Race Review: Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Half Marathon

Tweet

It has taken me a while to figure out how to write this post. It was a strange race for me. I haven't been feeling well for over a month and it has really made running very difficult and almost non-existent. Anyways, I went into this race thinking that I would just go and have fun with no expectations.

We headed down to Seattle on Friday morning and went straight to the expo!

Outside CenturyLink field.

I was excited to see that Run Happy Island was there and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to ride the mechanical shoe even in a skirt LOL...

We did some shopping and took some photos with our bibs and then headed to our hotel to check in.

We had the usual pre-race dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with Nikki, Sarah, and Jacki. It was nice to continue the girls night tradition! After that it was time to head back and get ready for the race. I knew I wasn't feeling 100% and my nerves about the lack of running I'd done leading up to this race were starting to creep up.

The morning went pretty smoothly. After getting ready we headed to the monorail station and met up with the girls.

It was a pretty beautiful morning but it was clear that by the end of the race it was going to get pretty warm. As we got started I was already hoping for my walk break. I knew that it wasn't going to go perfectly but I thought I'd be feeling good for at least the first half. Unfortunately that was not the case. For such a beautiful course, one of my favorites in fact, it was so disheartening. We pushed on regardless. My plan was to strictly do my 10/1s for at least the first 10km and then reassess. Not surprisingly once we passed the 10km mark, things began to fell apart. We hit the really steep hill leading up to a long tunnel which also has an incline and that I remembered from last year and I had to walk most of that. I told Cindy to push on without me but she was determined that we stick this one out together.

I knew my favorite part of the race was coming up, the overpass that looks onto the water and I had the phone out ready to snap some photos. Practically the only photos I took during the race.

This course is truly one of the most beautiful races and a great tour of Seattle. After the overpasses, we headed back into the city and I knew that there was another hill coming up along the water. By this point we were mostly walking. I felt winded, sore, and completely done. I did my best to push through the last bit in hopes of a sub 3-hr finish. In the end, we came it at 2:49:33. Definitely not a PR but not my worst time either.

I had a nice time in Seattle but was reminded how important training is and that a half marathon even after 26 of them, is no joke, 13.1 miles is far no matter how slice it. I'm in a much different place physically than I was last year at this time and I think I'm beginning to accept it and work on what else I can do to get stronger.

Race Review Summary 

Package Pickup/Expo:
Rock 'n' Roll always does this seamlessly. We had our bibs and packages within minutes and then had a great time wandering through the expo and looking at things. I picked up some official Brooks merchandise as well (pictured below). We received the Run Happy Island shirt for free after riding the mechanical shoe.

Price/Value: $80-110 (depending on when you register)
I think I got it even cheaper because I used the discount from when the Seahawks won the Superbowl.
 
Aid Stations: 
Rock 'n' Roll always provides plenty of aid stations and course support. This is easily a race you could run without carrying your own water.

Course Difficulty: 
Moderate. There is one rather steep hill and quite a few rolling hills but the course is just so beautiful!

Medals:
Awesome as always! I was surprised that the sasquatch on the Pacific Peaks medal was actually fuzzy, strange but also awesome!

How to tackle a Rock 'n' Roll Race Weekend

Tweet

As we approach the Oasis Rock 'n' Roll Vancouver Half Marathon and 44th Annual Cunningham Seawall 10k in October, I, along with my fellow Rock 'n' Blog bloggers will be sharing some tips and information to help you have the best experience possible. Since I've traveled to 2 Rock 'n' Roll races in the past (Rock 'n' Roll Seattle & Rock 'n' Roll Portland), and I'm headed to 2 more this Spring, I've decided to share some tips on managing/planning your weekend here in Vancouver, but in general, these tips would apply to any Rock 'n' Roll race weekend.

If you are traveling, make sure you pack all of the appropriate gear for the race as well as the days leading up to/after the race. There's nothing worse than wearing improper footwear leading up to race and having blisters before you even reach the start line! A raincoat, your preferred method of hydration, and compression wear are also things you may want to consider having readily available. I'm sure you've heard this before, but don't plan to try anything new on race weekend, wear comfortable previously broken-in shoes!

Bring your camera!
A race weekend like this is sure to have some amazing photo ops, so be ready, you won't be disappointed!

A photo op with my bib at the Portland Rock 'n' Roll Expo

Nikki took this of me during Rock 'n' Roll Seattle!

