Oh, the Humana-ty 5K

I've run a lot of Rock N Roll Marathon series races (all half marathons, thank you very much) and I like the support the race organizers give. I think it might be pretty pricey compared to other races, but there is good support.
So imagine my delight when a FREE 5K came to Atlanta courtesy of the Rock N Roll series. Sign me up!
Actually, it was $5, because that was a donation to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, but still. Essentially a free race.
Saturday morning was beautiful.  Slightly cool, but very sunny. Fall running is just around the corner in Atlanta. And look, we started and finished right near the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

At the start

Along the course

Near the finish

We didn't get a race T-shirt with this one, but we did get a very nice finisher's medal.

Finished!

Very nice finisher's medal

I'm sort of sad there is only one or two more Rock N Roll races I would consider, since I still need Arizona and Virginia. There is the Phoenix and Virginia Beach Rock N Roll races that I could run. But that's about it, unless they add some states. And lately they haven't added U.S. states, they've abandoned them. They have added more international races, but I'm not there yet. Let me get those 50 states in and then I'll consider a race in Paris or Rome!

A running party in New Orleans

I've completed a race in my 22nd state, and not only ran a race, but did so in the party city of New Orleans.
We had great weather, great food, and great drinks!
I ran the race with my long-time running buddy Jessica, and a new running buddy, Nicole.
We got in a couple of days before the race and got our race materials, then wandered the French Quarter. We ate a muffuletta at Central Grocery and even had some pre-race hurricanes at Pat O'Brien's. Even so, we made it to race start!

Me, Nicole and Jessica at the start

We're jazzed to be here!

Here we go!

This race was part of the Rock N Roll running series, so there are bands all along the course. We started near the French Quarter and then headed down toward the Garden District.

A jazz band along the course

 The course seemed to go a long way down the Garden District and we traveled along the trolley car tracks, then turned around and came right back.

Mardi Gras beads in the trees

 The race was about two weeks after Mardi Gras, but evidence of the celebrations were all around! There were beads up in the trees. There were broken beads along the road, too.

Bagpipers along the course

Running near Jackson Square

We eventually ran through the French Quarter, right by Jackson Square, before turning up the Esplanade and then to City Park, where we finished.

As you can see, we had glorious weather. 

Finished!

How every half marathon should end

 We finished the race and made it back over to Pat O'Brien's, where I had a hurricane, fried oysters and chicken gumbo. The gumbo was only so-so. I should have had another dozen of those oysters. The breading was made with some of Pat O'Brien's bloody Mary mix and they were so good!

The new bling

Yummy post-race lunch

And so I've checked another state off the list. Louisiana makes No. 22. It was good to be back in New Orleans. I was there about 20 years ago and I loved being back.
I hope it's not another 20 years before I'm back again.

Sleepless in Seattle

I've just spent five days in Seattle, Washington, and had a great time visiting and completed a race in my 18th state with the Rock n Roll Seattle Half Marathon on Saturday.
I should have known how great a trip it would be when I saw this outside the plane window on the descent. Absolutely breathtaking, Mount Rainier.

Mount Rainier

I got to Seattle Thursday afternoon and met up with my running buddy Peggy. We stayed with her friends who own a lovely home in West Seattle, overlooking Puget Sound.

Sunset over Puget Sound

The photo above was taken from the deck of Shellie and Paul's house. Not hard to see why they love it there.
Friday morning we took the ferry over to Seattle for the expo. That morning was a little overcast, giving me a sense of what Seattle natives might be used to throughout the year.

Gray downtown morning

We walked over to the expo and picked up our numbers, shirts and other goodies. Always fun to wander around and see what races are coming up.

Expo selfie

Peggy and I had a little fun at the expo. Believe it or not I brought my new selfie stick to Seattle, but never used it!

Sightseeing at Pikes Market

Lots to see

The cruise ships were in Friday, so Pike Place Market was packed. I never did see anyone throwing a fish. I'd hoped I could have seen that, but it's OK. I saw a lot of neat vendors and artisans there. We had lunch at Wild Ginger, a Thai place nearby.
We were up early for the race Saturday, since it started at 7 a.m. Here's where the sleepless part kicks in. I didn't sleep well at all Friday night. I woke up at 2 a.m. and stayed that way until we got up at 4:30!

