Epcot. Here's part of "England:"
"France" from a distance:
"Morocco:"
"Japan:"
"Italy" (probably my favorite:)
"Germany" (homeland of half of my people, lol:)
"Norway:"
"Mexico:"
Here are Kay, me, and Daria after our finishes. Yes, the goofy tiara made yet another appearance. I figured of alllll the races in the world, the tiara would be most at home at a Disney race geared toward women. And I was right :) Photo courtesy of Daria:
The margarita hut was closed. Sadness :(
The Epcot globe:
Bling! Medal and cotton shirt. They gave away tech shirts, but I didn't get one because I couldn't get to packet pick-up until late Saturday, so of course they ran out. But I was okay with it when I saw Kay's--it was positively TINY. WTF were they thinking??
HAWT!!
So I'm driving down Hillsborough Avenue this afternoon, and I notice a billboard for US 103.5, a local country station. On the left is Keith Urban. On the right is Tim McGraw. I about wrecked Big Blue because I couldn't take my eyes off the beauty of it all.
Now maybe one with Gary Allan and Dierks Bentley? I might die....
Now maybe one with Gary Allan and Dierks Bentley? I might die....
Friday, May 09, 2008
RR: Country Music Marathon
Linae and I flew into Nashville to run the Country Music Marathon/Half Marathon on April 26, 2008. Our cruise director, the lovely and talented Lisa Limper, met us at the airport late Friday morning and proceeded to drive us around town in her friggin' SWEET Mustang convertible. Red, of course :)
We started out downtown, where we picked up our packets from the convention center and bummed around the expo for a bit. We grabbed lunch at a cool little restaurant across from the Sommet Center, where the Predators play hockey (GO WINGS!! but I digress...) and then we wandered up and down Broadway (on my old stud Leroy (J/K--Big & Rich reference. We *were* in the capital of country music,) ducking into a few honkytonks to check out some of the music. There was a fantastic guy singing at Layla's Bluegrass Hillbilly & Country Inn. I wish I could remember his name. We had some really tasty beer (Shiner Bock, maybe?) and then we moved on down the street to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. There was an awesome Canadian rock-country band. I wish I could remember their name (that's what I get for procrastinating.) I think Linae has some of this info if you're *really* interested. After listening to them, we walked around dowtown a bit more, got some souvenirs, Linae got a purple cowboy hat to run in, and we headed to a nice little pizza place called DaVinci's. Lisa's friend Eli, who was running the half the next day, met us there and we had a nice dinner. Then Lisa dropped Linae and me off at our hotel.
It was raining pretty steadily on Saturday morning, which made for a super-fun time standing around waiting to start the race. Here we are before we split up to go to our respective corrals:
It took FORTY-FIVE MINUTES for my corral to get to the start line, and then we were packed in on the streets of Nashville for 11 miles, until the half-marathoners split from us. Here's the Nashville skyline. I especially like the Batman Building (AT&T Building, actually. I just like that Nashvillians call it the Batman Building):
Music Row, the epicenter of country music:
Musica, or "The Naked Statue." I found it quite pretty:
We started out downtown, where we picked up our packets from the convention center and bummed around the expo for a bit. We grabbed lunch at a cool little restaurant across from the Sommet Center, where the Predators play hockey (GO WINGS!! but I digress...) and then we wandered up and down Broadway (on my old stud Leroy (J/K--Big & Rich reference. We *were* in the capital of country music,) ducking into a few honkytonks to check out some of the music. There was a fantastic guy singing at Layla's Bluegrass Hillbilly & Country Inn. I wish I could remember his name. We had some really tasty beer (Shiner Bock, maybe?) and then we moved on down the street to Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. There was an awesome Canadian rock-country band. I wish I could remember their name (that's what I get for procrastinating.) I think Linae has some of this info if you're *really* interested. After listening to them, we walked around dowtown a bit more, got some souvenirs, Linae got a purple cowboy hat to run in, and we headed to a nice little pizza place called DaVinci's. Lisa's friend Eli, who was running the half the next day, met us there and we had a nice dinner. Then Lisa dropped Linae and me off at our hotel.
