Now that I’m completely recovered from the Little Rock Half Marathon, it’s time to get my rear in gear and update this here blog…
Here are some pictures from my weekend in Little Rock.
First off, my solo journey to Arkansas… it snowed the entire trip…
I even ran into some pretty nasty ice just west of Ft. Smith on I-40. Let me tell you…when I’m driving by myself long distances, I’m on edge and nervous anyway…ice and snow make it a million times worse! I debated stopping in Ft. Smith and finding a hotel room for the night, but a very good friend of mine that is an Arkansas State Trooper assured me that the roads between Ft. Smith and home were fine. Thankfully, he was correct!!
I got to my parents house, took a breather (well, tried… I had an allergy attack right when I got there) and attempted to go to sleep. Which, when you can’t breathe due to allergies, is very difficult and I didn’t get much rest.
Saturday morning, after a nice, long, hot shower and some heavy duty nose medicine, I was ready to face the day! Mom and I headed down to Little Rock for the Marathon Expo. As I’ve mentioned before, this year’s theme was Pirates and the Expo did not disappoint in carrying out the fun…
And, here is the medal that I will receive in the mail at some point in the near future, I hope…
More about that later.
After picking up my race bib, t-shirt and other items, Mom and I headed into the Rivermarket for some lunch. (To protect my mother’s innocence, I won’t post that picture…just know, it was funny!) We then visited a museum downtown, and eventually ended up at the Arkansas State Fairgrounds to browse a Depression Era Glass Show that my mother was itching to see! Before heading out of Little Rock, we stopped to see where this had moved to…
Yep, that’s the start line! So cool!
Here’s my race gear…
It was a chilly 30-something degrees and drizzly rain race morning…
It rained on us the entire race…the weather certainly wasn’t as bad as last year (Click HERE for last year’s race recap), but it was definitely cold! It wasn’t my best race time, but it wasn’t my worst! I crossed the finish line and was presented with this…
…no, it’s not the pretty one pictured above, but due to a labor issue at a port off California where our real medals are being held, we didn’t receive them on race day. These are nice, though… I think they’re meant to be Christmas ornaments. I plan to put mine in my office at work when the real one arrives.
It’s been a tradition the last 5 times I’ve raced in Little Rock to eat at The Hop, which was an old fashioned burger joint in the Rivermarket District. This year, The Hop was sold and closed…major disappointment! In its place, though, a new restaurant was hosting a soft opening just for race day. They didn’t even have their order numbers yet, so this is what we got…
Also, instead of my delicious cheeseburger and fries, I ate a grilled cheese sandwich and Tomato Bisque soup, which were delicious! The owners assured me that next year, cheeseburgers and fries would be on the menu…thank you!!
Once we were home and unloaded, Mom and I headed back out to get our post-race pedicures…but, alas, even though the nail salon owner had assured my mother a few days before that they’d be open on Sunday, the handwritten note taped to the door stated otherwise. Another disappointment!
I headed back to OKC Monday morning in the rain, fortunately no ice or snow and made it home safely! Until next year Little Rock!
In the meantime, I signed up for this today…
Just 257 days until race #2 for 2015!