Plan out your eats!
It's a great idea to do some research beforehand and have what you need all ready to go by the time the weekend rolls around. If you are attending a race in your own city like I will be, you might want to consider planning your meals the week prior and being sure to have all your grocery shopping and meal preparation done in advance of the weekend. This includes preparing healthy snacks so it won't be tempting to make bad choices. Power cookies (click for recipe) are my favorite, but there are lots of ready-made options out there! I will also be looking at restaurants closer to and hopefully making some reservations because even though I live here, it's always fun to meet up beforehand with your fellow racers for a carb-loading dinner! With Gastown so close to the expo, there are tons of great pre-race options! Also, consider what you might want after the race? It's always great to have something in mind for a little extra motivation to get to the finish line. I myself, will likely be headed to Cartem's Donuterie post-race... yum!

Budget accordingly.
With great restaurants, an amazing expo, and the opportunity to buy some stellar race photos, it is important to know how much you want to spend in advance. I don't always purchase my photos, but for a Rock 'n' Roll race, I always have. They're just too good not to. Marathonfoto will be in charge of race photography at Rock 'n' Roll Vancouver, just like their other races.

Research and leave lots of time to visit the EXPO!
When I first started running, I'll admit I didn't understand what an expo was and why it was so exciting... but now, I've come to look forward to it, especially for a Rock 'n' Roll race, they truly never disappoint. With over 60 exhibitors and the brooks official merchandise store, there will be lots to look at and some great souvenirs for purchase. There's usually a chance to preview the race medal as well as all of the other Rock 'n' Roll medals. I would set aside at least a few hours for the expo so you get to see everything. Hopefully, you'll have a bit more time to see some speakers/entertainment etc. and maybe even visit the waterfront area in Vancouver! Having said that, Rock 'n' Roll is always very organized about Package Pickup so if you need to be in and out, that shouldn't be a problem.

A free photo op from Brooks!

A look at the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon expo from above!

We will have more details to come for the expo, but for now I can tell you it will be taking place at Canada Place on:
Friday, October 24, 12pm – 6pm & Saturday, October 25, 9am – 5pm
 
Don't overdo it.
Vancouver has so many amazing sights to see and things to do, but I wouldn't overdo it the day before the race with too much walking. Typically, I plan to walk the expo and then do something relaxing for the rest of the day, if possible. Why not come to Vancouver for a whole week so that you'll have lots of opportunities to see our beautiful city without compromising your race legs!

Making time to put my feet up in some Pro Compression socks and Barefooters!

Be prepared. 
Organize all of your race things the night before just to be sure you're not missing out on anything crucial like your bib, timing tag, watch, or ipod.

Plan to get to sleep early.
It's so easy the night before a big race to let the excitement get to you and before you know it, it is way later than you intended to stay awake. Make sure you are home/back to your hotel early enough and try to do the same you would do any other night to get ready for bed. And in case you're staying with friends in a hotel the night before... It's okay to have a little bit of Rock 'n' Roll fun, but just don't go too crazy!

Pajama party anyone?

Enjoy it! 

You trained for it, enjoy everything the race has to offer and have a great time! Don't forget to celebrate your new bling and take in some of the post-race entertainment and perhaps even a treat or 2!

LA Day 1 & The LA Marathon Nutri Bullet Health and Fitness Expo

Tweet

We left late on Thursday night for Seattle, slept for a whopping 2.5 hours in a hotel room at a pretty horrible Best Western before heading to the airport to get on a plane to LA. I think our excitement is what kept us awake but it's hard to say, caffeine might have also been a factor...

I was still thinking about what was going on with my foot but still pretty excited to be headed off on a great trip with my sister. Our flight was relatively painless, we picked up our rental car and headed to our hotel for a quick change of clothes and then headed off to the Santa Monica Pier!

The weather was perfect, it was warm, not too hot, and lightly cloudy. All of which sounded just right for race day.

Special thanks to my sister and her awesome phone for all of these photos!

We also walked over to REI just off third street promenade so I could pick up my Skratch hydration for the race. I'd never explored Santa Monica before and was pleasantly surprised by all there was to do.

We walked around a bit, took in the sights, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed back to our hotel to rest for a couple of hours before heading to the expo to meet the girls! I was pretty in love with our awesome hotel room at one of the Santa Monica host hotels: The Shore Hotel.

 

The hotel was literally right across the street from the beach, so convenient!

Here I am at the entrance to the Nutribullet Health and Fitness Expo at the LA Convention Center:

I was super excited to see what the expo had in store. I've been to some big race expos over the last year so I think my expectations might have been a tad high... It was OKAY. Everything went very smoothly with bib pickup etc. The race merchandise was nice but I knew going in that I was only going to buy a hat. I was nervous about the possibility of not finishing the race and just in case that were to happen, I didn't want to buy another reminder... Also, I should have tried on the hat before buying it, more on that in my race review...

