South

Bienvenue Baton Rouge

Published January 18, 2014

Left work an hour early, barreled down E-470 to DIA, caught a late flight on Southwest to New Orleans, then drove an hour north to Baton Rouge. Marathon weekend in the Bayou – woo-hoo!

Woke early & drove to Baton Rouge’s River Center – sandwiched between the city’s historic downtown & Mississippi river. Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, Planetarium (housed in an old train station), the USS Kidd & of course…the mighty Mississip’. Yep, super scenic – even in January. Sunshine & 50 degrees – cool, a little windy but BEEEE-UT-IFUL.

Spent at least 30 minutes on the banks of the Mississippi, watching barges slowly travelling through its muddy waters. This river has witnessed so much American history — WOW! No more than a mile wide, I can now swim this distance twice (thanks to consistent Ironman training) 🙂

Bib pick-up, quick stroll through the Runner’s Expo. While I enjoy the solitude of hiking our high mountains, gotta say LOVE the unity & camaraderie of the runner community. This run is gonna be a fun one – happy to be in Cajun Country!

CLICK HERE & enjoy CCR’s “Jambalaya (on the Bayou)”

: Welcome to Louisiana!

: USS Kidd & the mighty Mississippi

: mighty MUDDY Mississip’

: Louisiana Old State Capitol

: downtown Baton Rouge

: Louisiana Runner’s Expo

: “ready, ready, ready, ready…ready to run” – Dixie Chicks

River Valley Run Half Marathon

Published November 9, 2013

Better than running my first half marathon since June? Family support at the finish line. The best!

Announced my 60 day Marathon challenge & soon after was down with a cold. ARGH – crummy luck! 3 weeks of steady training later, have hit the halfway point. Time for a half marathon – 13.1 miles.

Longest training run to date: 12 miles – but who can’t gut out an extra mile on race day? 🙂

Took an xtra day & journeyed to Arkansas for a long weekend with family – before winter weather & holidays fill folks’ schedules. Flew into Fort Smith Regional airport via Dallas. Small plane, small airport. 1 seat by 2 seat row capacity – landed in a 2 gate facility (yep, it’s either Gate 1 or Gate 2 🙂 ). BAM – 10 minutes later enjoyed lunch at Williamsburg Kitchen. LOVE LOVE how close & convenient everything is in a small town! And the weather? Sunny & 60’s. FAAAANNNNTASTIC!

Saturday, race day. FCA River Valley Run.

Wait, wait – missing part of the story. Received a TomTom GPS Watch as a belated birthday gift (which should cover birthdays for a decade – thanks James, Collette & Maddie). First run with the watch, a half marathon. Talk about setting the bar high. LOL>

Easy race start – fairly flat ‘til mile 6. Big hill but nothing crazy. Happy to see James & Collette at mile 9 – super nice!

Trick finish. At 10 ½ miles you drop off-road & run thru a wooded area. BIG smile. A mile-half later you’re still gradually climbing. NOT nice. One mile to go – super winded, thinkin’ maybe 2:16 for a finish time. Goal is always 2 hours but hadn’t raced this distance since June, I’m drowning in humidity – yep, full of excuses.

Yards away from the finish I squint hard to see the ticker.

1:54 baby. Assume once I learn how to download my race splits from the new watch, I’ll see a HUGE pace drop-off after mile 10 – but dang, I did it. Finished & finished strong. Confidence high – full marathon in 30 days.

Water, bananas & a purple Bible. First race in the Bible-belt. Check, done 🙂

Finished the weekend with a lotta food, lotta card games & a lotta laughs.

Running in Arkansas – I’ll be back.

: 34th overall, 3rd in my age group!

: 2 gate airport – Hello Arkansas!

: Williamsburg Kitchen’s infamous clown room – highly recommended!

: pre-race pic w/ James & Collette

UPDATE:

Williamsburg Kitchen celebrates 35 years! CONGRATS!

Posted in Family, Other Race Results, South | 2 Comments

DAVE-cember celebration

Published December 11, 2012

Hello Florida & Happy DAVE-cember!

Although large crowds & high humidity are not my thing (wilderness & snow worshiper here), couldn’t have been more excited to celebrate Dave’s 18^th birthday in the place he loves best…DisneyWorld Orlando.

Limited myself to 3 full days. Up by 630am each day, stayed ‘til park closings at 11pm – 3 FULL days. If you’re gonna do it, go BIG, right? Arrived late Saturday afternoon – was the last to arrive in Orlando (Mountain time zone challenged). After hotel check-in, rushed to Magic Kingdom for dinner at Cinderella’s castle, followed by fireworks.

Spent Day 1 at Hollywood Studios, Day Two around Epcot, Day 3 in Magic Kingdom.

Can’t go wrong sharing time & memories with family! Happy DAVE-cember!

Fav Park – Epcot (World Showcase fan)

Fav Dinner – Coral Reef (lover of fish – both in the tank & in my belly)

Fav Ride – Aerosmith’s Rock N Rollercoaster (not generally a thrill ride guy but the music rocked)

Fav Impromptu Christmas Event – Candlelight Procession (American Adventure Pavilion/Epcot)

Fav Breakfast – Akershus Royal Banquet Hall/Norway (smoked fish & pastries – my kind of breakfast :))

Fav Buffet – trick question/no such thing as a favourite buffet (reason Americans are bursting at the seams)

Fav Character – Lady Tremaine & Stepsisters/Cinderella (idea to Disney: an ‘all-Villains’ Park, cool huh?)

Least Fav Character – Ariel, little Mermaid (met 2 of them – both were creepy, been left underwater far too long)

Fav Stage Show – Beauty & the Beast/Hollywood Studios (yep, even better than Fantasmic!)

Most Over-rated Grand Opening – Fantasyland (wait ‘til 2014 when everything is built)