Rock N Roll Mardi Gras - Race Report

About this race: Inaugural race in New Orleans. Both full and half-marathon courses. Courses separate and come back together a few times. Course winds through some historic areas, starting down by the convention center just off the river, running through the Quarter, around some gorgeous homes and ends in THE huge city park. Roads are questionable, at best (bad eyesight - or poor attention spans - with weak ankles need not apply) but manageable if you're moving slow enough. Volunteers are awesome and hilarious. Bands along the course - it IS a Rock N Roll event - are awesome as well. Course provides some shade and not too many open areas. Weather was perfect. It's about as FLAT as you can get, though there is some slight elevation change, it's totally unnoticeable. All-in-all - a GREAT event.

We drove from Indy to Decatur, AL (catching some family time, bonus points) on Friday after work. Rolled in about 10, hit the hay fairly quickly. I gotta say, I loves me some family time. I'm keeping him AND the family. There's NOTHING like hearing "Ya'll want some breakfast?" early in the morning & knowing it's going to be good food. Not to mention seeing parents proud of a son getting ready to take on his first half marathon! So after an extra hour we rolled away, full from a great breakfast, sun shining, wearing just jeans & sweatshirts! (Did I mention we left a couple inches of snow in the forecast at home? Here's to seeing sunshine!!)

If you've never had the pleasure of driving through Mississippi...you're not missing much. It's kind pretty, but there's really not much to see. A quick 6 hours of driving later, a few sing-alongs and some obnoxious radio later, we get a little lost rolling into NO - little did we know this was a trend to be continued...maybe one could say a "theme" to the trip. We met my Mama at the hotel, sat for a few minutes to catch up on the news in Chile then headed to the Expo. C's first expo....possibly slightly overwhelming. I could've done a better job prepping that one. Picked up some socks and some new Zensah's (which I didn't wear in the race...because I'm an IDIOT). Walked down to the Quarter to take in a bit of sight and had dinner at Brennan's. (Everyone should eat at Brennan's once. It's amazing. I had a filet-something - Lucy maybe? - & we all enjoyed it. Thanks Mom!!!) Headed back to the hotel to grab some sleep. Got lost - of COURSE we got lost on the way back. Slight detour, deuling GPS units, annoyed.

Alarm went off a bit too early (it's always too early). We had some tentative plans for parking near the race start...we had NO IDEA how well the detour would work when we couldn't get on the interstate and wound up parked about 2.5 blocks from the start line. Too bad that was about 4 miles from the finish line, but that's why we had multiple cars. We ran a bit tighter on time than I would've liked, but managed to find NC and PW in the chaos as they headed to Corral 1 (yeah, ONE, right behind the Kenyans. Wow....& they didn't even lie on the finish times...) C & I back in 11-12. Quick porta-potty stop as the lines were moving and away we went. (Note to self: Rock N Roll event announcers = annoyingly loud)

Miles 1 - 6 were fairly uneventful really. We went out a bit quick, but were hanging right around 9:30 - 10 pace probably....settled in quickly. Good entertainment between others running and the course itself. People watching from their porches, having a good time. My chest was a bit tight, some dull aches - all too familiar - coming & going. (Note: I'm beginning to get annoyed by this, as well as a smidge concerned. Will start paying more attention.) My legs were kinda dead from all the sitting & driving, but still was just having fun. Started taking water at the second aid station - I think I pretty much hit most every one after that for a little something.

THE side stitch showed up around 5.5...I've learned to not be surprised by them, even if I haven't had to deal with them in our long runs at home yet. I've not really had one that hung around that long or was that persistent in awhile, but considering the situation of my body (not enough sleep, too much travel, red meat, UTI, antibiotics, slight cold) the week prior, I'm not surprised. Still, running with a side stitch for about 12 minutes SUCKS.

Took a Gu just shy of an hour - just as the side pain went away. (I think they might be slightly related, though this is unconfirmed.) That put a bit o' pep back in me for awhile. My wheels started to fall off at around 7mi. Post-tibs and shins started to get a bit achy. I ignored that for awhile but it just kinda progressed. Why I didn't wear the calf-sleeves I don't know, but it was a stupid decision. The rest of the race was fairly uneventful, just plugging along with my legs growing weary, C next to me chugging along (feeling great, the bastard) pushing me through it. They play this really EVIL trick just before mile 12...you run along this canal while seeing everyone running back on the other side, you see their 15K sign, you hear faint sounds of the band at the finish line....but then you turn AWAY from it. It's only for about 300yds or so, but that damn-near killed me. I was in fairly bad shape at that point with the legs just not happy. We brought it home with a decent last mile, crossed the line together. C survived his first 1/2 in FAR better shape than he thought he would. Could've gone much faster (bastard) than our meager 2:21, but he gets credit for hanging with me & enjoying the scenery. Post-race we all (NC, PW, C, me, mom, P's uncle) staked out our area in front of the stage to catch some Sister Hazel. Grabbed our 2 free beers & flopped down on the space blankets to soak up some much-missed sunshine. Made friends with some around us (Go Vancouver girls!) & got almost-drunk on free light beer.

Made our way post-race to Cafe Maspero back down in the Quarter. We inhaled some jambalaya, gumbo, mufaletta's & shrimp sandwiches. Again, just enjoyed the scenery for a bit. Checked out Big Muddy on our way to the car, took a quick pic (Right). We headed back to the room - yup, got lost again - Mom headed home, we cleaned up & napped a bit, watched the end of the hockey game (damn Canada) & a movie. Headed back to the Quarter to have dinner with NC & PW. Coop's Place = awesome. We were told about Coop's on Saturday by some local. He said, "Ambiance sucks, service is adequate and food is AMAZING." He was dead-on. PW & I had jambalaya that almost soaked through his shirt. I could only eat half...but loved it. C had a drool-inducing cheeseburger. Stopped by Cafe du Monde (per my adamant insistence - it was either Sunday night or Monday morning on the way out of town....I figured to-go beignets would work...I was right) for a doggie bag of powdered sugar.

A quick 12 hour ride on Monday left us back where we started a scant 72 hours after leaving, but over 900 miles later. Altogether, a kick-ass weekend, a great race (albeit far more painful than it needed to be) with good friends & great food. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, even if it means sitting in that tiny car for that long again.