Bellingrath Gardens

January 2, 2015

Michael and I spent the New Year at the beach. We stopped at Bellingrath Gardens before heading home to see the home and lights tour. Bellingrath Gardens and Home is a 65 acre public garden and historic home of Walter and Bessie Bellingrath, located on Fowl River in Theodre, near Mobile, AL.

Walter was one of the first Coca-Cola bottlers in the Southest. He built the estate garden and home with his wealth from Coca-Cola. He and his wife Bessie lived in the home which is now converted into a museum.

We arrived late afternoon to do the home tour before seeing the lights. The home was gorgeous! It was over 10,000 square feet. We toured the main rooms including three formal dining rooms. One dining room overlooked the Fowl River with large windows and exposed brick. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside.

 The courtyard at the home reminds me of New Orleans.

 

 This represents the builders initials and the year the home was built

 

 

 

It was almost 5:00 when we finished touring the home. The sun was just beginning set. I wished it was darker when we did the lights tour, but it was still beautiful. It was packed when we were leaving, so we really toured it at a good time. We enjoyed our tour, but we were both ready to get back home and settled.

 

 Here's a few pictures from the lights tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

If you've never been to Bellingrath Gardens, I would highly recommend it. The lights tour begins the day after Thanksgiving and lasts through the day after New Years. They are closed on Christmas and New Year's Day.

2015 Running Recap



I am joining the Weekly Wrap hosted by  Holly from HoHo Runs and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin. The Weekly Wrap is a blog link up where bloggers share their active lifestyle and other exciting things weekly. To find out more, click on the image below. Feel free to join in on the fun.



I have really been slacking lately on my blog posts. It's been three weeks since I've linked up with Holly and Tricia for their Weekly Wrap. It took me a while to gather my thoughts after my second marathon at St.Jude to write a recap. The race was a success! I exceeded my fundraising goal for the third year in a row and managed to run an eight minute PR. After the race, I took a whole week off to rest. I'm now following Hal Higdon's marathon recovery plan. Instead of recapping my week of recovery runs, I thought I would recap this year of running. Here's some highlights from 2015.

I PR'd every distance except for the 8K. I ran my third 8K in May, but I didn't come close to my current PR.

CCAP 5K- 24:33

Ready, Set, Geaux 10K- 53:19

Resurrection Run 15K- 1:23:49

(No pictures from this run)

I ran my first 10 Miler, so that's an automatic PR, right?

Capitol 10 Miler- 1:34:11

I ran my first sub-2:00 half marathon when I least expected it. I only had three seconds to spare, but I'm still proud of this accomplishment. It took me six half's over a year and a half to reach it.

Gulf Coast Half Marathon Mandeville, LA- 1:59:57

I ran an 8 minute PR on my second full marathon at St.Jude Memphis. It wasn't the 4:40 finish I hoped for, but I'm still proud that I managed a PR.

St.Jude Memphis Marathon- 4:45:44

Mom and I qualified for Half Fanatics in March. We both ran two half marathons in thirteen days. I made some foolish decisions to run one half with a sinus infection which developed into walking pneumonia before the second half. Runners are a pretty stubborn bunch. I wanted to qualify and nothing was going to stand in my way. I wouldn't recommend running while sick. It took me months to fully recover.

Debra-HF #10824

Theresa- HF #10829

Mom and I ran our first 5K with Ainsley's Angels, an organization that ensures everyone can experience endurance events. We had so much fun running with Kylie, our assisted athlete. This was one of the most memorable races of the year. I would love to run with Ainsley's Angels again one day.

Ryan's Run 5K w/ Ainsley's Angels

Kylie, Mom, and I crossing the finish

I participated in my first ever virtual run through Girls Run Fast. As a Girls Run Fast Ambassador, I thought this would be a good one to participate in as my first. I chose to run the 5K option. Just a few weeks after submitting my results, I got some really great prizes in the mail. This medal is huge! The picture really doesn't do it justice.

I started blogging in July. I've read running blogs for years. I finally decided to start one of my own as a way to recap my races and connect with other runners. I still have a lot to learn about blogging and networking, but I'm proud of where I'm at in just six months time. I've connected with so many other runners and I've even had the pleasure of meeting a few fellow bloggers in person (Cecilia from MommiesRun, Debi from Girls Run the 901, Kristin from BamagirlRuns, Mindy from Road Runner Girl, and Tricia from MissSippiPiddlin).

I've had the opportunity to join some great ambassadorship programs through blogging. These programs also allow me to connect with other runners and like minded people who are as passionate about leading a healthy, active lifestyle as me.

Girls Run Fast Ambassador

Sweat Pink Ambassador

Honey Stinger Hive

I've thought a lot about my goals for 2016. I've come up with a few definite goals. I'm sure I'll add more as the year goes on as I'm a constant work in progress. Here's just a few.

1. Run 1,200 miles (I've fallen short of this goal the past two years, but not by much.)

2. Moon up in Half Fanatics. I'm at the lowest qualifying level and would love to improve my stats.

3. PR the half marathon. This is going to be tough since it took me so long to sub 2:00, but I think I'm capable of reaching it one day.

4. Run a 3rd Full Marathon in the fall and hopefully reach my 4:40 goal or better. I think I may have settled on which full, but more on that when it's official.

5. Be more consistent with cross training. I purchased my Trek a year ago and I'm ashamed to say I've only ridden it a handful of times.  I fell while test riding it and I've been nervous ever since then. I want to gain more confidence on the bike, and the only way to do that is practice, practice, practice!

Did you reach your goals for 2015? What are your goals for 2016?