Rock ‘n Roll NOLA | The Recap

I am a half marathoner!  I started this blog back in the fall with the intent of tracking my training for the Rock ‘n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon.  This past Sunday, all of that training and focus culminated in a great race and a 3 day runners high.

I started packing on Wednesday because I had a public meeting Thursday night and we had dinner plans for Friday.  Or that’s the excuse I will use.  I actually started packing ridiculously early because I was so excited about the race.  Even though I was coming off of some pretty bad training runs and still nursing lingering injuries from RougeOrleans, I was pumped and ready to run. 

Saturday morning we got up early and finished packing and finally got on the road around 10am.  We stopped for lunch at Chicken Sue’s in Lakeview then headed downtown to the Sheraton.  It was fun to see all the other runners milling around the hotel lobby.  After getting J and the kids settled in our room, I took off for the Expo.  I was already pushing time for the tweet-up and I didn’t want to miss out on the chance to make some of my Twitter friends “In-real-life” friends.

The walk to the expo took FOREVER.  I should have worn my garmin to see just how far it was.  Canal Street, even in the day time is a little spooky when you are by yourself.  Luckily, once I got passed Harrah’s parking garage on Convention Center Blvd, the crowd started picking up with people leaving the expo.  Everyone was carrying their swag bags and I started walking even faster (picture crazy race walker lady) to get there. 

After fighting my way through about a bajillion cheerleaders in Halls A&B of the convention center, I finally saw the red carpet…Oh, yeah! Time to rock!

Tweet-Up shirt, Race Shirt and My extra shirt :)

I picked up my race bib, grabbed my shirt and bag and took off for the balloon arches and the tweet-up.  I met a bunch of great people (@betterwithveg @SassphaltRunner @cajun_runner @tpwatergirl) and of course forgot to take a single picture with my camera! I talked with Katie for a while and picked up my very cool shirt from @RunRocknRoll for participating in the tweet-up before heading to get my parking pass.  I stopped by the RunningSkirts booth to say hi to Heather, then wandered around the Expo in awe.  This was my first expo experience and I have to say it was pretty cool.  I walked around looking at all of the gear with longing ($$$$) and made my way back to the front of the expo to check out the official race gear.  I decided on a very cool 13.1 shirt that I am planning to wear to work tomorrow!

I asked some random stranger to take my picture by the sign and took off for the long walk back to the hotel where everyone was still crashed out napping.  I unloaded my goodie bag and organized all of my gear for the next morning. 

Lots of fabulous RougeOrleans sponsors in that stack:: 110% Play Harder, nuun, RunningSkirts, and GoSportID. 

Around 4:30 we decided it was time to find some dinner so we bundled up the kids and took off for Reginelli’s on Poydras.  Thank goodness we showed up when we did because within about 5 minutes of our arrival the place was packed and there was a line out the door!  The pizza was wonderful.  I wish they would open a place here on the coast.  We will certainly eat there again when we have the opportunity.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night.  My alarm went off at 5, though I probably could have slept in until at least 6 or later.  It didn’t take me any time to get dressed and eat my PB&J.  I was ready to leave at 5:45 and had no where to go!

I don’t' remember what time I left for the race.  I just joined the masses and headed toward the music.  I walked a few blocks past the start and found my corral (17) then decided I had enough time for one more bathroom break and headed back toward a row of porta potties a block away.  I walked back to my corral and stretched a bit and watched everyone milling around in their costumes and tutu’s.  We were rocking out to the music blaring through the PA system and waiting for our turn to start.
  
I met a really nice mama of 6 that was attempting her 3rd marathon.  She was from Wisconsin and had driven 18 hours by herself to get to NOLA.  She had gotten as far as 18.5 miles in her previous marathon attempts and was hoping that Sunday was her day.  I wish I would have gotten her name so I could see how she did in the race.  We chatted for a while about kids and running and before we knew it, we were approaching the start line and they were announcing our corral.

We took off at a comfortable pace and I didn’t feel the need to weave around people to get by.  We were all cruising at about an 11 min/mile pace and that was good for me.  All along my plan had been to just finish the race.  I hadn’t trained for time or at a particular pace.  I stayed focused on enjoying my surroundings and running my own race.

My knees started hurting about 2 miles in and I knew it would be a long day.  I stayed focused and pushed through, only taking a couple short walk breaks to regroup and get a little relief from the pain.  I called my sister to see where she and our brother were standing so that I could give them my jacket. They were stationed in the turn on St. Charles right in front of Loyola—only a couple more miles to go.
  