There were a few exhibitors but nothing really all that exciting. MarathonFoto was there offering a discount if you purchase your photos in advance ($65 for $100 gift certificate as opposed to $79 for the full digital pack after the race). I was thinking about it, but it turns out there was an issue with some Canadians and their postal codes, so that didn't work out for me. They gave me a phone number to call the next day but the inconvenience totally turned me off especially with the expensive price.

Among other things, I was pretty nervous about the time change on Saturday night!

They also had a wall similar to the one at Nike Town during the Nike Women's Marathon. Unfortunately, since I signed up only a few weeks before the race my name wasn't on it.

We had intended to meet Nikki & Jacki at the expo, but there was some miscommunication and issues using our phones so it didn't happen. Thankfully, we had dinner plans at Border Grill arranged in advance so we met there and had a delicious dinner! We were so tired after being up for practically 48 hours that we headed back to the hotel right after dinner and went to sleep.

Stay tuned for our 2nd day in LA and then for my full LA Marathon race review!

Disneyworld Day 1/ Wine & Dine Half Marathon Expo

Tweet

We arrived to the Port Orleans resort at Disneyworld after midnight on Friday. We not-so-promptly collected our magic bands (they had some printer issues) and headed to our room.

The magic bands are a new program they're rolling out where you use these as a room key and to pay for anything at the resorts and/or parks. If you order them in advance, you can pick the color. I have to say that they were extremely convenient and we had 0 issues with them during our stay.

We briefly unpacked some of our things and then tried to get some sleep anticipating a big day ahead. We planned to get up early so we could line up at the expo and perhaps have a chance to get the limited edition Run Disney shoes! I think we woke up around 7:00am to get ready and the expo wasn't set to open until 10:00AM. We arrived at the ESPN Wide World of Sports shortly after 9:00AM.

We were delighted to see a very short expo line when we got there. They had it separated between those lining up for package pickup and those lining up for the expo. We chose the expo line as we knew our packages would be waiting for us no matter what.

The expo opened early, just after 9:30AM. We immediately headed to the New Balance booth for the shoes and I was overflowing with excitement knowing that with only a few people in line, the shoes would soon be mine. New Balance had me do a survey while I was waiting and I won a pair of socks too!

This was the last chance to purchase this edition of the shoes. In 2014 they will be entirely different. At $125 they aren't cheap, but I wore them most of the weekend and they are very comfortable and overall I'm happy with the purchase.

After visiting New Balance, we stopped by Raw Threads where I picked up a castle-to-castle shirt and then Team Sparkle where I finally got to meet Kelly from According to Kelly:

Though we weren't there in time for me to make the Run Disney Wine & Dine Meetup the night prior, the expo felt a little bit like a blogger meet-up with all of the people I recognized. Hopefully one day I'll get to go to one of the official meetups!

After checking out the official Run Disney merchandise and purchasing an "I Did It" shirt we headed back over to packet pickup where we obtained our package and then had to go back to the expo to get our shirt. The one thing I noticed missing was that we didn't get a bag other than plastic bag check bag. I can't remember if we got the Tinkerbell one when we bought something or if it came with the package but it's always a nice touch.

Next up, we went to Magic Kingdom to enjoy the rest of the day in the parks. I decided that we should head to Be Our Guest right away if we were going to try to eat lunch there. The wait was about 30 minutes so we decided to wait. This seemed reasonable to me because even at 180 days out (the earliest you can book a dining reservation) I was unable to get a dinner reservation here. It is pretty neat, when you arrive, there is literally a cave with a castle coming out the side of it. And as always lots of magical touches that make you feel like you are walking into Beauty and the Beast such as these gargoyles lining the walkway to the gates of the cave.

 



Lunch is a bit different from dinner in that it is quick service as opposed to table service. We picked out our food items and then headed to our table, because of our magic bands they are able to locate the table you choose and the food arrives promptly after being seated. We both had French onion soup and a cupcake. The "grey stuff" which is actually on the menu is a chocolate cupcake with grey icing.

The food was delicious, the best I've had at a quick service Disney restaurant. We both agreed that going to Be Our Guest was the best part of Magic Kingdom that day. Just seeing the inside of the restaurant is worth the trip. There are 3 dining rooms, we sat in what could only be described as the Beast's room which was very dark complete with lightning and thunder and of course the magical rose.

We went on a few rides and toured the park which felt very similar to Disneyland's Magic Kingdom. We didn't buy tickets for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party which was beginning at 7:00PM later that day because we had made plans with my mother-in-law's family who lives in Orlando. We went to their house for dinner and didn't make it back to our hotel until after midnight and we were definitely ready for bed. Up next is Disneyland Day 2 and the first half of my race review!

'Twas the night before my 1st MARATHON

Tweet

What a day!

