Rock n Roll New Orleans Marathon 2013

Friday
This was one of the few times that I flown with AirTran. The tickets were cheap enough that it was a deal that I just couldn't pass up. It was an early flight out of LAX with a stop in Atlanta. As soon as I got into Atlanta I walked over to the gate of an earlier flight to try and fly stand by. I was able to get on the flight and was given a first class seat! They really take care of you up in front. They gave me a bottle of water and offered to help me with my carry-on as soon as I boarded the plane. The flight attendant kept checking on me for snacks and drinks.

Once we landed, I made my way to the bus stop to catch a ride over to the Central Business District. It only cost $2. The last stop was at Tulane and Loyola which left me only a short walk over to my hotel. It was a bit too early to check in, so I walked down to the expo at the Convention Center to pick up my race packet.

Convention Center

Welcome to the expo

Expo

After going through the expo, I walked through the Riverwalk to see if I could find something to eat. Most of the food stands were closed. I found a Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand, but wasn't in the mood for beignets. I kept walking and eventually ended up at the Drago's Seafood Restaurant inside the Hilton. I got there in between lunch and dinner so it wasn't too crowded. I found it kind of weird that I was seated away from everyone else in a section of the restaurant all by myself. Halfway through my meal, they seated a couple of Asians next to me. That seemed a bit odd, but it was fine since my waitress was doing a good job. I ordered a cup of seafood gumbo, a LA 31 pale ale, Caesar salad, and some Crescent City Shrimp. I love shrimp and they were some of the best that I've ever eaten. They were very well spiced and flavorful! The waitress noticed that I didn't order any of their famous charbroiled oysters, so she brought one out for me to sample. I  thanked her and told her that I would've ordered some, but I never want to mess with oysters just a few days before a marathon! It was of course delicious. I'm sure one couldn't hurt.

Drago's

Seafood gumbo

LA 31 Pale Ale

Caesar Salad

Crescent City Shrimp

Charbroiled Oyster

After my meal, I hoofed it to my hotel, The O'Keefe Hotel. I stopped by a Walgreens along the way on Canal Street to pick up some drinks and snacks. The location of the hotel was very convenient, but it was a dilapidated hotel. When I checked in, the guy at the front desk spoke English, but it was very hard to understand. The floor that I was on was a smoking floor and the hallway smelled horrible the second that you got off of the elevator. I'm sure I breathed in toxic air during my stay, but I figured that I could tough it out for just the weekend. It made me appreciate more the fact that smoking has been pretty much banned statewide in California. Other than the bad odors, the bed was lumpy and very worn out, the carpet was dirty, and the toilet was not quite attached to the floor. Well, at least the TV and air conditioner was good. :)

Worn out lumpy bed

Toilet not quite attached to the floor

Saturday
I ate some trail mix for breakfast and walked over to the expo again to listen to Kara Goucher. She talked about how she had took time off of running to let an injury finally heal and that she's currently working herself back into shape. The race for her on Sunday was to gauge her current level of fitness. Having followed her career, I knew that her being out of shape was about a 1:12 half marathon. She would go on to run slightly under that on Sunday. After she was done talking to a standing-room only crowd, I got in line to take a picture with her. On the way out of the expo, they were handing out some PowerBar Performance Blends. This was my first time seeing these pouches.

Trail Mix

Kara Goucher

Me and Kara

After leaving the expo, I went across the street to eat lunch at the Grand Isle Restaurant. The place was pretty busy and there was a wait to get a table, so I found a seat at the bar. I ordered a Lazy Magnolia Pecan nut brown ale, a cup of chicken and sausage gumbo, and a Shrimp Caminada Poboy. Did I mention that I love shrimp? The food was okay, but the service was a bit lacking since the server at the bar was busy shucking oysters and barely checked on anybody at the bar. So instead of ordering a second beer, I paid my tab and headed back to my hotel room.