It was raining pretty steadily on Saturday morning, which made for a super-fun time standing around waiting to start the race. Here we are before we split up to go to our respective corrals:
It took FORTY-FIVE MINUTES for my corral to get to the start line, and then we were packed in on the streets of Nashville for 11 miles, until the half-marathoners split from us. Here's the Nashville skyline. I especially like the Batman Building (AT&T Building, actually. I just like that Nashvillians call it the Batman Building):
Music Row, the epicenter of country music:
Musica, or "The Naked Statue." I found it quite pretty:
One of the amazingly beautiful parks:
Can you *have* a race in Nashville without Elvis representin'? I think not:
The irony of the situation here is that these nuns were standing outside of their convent, which is on the bottom of the hill from Hell:
The Tennessee State Capitol. (Fact: I did not actually see this during the race. This picture was taken from the passenger seat of the friggin' SWEET red Mustang :) )
Linae in her new ride:
The bling--medal and (chintzy cotton) shirt:
I finished the marathon in 6:25:58. Slow, but the rain stopped and then the sun came out about two hours after I started, and it got pretty hot pretty quickly. And the HILLS! OMG!! Beautiful course for the most part, though. There was a nice section that ran along the Cumberland River, we ran through some gorgeous parks and really nice neighborhoods. There were a lot of kick-ass bands on the course; my particular favorite were the guys just past mile 20. I wish I could remember their name. (Lisa, Linae--y'all told me their name! Refresh my memory??) Anyway, I almost stopped and just listened to them for a while, but I knew I'd never get started again.
It turns out L & L had missed me by just a few minutes at the 20-mile check-in, and they were worried about me, so they were texting all their friends near computers to see if I had a 20-mile split time. LOL--I'm glad they did that before calling all the hospitals in town! It's a good feeling knowing you've got friends watching your back, making sure you aren't lying in a ditch somewhere ;)
After I made it through the finish line, Lisa drove me back to the hotel, where I showered, napped, and watched the end of Game 2 of the Detroit-Colorado series. I was sad that I missed going to the gay bar with L & L, but I was very happy for the nap :) I called the girls when I got up, got ready, and we went out to eat at Lisa's favorite restaurant, The Yellow Porch. Had an antipasti plate, a fabulous filet on top of this potato casserole concoction and asparagus (yummmm), and a ginormous slice of carrot cake. And some wine, of course :)
Lisa picked us up again on Sunday morning, and we had a delicious brunch at a funky little cafe called Marche Artisan Foods. I had a blood orange mimosa and a to-die-for leek and goat cheese quiche. And we split a strawberry-mascarpone-balsamic syrup concoction on toasted bread. Oh. my. GAWD. My mouth is STILL watering....
Then we went for pedicures, which Lisa was kind enough to have gotten for us as a congratulatory gift (Thanks again, Lisa!) I had never had a pedi; it was kinda weird at first, but it felt awesome (once the guy quit scrubbing the soles of my feet, lol) Then we hit Target for some cute flip flops to show off our pretty painted toes (yes, the Florida girls actually went somewhere WITHOUT flip flops.) Then we headed off to the country to Arrington Vineyards:
We did a wine tasting, which, of course, I had never done before. It was fun. We bought a bottle of something we all liked, and sat on the porch drinking wine and eating cheese and crackers, listening to a really good band called Art for Sale (I remembered the name of a band! Wooo hooo!) It was absolutely beautiful out there, and we had a great time, even with the little bit of chilly rain.
After the vineyard, we went into Franklin, a nice little town that made me homesick for the little towns I lived in in Texas and Indiana. They had a street festival going on, and most of the shops and restaurants were closed (not necessarily because of the festival; just because it was Sunday) but there was a chocolatier open! We got some chocolate-dipped strawberries and some dark chocolate truffles (**drooooool**) and then headed out toward the airport.
But there was one thing we had left to do: Find a margarita and initiate Lisa to the Mean Girls Bench:
We found Pancho's, got some nachos and a pitcher of the sweet Mexican nectar of life, and toasted our fabulous time in Nashville :)
Hey Lisa--if I wind up coming to live there in a couple of years, you have no one but yourself to blame ;)
(Damn, this report was long....)
Monday, March 31, 2008
A few pics of LT
I seem to have grown fond of the little booger....
LT with Auntie Shawn
If we spiked his hair, he'd look like a little troll doll!
This kid will jabber your ear off
Cutie pie :)Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Coming over to the dark side...