I volunteered for the 1st time at a race expo. I have done so many races and picked up so many race packages it was about time to volunteer and hand some of those packages out myself, so that's what I did! I had a great time with a friendly bunch of volunteers all morning at the Active Living Expo in Surrey!

 

I was assigned the job of getting the runners their bib numbers so that they could collect their packages. I loved it because I was able to greet a lot of the runners I have trained with and who I will be running with tomorrow! Thanks to everyone who stopped in to say hello :)

 

A special perk of being a volunteer this morning is that I was around when the medals arrived and were being unpacked so I got a sneak peek!

 

People at the expo were joking around asking if the race was going to be cancelled because of all the rain, I laughed it off and said "in Vancouver, not a chance!", and then I went outside to almost literally a monsoon.

 



 

So this it, I've got most of my things prepared and set out for the morning. It is just about time for me to call it a night so that I'm raring to go (well sort of...) for my 4:30AM alarm. I feel like I'm living in a dream, and that this is not all actually going to happen tomorrow. All of my previous races, my training this summer, and my (sometimes) outlandish goals have lead me to this, and finally here I am.

 

Here's to hoping it is a run and not a swim... that I will survive... and mostly that I have fun because I will never forget my 1st!

 

Race Review: Lululemon SeaWheeze Half Marathon (Part 1)

Tweet

Last year Nikki and I ran this race together, it was in fact our very first race together. You can read here race report from last year here.

Nikki and I at last year's race.

Last year at the expo, package pickup went smoothly but when I saw the line for the SeaWheeze Showcase Store I knew there was no hope of getting through it in a reasonable time so I left. Nikki stayed only to find out everything had been gone since early morning where people who weren't even runners bought most of the stock and then resold it on Ebay.

This year, I thought if we were even going to try to get to the store we had to be there early. So we were on the road by 6:00am and arrived outside the Vancouver Convention Center just after 7:00am. When we first came up from the parking garage, there was a huge line and it didn't seem like the right place as a lot of people were in costume. Suddenly we realized it was the lineup for the Pokémon World Championship also happening the same weekend in Vancouver. We couldn't pass up a photo op like that:

When we arrived at the right wing of the convention center, there was already a line up half way around the building. We got in line and waited for them to open (at 8:00am) we chatted with people in line and even got some sneak peek photos and insider information from a volunteer inside!

It was a beautiful day and because it was early it wasn't too warm out. I was a little disappointed when I heard they had more entertainment for people in line later in the day but I suppose because we lined up before they were officially open, I can't complain.

Once the doors were open, it moved pretty quickly inside and package pickup was in sight!

I'd say we were through in 20 minutes and then we were on our way across the room towards the massive SeaWheeze Showcase store. I was very pleasantly surprised with the amount of product they had.

 



I had only planned on buying one thing, but that soon went out the window. I loved all the colors and most of the product was really nice. As a die-hard Lululemon CRB (cool racer back) fan I was a little disappointed that they were all made of a different material than the usual CRB (a thinner "luon" that feels nothing like the original). But there were definitely multiple styles of shirts to choose from.

 

When I finally took a moment to gather the things I wanted and review how much I was going to spend this is what I came out with (including some gifts for other people):

We hung around the store for quite a while so that we could get what we wanted in the right sizes as they were restocking stuff on a regular basis but just as fast as it went on the shelf it was gone. I was shocked by how much stuff people were grabbing. Last year there was a 15% discount for runners and this year a couple of the volunteers mentioned the same thing but when we went to check out, that certainly wasn't the case. As we left I noticed there were people everywhere with massive piles of clothing on the floor, easily thousands of $ each. I love Lululemon but I guess not that much! We heard later that by 9:30/10:00 AM it was quite picked over so I'm glad we went when we did but I feel bad for those that missed out like I did last year.

 

Once we had all our goodies we headed back towards home as I had to get ready to attend a friends wedding later that evening. They had nooner yoga, mani/pedi's, and other various activities throughout the day but alas I had other places to be.

 

I was excited but nervous about staying up late and having a few drinks before a hot and sweaty half marathon the next morning. We hardly ever dress up anymore so that was fun even though it was REALLY hot outside!

 



 

My plan was to only have a couple of drinks... I (mostly) stuck to that plan including pre-race hydration with these delicious twisted iced-teas!

 

The wedding was fabulous and went off without a hitch, well except for the bride and groom getting hitched of course (pardon my horrible joke ha ha). So happy for this gorgeous couple who jetted off to Paris for their honeymoon a couple days later!

To find out what happens when you hydrate for a half marathon with alcohol you'll have to tune in tomorrow for the rest of my race recap!

 

You can read Nikki's very poetic recap of the expo here