Space Needle start

Ready to run

Space Needle starting gun

Getting started

The race started right near the Space Needle, which was super cool. For the first time this year, the race began with fireworks off the Space Needle. You can almost see the fireworks in my photo above. I thought the fireworks would come off the very top, so I wasn't positioned quite right to get the full photo.
The route took us through Chinatown. you can almost see the dragon on the pole just ahead of Peggy.

Running through Chinatown

Chinatown's gate

Peggy is a faster runner than I, so eventually she got ahead of me and I brought up the rear. There are lots of fun things along the route, including this giant rocker.

Freebird!

Along Lake Washington

 I think one of the prettiest parts of the course was the long curve along Lake Washington. What was also nice about this part, other than the beautiful view, was it was dedicated to several of the charity organizations attached to the race, including one devoted to fallen military personnel. Many volunteers stood along this part of the course holding American flags. I wish I'd gotten a photo. It was beautiful and very moving.

Heading back toward downtown

 Another interesting part of the course is we went about a mile in a highway tunnel. It was kind of spooky. The DJ in there was playing some new age music and there were this lights swirling all around. But, because there wasn't really anything to see, it was my chance to kind of zone out and just run.

Getting closer to downtown

Along the route, and passing the Seattle Great Wheel

We ran along an elevated highway, so we could see the waterfront and ports to our left, and that included seeing the Seattle Great Wheel. I managed a selfie with it, even without my selfie stick!
At long last, I got to the finish. Not in my best time ever, but I was happy!

Finishers!

Finishers!

At the end

 For me, this finisher's medal represents state No. 18. Since we were right back where we started, we decided to take in the view from the Space Needle.

Atop the Space Needle

Enjoying the view

 And then we decided on a little lunch at Zeeks Pizza. And you know I had to have a glass of wine!

How every half marathon should end

We weren't quite finished with sightseeing and now that we were sated, we enjoyed the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum.

Beautiful art

No touching!

Garden of Glass

The Needle close by

It was such a fun day, but I will say I was wiped out by the evening. I was not sleepless Saturday night!
Sunday morning, Peggy had to return to the real world, while I got an extra day, and had brunch with my friend Carol. Carol lives in Seattle and usually runs the race, but plantar fasciitis has made her take a break. We did manage to meet up for brunch, though.

Carol and me at brunch

I must say, we both had the dungeness crab cake eggs benedict and they were incredible! Props to Portage Bay Cafe.
We wandered the Seattle Art Museum Olympic Sculpture Park. Carol got my photo next to Alexander Calder's Eagle, with the Space Needle in the background!

Love being a tourist!

I stayed Sunday night at a hotel near the airport and walked up to a little Salvadoran/Mexican restaurant for dinner, passing by what I thought was a park. Well, it is a park, but it is Angel Lake Park, so I stopped by on my way back to the hotel. The water was very brisk, but that didn't stop lots of kids from swimming in it!

One last sunset on the water

It was a magical trip. I so enjoyed Seattle and the friends I met, or reconnected with, here.

Philly Fourteen

Just a little over two weeks ago, I completed the Rock N Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon on Sept. 21, and completed a race in my 14th state.
My mantra leading up to the race was to complete "Philly 14."

Welcome to Philadelphia, runners!

View down Arch Street, toward my hotel

I've been to Philadelphia twice before, but I must say this trip was simply wonderful. Great weather, great food, great friends, and a chance to vacation solo and with friends and family.
I arrived Thursday, Sept. 18, by myself. I spent the first two days alone, but not really.
I stayed in City Center and walked all over, stumbling upon Chinatown, which was just two blocks from my hotel, and visiting the Franklin Institute.
But first things, first.
I picked up my race number and racing gear on Friday, directly across the street from my hotel, at the Philadelphia convention center. I had a little fun there, too.

