Magnolia Meltdown Half Marathon Recap

We found out about the Magnolia Meltdown at the expo for The Mississippi Blues Half Marathon back in January.  We decided after running The Blues that we wouldn’t mind coming back to Mississippi for another run!!

I had to work half a day on Friday so we were going to be pushing to get to the expo before they closed at 7p, lucky for us they had race morning pick-up!  I left Panama City around 1130a and headed to Pensacola to pick up the BF (My Life on the Run) to continue on to Ridgeland, MS.  While picking up the BF and heading out, we had to make a cawfee and cheesecake stop!!  How else would we start a road trip!!

 

We were on our way with an ETA of 602p, then someone had to go to the bathroom but wasn’t liking the way the gas stations along the HWY were looking.

 

Then when we hit I59 and saw the sign for Cane’s, well we had to stop at Cane’s!!  Coming out of Cane’s in Hattisburg, MS we hit stop and go traffic that kept pushing our ETA back and back and back.

 

 

 

We had been texting our IGFam (Richard and Amy Rushing) we were meeting up with, giving them a play by play. We arrived close to 630p and headed right to packet pick-up.  There were a few people/vendors left, but for the most part everyone was packed up and headed home!!

Thanks to social media, while snapping pics in front of the backdrop, I recognized a few people gathered nearby and said ‘Hi’ to Melinda and Angela who introduced us to Rod from Rod Racers.

Dinner was a chat fest at P.F Chang’s with the Rushings.  It’s amazes me how communicating through social media it’s as if we have known them forEVER!!  I don’t remember what time it was when we called uncle to get to the room and prepare for the morning’s run.

We were up and at it early, like 430a early!!  My medication has a lot to do with these early hours or I would stay in the bed a while longer!!  Pretty sure we were dressed and out the door around 520a so we could be there an hour prior to start time (my rule!!). Plus, our hotel was just around the corner from the start.

There really wasn’t a line for the potties, but we did run into Yolanda (IG)…we always meet everyone at the potties!! We got to chat for a few minutes and she told us she was pregnant!!  Congrats Yolanda!!  We had met her briefly at The Mississippi Blues Half and it was great to see her again.  And  then just a few other random pics waiting for the start!! I’m pretty sure I was posting to social media, Chef was running the 5k, and shenanigans at the start.

Port-A-Potties

IG Fam

Checkin’ in!

Things seen at the start!

Ready to run!

The only thing I DIDN’T like about this run was the first 1.5 miles or so!!  We started in the parking lot of the Renaissance of Colony Park and took us out to a walking/bike trail that was extremely narrow.  We were advised at the start that this was not a closed course and to stay on the trail!!  Bummer!!  It was tight for a while, then everyone started finding there pace/place.

As you can see the weather was a little overcast and with the low humidity, it made the temperature perfect for this FL girl!!

 

 

There were several areas of the course that were shade covered as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Around mile 4, Amy had to stop to get something out of her shoe but she was too fast!!  That’s my reaction of not being able to catch her copping a squat on the run!!  And that’s her, you’re to slow laugh!!

 

 

 

The next few miles would wind us through some neighborhoods and back to the shopping areas.  The first picture below is one of my favs, can you see Yolanda waving back there??!!  We lost Richard to the potties at mile 6  and then our reminder that we were running a half marathon!!

 

Well, it was time to wrap this one up.  Richard told us that Amy could hit a PR and it was time to get serious!!  That meaning we let Amy do her thing!!  We stopped for a pic at mile 12 and took it to the finish.

Funny story…we were making a right turn  with about half a mile to go and my phone rings!!  It’s #theBoy, today was his first day at his first job and I had texted him earlier to make sure he was awake and moving.  I never got an acknowledgement and I figured I would call at the finish.  Well, he was driving and that is why he didn’t acknowledge my text.  When he called he asked if I was okay, I told him I was almost done with the run and he said I was breathing funny!!!  Crazy what a little run will do to your breathing!!

We made the finish and was able to watch Amy make her PR!!  WTG Amy!!!

We ate the pizza and cookies and drank the water and soda at the after party, but then we were off to Starbucks for a post run cawfee.

 

 

We enjoyed this run and area so much the we plan to run it again!!

 

St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon Recap

Well, I’ve found myself a little behind in getting this post up but here we go…

29 April 

This time we are taking flight and heading to Nashville for my 3rd running and Ricky G’s 4th running (2 halfs/2 fulls) of this race.  Of course we stopped for cawfee on the way to the airport only to arrive early to find that our flight has been delayed for weather…so we wait.  The hour flight from Panama City, FL to Nashville is sooooo much better than 7+ hrs in a car!!

We landed around 11a, grabbed the luggage, got the rental car and headed to the expo!  We were so excited to finally meet up with the Afandor’s; Eddie, Myrna and Jason, and Jessica.  The expo was held at the The Music City Convention Center.  We parked at Titan Stadium and took the pedestrian bridge to downtown, just a short walk to gather our packets and meet the IGFam!

Now we were headed into the abyss…We were texting Myrna to let them know that we had our packets and were headed in…TA DA, they are just a pretty in person as they are on my phone!!

