Jennings LA to Gulfport MS — 4 hour drive. Life lesson learned, carry a phone battery. Key when dependent on the Maps app. Luckily, old school ways still work. Stopped at a gas station. Yeah — guys DO ask for directions (when there’s absolutely NO other option).
Day 3: BEACH RUN. Boardwalk stretch right along the Gulf. White sands… and no trees. Was forewarned so us albino types sun-blocked up, donned UV arm sleeves & brought out the bucket hat. Flamingo hat, always a conversation starter. LOL>
Never run three 50Ks back-to-back… ’til today. Quads sore, calves right, blisters, chaffed (no details) & Day 2 neck sunburn. So… you walk the first 2 miles. Cold engine warms in 20 minutes, so does the body. Walk becomes jog, you find pace, start clipping off miles.
BEAUTIFUL sunrise, light breeze. Banged out 15 before the sun exploded. Decreased my pace, kept the heart rate steady. NO surprise, you’re running aside the GULF of MEXICO! Get outta your head & get it done. Reward? Marathon feet in the ocean. Boo-yah!
5-hour drive to Marianna, Florida — or as locals call it, L.A. (lower Alabama). Technically the state of Florida, but this ain’t DisneyWorld. Heavy Dixie accent, railroads and swamp. No negativity here — I find all America beautiful. Sometimes you just appreciate home more 🙂
Motivated by my first dive motel, brother was lined up for Day 4 — 30 minutes to spare. Not calling out names. Sometimes when you pay only $45, you get $45 worth of lodging in return. No roaches in the shower. Unusual cold temps (for fake Florida) kept God’s creatures lined against the baseboards. Slept on top of the covers, warmed by my puffy jacket. 4:30am alarm. Gas station coffee.
FOG covered lake. Beautiful first couple miles at Citizen’s Lodge Park.
4th state medal collected, another 50K recorded. Ultra winner this day. Gulf Coast Series complete. Short 2-hour drive to Eufaula, Alabama. Appalachian Series in the morning. New runners, new faces, same me. 50K every day.
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- Gulf of Mexico
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- white sand SUNRISE
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- BEACH DAY🏅
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- early START
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- FOG magic
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- Gulf Coast COMPLETE
Gulfport MS
If you stay in Beaumont, don’t choose Econolodge. Closed. First hand info.
If you run in Beaumont, signup with Mainly Marathons. The Minnesota brothers who run these events provide a sweet self-crew area & post a ‘no runner left behind’ motto.
Fast runners, slow runners, old, young. Closest thing you’ll find to a running cult.
Get to the Start, get to the Finish. Drive, hotel, shower, repeat — that’s a Mainly Series.
Run, walk, conserve, endure. 14 laps in Beaumont, a whopping 26 in Louisiana. Blowing out a fast 50K with the locals, won’t serve me 11 days later. Steady, consistent. TIME ON FEET. 100-mile goal race in September — Mainly is part of the solution. Breaking down the impossible 100 into smaller mental chunks. HUGE!
Day One. Ran 16 miles, walked 16 miles. Two-hour drive to Jennings, Louisiana. Crayfish enchiladas. Sleeps — and it happens again.
Day Two. Re-wake the legs, eat/drink, consistent steady intake of calories. Lap, lap, lap, lap. 32 miles more, a 2nd 50K finish — and the Gator Chateau. Sure, it was small — but holding a live gator isn’t something I’m gonna experience in the Rockies 🙂
One day at a time.
Break it down. One ‘run’ day is 7 hours. Those 7 hours are 14 laps. 2 walk, 6 run, 4 walk, 2 run. Each lap you gather a rubber band, electrolyte refuel & move forward. And that lap, an out-n-back. To the red cone & return.
Tick, tick, tick. Red cone, return. Red cone, return. Like a running metronome.
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- Quinn Soccer Complex
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- Loony LEGENDS
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- no Haga, no Bueno
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- crawfish enchiladas
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- Oil & Gas Park
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- Gator Chateau
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- GATOR 🐊
Beaumont TX & Jennings LA
March 15th, Corporate Tax Return due.
Pencil down. Task complete. Next chapter awaits.
12 years CFO-defined, but not the next 12 months 😊
Biggest snow of season delayed my flight 4 hours — just past midnite, touchdown.
Rental pick-up. Hotel check-in. It all begins Monday in Beaumont. Driving Texas to West Virginia. Registered for back-to-back Mainly Marathon series, Gulf Coast & Appalachia.
11 days, 11 states, 11 marathons. Well… that was the plan.
How ’bout 50k? Every day.
Brother that’s a lotta miles. Google the math.
“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.”
11-day RUN Adventure