Lazy Magnolia Pecan nut brown ale

Chicken and sausage gumbo

Shrimp Caminada Poboy

On the way back, I stopped by the McDonald's on Canal Street to pick up an early dinner. I picked up some Chicken McNuggets, a Quarter Pounder, and the new Fish McBites. Since I had just eaten lunch, I waited a couple of hours before eating it. In the meantime, I got my race gear ready and watched some TV. I thought the Fish McBites were a bit disappointing. They did however make a little spot on the container to hold your tarter sauce. I would rather eat a Filet o' Fish.

Quarter Pounder, McNuggets, and Fish Bites

Race gear

Sunday
I got ready and walked over to the starting area a few blocks away at the Lafayette Square. It was somewhat windy as I walked around locating the UPS gear check and the portapotties. I then circled back to wait inside the nearby Blake Hotel. A few other runners had the same idea. We all sat in the lobby watching the TV. I don't think one of the workers like us being in there because she started locking the doors to the lobby restrooms. She probably figured out that we weren't staying at that hotel.

As it got closer to the start of the race, I went to check my gear bag and use the portapotties for one last time. I'm not very good with the "nothing new on race day advice" so I proceeded to consume one of those PowerBar Performance Blend pouches for the first time and chased it with some water. Then I headed into the start corral. It seemed like a nice day for a marathon. The earlier prediction of rain changed to no rain for race morning. It was not too cold, not too hot. The goal for this race was to run the first half around 2 hours and finish the whole thing around 4:30.

Starting line

Starting corral

During the first couple of miles I bumped into a fellow Marathon Maniac that I had met at WDW. She was a bit injured but was running better than me. It was pretty cool to see Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher in action on the first out-and-back section. Between miles 9 and 10, I freaked out a female runner because she thought I had spat on her. Here's what happened... I was jogging on the very left side of the course trying to eat my GU. I ripped open the packet with my teeth and had spit out the tab to my left. I guess I should've checked to see if somebody was there. I just figured nobody was going to go that far left of the course. :) The full marathoners ran with the half marathoner for about 12.5 miles. The half marathoners were a pain in the ass because all I kept hearing was "we're almost there" and stuff like "only 2 more miles to go!" Bro, I have over 15 miles to go! :)
1-2: 17:14 (8:37)
3: 8:44
4: 9:06
5: 8:41
6: 8:54
7: 9:39
8-9: 18:36 (9:18)
10: 9:38
11: 9:57
12: 9:48
13: 8:58
Halfway: 2:00:31

For the second half, I switched to my usual walk/jog method. But lately I've been doing more jogging than walking so my second half hasn't been taking as long as it has been in my recent races. I leapfrogged with Aubrey Dreker. I only remembered her because she was wearing really bright yellow capris and it made a easy target to follow. Unfortunately I could not keep up with her in the last few miles.
14: 10:10
15: 10:29
16: 10:46
17: 11:10
18: 11:17
19: 11:52
20: 11:40
21: 12:45
22: 11:57
23: 13:00
24: 12:11
25: 12:38
26: 12:30
26.2: 1:46
Finish: 4:33:32

This was one of my better executed races. I kept every mile as even as possible and focused on jogging my own race. I was happy to have run a better race for my 90th lifetime marathon. After picking up my finisher medal, I grabbed some of the post race food and drinks before heading over to the UPS trucks. I spotted my friend hobbling a bit also heading over to the gear check. We shared our race experience a little and agreed to meet up at her UPS truck before heading over to the bus stop for the ride back to the CBD. While I was waiting for her to get her bag, an Army volunteer asked me for my PowerBar protein bar. I was more than happy to give it to him.

#90 Done!

After getting cleaned up and resting a bit in my hotel room, I went back out to eat a very early dinner at Lüke Restaurant. It was happy hour and a bit busy, so again I found a seat at the bar. It turned out that for happy hour, not only were the beers cheaper, but the oysters were 50 cents a piece. Since my race was over, I ended up eating a dozen. That was in addition to my regular meal of 3 Tin Roofs, a cup of seafood gumbo, and their Sunday special veal. This place was by far the best place that I've eaten at in the two times that I've been in New Orleans.

