Rock ‘n Roll San Antonio 2019

I know this post is a little late, but December got away from me with all the races, band concerts, and Christmas to dos. But I want to give each race its due, so expect to see some “catch up” posts in the next few weeks.

Rock ‘n Roll San Antonio is a favorite trip that my friend and I take each year. It’s a nice little quick getaway, and I get to represent Team Chocolate Milk.

This year had a little different feel to it, because we both had a lot of stuff going on. I had some stress and lack of sleep because of life stuff, and her new position at work is taking a lot of her time. So we decided we were going to just enjoy the break and relax. And by relax, I mean run 13.1 miles. 🙂

We left for San Antonio early Saturday morning, and made our way to the expo first for packet pick up and some shopping.

I think you can see how tired I am!

 

 

We decided to eat an early dinner before checking in to the hotel, because the line was pretty long. We found a new to us Italian restaurant on the Riverwalk, and it was so early, there was no wait. Then we hit up CVS for some snacks and headed back to the hotel.

It’s kind of funny, because this is the first year we haven’t really explored the Riverwalk or the Alamo area on foot. We were just worn out, so after checking in to the hotel, I kicked my feet up to rest and she worked on her computer for her job. I had one of those times when I was so exhausted that I just couldn’t sleep. But I was happy to just be still after the week I had.

The weather on race morning was a little cool, but humid. Tank top is pretty much a given in San Antonio.

We walked out of our hotel to the start corrals – 5 minutes tops. That has been one of my favorite things about where we stay each year.

Start Corral

For my longest run since the Fort Worth Marathon in November, my plan was to start conservatively and negative split to finish strong. I wasn’t sure if I could pull a sub 2 hour half, but the plan to finish strong would help me take my mind off of the time and put it on the effort. The course had changed from previous years, no running by the Alamo this year, and I think they stuck in more hills. What is it with Rock ‘n Roll Races and hills. Dallas, San Diego, San Antonio…just from my experience. But thankfully, I’ve been tackling hill repeats with one of my running friends lately, so I was prepared. What I was not prepared for was the Wear Blue: Run to Remember mile. Again, crying while running is hard. If you’re not familiar with this, my friend captured a picture of part of it. Basically it’s photos of service members we’ve lost, lined up on both sides of the road for a quarter to a half a mile. The picture also has their age and rank. As a wife of a Navy veteran, and mom to a soon to be Naval Officer, I didn’t make it through this section with getting choked up. When the pictures stop, then you have people on both sides of the road holding flags and cheering for you as you continue to climb the hill. Some of them are in uniform, some in the wb:r2r shirts. This section of the race means so much to me.

I continued to keep an even effort, not draining my energy on the uphills. My pace ranged from 9:05-9:20 for most of the miles. My plan to negative split the second half didn’t pan out, but I tried to not lose any ground. Then at mile 11, on the way up another (final) hill, I dashed into a porta potty, and lost some time. I came out and walked for a few seconds up the hill, my heart rate was so high, and then I rallied my strength to finish. Only when I crossed the finish and stopped my Garmin, did I look at my total time – 2:06:42 (official). I’ll admit I was a little disappointed with my overall time, but I sat down near a tree with my water bottle to catch my breath and evaluate the race. My heart rate had been high for most of the race. I was tired. I was under a lot of stress with factors out of my control. It was my longest run since early November. It was humid. By looking at it this way, I actually felt pretty accomplished completing the race.

I headed to the chocolate milk tent to start my post race recovery. You can read all about the science here: https://builtwithchocolatemilk.com/science/workout-recovery

Time to Recover!

 

It’s important to remember that I do this because I enjoy it. Not every race is going to be an outstanding time. Sometimes my body isn’t on board. But I enjoyed my trip, time spent with my friend, and running through San Antonio. I will celebrate my half marathon finish, and keep doing what I love. 🙂

Rock ‘n Roll San Antonio 2018

The first weekend of December was packed with a whirlwind trip to San Antonio with two of my best running friends. This was one of my races for Team Chocolate Milk, and it was the fourth time I’ve run this race.

I love this weekend for so many reasons!

Chocolate milk (of course)

Nonstop running talk with friends 

We never got tired of talking about running, and didn’t bore anyone with it. 🙂

Unique opportunities (like meeting elite runners)

I have been a Des Linden fan for years, so I was excited to have the chance to tell her she inspires me to not give up on my Boston goal. #keepshowingup We talked about how tuneup races (like this half for me) are important. My friends also had the chance to meet and take pictures with Meb. I love that they give up so much of their time for everyday runners.

The beauty of San Antonio

I have a fear of heights (see also RNR ’16) and our room was on the top floor of the Westin facing the river. It was pretty with all the Christmas lights, but I would not step out onto the balcony.

Meeting up with my teammates

These are just a few of my teammates I was able to meet up with before the race. I enjoy catching up with and meeting new team members from all over. We may have our different race distances and goals, but still encourage and support one another.

