Gulf Coast Half

Get ready for picture overload. I did a fabulous job of capturing everything all weekend! The race was in Mandeville which is about an hour an a half from Baton Rouge. This was the first time I've "traveled" for a race. We left Saturday morning after I had my nails done.

We did a lot of eating Saturday. Carb loading & all that you know.


Lunch was The Beach House. It was so cute. The weather was gorgeous so we were able to eat outside. The nachos were soooo good!!! Our appetizer for dinner was Irish Nachos. I don't know if that's a real thing but that's what they were called. It was french fries with all the nacho toppings. So incredibly good! I limited myself to one glass of wine but I did have dessert. Pumpkin Creme Brulee. YUMMMM!!

After lunch we walked to Varsity Sports to pick up our packets. There was a sale going on so I picked up a cute tank & Dean got fitted for some new shoes.

Lydia, Scott & me in front of Varsity. They were a major sponsor of the race. I love that store. It's locally owned & in a cute little house in Baton Rouge, Mandeville & New Orleans.

After packet pick up we walked around the area. The local Catholic Church was having a fair so we walked around that for a bit & then went to check in the hotel.

I was so excited to pack for this race - something to sleep in, something to run in & no makeup or hair products aside from a brush, visor & ponytail holder. That little white bag was Dean's luggage.....Scott couldn't decide what shoes to wear so he had to bring multiple pair. Once we checked in we decided to rest. Dean watched football & everyone else napped. Once everyone was up we went to Old Rail Brewery to watch the LSU game & eat.

We sat at the bar. It was so fun! We watched the game, chatted with the bartender & Dean chatted with someone who has a brother that was on the flight to Dallas with the ebola patient. Why would you tell people that?? Anyway, it was fun, the food was good & the Tigers won!

The alarm went off at 5:30 Sunday morning which was perfect. I got dressed & was ready in time to eat breakfast at the hotel. I just had an english muffin with peanut butter. My standard breakfast before a long run. We didn't have long to wait once we got parked.

It was 57 degrees which was awesome. Scott was freezing in this picture. He's not a fan of cold weather.


The start of the race, the chick with the butterfly wings was in front of me awhile & it drove me crazy. I was NOT letting someone wearing wings beat me. Lydia was in my line of sight for a lot of the race which helped me. Part of the race went through the Ponchartrain Yacht Club.

I was better at taking pictures while I ran.


These were all taken on the lake front.




I caught up with Lydia around this point.




I loved that part of the race. The water was pretty & the houses were amazing!!

All of the water pics I took are the view from all of the houses front porches. Once I caught up with Lydia I stopped taking pictures because I realized that I was on track with my pace. I did about a zillion calculations in my head as to whether I could PR or not. Every calculation was close but I knew I'd have a better handle on how close once I got to the 10 mile mark.  I made sure to get water or powerade at every water station. I don't drink much because I never stop running so half the cup ends up on me but I do take in a few sips. My plan was to take a GU at mile 10. Around mile 7.5 a guy started chatting with me & Lydia. I like to run & talk because it makes the time go by. How funny is this - he was with us for about half a mile & then he couldn't keep up with us! I thought that was awesome. I'm not fast so it's shocking to me that a man couldn't keep up. Anyway, I was feeling good around mile 8.5 so I decided to go ahead & take the GU. I didn't want to wait too late. I didn't take it all at once though. Just a little at a time & I made it last a mile. If you don't know what GU is, it's flavored & has a ton of sugar in it & it's just gooey. Kinda like pudding but not cold. It's in a little pack that you just tear open & squeeze in your mouth. It's supposed to give you energy.

Around mile 9 Lydia said she didn't think she'd be able to keep up our pace much longer. She slowed down some & I kept going. Mile 9 felt like forever & when I looked at my watch to see how close I was to mile 10 it said 10.35. We were in the park at that point & there hadn't been a mile marker 10. Talk about relieved! The calculations started again at that point & my pace was down to 10 minute miles.Way fast for me! It was going to be close. Finally at mile 12 I was exhausted & knew that I was going to miss a PR. Not by much but I was going to miss it. At that point I was just ready to be done.

As I got closer to the finish line I could see the clock & that's when I realized I was closer than I thought to a PR.  I was looking for Dean & Scott & listening for them but I didn't see or hear them. I did hear the official guy call my name as I crossed the finish line. Official time 2:18:29. My previous PR was 2:19:54. I was excited! I still couldn't find Dean & Scott. I stopped looking & got a place to watch for Lydia. I didn't know where she was but I didn't think she was too far behind me. I tried to call Dean, nothing. Then I saw Lydia.

That's her in the stripes. Girl finished in 2:20 with an 8 MINUTE PR! That's AWESOME!

Still no Dean & Scott. I looked up & here they come strolling along without a care in the world. They were NOT coming from the direction of the finish line. They were coming from the direction of the band & beer!! Yes folks, that's right, they missed me & Lydia crossing the finish line with PR's. Lydia had said she hoped to finish in 2:30 or less because that's her usual time. I said 2:30 because I had a bum leg & didn't know how it would hold up. So that's what they were betting on. Oh well.

I just realized Scott didn't have his medal on.

We all went to the PT tent & got stretched out. This is what happened when Lydia told them her knees were bothering her.

Too funny!

I'm not a beer drinker so I was really happy to see wine!

My official stats - 43rd in my age group & 502 overall. I think there were around 1000 people in the race.
After the race we listened to the band for awhile & had some food. After we dropped Scott & Lydia off I decided that since I burned almost 1400 calories I wanted a treat. It just so happened that we needed to get gas & a Dairy Queen was next to the gas station. It was fabulous!!!

During the race I didn't have any real issues with anything hurting. My leg held up fine. However, late in the race I could feel my left leg/hip. After the car ride home walking was interesting. This morning walking was a struggle. Pretty much everything hurts between my waist & ankles. I've iced, foam rolled & taken Advil. Hopefully, I'll be back to normal soon. We leave for Napa Wednesday!

Toodles!