...of Disney races :) After almost 3.5 years of living an hour and a half from Disney, I have finally registered for my first WDW race:
| This message is generated as confirmation of your recent registration on Active.com. You have been successfully registered for the following: | |
| Registration: | 2008 Disney's Women Run the World 15K - presented by Lady Footlocker |
| Purchase Date: | 03/18/08 |
| Group: | Individual |
| Category: | 15K Run |
| Event Date: | 05/04/08 |
| Name: | Shawn Newton |
May Walt have mercy on my soul....
RR: Bay to Bay 12K
The Bay to Bay 12K, on Sunday, March 16, in St. Petersburg, goes down 1st Ave N., from Boca Ciega Bay to Tampa Bay. I wore a green shirt in honor of St. Patrick's Day being on Monday (even though I'm not Irish--see previous post. lol)
Well, I've got another race under my belt. That makes, what--like, a couple hundred ;) Another tanked PR effort, but I pretty much knew right away that a PR wasn't in the cards.
Sunday was warm and humid and overcast. I got up early and headed out the door at 5:30 AM (yes, 5:30 AM. On a Sunday. sigh...) and started the long drive to St. Pete. I really can't wait until I finish school and can move closer to civilization. It takes at *least* 45 minutes to get anywhere from here. I'm sure everyone is pretty much sick of hearing me bitch about that. Anyway, I got to Linae's house at a little after 6:30. Molly and Debbie were there, and I got my packet from Molly, who was kind enough to pick it up for me. Linae was still feeling kind of sick, so she opted out of the race. Debbie was our Official Race Chauffeur, so Molly and I piled into her car and she drove us to the start.
We were really early, so we picked up our chip and went and hung out by the start line. Molly entertained me with some stories, and we chatted with a very enthusiastic young lady from Sebring. We heard a couple of women wearing jackets griping about how cold it was (uhh, lady--it was 70 degrees. Suck it up.) I was feeling pretty ambivalent about this race. I could run. I could walk. I could just go to Denny's. Whatever. I just didn't really feel like running that morning. Molly said she felt the same. But we were already there and dressed, so we figured we may as well just run it. There was brunch and champagne waiting for us back at Linae's. So we started, feeling pretty good as we had been feeling the wonderful breeze off the Intercoastal. After about a minute, the oppressive humidity bore down upon us. We hung on to 5 run/1 walk intervals for a few miles, and then it kind of went to hell. Thank God for Molly, because I would have been walking a LOT more than I was if she hadn't been there to pull me through.
I hope I wasn't too annoying to her. I was quite chatty that morning, telling her some of my race stories, my family stories, my dating (disaster) stories. Basically, I barely shut up the entire 7.46 miles. She didn't hit me with anything, and she didn't tell me to stifle, so I'm assuming she was okay with it.
There seems to be a trend in races with a false finish line. There is a chip mat and a photographer, but the finish is waaaaaay down the road. This is a cruel practice and it must be stopped. We had decided to run all the way to the finish when we turned onto the street leading up to the Pier (the finish line.) It's a deceptively long way to the Pier from the beginning of the road. Like, a half mile. Diabolical bastards. We ran for the benefit of the photographer, but both of our tanks were empty. But with about a quarter of a mile to go, we started trotting. Molly finished a few seconds ahead of me, and we were both glad to have that over and done with.
At the beginning of the day, Molly had hoped to finish in 1:45. I had hoped for 1:30. We compromised and finished in 1:37 and change :)
Debbie picked us up and we headed back to Linae's for our post-race brunch. There was a delicious breakfast casserole with egg beaters, turkey sausage, and hash browns, yummy coconut bread, pineapple (which I don't eat--luau incident in the third grade. But it smelled good,) OJ, and champagne. And I made brownies. From scratch. I'm very proud of that fact. lol After visiting for a bit, I made my way alllllllll the way back to Hudson.
Another notch in my race belt, and I got to hang out with good friends. So it was a good day.
Well, I've got another race under my belt. That makes, what--like, a couple hundred ;) Another tanked PR effort, but I pretty much knew right away that a PR wasn't in the cards.