Part of the Texas crew!

Running through San Antonio

I always enjoy this half marathon course. There are a couple of hills (and a big booger at mile 11), but most of the course is fairly flat. This year the weather was good – 50s at the start, and then sunny. But it did warm up kind of fast. I was running on tired legs since I’m training for the Houston Marathon, and I held on to a decent pace through mile 10. A combination of a nutrition/hydration issue and my tired legs, meant I didn’t hang on to my sub 2 hour goal. Plus, I had quite a bit of weaving around walkers, etc. They didn’t fix this issue from last year. Overall, though, I was okay with the pace I ran. I just wish my official race results showed it.

Recovery!

I sure appreciate when a race has chocolate milk at the finish! Here’s the science behind it, and how the mix of carbs:protein helps your muscles recover.

 

The Medal

 

Until next year, San Antonio…

We’ll be back!

 

 

Rock ‘n Roll Dallas 2018

Rock ‘n Roll Dallas half marathon is one of the races I look forward to each year, and this year was no different. I’m a little slow on the recap, but I’ll just leave this right here as my excuse.

 

 

Meet Cleo

Do you know how hard it is to get anything done with this little one scampering around my feet, begging me to pick her up? Cleo joined our family on race day after I got home. My family has been trying to talk me into another dog since before Christmas, and I finally caved. Needless to say, I’m not sleeping as soundly as this.

Anyway, back to the race stuff…

RNR Dallas is one of my races sponsored by Chocolate Milk, and I always look forward to it because I have so much fun. This race holds my fastest half marathon time, but that was before they changed the course and added all the hills. I kind of miss the flatter course.

I went down to the expo with two of my friends on Saturday, and we had a good time talking about running, checking out all the gear that I’d love to buy, but really don’t need.

Then on Sunday, the three of us went down to the race together. Once there, I met up with some of my teammates before the race. I think all of us in this picture are from Texas. 🙂

Temps were in the 60s and humidity was high, but there was a slight breeze. I hoped the overcast skies would hang around, because the sun cooked me last year with the same temperatures.

 

We squeezed into the front of our start corral, because I didn’t want a repeat of the San Antonio weaving.

Cheese!

Leda was going to take it easy with her knee. I wanted to run right under two hours, so my other friend (who’s training for Boston) said she was going to stay with me. I’ve set several PRs in local races trying to catch her, so I didn’t object.

The first few miles went off without a hitch. We settled into a rhythm. Some miles a little bit faster than I thought was ok, but maybe I could hang. My fast friend said she’d pull me up those hills by my braid if she had to, to keep me going. 🙂

The first big climb was in mile 5 when you run up a ramp to get to that darn iconic bridge they keep putting in this race. I don’t like that bridge. I scooted over as far on the inside as I could to make the circular climb, and wondered why so many people were running along the outside edge. It’s just like a track –  you run on the inside lane for the least distance. Especially on a hill. But maybe that’s just me.

On the bridge, my friend got some good pictures. It really is pretty once you get past the climb, but oh man…

The Iconic Bridge

I refilled my bottle around the halfway point, adding 1 1/2 tablets of Nuun. So far I was hanging on to a 2 hour pace. Then the hills kicked my butt. On the last steep hill I couldn’t hang with my fast friend, but I kept running. I took my coach’s suggestion that if the weather was too much, slow and just have fun. When I crested the top, she came back to me. “You’re not getting rid of me,” she said. She ran alongside me, chatting and making sure I was good. I took a couple of short walk breaks, mostly to keep from throwing up. I can tell when the heat/humidity has gotten to me when I feel like puking. I also don’t think it’s worth it to puke in a race. That’s not fun to me. So we slowed down and focused on other things. We saw a few runners down surrounded by medical/runners in the last couple of miles, and we would exchange concerned looks. That always gets to me, because I think about them and hope they’re okay. After the race, my friend told us she kept looking back at me to make sure I still had some color in my face.

We made it to the last bridge and began the descent down to the finish. I do love the way they run the course through to finish. Spectators cheering on both sides, a nice downhill, Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, and then the last turn. I didn’t have any gas left in the tank, but I pushed through and we finished together.

Then I got my chocolate milk!

Side note: Chocolate milk is my number one choice for recovery after a long or hard workout. More on the benefits of chocolate milk for recovery can be found here: https://builtwithchocolatemilk.com/science/workout-recovery

 

Even though I didn’t hit my time goal, I still had lots of fun with my friends. Finish time was 2:06, which was the same as last year. It’s a tough course, but I did feel like a stronger runner this year. I just need to get my body to cooperate in the humidity. The finish on Reunion Lawn is a great place for a post-race party.

So, what is next?

After training for marathons from August through February, then RNR half in March, and a half coming up in two weeks…I’m actually ready to cut back and run some fast races: 5ks, 10ks, even a sprint triathlon. I’m also working on some other things to get ready for fall. I’m not losing sight of my big goals.