Mississippi Blues 2015

Last weekend, Ron and I travelled to Jackson, MS for the 2015 Mississippi Blues Marathon.  We drove over Friday evening, arriving just in time for the race expo.

Callie and Jordan came over as well, so after picking up our race bibs and swag bags, we brought a carb-rich dinner to their hotel for us all to enjoy.

We knew it was going to be a cold run, but nothing quite prepares you for a wind chill of 19 degrees except lots of layers, some of which we ditched along the roadway.

None of us were as prepared as we'd hoped to be for this race, because babies and hunting tend to take priority at times, but we all hoped to give it our best shot.  We posed for a quick pic with the others from our USA Fit running group before lining up for the race.

Ron and Jordan signed up for the Half Marathon, while Callie and I ran the Quarter Note.  I set a personal goal of finishing in an hour and a half---slower than I'd like to be, but what I hoped was an attainable goal for this race.  Fortunately, the sun was out for the most of the duration of the race, but the temperatures hovered just under the freezing mark.  Jordan's parents had driven over to keep Luke during the race, but Dennis served as their chauffeur as well, since he wanted to watch the outcome of the race.   After I finished my portion (Callie was already done), we waited for the guys to come across the finish line a little later.

While none of us were at our peak performance, we did meet our own personal goals--I came in at 1:29, 1 minute faster than my goal.

Callie ended up finishing 5th in her age group for the Quarter Note!!

It was too cold to hang out, so after getting hydrated, we headed to the car so that we could go back and get hot showers.  Only, our car wouldn't start.  My 6 month old, new car!!!   After trying numerous times, giving it some time and trying again, it was clear that this was not going to be an easy fix.  I called Roadside Assistance, who agreed to send a tow truck---in a couple of hours.  It was REALLY cold in the car, but we had our mylar blankets and jackets and it was better than being in the wind.

Callie and Jordan returned to help us push the car out of the parking garage (since the tow truck couldn't get inside) and then headed to our hotel to gather all of our belongings, while we continued to wait.

Did I mention that it was cold????  Cold enough that all of the fountains at the Convention Complex were frozen solid!

Finally the tow truck arrived and took our vehicle to the local Ford dealership.

Naturally, they couldn't service the car until after the weekend, so we were forced to rent a car to get home.  After the day we'd had so far, we treated ourselves to "race rewards" on our way back to Shreveport.  Yeah, I know that we should have been inspired to eat really healthy foods at this point, but that Whopper, Jr. tasted sooooo good!

I'd like to say that the drama ended there, but of course, things never go quite that smoothly.  We returned to Jackson today to pick up the car, fought a battle of sorts to be reimbursed for the rental car and finally headed back to Shreveport in my repaired car.  It was a frustrating experience, but I am so thankful that Callie and Jordan were still in town when it happened, that it wasn't raining and we weren't stuck on the side of a road.  Things could have been much worse!!  Besides, today's trip gave me the opportunity to do some stitching for a tiny new baby that will be arriving soon.