It was a nice pick-me-up to see their smiling faces and to hear that I was doing good.  I handed off my jacket, put on my IT Band strap and took off for the rest of my journey.  I stopped around 5.5 miles for a potty break and waited in line for a few minutes before saying to hell with it and taking off again.  I finally found a lone, left over from Mardi Gras (ie nasty), porta potty around 6.5 miles and felt much better after that!

I passed the firefighters around mile 7, I guess.  The 3 of them were in full gear, tanks and all, carrying an American flag.  Inspiration.  I told them good job as I passed and felt a bit lighter on my feet after seeing them.  I sent a text out to the family at 8 miles letting them know where I was. The only text I received back was from my mom: “Go Kris Go!!!!!!”.  It was much needed at that time and made me tear up.  It’s nice getting those little boosts of encouragement during such a long race. 

We made the turns down Magazine and Tchapatoulas and got onto S Peters to run through the French Quarter.  I had to laugh at the Brooks Running blow-up that was just before Jax Brewery.  That man was rockin’!  At this point my feet were really starting to hurt and I wasn’t sure if this was normal or not!  But not long after that thought crossed my mind, I passed a girl holding a sign that said “Your feet hurt because you are kicking ass!”  Well, thank you very much for answering my question.  Apparently it it normal for your feet to hurt 9 miles into a half marathon.
When we made the turn onto Esplanade at 10 miles, a lady behind me yelled “Ya’ll, we only have a 5K left.  We got this”.  Lump in the throat again.  Apparently I’m a cry baby runner.  So anyway, that got me.  I was only 3 miles from my goal.  All that was left was an easy Sunday jog.  I slowed  down to walk for just a bit and was in excruciating pain when I started running again.  The pain backed off a bit after a little while and I realized that it hurt less to just keep running, so that’s what I did.  I just kept running.  When I hit 12 miles, I remember thinking, “only a little over a mile left. Holy Cow, I am actually doing this.”  I wish I would have taken a picture of the Museum of Art as we ran past on our way to the finish line.  It was the beacon I kept looking for the whole race.

As I started down the road to the finish line, I kept scanning the crowds looking for J and the kids, but somehow we all missed each other.  Crossing that finish line was exhilarating, emotional, and something I want to do again. 

I had a blast running this race.  The sense of accomplishment is indescribable.  Sometimes I still can’t believe that I have come this far since November 2010 when running 30 seconds at a time made me feel like I was going to die.  I am a half marathoner! oh, yes, I am!

I grabbed my medal, Gatorade, chocolate milk, and snickers marathon bar and all but crawled to find J and the kids and Kim and Matt. It felt so good to see them and to hear how proud of me they were. I was pretty darn proud of myself too. I am so glad that they were all there for me, waiting for me to finish. I am blessed to have such a wonderful and supportive family. It really makes all of these moments in life so much more special.

After taking a few pictures, I snuck back in to the medical tent to get some ice for my knees and then hobbled to the truck at Delgado.  We loaded up and took off to find some lunch and ended up at R&O’s in Bucktown for the best seafood platter I have ever eaten.  When I got home from work Monday, J surprised me with my newest accessory…I love it! 

So, now I have important decisions to make…like what medal rack to get to display all of my race bling I am starting to accumulate, and what race should I plan for next…The Gulf Coast Half in Mandeville or maybe Old Man River in NOLA?  Decisions. Decisions.

Rouge Orleans Race Recaps | The Links

Be sure to check out my fellow Rouge Orleans blogging teammates for their race recaps:

Katie from katierunsthis.com

Heather from runningwithsass.com

Lessons Learned by Jennifer Macha

And of course, you can find all of my posts related to Rouge Orleans by clicking the “RougeOrleans” label in the right side bar or clicking here.

It should be noted that talk has already been circling about our next ultra-marathon relay…

Fellow RO12'ers, feel free to post a link to your race recaps here in the comment section of this post so we can all relive this epic journey together.

Rouge Orleans 2012 | Part 2

I think this may be more of a picture dump than written recap! So, on to the starting line…

We took off to the blasting of the cannon on the USS Kidd.  I think it startled most of the folks on the levee that morning!  My first run took me past the LSU Campus and covered right at 4 miles.  It was windy and cold but still tolerable.


Leg 1: 4.1 miles; 41:39, 10:10 min/mi avg pace.  I wasn’t expecting this good of a pace for this leg because I took a couple short walk breaks with another lady I was running beside.  This run felt good and I was confident going into my next run.
Hanging Out at Exchange 2:


Yes, that is a cow on the levee.  Heather was going into freak out mode at the time and busted out the Taser to carry on her run!