Sunday was warm and humid and overcast. I got up early and headed out the door at 5:30 AM (yes, 5:30 AM. On a Sunday. sigh...) and started the long drive to St. Pete. I really can't wait until I finish school and can move closer to civilization. It takes at *least* 45 minutes to get anywhere from here. I'm sure everyone is pretty much sick of hearing me bitch about that. Anyway, I got to Linae's house at a little after 6:30. Molly and Debbie were there, and I got my packet from Molly, who was kind enough to pick it up for me. Linae was still feeling kind of sick, so she opted out of the race. Debbie was our Official Race Chauffeur, so Molly and I piled into her car and she drove us to the start.
We were really early, so we picked up our chip and went and hung out by the start line. Molly entertained me with some stories, and we chatted with a very enthusiastic young lady from Sebring. We heard a couple of women wearing jackets griping about how cold it was (uhh, lady--it was 70 degrees. Suck it up.) I was feeling pretty ambivalent about this race. I could run. I could walk. I could just go to Denny's. Whatever. I just didn't really feel like running that morning. Molly said she felt the same. But we were already there and dressed, so we figured we may as well just run it. There was brunch and champagne waiting for us back at Linae's. So we started, feeling pretty good as we had been feeling the wonderful breeze off the Intercoastal. After about a minute, the oppressive humidity bore down upon us. We hung on to 5 run/1 walk intervals for a few miles, and then it kind of went to hell. Thank God for Molly, because I would have been walking a LOT more than I was if she hadn't been there to pull me through.
I hope I wasn't too annoying to her. I was quite chatty that morning, telling her some of my race stories, my family stories, my dating (disaster) stories. Basically, I barely shut up the entire 7.46 miles. She didn't hit me with anything, and she didn't tell me to stifle, so I'm assuming she was okay with it.
There seems to be a trend in races with a false finish line. There is a chip mat and a photographer, but the finish is waaaaaay down the road. This is a cruel practice and it must be stopped. We had decided to run all the way to the finish when we turned onto the street leading up to the Pier (the finish line.) It's a deceptively long way to the Pier from the beginning of the road. Like, a half mile. Diabolical bastards. We ran for the benefit of the photographer, but both of our tanks were empty. But with about a quarter of a mile to go, we started trotting. Molly finished a few seconds ahead of me, and we were both glad to have that over and done with.
At the beginning of the day, Molly had hoped to finish in 1:45. I had hoped for 1:30. We compromised and finished in 1:37 and change :)
Debbie picked us up and we headed back to Linae's for our post-race brunch. There was a delicious breakfast casserole with egg beaters, turkey sausage, and hash browns, yummy coconut bread, pineapple (which I don't eat--luau incident in the third grade. But it smelled good,) OJ, and champagne. And I made brownies. From scratch. I'm very proud of that fact. lol After visiting for a bit, I made my way alllllllll the way back to Hudson.
Another notch in my race belt, and I got to hang out with good friends. So it was a good day.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy St. Paddy's Day!!
I'm not Irish, but I may let ya kiss me anyway. Depends on who you are ;)
No, I am not Irish. Not a drop of Irish blood flows through my veins. Yes, I'm sure. I *know* my name is Shawn. I *know* I "look Irish." Okay, I'm pale and freckly, I know. But I'm not Irish, I promise. Except for today. EVERYBODY is Irish on St. Patrick's Day!
Enjoy your corned beef and cabbage and green beer, if you do that kinda thing.
No, I am not Irish. Not a drop of Irish blood flows through my veins. Yes, I'm sure. I *know* my name is Shawn. I *know* I "look Irish." Okay, I'm pale and freckly, I know. But I'm not Irish, I promise. Except for today. EVERYBODY is Irish on St. Patrick's Day!
Enjoy your corned beef and cabbage and green beer, if you do that kinda thing.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Thanks, Dr. Pusher!
When I got to Linae's house before the concert on Sunday, she handed me a gift in an adorable wine gift box. It was a triathlon training kit she had put together for me, including all of the stuff in the picture below as well as tri top. The tag on the gift box said, "To Shawn, From The Pusher. You can never leave The Firm! :) " lol
sigh. I guess this means she actually expects me to do this now.
Swim training starts in 21 days.
sigh. I guess this means she actually expects me to do this now.
Swim training starts in 21 days.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Gary Allan ROCKS!!
Country singer Gary Allan rocked us out at Busch Gardens yesterday. Of course, Linae and I had a blast--a hot guy with a sexy voice singing to us? Oh, yeah. We are sooooo there!
