Color, Beads, and Bacon Covered Donuts?

Saturday 5.69 mile run / 61:50

Monday 5 mile run / 52:11

My sister Erin came to town! She was running the Color Run Saturday morning and was staying for the Endymion parade later that day. The weather was overcast and cool. Perfect!

She looked great before and after! I ran the Color Run in November, and this one wasn’t sold out like the race in November, so I considered signing up with her to run, but decided to save my $50 for Disney! The shirts at this race were great: softer and cuter than the November race shirt.

While she was waiting for the race to start, I took off to for my first ‘long’ run since getting sick. I don’t ever carry my phone with me while I run, but I did this time so she could call me at the end of the race.

I started in City Park and ended up making a loop around most of the perimeter of the park. I jumped on the levee for a bit, and it was beautiful green grass as far as I could see.

My pace was so slow to begin with but by the end of the run, I was feeling pretty good. I kept my Garmin on, even though I knew it would be slow but ran by feel.

This morning’s run was much better, even though the middle miles were plagued by rain. I knew it didn’t matter what time of the morning I went out, I was destined to get rained on, but I just kept putting it off! It was cool out, so I wasn’t worried about getting wet, but I still came home and took a bubble bath and dried my hair quick. No sense in trying to get sick.

In between very little running, there was a lot of parading! Below are the highlights from the weekend.

maple bacon long john donuts-breakfast of champs before a day long parading event (pre Endymion)

I love the marching bands. This is the St. Augustine Marching 100. Those are beads hanging from the tree branches. On the opposite side of the street from us, you can see kids sitting on top of ladders to better catch throws from the floats.

This is the shoe float from Muses. Every year, as a krewe’s theme changes, so do all of its floats. A few floats are iconic and return every year; the Muses shoe is one of them. Ruby Bridges is at the top of the shoe this year.

These are the 610 Stompers, an all male dancing group. There are lots of dancing groups that march in parades between floats, and this is one of the most famous. They even marched in the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade a few years ago. You can see lots of lights from coveted ‘blinky’ beads or items that float riders throw.

This was a maid in Endymion. These ladies are strapped to a pole to help them stay upright for the whole parade.

Mardi Gras is almost over, and then it’s back to the regularly scheduled programming until Disney!