Tin Roof #1

Seafood gumbo

Half dozen

Sunday Special Veal and Tin Roof #2

6 more

Tin Roof #3

Monday
Time to go home. Well it looked like I confirmed where the foul odors were coming from, since my noisy neighbors had checked out yesterday and the hallway no longer smelled like death. For breakfast, I ate the second PowerBar Performance Blends pouch and some water. Breakfast of a marathoner! After checking out of the hotel, I walked a few blocks over to the bus stop to catch the bus to the airport.

Breakfast

At the airport, I had a few hours to pass before my flight, so I ate at the Dooky Chase Restaurant before going through the TSA security checkpoint. Don't let the name fool you, they actually had pretty good food for an airport restaurant. Or maybe it was just my post-marathon appetite speaking. The Abita Amber and Andygator were both pretty good beers.

Abita Amber

Red bean and rice with smoked sausage

Abita Andygator

My flight home had a stop over in Atlanta before flying back to LAX. While in Atlanta, I ate again at the Brews and Blues Bar near my gate. The dining experience here turned out to be the exact opposite of the place that I had eaten at earlier while waiting at the Louis Armstrong Airport. This place was one of the worst places that I've eaten at any airport. They had a limited menu because they had a problem with the kitchen. That should have been a sign to just drink beer or to find another place. The beef brisket sandwich was horrible and severely overpriced. But such is the norm for airport restaurants the majority of the time. Much to my surprise, I had no problems whatsoever flying with AirTran this time. I've heard so much horror stories about them from my friends.

Stella

The Blues beef brisket sandwich

AirTran

Rock n Roll Pasadena Half Marathon 2013

Friday
I left work early on Friday to attend the expo in Pasadena. The expo was at the Pasadena Convention Center again, so I parked across the street at the Paseo Colorado mall. Since the parking validation was only for a couple of hours, I didn't have too much time to waste at the expo. I picked up my race packet and signed up for next year's race for $70, a pretty good bargain. In the bag, I saw a promo card with me and my friends on it. I guess when you run a whole bunch of races, it's bound to happen. :)

Expo

Register for next year

My friends and I on the promo card

I then walked over to the nearby Dog Haus Biergarten to eat a late lunch. My friend had told me about this place having craft beer and good dogs. I thought I'd check it out. I had a Populist IPA, a bratwurst with sauerkraut and sweet peppers, and an order of tater tots. It's hard for me to pass on eating a bratwurst, but next time I would skip on the peppers and just get it with sauerkraut. I love tater tots. They remind me of my childhood.

Populist IPA

Bratwurst topped with sauerkraut and sweet peppers with tater tots

Sunday
I drove out early and parked at the Parsons Federal Credit Union parking lot at around 5am before the parking attendant was ready to collect the $5 parking fee. Again they did not have signs directing people to the entrance on Fairs Oaks Avenue. So again people were trying to enter on Walnut Street. I got my stuff ready and started my hike to the Rose Bowl. It's always about 10 degrees colder at the Rose Bowl, so it was somewhat chilly. Some girls in a car headed to park at the Rose Bowl probably felt bad for me offered me a ride. Although it was a nice gesture, I declined. I wanted to walk to see how my legs and hip were feeling after having to drop out of my last race.

Once I got to the Rose Bowl, I found a nice place to sit down and wait. I bumped into one of my TNT friends while waiting near the UPS gear bag check. Eventually I checked my bag and headed for the starting corrals. The race would start at 7:30pm.

Rose Bowl

Starting line

My goal was to finish around 2 hours. But I also wanted to use the race to incorporate some speed work. I had to be careful since I had just recently hurt my gimpy right hip again. I also wore my cotton McDonald's t-shirt to make sure that I don't take the race too seriously.

If I'm not mistaken, the course was identical to last year's so I was pretty familiar with the hills and turns. The first mile felt ok. I could feel that my lungs were beginning to catch up with my legs, but having them run sub 8's were still asking too much. So I dialed it back on the next couple of miles as there was a couple of nice climbs before the course flatten out a bit. I had planned to run the first 10k at a good effort and then cruise in to the finish. And that's what I did. It was fun seeing all of my friends on the out and back sections. Even though I had slowed down in the last few miles, my right leg was getting pretty sore. Good thing we finished with a loop around the Rose Bowl. I knew exactly how far I needed to cover before reaching the finish line.
1: 7:48
2: 8:17
3: 8:27
4-5: 16:32 (8:16)
6: 8:32
7: 8:28
8: 9:31
9: 9:22
10: 8:34
11: 9:47
12: 10:47
13: 9:55
13.1: 1:00