“sheVANigans” ensued.
We got “gnomed”

and tatted up! (That’s me on the left)


Cold.  Yeah, cold would be a tremendous understatement for the conditions on the levee.  By the way, that’s Heather all bundled up.

The handoff for the start of Leg 2 from Jenn.  It had turned into an absolutely beautiful day despite the cold.  The sun was out and it had warmed up to about 45.  Leg 2 was my shortest run of the relay and truly was 2 of the best miles of the day.  I felt great and light on my feet.  I wasn’t having too much trouble with the gravel on the levee and felt like I was making good time.  I just didn’t realize how good until I checked in with my Garmin at the mile splits…1st mile: 9:26, 2nd mile: 9:14!  Those are the fastest 2 miles I have ever run in my life.  I was so excited when I finished!  Leg 2: (1:12pm start) 2.25miles, 20:59, 9:20 min/mile avg pace.


Heading out for my first night time leg.

We wore head lamps and tail lights and reflective vests…and as many layers as we could manage to fit on our body and still move.  It was at this point in time that the documentation of RO12 stopped and we moved into survival mode.  Seriously.  There may be 3 pictures from the time that the sun set until it came up.
We were concerned about being on the levee by ourselves at night so we decided that after we finished our leg, we would ride with the next runner.  This was a very good idea because, I can tell you, there is NO WAY I would have made it through those 2 nighttime runs without Jenn.  It was lonely and dark and cold and scary up there at night.  I ran my first 1.75 miles of the third leg by myself and kept thinking “Jenn, please hurry and catch me!!”.  My legs seemed to have the most up and down, on and off the levee of all of the runs.  We were climbing back up that levee at least 4 times each leg after having to drop down to avoid pipe crossings at the plants.  And poor Jenn-I know it was killing her already dead legs!  I don’t remember specifics about those night time runs other than it was incredibly cold.  I believe the wind chills dipped into the teens up there on that levee. 

Leg 3: (6:21pm start) Out if the middle of no where-Seriously, there is no city name anywhere close on the map.  4.02 mi; 48:32min; 12:04 min/mi avg pace.  The dark and cold really slowed me down.  You couldn’t see more than 2 feet in front of you because that’s as far as the beam from our head lamps would reach.  Some of the solos had awesome lights that you could see from very far off—we should have had some of those…next time.  oops—did I say that?  We’ll address that in another post.
Oh, I should also note that after being out in the crazy weather running then biking, it would take us between an hour and an hour and a half to stop shivering. We never warmed up, just stopped shivering right in time to go back out and run again.

Leg 4: (11:58pm start) near Gramercy & Garyville, LA.  4.45mi; 57:47min; 12:59 min/mi avg pace.  Lots of walk breaks on this one.  I had been awake for 20 hours already with only about 15 minutes of light sleep right before this leg started.  I was exhausted, mentally and physically.  This was when it started getting really hard for me.  And I knew I still had one more leg to go.  After my run, I rode with Erin, got back to the van and tried to get some sleep but it wasn’t happening.

Sometime after that leg 4 bike ride, I started feeling nauseous.  I tried eating and just couldn’t force anything down.  I was tired and worn down and was getting to my breaking point.  I had been up for 24 hours, slept maybe a total of 30 minutes, had already run about 15 miles and biked 6 or 7.  My body was revolting! I think I had gotten a little dehydrated and hadn’t eaten enough during the day to sustain my body through this race.   I tried laying down for a bit, but never did fall asleep.  Quitting never crossed my mind, but it took a lot for me to pull together the mental strength to get out of the van that last time.  I think Heather finally fussed at me and said “Kristyn, GO RUN!” She knew what I needed.  I don’t respond to coddling.  I need a little force and someone that doesn’t accept excuses. 

Before the race, we had to turn in our Inspiration message that would be inscribed on our GoSportID bracelets.  Mine:  QUITTING IS NOT AN OPTION. 

When it finally came time for me to run my last leg, we decided that we would put the bike back in the van and I would run the first part of that leg by myself.  Not a big deal since the sun would soon be up. It was the coldest it had been all night.  I needed another layer on my chest, in addition to the 3 I already had on.  I had on 2 pair of pants and my 110% Play Harder Calf Sleeves and that seemed to be enough for my legs. I swear those calf sleeves are the only thing that saved my calves!  They are miracle equipment.

