I’ve registered for my first postpartum race!

Six months into parenthood and A LOT has happened/changed since Emery came into this world. It’s a fun and exhausting time and I love being a momma.

Running has been a big part of my life for years and will hopefully continue to be for a long time.

So earlier this week, I registered for my first post partum race — the Wendell Foster Half Marathon. It’s in my hometown (and current town) and supports a great organization (I actually volunteered there when Ryan and I first moved back to Owensboro!). It’s in November so I have a lot of time to prepare (thank goodness!) But I am so excited to have a race on the calendar.

While I’m just running for my sanity right now, I can’t wait to start training soon!

Do you have any races scheduled for 2021?

Owensboro’s International Bar-B-Q Festival 5k and food recap

On Saturday, I ran my first race of 2019! Every year my hometown has an International Bar-B-q Festival and it’s two days of food, live music, mutton eating contests and so much fun! This is my second time running the 5k race (my first was back in 2010!) and it was so much fun to be around the local running community. So many people come out for the race and the energy was off the charts (even on a chilly Saturday morning!)

The course is super simple and just makes a big loop through downtown Owensboro. While there is basically no crowd support, there are so many runners that you are never alone.

I’m actually pretty happy with my time. Lately, I’ve been running around 11-11:30 pace but I knew being around people and being outside would be a little faster. The first quarter mile was a lot of weaving in and out of the crowds and I had to walk once for 15-20 seconds to adjust my ponytail.

After the race, I came home to finish up some work and shower before heading back down to the festival with my brother to get some lunch. We had lots of samples, but finally decided on a mutton sandwich, lemonade shakeup and some fried cookie dough (so rich, but so good!)

The only crazy thing my brother wanted to try was the deep fried cookie dough. We have all of these insane fried festival food booths every year and I never give in (mainly because most of it sounds disgusting) but decided what the heck and we split the dish. Best choice ever! It was so good! 10/10 will get next year.

Does your town have any crazy festivals/celebrations?! I would love to hear about them in the comments below.

Favorite Owensboro Eats

Y’all. I love to eat. So it was so much fun eating my way through my hometown for this post. While I’m partial to OBKY, I really do think we have some of the best food in the country (lookin’ at you BBQ).

Old Hickory Bar-B-Q (& Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn and Ole South Bar-B-Q)
Owensboro is known for its barbecue. Like anytime someone important comes to visit our town, they go to Moonlite. BBQ is a big deal here and I love it. We even have a BBQ festival (and 5k!) in May to celebrate all of the BBQ goodness. I could eat BBQ all year round, but since it is finally starting to get cooler, I have been craving burgoo. Such a staple in Kentucky!

The Famous Bistro
Y’all. While Owensboro is known for comfort food and barbecue, The Famous Bistro has some pretty great Greek-inspired dishes. Their gyros are the best and I love their cozy dining room or the option to eat on the sidewalk patio. They also have Greek favorites like spanakopita and moussakas. It’s one of my favorite downtown Owensboro restaurants and when the weather is warm, I love to go there and eat lunch outside.

Great Harvest Bread Co.
So while this isn’t a local place, I always think it is. It’s locally-owned, but part of a franchise. They have the best salads, soups, loaves of bread and treats. My best friend and I eat breakfast there every Friday and I love all of their free bread samples. The banana chocolate chip will always be one of my favorites.

Honorable Mentions
Colby’s Fine Food & Spirits — I love their sweet potato fries.* I really want to try The Lure Seafood and Grille — it’s a cute little place tucked inside one of our downtown hotels. Since my husband is allergic to fish, that eliminates this place for date night, but I am needing to round up my girls and visit!

* We have entirely way too many fast food and pizza places in our town.

Hit me up if you ever come to western Kentucky! I have so many great recommendations for places to eat, stay and visit.