Leaving my comfort zone… one mile at a time.
Leaving my comfort zone ... one mile at a time.
I am wicked excited to be heading to San Diego tomorrow for the Rock 'n' Roll San Diego 5k and Marathon weekend! Aaaaaaahhhh!!!
Read MoreOn this episode of Dani Dishes, it's time to talk about my trip to Nashville and those 2 marathons in 5 days!! Also registration is open for the Strides Against Stroke virtual 5k: Click here!
On this episode of Dani Dishes, it is time for a little birthday recap, a little RnR Philadelphia celebration and letting you know there is still time to take part in my virtual birthday 5k for Tedy's Team!! :) Blog About Event
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I think we can all agree I enjoy the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon series races.
Thanks to Team Refuel I had the opportunity last week to give away a free entry to RnR Philly (Half), which I will be running on September 15.
But, now the lovely folks at the RnR Marathon Group have given me a free entry to RnR Providence (Half) to give away!
YAY!
I love being able to give people free entries to races that I love ... and will be running as well. :)
The RnR Providence race will take place on Sunday, September 29 at 7am ET.
Now, I was lucky enough to do this race last year after prodding from my friends. Yup they got me with "well it is $13 off if you sign up today!"
Here's my full recap from last year.
I'll wait while you check it out.
All done?
Okay.
You can see that I had been going for a PR, but did NOT expect so many darn hills. Apparently I forgot that Providence was a hilly city especially by Brown University (aka the Mile 4 region).
But despite lots of hills and some bands missing from the course it was a fun race last year.
My friend Colleen was trying to pace me to a PR, but it was nice to have someone to run with. I so often race/train by myself that I forget how fun it is to have someone with you every step of the way.
I may not have PRed but had a great time overall. Plus the finish (is on a hill), but you run towards the Capital building, which is definitely a scene.
Afterwards they even have a booth set up where you can pay $20 to have your medal engraved on the spot...
... which I do at every RnR race where it is available.
So you are so amped to possibly run this race you just want me to get to the giveaway part? Okay here goes:
The giveaway will run from Monday September 9 (9:30am ET) through Friday September 13 (9:30am ET)!
The winner will be selected and announced on Friday!
Sun. 70-80 degree temps. History. A trolley tour. Pizza. Beer. That is what Savannah had ready for us on Day Three of our weekend ... THANK GOODNESS! Between Day One, The Marathon itself & the large amount of walking we did to wrap up Day Two my legs were ready for a break.
We started the day off with a big brunch at our hotel (only $10!!) and a trip to Starbucks ... yes I know. I never go to Starbucks unless absolutely necessary and in Savannah it was necessary. There wasn't a Dunkins in sight - as I expected.
As we left Starbucks, I spotted the Kindness Bus. How awesome is this?
I think EVERY city need a bus like this. Don't you agree?
We then headed over to the catch The Old Town Trolley Tour back near our hotel. Our guide's name was "Hollywood" and boy was he entertaining. :) Do you expect anything less with a name like that?
We had seen so much of the city between walking around ourselves, the race and the ghost tour, but it was nice to just sit and hear even more about the historic city of Savannah.
Technically the tour was one of those hop-on hop-off deals, but we had decided to just take it around one full circle: 1) because I had no desire to walk/wait for the next bus and 2) our guide was great and we didn't want to run the risk of getting on a different trolley and having a dud guide. :P
How Hollywood managed the Trolley around such tiny corners and down a tight steep cobblestone decline without hitting anyone or tipping it over.
Once we made it down the cobblestone, we were back on to River Street and were able to check out some of the amazing statues along the water.
The waving girl
Statue in honor of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games Torch
The trolley was full of runners (shocking I know) so we all loved the sign at the Thunderbird Inn.
Since we had a HUGE breakfast, we all decided to delay lunch awhile and we headed back to one of the famous cemeteries we saw on the ghost tour and the trolley tour.
The guides had said that the Confederate soldiers used the cemetery home base during the war and to entertain themselves they would mess with the tombstones, changing the information on them.
For example:
Can you see where the changes were made?
After wandering around the cemetery, we decided to just take in the beautiful afternoon and just sit in one of the famous squares. I couldn't tell you the last time I just sat in a park and enjoyed the surroundings. It was wonderful. We met a gentleman from Florida who had also run the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon so it was great chatting with him and getting his perspective on the race. He also had the Savannah Morning News, which had all the race participants in it ... so I of course had to borrow it.
And there it was :)
How cool?!?!?
After taking some time to relax, we all headed to Mellow Mushroom for some pizza and beer. The wife hadn't been to the chain since she lived in North Carolina over six years ago so we had to go (we don't have this chain in New England - that I know of).
Boy was it YUMMY!! We tried the pretzels to start with - delicious - then enjoyed their unique pizza. All in all - atmosphere, beer, food - it was a GREAT experience.
Unfortunately after we ate, we walked back to the hotel since it was time to send my dad off to the airport. :/ But it was great having him there.
My dad brought my Rock 'n' Roll bracelet that I forgot in Boston with him to Savannah so I was able to add my two charms from the weekend. :)
Isn't it one motivational/inspirational piece of jewelry? Thanks to the wife for picking it out for me. I can't wait to add new cities to it in the future.
We decided to take one final walk down River Street to stretch the legs before we finished the weekend off with a casual night in the hotel room. Michelle picked up a cute gift for a friend and we were all ready to crash.
