Pre-race
The Hard Rock Hotel looked cool at first. But looking closer 🔎 it is quite old. It also has a weird, hotel perfume smell. The bathroom is quite European… there is no door for privacy. Luckily, I am solo this marathon… couldn’t persuade anyone to enjoy Mississippi…
The Beau Rivage is definitely more upscale. It looks and smells just like the Wynn. It turns out that it was opened by Steven Wynn before MGM bought it 😂 I think there is more to do there as well. I walked around Hard Rock, and there is nothing other than the casino and restaurants.
I’m not sure what to think of Biloxi. It seems like a cheap Vegas. I had dinner at BR Prime 🥩 in the Beau Rivage. It seemed like there were several regulars dining there. A single, older lady was very well dressed, and looked like a classic, casino old timer. The food was so-so.
The casinos are the town. I don’t think there will be much exploring for me tomorrow. I’m glad I switched my flight to get out of here early on Monday! I stopped by a convenience store across from Beau Rivage to get Gatorade… 😳 the clientele was interesting… I thought I had been transported to a meth clinic.
Icing on the cake… the water 💦 is not drinkable this weekend 😂
Post-race
This was another tough one 🤕 I mentally had a hard time staying positive. I could only think of the long distance I had to go. I went out strong…. I kept a 8.15 – 8.30 pace for 20 miles. I succumbed to walking at mile 22… my arms were going numb. I walked about 0.1 mile, then would resume running at a slower pace. When I saw the next mile marker, I picked up the pace as much as I could. That method kept me around a 9 – 9.30 pace for the last miles. Not horrible…
It was miserable at the end as far as physical comfort. I was numb and exhausted… but also soaked ☔️ between the sweat and rain. I finished with a time of 3:44:46. Not shabby… I won 🥇 for my age group again 🤗 I unknowingly passed the 2 girls at the finish 😆 to come in first.
The shower 🚿 felt amazing afterwards. I was freezing 🥶 by the time I made it back to the hotel. My feet were complete raisins… along with a blister at the bottom 😓
I went to Sugar for lunch. Sugar looked like an over-the-top, decadent brunch spot. It was not as exciting as I had hoped. I wasn’t craving pancakes 🥞 by the time I got there… but they weren’t even an option. There was no one at the bar and no TV to watch the game. I got a turkey burger 🍔 which was decent, along with onion rings. It was served on a paper plate… like the one you get at a BBQ… with plastic silverware.
I asked about the disposable housewares, and the waiter said they couldn’t serve food or drinks on real houseware because the water was not drinkable this weekend. WHAT?!?! How was I able to eat with normal housewares last night???… so many questions… 🧐 The glasses were all plastic. They must not be able to drink the water often as they had plastic cups for their signature huge drinks.
On the bright side… Mississippi is done with.