Here we are: The 1st and 3rd place age group winners (F 30-34) in the Armadillo Run 5K with our celebratory Bud Select!
Gary rises up from beneath the stage. He started his set with "Watching Airplanes," his current #1 song and one of my personal favorites. It gets stuck in your head ;)
Yummmm...
One of my deep, dark secrets: I'm a sucker for a bad-ass tat...
I think it's worth noting that he and a couple other members of his band killed half a bottle of whiskey while on stage. And while we were all holding up our beer to salute him, one dude held up a half-eaten turkey leg. Only in Florida. Welcome to the Freak Show State, Mr. Allan. Please come back sometime.
Here we are: The 1st and 3rd place age group winners (F 30-34) in the Armadillo Run 5K with our celebratory Bud Select!
Gary rises up from beneath the stage. He started his set with "Watching Airplanes," his current #1 song and one of my personal favorites. It gets stuck in your head ;)
Yummmm...
One of my deep, dark secrets: I'm a sucker for a bad-ass tat...
I think it's worth noting that he and a couple other members of his band killed half a bottle of whiskey while on stage. And while we were all holding up our beer to salute him, one dude held up a half-eaten turkey leg. Only in Florida. Welcome to the Freak Show State, Mr. Allan. Please come back sometime.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
OMG!! HARDWARE!!
I just found out that I took THIRD PLACE in my age group at my race this morning! My friend Linae took first! And not first and third out of three--there were 11 women in the 30-34 age group! I can barely wrap my head around the fact that I beat eight women in my age group! The last time I won anything in my age group, I was second of two! lol
And my official chip time was 33:54, for 10:59/minute miles! SUB-11:00 miles!! While sick and hacking every half mile! Unreal!!
It was an awesome day!
And my official chip time was 33:54, for 10:59/minute miles! SUB-11:00 miles!! While sick and hacking every half mile! Unreal!!
It was an awesome day!
Armadillo Run 5K, Oldsmar, FL
Subtitle: The Incidental PR
I drove into Oldsmar this morning and eventually found the race site (no thanks to TomTom, but I digress...) Got my number and shirt, found Linae, and we hung around waiting to start in the 25 mph wind. Found Slow Twin Bill, chatted for a few, then we were off. L & B went ahead, as they are speedy, and I trotted along at a nice, even pace. I took my first of three walk (cough) breaks right before I hit the one-mile mark, where I proceeded to hack up a lung. Or so it felt. Passed one mile in 10:29. Huh? All right...ran through the nice neighborhood facing the bay, saw Linae going back the other way, got to the turnaround, and got smacked with a lovely headwind. Walked and coughed a bit more, trying to dislodge whatever the hell has been living at the back of my throat for the past three days. No such luck. Started running again, and made it to about 2.5 miles before I had to walk again.
I looked at my watch after I started running again, trying to figure out exactly how far I was from the finish line and how much time I had to get there. I'm not great at math when I'm NOT running, so this was a pretty neat trick for me. I saw the 3 mile mark up ahead and realized that if I really booked, I could possibly maybe PR. So I ran 'til my eyes bled the last 0.3 miles, crossing the line in 33:59 by my watch. That's a 27 second PR! I somehow managed to PR after being sick for a week and not running for two. At a race where I was just there to get the tshirt and see some friends. How, I may never know. But I'll take it happily and not question the Race Gods :)
Had pizza and half a beer afterward. At 9 AM. How awesome is that?? I love running :)
Friday, March 07, 2008
Tall Drink of Water
Tuesday night, my mom and I went to the Strawberry Festival (aka Redneck Hootenanny, Part Deux. Part Une was the Florida State Fair) in Plant City. Between the mullets, the cowboy hats, and the extraordinarily obese people walking around with a turkey leg in one hand and a corn dog in the other, the festival yet again satisfied the people-watcher (voyeur?) in me.
I was still suffering from The Plague, but the lure of strawberry shortcake and Blake Shelton was great enough to get my crud-infested, germy self there. In the rain. At least it was warm.
In addition to being hotter'n Texas in July and a great singer, Blake Shelton is hysterically funny. He really played up the Redneck aspect of Central Florida, culminating in a cover of the Bellamy Brothers' "Gimme a Redneck Girl." It was a blast!
