weekend plans & Gu winner!

Even though I'm back from NOLA, I've been having trouble getting on track with eating. My goal for the weekend is to get back to my weight watchers tracking. At least until leaving for Disney, then I'll allow myself a break. 

As far as running? I was so sore after RnR, I thought Disney would be a fun race with lots of walking & pictures for sure. Now my legs have recovered & I'm feeling pretty good, like maybe I'll actually be able to run a good portion of the race! I still plan on this being a fun race though and stopping for pictures and whatnots along the way!I have an 8 miler scheduled with Shelley on sunday, and I have a massage today. All to prep me for next weekend. I have been craving to ride my bike, but the trainer will have to do for today.

Later today, I'm heading out with my mom to go car shopping. She wants a new Ford Escape, and I want a new car too, but I won't be getting a new one right now. A friend of mine works for Ford and is signing my mom up for his friends and family discount, sweet! Plus we have red sox/yankee tickets to buy today! We won the lottery and will hopefully be able to get a 4 pack to  a weekend game. Taxes are on my agenda for later today or tomorrow as well, how fun haha

oh ya......

Gu Winner?

Elizabeth @ Canyon Carins!

She's currently mapping out her triathlon race schedule for the summer (something I need to focus on!)

congrats & email me at sgrigely at hotmail dot com so I can get your info to Scott for your prize!

Lastly, I will be posting my BIG fundraising raffle TODAY!!

I have a couple more prizes on the way, but the complete list won't be needed until we start getting some winners, so lets get some entries! I am so excited for this, and I hope you are too! Check it out later today!

Rock N Roll Mardi Gras Race Report

Race Expo

Fabulous. The Expo was rockin. Killer music & TONS of vendors. The only bad thing? The goody bags weren't consistently packed, so they contents varied a lot from bag to bag. Shelley and I didn't get all the same freebies & flyers. Otherwise it was a blast. After bib & T-shirt pick up, we headed to the race merchandise to stock up...

Shelley's gear!

I ended up buying a pair of capris to wear race day, as well as a long-sleeve technical T & half zip top. We spent over $150, so we were awarded Brooks VIP Potty passes (more on that later). Then we headed out to check out the rest of the vendors. A glamour band, and new tshirt for the race, and a stop by a few other booths, including...

Dan & Jackie from Biggest Loser!!

Did anyone watch the orange team on the Biggest Loser a few years back with mother/son team Jackie & Dan!? I did, and was excited to meet them and ask about life on the ranch. They are busy running 20 half marathons this year to raise money & awareness for Reach Out For Life. 

Race Day

The hotel was a quick walk away from the race start area. Shelley and I met near the Casino and walked over. By the start, they had an area set up with pre-race food. Bananas, snicker's marathon bars, water, cytomax, I was impressed, I've never been to a race with pre-race food. There was a huge area of porta-potties, but we had our VIP potty pass...

The VIP potty pass

Flushing toilets, running water, mirrors, sport beans, lotion, sunscreen. What a nice treat instead of a pre-race porta-potty! The corrals were set up with clear easy to read signs, and even porta-potties in the race corrals!

corral potties

We were back in corral 15, so we didn't cross the start until about 7:20ish with the wave start. Off we went! The miles ticked by easy, Shelley and I were cruising along thanks to a super flat course and interesting people and places to look at. We decided against wearing music for the race, and I was happy since there was a lot of on course entertainment. There were also a lot of cheering groups all dressed up, and some people with creative signs along the route. We were killing our times the first 6 miles, and slowed down a little by mile 7 & 8. Mile 9 we saw Kevin & Caitlin and they captured a good shot of us, still smiling!

Shelley left, me right!

Around mile 10, I really started feeling it. I slowed down quite a bit taking short walk breaks when I needed it. Mile 12, I started getting overheated. I shed my arm sleeves, but kept running out of fluids, and could feel my heart rate getting to high. I had to stop to refill water, but I still ran out before mile 13. A little after mile 12 I let Shelley go ahead and finish, and I did what I could to finish strong and managed to speed up a little for the last mile. I hit the finish line with an official finish time of 2:25:56, a new PR!!

