Race Recap: Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon

Saturday was the day of the Seattle Rock and Roll race and it started off bright and early with a 4:15AM wakeup call.  I got dressed, ate breakfast (english muffin with egg on one half and sunflower seed butter on the other) and half a cup of coffee. 5:00AM I was on my way downtown to meet my friends at the Westin hotel to catch the shuttle.  We stood in a shuttle line from 5:30 to a little after 6:00 and arrived at the start around 6:30.  The next 30 minutes were spent checking our gear and standing in the porty potty line.  We missed the official start of the race but since we were pretty far back it didn't matter.  About 7:30 we were OFF!  I wished my friends Kath and Stace well and went on my way trying to maintain a speed in the 9:30/mile range.

While my dream goal was to run this in under 2 hours I knew after the first 4 miles that was going to happen but I was on track to PR...just as good!

Mile 1 - 9:26
Mile 2 - 9:22
Mile 3 - 9:43
Mile 4 - 9:22

The first 4 miles were actually pretty rough.  I never start half marathons off that fast and my lungs were already feeling the speed and I was worried about maintaining it for the whole race. The course is also kind of boring for the first 4 miles taking you through the industrial area of Tukwila and then through neighborhoods.  But I did warm up after 4 miles and the next 4 miles felt pretty good.  I decided to check in with myself and my watch every 4 miles so I didn't stress about my pace from mile to mile...it was a good strategy.

Mile 5 - 9:39
Mile 6 - 9:27
Mile 7 - 9:28
Mile 8 - 9:26

Miles 5-9 are along Lake Washington Boulevard with a gorgeous view of Lake Washington for the entire stretch.  There are also a ton of spectators along this stretch which is always great.  At one point they had pictures of soldiers who had died in the middle east and then a ton of soldiers holding American flags...I would be lying if I didn't get choked up running by that...which didn't help my breathing much but I figured at least I have breath and freedom!

Mile 9 - 9:39
Mile 10 - 9:11 <---hey speedy...this is where I start thinking "IT'S ALMOST OVER!!"
Mile 11 - 9:17
Mile 12 - 9:37
Mile 13 - 9:07 <---NO IDEA where the energy for this came from because I was feeling very slow!
Mile 13.1 - 7:53 <---Sprinting to the finish...WOOHOO

At mile 9 you are in the I-90 express tunnels which sounds fun but it's super humid and very uncomfortable.  Luckily it lasts under a mile and before you know it you are winding your way into downtown...DOWNhill I might add.  You run through downtown with hundreds of spectators and run up a small hill to go on the Highway 99 viaduct to make your way to Qwest Field.  I knew at mile 12 I wouldn't run a sub 2 hour half for sure so I didn't stress about the last mile and just ran for me, it felt really good!  I knew I would get a personal record, I knew I ran as fast and hard as I could, and I couldn't wait to finish.  I sprinted around other runners for the last .1 mile and even crossed the finish line about the same time as a marathoner! His time was 2:32 or something like that...amazing!


This just in...I just checked the official results and I finished in 2:03:53, not 2:04...I'll take it.  Official stats:

Lauren

Seattle, WA

Age: 29 | Gender: F

Overall: 4737 out of 17083 · Division: 471 out of 2084 · Gender: 2187 out of 11458

Pace: 9:27

Guess that should have been a three instead of a 4 :)

The finish line area was a giant cluster and after I sprinted to the finish I needed to WALK or I knew I would pass out.  It was really hard to make my way through the medal and picture area to the food stuff but I made it and waited for my friends.  We hung out at the finish for a while chowing down and recaping the race and celebrating our 4th year all running together!  Our first half together was the 2008 SeaFair Half Marathon four years ago and we have all come a long way since then.  My time at that race was 2:35 and I've since shaved over 30 minutes off my time.

I was really into flashing important numbers that day!

I spent the rest of the day sleeping and eating and even catching a concert with a friend that night.  Thank you all for your well wishes and congratulations. I got the chance to meet some awesome blogger ladies and a couple men the other night at the blogger carbo loading dinner at the Spaghetti Factory....short recap coming in 3...2....1....

I carpooled down with MyMarathonDiaries who rocked the marathon today BTW and had a great night chatting with ladies about running, blogs, and life.  Good food, good company and good SWAG.  Onlineshoes.com donated some sweet goodie bags made of an insulated lunch bag filled with a water bottle, coffee mug and more.  Tall Mom on the Run organized the event and she is just as sweet in person as she is in her blog.  Run, Zoe Run made trading cards for all the bloggers which was genius.  I need to send her my photo so I can get in on the action!

How fun are these?

Fun swag from onlineshoes.com

So much fun paced into less than 24 hours.  I'm ready for bed...I hope I don't wake up until tomorrow afternoon!

Added to my collection!

I know you were all wondering what my pup did all day...look familiar?