Almost also directly across the street, was Redding Terminal Market, this vast reconfiguring of the old Redding rail terminal that is now an enclosed, but vast market stall area.
I stood in line for about 45 minutes at Carmen's to get a Philly cheesesteak sandwich. It was fun chatting up the local in front of me and the tourist, like me, behind me. And the sandwich was yummy, but I was glad I ate it on Friday, two days before the race!
Then I wandered over to the Franklin Institute, around 3:30 pm, after all the schools were out. I saw lots of school kids, many in school uniforms and nearly all of them toting a backpack of some sort, as I made my way there.
Turns out, since I got there after school was out, I had the science museum very nearly to myself! I walked up to everything I wanted to see or do. No lines, no waiting. Very few people.
 The museum closed at 5 pm, and that was the sorry part. Just as I got to the area of the locomotives, and then the space part, it was time to close. I kind of had to rush through those things. And I didn't get to go into the planetarium and see the exhibits and films there. I'll have to go back!
I met my friend Nancy for dinner Friday night. We went to Vedge, a vegan restaurant she wanted to try. It was really, really good.
What I find maddening was I didn't get a photo of me and Nancy together! It's been nearly six years since I've seen her and I forget to get a photo!
Nancy and I know one another because of breast cancer. We are both survivors. But I'd like to think we'd have been friends without cancer, too.
Saturday my sister Jody arrived from New York. We had lunch back over at the Redding Terminal Market, this time at a Greek restaurant stand. It was really yummy. I could have had just about every meal in that market!
We also wandered over to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, you know the museum made famous by the Rocky movie. The one with all those steps! There really are a lot of steps. We got there late in the afternoon, and again, the museum closed at 5 pm, but we got to see much of the impressionists, post-impressionists and some of the modern artists.

From the top of the steps

What I didn't know, was that Alexander Calder, the sculptor who worked with big kinetic mobile sculpture, was the son of  the artist who made Swan Fountain, and the grandson of the artist who sculpted the William Penn that sits atop City Hall in Philadelphia.
Jody and I had dinner in Chinatown Saturday evening. We tried to get into Maggiano's for some pasta, but it was so crowded we couldn't get in. Our choice of just picking some restaurant at random in Chinatown was better.
It was a Malaysian restaurant, and I had the pad Thai. Jody had the chicken mango, and I think hers was better, although I really enjoyed mine.
My high school friend Peggy arrived Saturday evening, and we both were up early Sunday morning to run the half marathon.

At the start

When Peggy and I first started running together about 15 years ago, I was the stronger runner. The tides have turned and she is now the stronger runner. She pushed me on this race. Pushed me beyond my comfort zone at times.
So many people think running is all physical, but I can tell you it is not. As I was being pushed physically, I had to fight mentally not to slow down, not to give in to negative thoughts that I couldn't do it.
I did injure my right arch during the race, and it's still bothering me. It had me limp the last four miles. I wasn't doing too badly on the race until then, but once the pain in my foot started, it was hard to fight against that.
Still, we finished the race in 2:52, a full eight minutes better than my Portland half marathon time!
I was very pleased.
The course itself was lovely, and flat! The morning was warmer than I expected. I wished I had brought a tank top, rather than the T-shirt I wore. But it was OK.

Peggy and I making our way to the start

In the frame

waiting to go

Getting close!

Along the river

Peggy on pace

Selfie time!

We started very near the Philadelphia Museum of Art and traveled toward City Hall on Ben Franklin Parkway. We rounded Love Plaza, with the iconic LOVE statue, twice. We ran toward Chinatown, passing the Liberty Bell, although you could not see if from the street, and eventually back down Arch Street, passing my hotel. We came back toward the museum and on along the Schuylkill River, which was lovely. We even saw some crewmen rowing that morning.

Beautiful course

In the rock tunnel

My only regret was I finished the race and had to hurry up and rush back to the airport. I made a mistake and booked a flight way too early. I couldn't have my celebratory glass of wine with Peggy after the race!

Finishers!

Finisher!

Race medal, one of my favorites

But I take away great memories from Philadelphia, a city I'd love to visit again.