Ah man, this race was just pure awesomeness! It marked the 5th year since I started running half marathons and the 5th anniversary of the Seattle Rock and Roll race. Quick trip down memory lane before we start...
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| Pre 2008 race - man I was SOO nervous! |
2009 Inaugural Rock and Roll Seattle Half - 2:18:xx
2010 - 2:11:xx
2011 - 2:03:53
2012 - 2:02:13
2013 - 2:02:10 <--- race PR by 3 SECONDS!
Let's dive into this year's race ok?
Per usual I didn't sleep too well the night before and when I did I only dreamt about waking up late or missing the start. Alarm went off around 4:30 and I made my pre-race breakfast and had a half a cup of coffee.
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| Already half eaten eggs and potatoes! Not picture - Nuun and coffee. |
I wasn't going to leave anything to chance so I left insanely early about 5:30 to head to the start. That proved to be a good idea because I scored a FREE street spot in lower Queen Anne and made my way to the VIP area to relax and get my pre-race business done (you all know what I mean). Thanks to access to no line potties I did everything I wanted to (or thought...) and made my way to my corral to meet up with blogger friends.
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| pic from Stacie! |
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| Nuun ladies! Myself, Stacie and Zoe |
My running buddy and fellow 5 year runner, Lindsey, and I got in corral 7 and waited for the race to start. My stomach decided it wanted to rebel one last time about 2 minutes before the gun went off...awesome! I vented my frustration to Lindsey who just said "don't think about it"...not so easy to do I might add!
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| All corraled up and ready to run |
Miles 1-3
Starting in corral 7 with my speedy friend was probably not the best idea because we started ticking off 8:30 miles right away. My stomach was still unsettled and I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with her so I made the very smart decision to tell her to go ahead and stopped at a port-o-potty right before the 5k mark. BEST.DECISION.EVER. I felt like a million bucks after and found my own rhythm right around the 9:20 pace. Coincidentally this exact same thing happened last year except I waited until mile 6 for relief.
Miles 3-9
We made our way south on Rainier Avenue which is not what I could call Seattle's finest neighborhood but luckily you turn off of it eventually and make your way to Lake Washington Blvd and run north along the lake towards I-90. I was feeling strong and ticking off the miles staying in the 9:20 range the entire time. I ate some Sports Beans around mile 7 and made sure to take water and Gatorade at every stop. While I would LOVE LOVE if Nuun was on the course I didn't want to carry my own hydration so I "suffered" with the Gatorade for this race ;).
Side note: I swore someone spectating yelled my name in the stretch on Rainier but I looked and didn't recognize anyone...was it any of you?
Miles 9-12
Into the I-90 tunnels we went and every year I honestly hate this part of the race. It's stuffy, it smelled like sewage and they had a DJ at the end bumping music so loud you could feel it in your bones...NOT in a good way. I knew once we exited I would be greeted with fresh, cooler air and it felt so glorious! The sun was out in full force that day but I was comfortable in my Nuun singlet and shorts...should have worn a visor or sunglasses though.
The best cheer squad EVER was right at the corner after mile 10 and even though I only saw them for a split second it made all the difference and powered me though those last miles.
Photos from Sarah - thanks ladies!!!
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| Megan, Andrea, Sarah, Lauren, Rira, and Rebecca! |
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| See...look how happy I am to see them! |
My legs were definitely tired and I was ready for the race to be over with but I still felt pretty good so I tried to pick up the pace a bit towards the end. I have to say Rock and Roll made some excellent changes to the course this year but one thing they forgot...ending a hill! But this year they made the hill longer so I would guess the last 1/4-1/2 mile were pretty much all uphill. When I spotted the finish line I broke into my best sprint possible and finished strong.
2 hours, 2 minutes and 10 seconds <---can't help but think I would have gotten under 2 hours without that bathroom stop...darnit!
I could not chug a bottle of water, gatorade, and chocolate milk fast enough! I met up with my friend and fellow Ragnar teammate, Jessey, for some race debriefing.
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| Great lighting in this finish pic ;) |
Post race I headed back to the VIP area to cool down in the shade and change out of my sweaty clothes before heading to the Online Shoes blogger party (recap next!).
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Question: Do you love Rock and Roll races? Did you run Seattle? Link up you recap below please!
1 comment:
Good blog with nice information on online shopping shoes
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