My mom got a kick-ass camera for her birthday, so the pictures are WAY better than they were at the George Strait concert. Below are some pictures of the super-fine Mr. Shelton, all 6'5" of him. Yummy:
Cover of Hank Jr.'s "A Country Boy Can Survive"
I was still suffering from The Plague, but the lure of strawberry shortcake and Blake Shelton was great enough to get my crud-infested, germy self there. In the rain. At least it was warm.
In addition to being hotter'n Texas in July and a great singer, Blake Shelton is hysterically funny. He really played up the Redneck aspect of Central Florida, culminating in a cover of the Bellamy Brothers' "Gimme a Redneck Girl." It was a blast!
My mom got a kick-ass camera for her birthday, so the pictures are WAY better than they were at the George Strait concert. Below are some pictures of the super-fine Mr. Shelton, all 6'5" of him. Yummy:
Cover of Hank Jr.'s "A Country Boy Can Survive"
Saturday, March 01, 2008
RR: Mardi Gras Marathon
Friday, 2/22 - Flew into New Orleans Friday afternoon. Kay got in a bit before me, so she waited for me at the airport, and we rode over to the hotel. Headed to the expo, which was about 1/2 mile from our hotel, and wandered around there for a while. We met Mary, Dudley's wife, but Dud wasn't there yet. We wandered around a bit and I spent WAY too much money, including on this cute little guy:
Then we headed off to the French Quarter. We took a carriage ride, which was cool, and very informative.
We wandered around Bourbon Street for a while, then we decided to find something to eat. We were basically dragged into an Italian restaurant called Tony Moran's, which had excellent food, so it was all good. We saw people walking around with these huge drinks called Handgrenades. Kay asked someone what was in it, but all they could tell us was it was melon-y tasting and really strong. I decided that I would have one after the marathon. We wandered around a bit more, then headed back to the hotel.
We went to Jackson Square,
we saw the Faulkner house, which is now a bookstore,
some awesome architecture,
the Lafitte Blacksmith Shop, which is one of the oldest buildings in New Orleans,
and we visited a voodoo temple. Dudley did a great job; if you ever get a chance to tour New Orleans with him, jump at it! We finished up with beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde. Yummmm. Everybody else took off back to their hotels, but Kay, Dudley, and I walked over to the Mississippi River and walked along it for a while. We walked over to the Riverwalk Mall, bummed around for a bit, then we dropped Dud back at the Hilton, and Kay and I went back to our hotel.
We spotted Moose and Geri, but couldn't get to them easily. I ran with Kay for the first five minutes, then sent her on her way. I planned on quite a few more walk breaks than she would be doing ;) I caught up with Moose and Geri and ran with them for nine or ten miles. They told me about their Mardi Gras parties and their Katrina stories, and about the sights on the course. They're so much fun to hang with. And running with Moose is like running with a rock star! Everybody yelling out his name at water stops and such. He even stopped for a martini on the course. He's quite the crowd favorite! I couldn't keep up with their run pace any longer, so I let them go on just before the halfway point.
I started walking more than I should, but it got me through. I met a Maniac and a 50 Stater once we got into City Park, and hung with them for a while. Both very nice people. I really should become more active on those lists, especially the 50 States list. I stopped to get my picture taken with the local Hashers in red dresses, who offered me my choice of beer or water (I took the water--still had about 7 miles to go.)
I picked up a guy who had run Cowtown in Fort Worth the DAY BEFORE. And he had driven down from South Bend, IN, to do it. He's usually a 3:30 marathoner, so he was having a REAL bad day. He eventually dropped back, and wound up finishing about 10 minutes behind me.
I managed to pass a few people in the last few miles, and I finished in 6:28:47. It was a nice course. The weather was cool and overcast for the first hour and a half or so, then it warmed up and the sun came out, and the back half of the course wasn't too shady. I got a hellacious sunburn because I forgot my Holy Grail sunblock at home and just had some inferior stuff. Won't make THAT mistake again! I'm also thinking of trying a visor to shield at least the top part of my face from the sun.
(No, I'm not drunk. Just loopy from 26.2 miles...)
Shirt and medal. BLING!!
We wandered up and down the French Quarter (working out the lactic acid,) and I got my palm and tarot cards read. Interesting....Then it was back to the hotel to crash, and we flew back home on Monday morning.