We hugged and chatted and made our way through the crowd to the vendors.  The one place we needed to stop was the Swiftwick booth.  You see 2 years ago Ricky G bought a pair of socks that had the Nashville skyline on them ( the Batman building!), but he has lost them and would love to find another pair.  We found said vendor, asked about the socks and NO Batman building socks!!  The girl asked what socks he was wearing and YES they were Swiftwick and she asked if she could interview him…about his SOCKS!!

Finally, we were out the door and off to eat.  Jessica was stuck in traffic and was just going to grab her packet, go to her hotel and meet us for dinner.  Lunch was at The Frothy Monkey ( an IG find), it was hip and quiet which allowed us to catch up even more with the Afandors.

Frothy Monkey

Gail Salad

Royale Sandwhich

After lunch we took a stroll around downtown then headed to the hotel to check in before dinner (I like to eat!).

Dinner was Five Guy Pies and just what every runner wants to carb up before a run!  It was eat and back to the room to get our gear ready for the morning.  It would be an early wake up (norm for me) due to traffic getting backed up with runners parking at Titan Stadium (lesson learned a few years ago).

30 April

It was up and over the pedestrian bridge to Broadway to the corals!  But first pictures with the Batman building!!

 

The forecast called for rain, but it wouldn’t last long!  We were making our way up Broadway when it decided to start raining.  What’s a runner to do but pull out the emergency rain poncho.  Not to mention that we were now on a delayed start which meant we take pictures!!

We snapped a pic of Myrna with the St. Jude Heroes and also ran into Diana and Ivi while making our way to our corral.

We were start in corral 14 and this is what it looked like in front of us and behind us.  There were a total of 40 corrals!!

In front of us…

Behind us…

Now, it was close to 745a and time to get this thing started!!

We were off down Broadway  and took a right taking us up along the Country Music Hall of Fame and off to Music Row.  At the top of the hill leading to Music Row we captured boobs and butt crack statue!!  Then we were running the streets!

Right before mile 5 we ran into these guys!!  Hey…you never know what you’ll see!!  Then it was on to the Brooks blow-up and then Strawberries and Champagne.  These lovely people are here every year watching and cheering.  They are the sweetest and he even said he put on his new sports coat just for me!!  The strawberries were pretty sweet too!!

Did I mention it was humid??!!  I made a conscience effort to stay hydrated hoping it would help me handle the rest of the hills.  We crossed over the interstate and landed at mile 6.

We were now on 12th Ave. South headed back toward Music Row. We snapped a pic with The King!!  Hey, maybe we should’ve had him marry us??!!  Then the beer stop by Belmont College.

Now on to The Gulch.  There are trendy restaurants and shops in The Gulch, not to mention a water station and lots of crowd support.  This is the spot that we had to stop and discuss my issues in 2014!!  Next up,the split and mile 11!!

I swear it felt like an hour to run the last 2 miles!!  And that last hill before crossing the bridge to the finish…not fair!!

So that’s a wrap…Chip time was 2:28:56, so 3:53 minutes to pee and take all these pics and more…not too bad for me!!

AND…we are registered for 2017!!

Gulf Coast Half Marathon Series Pensacola Recap

Wow…this is three weeks overdue!!

I drove to Pensacola on Saturday morning to meet up with the BF and Esmeralda for packet pick up and some good eats the day before running the Gulf Coast Half Marathon on Sunday.

Packet pick up was held at a local running shop, Running Wild.  This was the first time I actually had my ID checked when picking up my race packet!!  We obtained our bibs, shirts and snapped a selfie then was off to lunch (see my previous post on all the eats!!). No additional purchases were made while at the store, but I did exchange a sports bra that still ended up not working!!

After a light lunch, we went to the apartment to put our feet up until it was time for dinner and dessert with some Runner Buds (this can also be read in my previous post).

With all the socializing, we still made it in around 8:30p for our early morning wake up!!

We were all up, somewhat ready and out the door around 5:30a and headed to the beach.  We arrived early enough that we got to see a beautiful sunrise and snap a few pics with some friends.

We had some start line shenanigans from Valerie (IG: icecreamrunner).

Then we were off.  The first few miles took us through a coastal neighborhood and brought us out at the best hydration/cheer station EVER!!  These guys were awesome and won first place!!  I wish I could upload the video, but all you get is the guy in the coconut bra!!

We were now running on Navarre Parkway for about 4 miles or so before the turn around. This stretch was nothing but the coastline on the right and after the towers, it was sand and sea oats on the left.

It was warming up now that the sun was coming out from behind the clouds.  Now the goal is to make this LONG run back to the finish FUN!!  We were talking food and the ladies next to us actually asked us to stop, they didn’t want to hear us talk about food??!!  What??!!  Sorry, but I’m all about the food!! We attempted to get a picture of the palm trees as well, but the photographer wasn’t taking direction well!!

 

Wow, we made it to mile 9 and were about to get off that straight stretch of warm asphalt.  We start in through a neighborhood along the inlet and BAM…an alien and a selfie with said alien!!

We worked our way through the streets and I knew that when we ended back up on the parkway it was less than a mile!!  Let’s wrap this up!!

Our finish time was almost the same as last year, however this year I was trying not to throw a hip.  That’s just crazy to me!!

This year we  stuck around for a little while post race.  I had now idea that there was a huge area out back of Flounders.  We enjoyed the beer, bagels, peanut butter, bananas and red beans and rice!!

 

Overall…I’d run it again!!