My IT Band had tightened up on me during the 4th leg and I knew there was no way I could run any of this last leg.  My knee was hurting pretty bad when I ran and my hip was starting to hurt too.  I told the girls that I would be walking the full 4+ miles and that I would see them in about an hour.  The van checked in with me every half mile or so to make sure I was doing ok.  I’d get a text from Katie checking in.  I’d text back that I was ok and wave as I passed the van.  But, while I was doing okay physically, I was having a major mental battle to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  I think I cried for the entire first 1.5 miles.  It was dark.  I was alone.  I was literally freezing.  I almost called Justin a few times for a pep talk and to hear that, yes I could actually do this.  But I held off.  I didn’t want to wake him up.  So I just kept walking and battling myself.  I hit the wall hard during that walk and broke it down brick by brick.  When I hit 2 miles, the van was waiting for me, the sun was up and there was an end in sight. 
My text to Katie:  “Ya’ll can go to 4.  I’m finishing this b*tch”
Katie's text back to me: “Round of applause from the van.  You rock.  Stay focused! Let us know if you need us”


So, I kept walking, watched the sun rise and soaked in what I was accomplishing.  It was me and the levee and an opportunity to re-center and focus on why I run; on why I try so hard to stay active. I do all of this for my babies, so that they will have a healthy mama; a mama that will be around to hold their grandchildren and experience a full life with them and their daddy.  I want to set a good example for them and maybe one day be their driver when they decide to tackle the levee themselves. 

Leg 5: (6:00am start) Destrehan, LA 4.52mi; 1:05:42; 14:39min/mi avg pace

Crossing the finish line with this fabulous group of girls was an experience I will always carry with me.  We are forever bonded.

Claim You Journey posted a great recap video of the race.  You can see our shoes at about 1:50 and us running across the finish line towards the end.

Video link (http://claimyourjourney.com/2012/02/2012-rouge-orleans-ultra-marathon-recap-video/)

Recap:
23 Hours
Running: 19.34 miles
Bike: 5.8 miles
Sleeping: 30 minutes total


I know I have a lot more to say, so I will probably do one more recap post and talk more about our sponsors and how much their support factored into our ability to finish this epic journey.

Rouge Orleans 2012 | Part 1

We did it.  We crossed the finish line, all a little worse for wear, but we did it.  And I can tell you that it this relay event is no joke.  It's tough.  It's trying.  It's exhausting.  And the weather is the devil. But when you cross that finish line in Audubon Park...you know you have done something extraordinary.  I can't imagine the feeling of accomplishment that must rush through the solos and 2 and 3 man teams that tackle and finish Rouge Orleans.  They are superhuman.  While I may feel like a bad ass, they are confirmed bad asses.

I am going to break up my recap into a few different posts because I have so many pictures and thoughts to share!  Part 1 will take us up to the starting line!

Friday afternoon, I picked up the van from Enterprise, loaded up my gear, kissed my babies and hubby goodbye and headed west.  I picked up Heather in Mandeville and we met up with the rest of the team at Lindsey's house to finish loading the van.  Afterwards, we went to Erin's and ate the best homemade pizza I have ever tasted. We made the Pony Tail for the van and called it a night.

I stayed at Katie's Friday night and set out my outfit for the morning.  I woke up at 4:30 am and finally gave up on trying to fall back asleep at 4:55.  

Sporting my nuun visor, team shirt with all of our sponsors, GoSportID band, Brooks Cascadia 7's, and my running skirt.

 My Cascadia's saved my feet during this relay.  The top of the levee was grass, small gravel, large loose gravel, ruts, cow patties...you name it.  I never felt like I lost traction (unless the cross wind tried to throw me into the river) and always felt comfortable on the varied terrain. Thanks to Brooks Running for supplying our kicks!

We picked up everyone and went to the starting area to decorate the van.  It was already freezing and the wind was crazy, but we had no idea of the weather we were facing over the next 26 hours, but that is for another post!

Our van sported a running skirt at ponytail.  We labeled it, just in case there was any confusion.

 

 

 

 

My Dad and Step Mom came to see us off.  It was really nice having them there to support me and the girls.  I'm sure they kept asking themselves "what in the hell is she thinking?!"  

I will close this post with a picture of me heading up the levee to the start line and what would prove to be the hardest 24 hours of my life thus far.

Rouge Orleans 2012 | Are you Ready?

Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime?  We are!!  Get ready for a flood of blog posts and twitter updates from Team Girls on the Geaux.  It's almost time for Rouge Orleans and we are ready to hit the levee!

We have been training our tails off and working hard to secure sponsorships for our team.  Take a moment to scroll through my right sidebar and check out all of our fabulous sponsors and tell them The Girls sent you.  

Since we know we won't be setting any land speed records for this event, we are in hot pursuit of the Best Van award.  You will be able to spot us easily.  We will be the only van wearing a skirt and sporting a pony tail.  Yes, you read that right...a skirt and pony tail.

We will also be proudly displaying our sponsors on the back of our shirts and on the sides of the van thanks to Giraphic Prints and Rex Distributing for providing our shirts and banners respectively.

Since I know all of you are planning to track our every move over the weekend, I am providing our tentative race schedule that assumes a 12 minute/mile average pace.  It will give you an idea of when we will each be running and how far each leg will take us.

While we are on the course, we will be posting to our blogs and to twitter about the "shiVANigans" that are transpiring.  Thanks 110% Play harder for coining that phrase!  We will be using #GirlsOnTheGeaux and #RO12 in our tweets so that you can easily follow all of our activities in one place.  Make sure to check back here since I will be posting as much as possible from my phone from the middle of nowhere.

Wish us luck and we'll see ya'll in NOLA!

My Running Journey | 2011 Recap

I began my Life In Running Shoes during the first week in November 2010.  I was 10 weeks post partum, back to my pre-pregnancy weight and ready to stop being uncomfortable in my skin.  While my pregnancy weight with both kids disappeared within a couple weeks of each delivery, I still found myself 40 pounds overweight at the end of 2010.  It had gradually been creeping on since high school and I had reached my breaking point.  I followed a few scrapbookers that had recently become runners and were my source of inspiration to lace up and head out.  I was instantly excited about the little girl running across the Nike+ website and I wanted one of my own.  So I asked for an iPod Touch for Christmas, bought a Nike+ sensor, and downloaded a Couch to 5K app and took off.  I remember on those first few runs thinking I was going to die before I reached the end of the 30 second run interval.  But I kept with it and watched my little lady cruise across my screen after each run and felt myself becoming more at ease on the road.  I was hooked.   I signed up for my first 5K and was ready to start becoming a runner.

January brought that first 5K and a feeling of accomplishment that I had never known before.  I walked across the stage and received my Master’s after 3 years of working full time and going to school at night—that was an accomplishment, but it felt NOTHING like crossing that finish line knowing I had done it all by myself.  There was no one checking up on me.  no one teaching me.  no one making sure I went for a run.  It was just me and my running shoes.  Up to that point, I had never run more than 1.5 miles without taking a walk break.  I ran that 5K without slowing down once-and that meant more than anything to me.  Oh, and I placed 2nd in my age group too!

February saw the milestone of 100 miles logged since I had started running and a 5K PR of 29:21.  I also started training for my first 10K.  We also listed our house for sale at the end of February.

March was full of 10K training and my longest runs to date.

April came in with a heat wave perfectly timed for my 10K.  After the race, my running started taking a back seat to keeping the house”Show Ready” everyday and the quickly increasing temperatures.

May-September saw me hitting the pavement on the rare occasion and for one solitary 5K race.  During this time, we also sold our house, packed everything we owned in a POD, moved in with my in-laws, started building a new house, switched the kids to a new day care and school … and a did whole host of other things I can’t remember right now!  It was a busy time, just not very busy with running.

October wrapped up with another 5K race where I PR’d (29:05) and met Heather from RunningwithSass.com!  It was quite an eventful race, or I guess I should say after party :).  The Saints 55 point victory over the Colts solidified my commitment to run a Half Marathon in March 2012.

November rolled in with the start of Half Marathon Training. With the lack of a safe and convenient running route, I had to be creative with my time and location of runs to get them in.

December was a big month for me.  I started increasing my mileage and number of runs per week, we finished our house and moved in, and I joined an all girl team, Girls On The Geaux, that will be running the RougeOrleans Ultramarathon Relay in early February.  I thought I was crazy for attempting a Half Marathon, but after agreeing to run from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, the Half seems easy!

So, that wraps up 2011 and brings us to 2012 and the promise of some really great things on the horizon.  I have already logged two of the longest runs I have ever attempted of 8 and 9 miles, I am running a Half Marathon Relay this weekend and we are just a little over 2 weeks from RougeOrleans!! I am ready to tackle this year putting one foot in front of the other.  Bring on the miles.  Lets Run!