Here's my Garmin split!

Post race was fun, my legs were incredibly sore, so we laid out in the sun to stretch out for a while. Eventually I headed to the beer tent to grab my free beers, Shelley got a sandwich, and we listened to a little music before heading back. The band was so-so, not really a Bowling for Soup fan, so we headed out early. The shuttle buses back downtown were speedy! We barely waited to get on one, then lucky us, it dropped us off right near our hotel! (big change for the wait at Disney last year for a shuttle)! 

Overall I loved the race, definitely my favorite half I've done so far! Did I mention Shelley and I signed up for RnR Providence at the Expo since they had a $15 off coupon code? I can't wait until the next RnR race, they really know how to throw a party! And the Medal was pretty bad ass too!

Were you at the race? What did you think?

Livin' it up in the Big Easy!

Wednesday night as we flew into Hartford and saw the snow coating the ground, I almost started crying. We had a blast in New Orleans, mostly from the warm weather and non stop drinking, but the race was pretty kick ass too. I'll have my race recap to follow, but I wanted to start off with an overview of the entire trip.

We got in pretty late to New Orleans, and were tired from traveling, so friday night was lame low key. Straight to bed once we were able to have the maintenance crew from the hotel disconnect our fire alarm that kept chirping. 

Saturday was Expo day! 

We had a blast, I'll give more details in my race report including my semi-celebrity meet up!

Then we headed to lunch...

We saw a cathedral on the way for Beignets...

and even though we missed out on meeting Elizabeth, we scored some delicious treats.

We had a bad dinner at the Crazy Lobster (which ironically was out of lobster), then stopped at the convenience store by our hotel on the way back for gatorade for race day. We also found 4 Loko, which is outlawed in Massachusetts (obviously Kevin went back to get some after the race).

The race was amazing! My favorite so far. Well organized and supported, I was wicked impressed!

Don't worry, my official race report will follow later today!

Shelley and I totally killed it and had an awesome time.

Can you see that gorgeous sky? It was a beautiful day...

After some relaxing, we went to dinner at Cafe Giovanni's which was the most delicious meal of our trip. Then we headed out on the search for hand grenades.

We found them, and they were delicious! After a couple of those, and my drinks at dinner, my legs weren't feeling as sore!

Saw this on the way home.... Never knew CVS sold booze!?

Monday we walked to Magazine street to Varsity Sports to get my medal engraved. I couldn't resist and bought a new pair of running shorts. We did a little shopping before Shelley & Caitlin left for home, then Kevin and I went to get ready for our Valentine's day dinner.

We went to Dragos, and had lobster (yum!), then headed over to Bourban for a few cocktails. Tuesday we went on a tour of Mardi Gras world, where they make many of the floats for the Mardi Gras parades.

One of the finished floats for this year

A lindsey lohan, paris hilton themed float design for this year

After, Kevin and I decided to make our own bar tour. We picked out 6 different bars to go to that had some history behind them, and classic drinks. At each one, we got a drink (or 2) and read about the history of the bar from our iphone. Our spots included:

1. Napolean House

2. Muriel's

3. Pat O'Brian's

4. The Bombay Club

5. Old Absinthe House

6. Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop

We had everything from Pimm's cups, whiskey sours with egg whites, hurricanes, mint juleps, absinthe,  and obituary cocktails.

Pimm's Cup

Absinthe

wicked strong

Needless to stay, after that and a couple grenades & a slice of pizza, we ended the night with Kareoke at the Cat's Meow. A little Ke$a and Carrie Underwood for me, then I was ready for bed at 2am.

Thursday morning we did last minute shopping and packing before heading home. I miss the warm weather already! I do however, need to stop drinking & get my eating back on track since the Disney Princess half is 10 days away!

We had a fabulous time in New Orleans, who knows, maybe we'll make it back there again someday!

Today is your last chance to enter my Gu giveaway HERE!