Cajun Country Half Marathon 2013 Recap

T.R.A.I.L. (Transportation Recreational Alternatives In Louisiana) puts on the Cajun Country Half Marathon every December just before the Christmas holiday. Until recently, this was Lafayette's only half marathon race. On Sunday, March 30 all of that will change with the Zydeco Marathon and Half Marathon's inaugural event. Sadly, due to events that transpired during the Cajun Country Half, I will not be racing the Zydeco. Maybe next year. To participate in the race and pay it forward for all of the lovely men and women who have volunteered to hand me water and point me in the right direction during the various races I've run, I will be volunteering on the Zydeco course. Volunteering will also be a great way for me to watch my training partner and friend finish her second half.

Pre-race, looking pretty excited. 

December 13 looked pretty grim on the hour by hour forecast I was obsessively watching in the wee hours of Friday night/Saturday morning. I lay wide awake at 4:30 a.m. with numerous questions running through my mind. Why have I not really trained/run since my last half in November? Should I wear shorts? Pants? Rain jacket? What happens if my feet get wet mid-race? Maybe the rain will deter everyone and the race will be cancelled?

The race was not cancelled, and it was a completely different experience than my first magical world of Disney half. First of all, only about 40 runners made it out to north Lafayette in the questionable weather. Cory and I were running a little late, so we basically had enough time to park, stretch and jog into place at the starting line. I waited for hours with thousands of other runners before I even saw the starting line at Disney.

Read on– there's more!

Disney Wine and Dine Half-Marathon 2013 Recap

   

     I finished my first half-marathon exactly 10 days ago and could not be happier with the experience. My friend Hannah and I ran 13.1 miles around the happiest place on Earth– Disney World! I decided to RunDisney because who doesn't want to ride Splash Mountain, drink wine from all over the world, and run around Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot all in weekend?

     The race itself went well! Around mile 8 I started wondering why I was still running, and the last mile was pretty brutal because we couldn't see the finish line. There were also some "hills" due to the path we took from park to park on the highway. Overall, I would highly recommend this race to anyone and everyone.

     Advice to anyone considering a RunDisney event:

     * Plan early. We bought race tickets in April or March, and the race was sold out by August. If you have cheerleaders accompanying you, buy their post-race tickets early too. On the same note, don't forget to pick up post-race party tickets for non-runners at the race expo.

     * Find a training plan and stick with it. I used this plan.

     * For Wine and Dine, if you can get to Disney on Thursday and spend all day Friday in one of the parks it's totally worth it. I've never been to Disney with so few crowds.

     * Getting to and from the expo takes a long time. We thought we might have enough time for Hollywood Studios on Saturday. Wrong. After waiting about 30 minutes for the bus, driving to the ESPN Wide World of Sports, doing a little shopping, and getting back to the hotel, we were gone for about three hours. Also, there are no buses from ESPN to any of the other parks, so you would have to go back to your hotel first then make your way over to another park. All of the waiting and walking can sap your energy, which is less than ideal before running 13.1 miles. Just spend the day at the expo and enjoy a late lunch/nap before the race on Saturday.

     * You can take pictures with characters at the pre-race party, and there's also lots of dancing. We didn't notice the characters until about an hour into the party, so we were cutting it close to get into our gates in time. Don't worry about bathrooms, there are plenty.

          - These were two of my favorite things at the pre-race party.

     * Designate a meeting spot in Epcot before Saturday night when there are thousands of racers/cheerleaders running around trying to meet up. We picked the cranberry bog in front of the big fountain. Yep, a cranberry bog.

     * Since this was my first half, I wanted to finish the whole thing without stopping. If I were to do another Disney race, I would totally stop and pose with characters along the way. I almost lost my resolve for Darth Vader and Princess Mini Leia.

Leauxcal Lundi: New Iberia City Park

     New Iberia's City Park is making moves– well, not the park itself, but members of our lovely community committed to making it a better place for families to play, run, and relax.

     The picture above shows the running routes, the longest being 1 mile. If you run all of these routes and wander into a few of the streets neighboring the park, you can train for a 5k, 10k, and even a half marathon. It is one of the few places in town with enough sidewalk to have a nice long run uninterrupted by cars.

     A local young professional's group, On Tap, raised money to build a new jungle gym. I saw it for the first time the other day, and I just hope that big kids are allowed to enjoy the fun too. I'll test it out and let you know.

     The park also offers recreational sports, wellness programs including Yoga and Zumba, a boat launch, tennis courts, swimming lessons in the summer, and a Veteran's center. Raisin' Canes is co-sponsoring a dog park on the bayou set to open on October 19 at 10am. Should be fun!

     I have spent a lot of time in the park over the years playing softball and tennis, teaching swim lessons, and more recently training for a half marathon. I am so happy to see that it is getting better all the time and that so many people from all over New Iberia are using it to their advantage. Just watch out for the geese.