5k: 25:22
10k: 51:21
10M: 1:25:33
Finish: 1:57:02
Pace: 8:56

I pretty much executed my race the way I wanted. Still making some progress. The volunteers along the course were amused with my McDonald's shirt. One of them even sang the jingle to me as I jogged through their aid station. My time for this race was good enough to beat my time at the LA RnR Half Marathon (2:05:16), so I'm wondering what they'll send me in the mail this time. So far, I've received two nice Brooks items, a cap and a drawstring bag.

Finisher medal

After picking up my finisher medal, I headed over to get my gear bag. I ran into my friend wearing a huge afro. He was pacing his friend. I then headed over to the beer garden to meet up with my friend and drink my free diet beer. We traded race stories. This year they didn't allow you to take your beer to the stage area. But the music was loud enough that you could still enjoy it in the beer drinking section. After I finished my beer, I made the walk back to my car.

Excellent afro pacer!

My friend and I reconvened at the Dog Haus Biergarten for a post-race meal and to drink a real beer. This time I ordered the Grand Slam dog, a slider, and a Rare Vos Amber Ale. The slider was a bit disappointing, but the dog was good! I would order this one again. I need to come back here and try their other sinful menu items. We had to leave shortly after eating our meals since I was parked at the Paseo again and my friend had parked in one of the metered spots. On my way home, I stopped by the supermarket and ran into a bunch of girl scouts selling their precious cookies. How could I say no... I had to buy a box of Tagalongs and Thin Mints.

Rare Vos Amber Ale

Grand Slam dog and slider

Tagalong and Thin Mints

You Only Get 1 Shot

This was one race that I probably should not have run. But it was my friend's birthday race, so I had to at least show up. And if I show up, you can bet that I'm giving it a go. The race began and ended at a restaurant called The Point in Dana Point. It was one of those low key Charlie races, so the size of the field was very small and consisted mostly of Marathon Maniacs.

Pre-race photo

The turnaround

I was really trying not to wreck my body so I started the race off slow. Everybody ran the first loop together for the most part to learn the course. The course was marked earlier in the day, but the rain washed it away. About 2/3's into the out portion of the first loop, the group was running at a faster pace than I would like during the hillier section of the course, so I fell back. I would catch up with them at the tequila station on the way back after making the turnaround. I then picked up the pace a bit and ran a little in front of the pack until I was unsure of the course. We all made it back to the restaurant together.
Loop 1 out: 30:47 (9:23)
Loop 1 in: 33:08 (10:07)

Aid station: 2:06

For some stupid reason, I decided to pick up the pace again when I went back out on the course. I ran fast enough that I ended up ahead of the runners that could run under 4 hours for a marathon. Before we got to the hillier section of the course, I slowed down and let the real runners pass. As I was walking, I came across some shirtless deviants that were smoking stuff while riding on their skateboards. I thought to myself, "it's getting dark and I wouldn't want for something bad to happen when it gets too dark." I was already thinking that I should drop out at the half. What sealed the deal was when I was running through the part next to the golf course, my right hip started to hurt. The pain would not go away, so I stopped running and walked it in. I dropped out at the half marathon.

Loop 2 out: 34:18 (10:28)

Loop 2 in: 47:59 (14:39)

DNF: 2:28:19 (11:19)

I guess it was good thing that I was forced to drop out as the storm rolled in shortly thereafter. I took a finisher's shot of the tequila and ordered my meal that came with the price of registration. I got the Point burger and a Dos Equis Ambar. It was getting pretty chilly outside, so I hung out just inside the restaurant until all of the runners had finished their races. The Point looked like a nice place to hang out after work. After shooting the breeze with my friends, I wished the birthday girl a happy birthday before making the long drive home. I had a fun time even though I was unable to finish the race or stay for the post race pajama party. It was way past my bedtime! :)

Time for a shot!

The Point Burger

The "normal" folks