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.

On a mission

What a great run I had Saturday morning at the Atlanta Mission Race Against Homelessness 5K.

It was held in downtown Atlanta and the weather was nearly perfect. It was in the low 40s to start and overcast. Would have been nicer to see a little more sunshine, but I've run this race when it was 19 degrees out, so I won't complain!

The race starts and finishes at Centennial Olympic Park and it was a big pre-race party at the start.

Me at the pre-race party

 There was a big stage and the emcee was getting everyone up and dancing. There were even mascots Freddie the Falcon and Courage the Lion (from Fidelity Bank) and they had a good ol' time doing a mascot dance off.

How mascots get down

I ran the race in 38:05, so I was pretty pleased. It was Mission Possible!

Running with heart, and soles

I'm a little late blogging about the Feb. 6 Hearts & Soles 5K.
This one always seems to be chilly and this year was no exception. I think we were right at the freezing mark when we started.
My friends Erin and Angela joined me at this Atlanta Track Club-sponsored race.

Erin and me

Erin, Angela and me

I didn't think I'd done all that well on this 5K, which is a pretty boring out and back near Georgia Perimeter College in Decatur, but when I got home and checked last year's time, I actually was just a hair faster. Not bad!
I was under the weather the rest of the weekend. The head cold that has been going around the office finally caught me, so I didn't get out for my 9-mile training run Sunday morning, and it's supposed to be really cold tomorrow for my 10 mile run. Goodness, I'll be in New Orleans in two weeks preparing for the Rock N Roll New Orleans half marathon. Training hasn't gone all that well.
I think I have to face facts: Three half marathons a year for me are too many. And I really shouldn't do a half marathon unless it's in early April or late March. The weather here is just too crummy to try to train. So I'm pretty sure I'm just going to do two half marathons next year, one in April and another in September and then just run a couple of 5Ks or 10Ks to get in four states. I think that will likely be my MO from now on. It will be kinder on my body. And my heart and soles. :)

Running with friends, and dogs

I'm a week behind posting about my Jan. 9 race, the Frostbite 5K: Run With the Dogs.
It was a little too warm again this year for it to be frosty, but there were plenty of dogs (and humans) at the race.
I like this race. It's close to my house and it starts at 9 a.m., so I'm not up super early on a dark winter morning.
One of the nicest surprises this year was my friend Julie and her dog Brewer ran with me! I should have guessed Julie might be there, but I neglected to email or text her before the race, so it was a very pleasant surprise to see her just as we were lining up for the start.

Julie at the start

Brewer is here too!

I ran the Atlanta 10 Miler with Julie last fall and she's doing a run 3, walk 1 minute program, so we followed that (mostly) during the race. We came out really fast and that hampered me later on the course, but overall we did really well. We'd get to our walk portion of the program and Brewer wanted to keep running! I think he helped us be a little more speedy for this race.

Finishers!

I need to remind Julie that we've done this race together three or four times (except for the year when lightning forced the cancellation, but Julie and Brewer were there!)
In fact, I met Brewer almost right after Julie and her husband Chris got him. I think I met Chris, who was then her boyfriend, at this race.
I even found 27 cents this morning, so the found money pig got fed!

The found money pig

So 2016 running is off to a great start, running with the dogs (and friends).

A chilly, hilly resolution

Atlanta's unseasonably warm weather decided to leave just as I'm ready to return to running.
So this morning's Resolution Run 4 miler was sunny and crisp. The race is in Brookhaven and it was kind of fun to see some of the areas I usually drive right by.
Here I am before the race, even wearing that Ugly Sweater Run hat, which I actually needed today!

Pre-race selfies

I looked for found money during my walk breaks, but didn't find any. I counted up all of my found money for 2015 last night. I earned $3.09, just enough for a small coffee at Starbucks. :)
At the end of the race, I went to the area that asked you to share your resolution. I put down to run four more states in 2016. You can barely see it in the photo!

It doesn't matter. It's a resolution I very much hope to keep. Happy New Year!

Final race of 2015

All good things must come to an end, and with my foot still bothering me, I've run my final 5K for 2015 with the Lakeside Viking 5K on Dec. 12. I ran it with my friends Carolyn and Susan though, so I went out exactly how I wanted: with friends.

Me, Susan and Carolyn

I am ready for a short break. But I'm also looking forward to 2016. I've got four more states lined up for sure: Louisiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Colorado, all of which will be run with friends! I'm so excited that friends want to join me on my destination running adventures.
2015 was a great year for me, I think. I got to run with family members for the first time, I ran races in the great states of Kansas, Washington, New Mexico, Maryland and Connecticut. Five states this year! And I either ran with friends or met up with friends in each state. How cool is that?
I never realized how much fun this bucket list was going to become. How much I look forward to planning trips and then planning who I might see while there.
So, thanks 2015 for a wonderful year. See you at the starting line in 2016!

Ugly Sweaters and the Constitution State

I'm home from a short, fun trip to Connecticut, where I ran the Ugly Sweater Run in Hartford with my friend Peggy.
I didn't expect to run in five states this year. I thought it would simply be four, which I think is ambitious to begin with!
But the stars aligned and I ended up flying up to Connecticut and running one more race this year.
Here we are before the race, wearing our Ugly Sweater hats. Great hats!

Sporting our race swag -- fun hats!

Ugly sweaters on display

The full effect

Wow, we look stylish! My sweater looks like it is two sizes too big! And to think I used to wear that to work!

Along the course!

Coming into the finish

You can tell the temps were up for the race by the last photo. I had to take my sweater off! I was roasting. The race wasn't my best. My foot, which I've stayed off of for three weeks, almost immediately began hurting. It's hurting right now as I type this. Grrr...

The trip also included lunch with my friend Val, who lives in Massachusetts and drove about 90 minutes to meet me for lunch!

Val and me at lunch

It was a great weekend. Over way too fast. And my goodness it was warm! Almost a little too warm for all the sweaters I brought thinking it would be really cold in Connecticut in December. After all, Peggy said it sleeted at last year's Ugly Sweater Run.

This race in Connecticut represented my 21st state. It may not have been the right weekend for sweaters, but our ugly ones sure were fun!!