After eating dinner, I headed out to LAX to catch a red eye flight from LAX to New Orleans with a stop over at Houston Bush International Airport.
01/24/15 Saturday
This time I flew with United. Thanks to my silver status, I was able to secure an exit row seat and boarded early. We boarded the plane just after midnight.
Exit row
After landing in Louis Armstrong Airport, I waited for the E2 Airport bus headed for the Central Business District. The fare was $2 for the ride, however on Saturdays it only takes you to Carrollton and Tulane. From there I had to wait a while to catch the 39 Tulane bus for another $1.25. It was sunny but it was pretty cold and windy. I should've worn my jeans instead of the shorts. That bus took me down to Saratoga and Tulane.
I then made the long hike down to the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center to attend the race expo. Along the way, I stopped in a Walgreens to buy some drinks for the weekend and the race. It was the typical Rock n' Roll Marathon expo where I bought two tubes of Clif Margarita Shot Bloks after picking up my race packet. While buying the Shot Bloks, my credit card was declined. I had to use one of my backup cards. Apparently the credit card company thought my purchase earlier at the Walgreens was potentially fraudulent. They wanted me to check in with them before the credit card was made valid again. I was able to log in on my phone and take care of that issue.
After leaving the expo, it was time to find something to eat. I decided to check out Cochon for some Cajun Southern Cooking. It was only a few blocks from the Convention Center. There's a Cochon Butcher, which was more of a sandwich shop, and the restaurant setting Cochon, down at the corner. You'll know what I'm talking about when you get there. I came across Cochon Butcher first and it was packed, so I got a table at Cochon. I was looking for a light lunch and after looking through the menu, I ended up ordering the pork cheeks, fried alligator, and a Radical Rye IPA. Everything was very good including the beer. Everybody always wants to know what alligator tastes like. Well, it has the texture of chicken but a little taste of fish... so it's a combination of fish and chicken. I kept the meal light and simple as I didn't want to eat too heavy or get too adventurous the day before running a marathon. I would definitely love to come back here to try other items on their menu.
Pork cheeks and fried alligator
After my meal, I made my way over to my hotel, The Prytania Park Hotel over in the Garden District. It was a quaint little hotel. I was pleasantly surprised during my stay here. The room was nice, clean, and quiet. The room came with a mini fridge, microwave oven, and a coffee maker. I picked this place because it was affordable and located very far away from all of the craziness of Bourbon Street. It was conveniently located to a lot of restaurants on St. Charles Avenue. They served a complimentary breakfast each morning. If the wild party scene isn't your thing, you might want to stay here instead of the French Quarter.
After getting settled into my room, I went through the stuff that I got at the expo. The race shirt was the usual green and purple design for New Orleans. It was very plain, more so than usual.
Looks like this one's not a keeper. It's not my color. I relaxed a bit while watching some TV. During that time I also got out my race gear to take care of obligatory Mr. Flat Runner picture.
Flat runner
For an early dinner, I walked across to the other side of St. Charles Avenue to eat at Zea Rotisserie and Grill. After looking through the pretty extensive menu, I ended up ordering their special, the braised provimi veal with natural au jus. For the sides I got the roasted potatoes and the red beans & rice. I hate to admit it, but the veal was really good. My vegetarian and vegan friends always give me a hard time when they find out that I've eaten veal. Anyways I wasn't expecting to eat such good veal in New Orleans. I had to avoid the usual seafood that people eat in NOLA as I wanted to avoid any surprises for the marathon. Along with the meal I had a Pontchartrain Porter. Nice beer.
Pontchartrain Porter
Braised provimi veal with natural au jus, roasted potatoes, red beans and rice
01/25/15 Sunday
My nose had been dripping and running nonstop for most of yesterday. It seemed to have stopped when I woke up. I thought maybe it was just allergies. Oh well, it was time for the legs to do some running instead.