Then we headed off to the French Quarter. We took a carriage ride, which was cool, and very informative.
We wandered around Bourbon Street for a while, then we decided to find something to eat. We were basically dragged into an Italian restaurant called Tony Moran's, which had excellent food, so it was all good. We saw people walking around with these huge drinks called Handgrenades. Kay asked someone what was in it, but all they could tell us was it was melon-y tasting and really strong. I decided that I would have one after the marathon. We wandered around a bit more, then headed back to the hotel.
Saturday, 2/23 - Kay and I hung around the hotel most of the morning. Jan from Mississippi and her daughter Caroline, who were staying in the same hotel, dropped in on us for a few minutes, then they went to their room. Kay and I headed back to the expo to meet up with Dud for our group tour. We finally met Dud, and ran into Mary again, and Geri and Moose, so we chatted with them for a while. Then Dud, Jan, Caroline, Jan's other daughter and her hubby, one of Jan's friends from Joy of Running and her daughter, Kay and I took off for lunch. We went to a place called Mother's; the line was pretty long, but it was worth it. The food was FAB-U-LOUS. I had a debris po'boy. Sooooo delicious! After some bread pudding, we went on our Dudley-led tour of the French Quarter.
We went to Jackson Square,
we saw the Faulkner house, which is now a bookstore,
some awesome architecture,
the Lafitte Blacksmith Shop, which is one of the oldest buildings in New Orleans,
and we visited a voodoo temple. Dudley did a great job; if you ever get a chance to tour New Orleans with him, jump at it! We finished up with beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde. Yummmm. Everybody else took off back to their hotels, but Kay, Dudley, and I walked over to the Mississippi River and walked along it for a while. We walked over to the Riverwalk Mall, bummed around for a bit, then we dropped Dud back at the Hilton, and Kay and I went back to our hotel.Sunday, 2/24 - Race day! We met Jan and Caroline in the lobby and walked over to the start at the Superdome. We ran into Dud and then lined up to start.
We spotted Moose and Geri, but couldn't get to them easily. I ran with Kay for the first five minutes, then sent her on her way. I planned on quite a few more walk breaks than she would be doing ;) I caught up with Moose and Geri and ran with them for nine or ten miles. They told me about their Mardi Gras parties and their Katrina stories, and about the sights on the course. They're so much fun to hang with. And running with Moose is like running with a rock star! Everybody yelling out his name at water stops and such. He even stopped for a martini on the course. He's quite the crowd favorite! I couldn't keep up with their run pace any longer, so I let them go on just before the halfway point.
I started walking more than I should, but it got me through. I met a Maniac and a 50 Stater once we got into City Park, and hung with them for a while. Both very nice people. I really should become more active on those lists, especially the 50 States list. I stopped to get my picture taken with the local Hashers in red dresses, who offered me my choice of beer or water (I took the water--still had about 7 miles to go.)
I picked up a guy who had run Cowtown in Fort Worth the DAY BEFORE. And he had driven down from South Bend, IN, to do it. He's usually a 3:30 marathoner, so he was having a REAL bad day. He eventually dropped back, and wound up finishing about 10 minutes behind me.
I managed to pass a few people in the last few miles, and I finished in 6:28:47. It was a nice course. The weather was cool and overcast for the first hour and a half or so, then it warmed up and the sun came out, and the back half of the course wasn't too shady. I got a hellacious sunburn because I forgot my Holy Grail sunblock at home and just had some inferior stuff. Won't make THAT mistake again! I'm also thinking of trying a visor to shield at least the top part of my face from the sun.
(No, I'm not drunk. Just loopy from 26.2 miles...)
Shirt and medal. BLING!!Sunday night - After a shower and a nap, Kay and I headed back to Bourbon Street. We found a steak house, and I found a Handgrenade. For recovery purposes only, of course ;) Quite tasty, but very strong.
We wandered up and down the French Quarter (working out the lactic acid,) and I got my palm and tarot cards read. Interesting....Then it was back to the hotel to crash, and we flew back home on Monday morning.
Monday was my mom's birthday, so since it was just us, I got a small cake. Tuesday it was back to school, Wednesday back to work, and Thursday I got The Plague :-P I currently have a sore throat and practically NO voice. But otherwise, I feel fine.
Cheers!
Cheers!
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