Three Friends

Three Friends
Three Friends

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

San Antonio Rock N Roll Half Marathon 2012





This past year I, Slick, signed up for four half marathons.  The first was the DC Rock-n-Roll, second was the inaugural Irongirl Half Marathon in Columbia, MD, the third was the Virginia Beach Rock-n-Roll,  and the fourth was the San Antonio Rock-n-Roll.  Due to a series of injuries (stress fracture) from my training for the first one, I was unable to run at all in the Irongirl, and after five months of no running yet still injuring myself again (shin splint) I was only able to run a 5k at the Virginia Beach. 

Which left me determined to run the San Antonio, training or no training.  So imagine my dismay when my daughter came home early from Tae Kwon Do complaining of a stomach ache the night before we were to leave for San Antonio.  My husband put our daughter to bed and I ran a couple of errands, during which I received a frantic phone call that our darling girl had turned into the girl from “the Exorcist” and was vomiting everywhere.  I then spent the next 7 hours holding her head, cleaning up spills and washing every piece of bedding she owns.  But it was all worth it when at 2:30 am she informed me she felt better and would like some water.  With one hour sleep we were able to make it to the airport in time for a stop at Jamba Juice before our flight. 

Packet pick up is one of my favorite parts of the Rock n Roll Series.  The Expo has so many free samples and the latest in running/fitness products.  You can also score some nice swag.  I won’t bore you with a detailed list of all the swag, but will leave you guessing with a picture of the most unusual item.  My husband won this item in the Brooks exhibit:



If you have never been to a large running event then it might be difficult to fully appreciate the energy that permeates the air before the race.  The excitement of the thousands of other runners and walkers can be felt well before the gun goes off.  

Due to my injuries, but mostly to not training, my goal was to finish the half with as little damage to my body as possible.  This is what worked for me…I am not qualified to say that this would work for anyone else.  I decided to do intervals of walking and running; five minutes running and two minutes walking.  To keep myself from getting caught up in the momentum of the crowd, I purposely chose a slow song to start the race with…Natasha Bedingfield’s “Pocket Full of Sunshine.”   For those of you who are not aware, one of the Rock-n-Roll Series Marathons claim to fame is that there is a band at every mile and there is upbeat music at the beginning and a live performance at the end.  

San Antonio Half and Full Marathon courses are pretty flat…as much as can be expected, so it wasn’t hard to keep my intervals going.  My lack of training really hit me around mile 8,  my legs started to feel like jelly.  By mile 10 I knew I had to change my intervals.  I wasn’t out of breath, but my legs were very mad at me…I added a minute to my walking and decreased a minute on my running…4 minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking.  I was able to keep this up for most of the rest of the race and was able to come in at 2:47.  Not my best time, but I am very happy and proud of myself.  


Rock-n-Roll Bling

It must have been something my daughter ate, because on Saturday she participated in the ING Kids Rock  fun run. She brought home a bit of bling all her own.


Her Fun Run came with a free ticket to the San Antonio Zoo!