The race started at 7:30 am at Poydras St and Camp St. So I got myself ready and made the walk over to the starting area. It was only about a mile walk, but I came across some shady characters along the way. I just minded my own business and hoped that none of them hassled me. The pre-race staging area was at Lafayette Square. I grabbed a couple of bananas and one of those small water bottles. I hung out at some steps on the east side of the square.
Starting line
Before I headed to the corrals, I checked my gear bag and used a nearby portapotty. I used an old mylar sheet from another race to shield my legs from the wind. While waiting in the starting corral I bumped into a fellow Marathon Maniac from New York. Just as the race was about to start, I saw my friend Sally and her family hop into the corral. I think her son was running his first half marathon. I had first met Sally and her dad here a few years back.
Once the race was under way, I stuck with the usual plan of running the first 10k at a 8 min per mile pace. From then on, I would back off on the pace. The first 8 miles was pretty much an out-and-back on St. Charles Avenue. As I made my way through the French Quarter and headed towards Esplanade Ave, my right calf felt particularly tired. I felt like I was running with one and a half legs. It was a relieve to finally make the left turn and leave the half marathoners at about mile 12.5.
1: 7:51
2: 8:00
3: 7:58
4: 8:03
5: 7:53
6: 8:03
7: 8:20
8: 8:38
9: 9:04
10: 9:48
11: 9:36
12: 10:04
13: 9:24
Half: 1:53:35
After a little out and back on Carrollton Avenue, I started running the perimeter of the City Park heading north for a couple of miles on Marconi Drive. I then headed east towards and past the University of New Orleans. The turnaround was at about mile 20.5. It got a tad warm on Lakeshore Drive as we were exposed and it was also a bit windy. The cramps were creeping in as I slowly made my way through the City Park and towards the finish line.
14: 10:36
15: 10:06
16: 10:09
17: 10:52
18: 12:24
19: 12:12
20: 11:10
21: 11:56
22-23: 27:04 (13:32)
24: 12:27
25: 12:08
26: 12:24
26.2: 1:59
Finish: 4:28:10
After picking up my medal, I got some beads added to the lanyard. The beads were somewhat of a good idea except that the beads were not the same length as the lanyard. I also picked up a finisher's jacket before heading over to the UPS trucks to pick up my gear bag. I then made my way over to the beer garden over at the track and field. It was pretty cool that they were giving out unlimited draft beer after the first can, but I couldn't even finish the can. It's just not a good beer. I then made my way over to the shuttles for a ride back to the CBD. They were located just past the UPS trucks.
Unlimited draft Michelob Ultra!
The bus dropped us off on Poydras just a few blocks beyond the Superdome. I walked a few more blocks and turned right at St. Charles Ave to get back to my hotel. Once I got back to my room, I got cleaned up and proceeded to lounge on the bed watching TV. Once it was dinner time, I walked over to The Avenue Pub for my customary post race burger and beers. This was an awesome beer bar. They definitely had some great beers on tap. I love stouts and it was my luck that they had some good stouts from Evil Twin Brewing on tap. I had the I Love You Stout and the Imperial Biscotti Break Natale Porter at the downstairs bar. I made my way to the upstairs bar just to try the Blueberry Stout. As for food, I ordered the pub burger from the kitchen. It was a pretty dang good burger! It was super juicy and came with fries. It made for a good combo.
Evil Twin I Love You Stout
Pub burger
Evil Twin Imperial Biscotti Break Natale
Evil Twin Blueberry Stout
01/26/15 Monday
I checked out of the hotel and made my way over to the bus stop at Poydras between La Salle and Loyola to catch the E2 bus to the airport.
Before going through TSA and going to my gate, I first ate lunch at Dooky Chase's. Usually I do not look forward to eating at the airport, but this place has good food. I started off with an Abita Turbodog. I then ordered one of my favorite meals, the red beans and rice with smoked sausage.
Abita Turbodog
Red beans and rice with smoked sausage
Thank goodness my flight home was a nonstop flight. I was feeling pretty exhausted. I think all of the traveling and running marathons had been catching up to me. Again I was able to get an exit row seat with enough leg room for me to cross my legs.
No comments:
Post a Comment