But, we wanted a couple beverages for the night so thankfully our hotel bar was happy to oblige. :)
It was wicked nice to just all chill together - especially since we only get to see Michelle about once or twice a year - and just be.
Can you tell I moved alot that weekend?
Hello hydration!
After getting in my situps and #plankaday, we called it a night ... I just couldn't believe the weekend was about to come to a close. :(
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Monday, November 5 marked the true end. It was basically: wake up, pack, eat brunch at the hotel (again $10!) and then it was off to the airport.
It was time to say goodbye to Michelle. It was so great that she was able to make it to Savannah from AZ and run the race with us. It was great seeing her and can't wait til we plan another race to run together again ... <<cough cough>> Rock 'n' Roll Los Angeles Half <<cough cough>>
Right after this pic, it was time to board ... after a lengthy delay in Savannah and head to Atlanta and on to Boston.
Can you tell we weren't ready to come home? Actually, we were okay with the going home and seeing the pups part. It was more the hours that would be spent traveling back home that we really wanted to avoid.
But, I had to rep the Got Chocolate Milk Sweatybands after they refueled my body after the race and all weekend long!!
Despite the trip home getting off to a rocky/delayed start, the rest of the trip ran smoothly ... including some adult beverages on the plane. ;)
Hey, we had to enjoy the last bit of vacation weekend!
But, as soon as we stepped foot back in Boston I was reunited with Dunks ... phew!
We landed during rush hour so it was quicker/easier to take the T home rather than having someone come pick us up. But, I was really dreading the walk home from the T stop especially since I was still wearing capri pants. :P But we made and were greeted by two very happy pups, which makes all the travel in the world worth it.
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I think you can tell through these posts that we all thoroughly enjoyed Savannah and would recommend it to anyone as a destination.
All you really need to know about Georgia is that is produces the 4 Ps: Peaches ... Pecans ... Pralines ... and Paula (Deen).
Tearing up just thinking of last weekend... So sorry for the delay on the Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon weekend recap! Emotions and life have come in the way of getting this post done sooner.
But here goes Day One!!
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We headed to the airport at 4:30am. So yes this story starts wicked early in the morning.
I think I look pretty put together for that early in the day ... and representin' the blog with my Sweatybands headband!
And of course I was giving my wife the "Oh really" face that she loves so much. :P
After getting my final Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee of the weekend, it was time to chillax at the gate.
How cruel putting us right next to Harpoon IPA when it was closed.
RUDE!
We had two flights to get to Savannah - layover in Atlanta. In a truly "small world" moment, I spotted a Weight Watchers Leader I knew on each flight. One sitting across the aisle from me as she headed to the Dominican Republic.
I want to thank the second flight's Flight Attendants and Pilots for giving a special shout-out to all the runners on the plane!
We landed in Savannah and headed straight to the hotel. After immediately unpacking my clothes for the next day's marathon
It was time to hit the hotel gym for a quick 2-mile run (to shake out the legs after the long morning flights)!
Boy was it weird running on a treadmill - I hadn't done it in AGES.
Finally, it was time to check out the local cuisine (we hit up Wild Wing Cafe - delicious) and then headed to the John P. Rousakis Riverfront to catch the ferry to the Expo.
It was the first Rock 'n' Roll expo where there was a Half Marathon and a Marathon happening so the wife and I headed to separate areas to collect our numbers.
Of course, I made her take my standard "Countdown" pic!
I had read that KT Tape was going to be at the Expo and since I missed them at the RnR Chicago Expo I was determined to finally try them out at this time.
After picking up some Sport Jelly Beans since I of course forgot mine at home, we headed to the KT Tape booth.
I had to choose blue. I was really hoping it would help my knee, which had been sore for the previous two weeks. Thankfully nothing sharp, but a more dull constant pain.
After checking out the locations/dates for the RnR races in 2013, we think we are going to try and hit up the Rock 'n' Roll Los Angeles Half around Halloween. It is time to check out some new cities. :)
We got back in what seemed like the never-ending line to reboard the ferry and head back to downtown Savannah.
I will say RnR did a great job keeping the ferries moving so people didn't lose too much time standing in lines to board.
We arrived back to Savannah's famous River Street and did a little carboloading with a local brew from The Warehouse...
... and enjoyed Savannah's lack of an open container law.
Can I just say how odd yet awesome it was walking around with my beer? You don't want to chug or leave your beer behind - restaurants/bars give you a To-Go cup. My kind of city!
As we wandered back to our hotel, we set out to find the Start Line for the following morning and check out the historic Bay St.
We made it back to the hotel to settle in before our friend Michelle and my dad both landed/met us for dinner.
We went to Molly Macpherson's Scottish Pub & Grill for dinner. Why you may ask? They had a nice spaghetti dinner going on for runners.
It was great having everyone in one place the night before the race so we could come up with a game plan for the next morning: pre and post race meetups.
I also loved how almost every bar and restaurant in Savannah were so welcoming and supportive of the runners in town.
After getting back to the hotel, it was time for a little compression time with Zensah...
... before doing my #plankaday and setting the alarms for the morning!
My name is Dani and I am blogging out of the Boston Area. I started this blog in May of 2011 after suffering a back injury and subsequent back surgery in December 2011-January 2011. This space was to serve as a way for me to release the inner feelings I was carrying around and maybe help some other people going through similar situations: eating disorders, depression, weight loss and more.
