Wednesday, June 3, 2015

San Diego Rock 'N' Roll 5K Race Recap

This past Saturday I ran the San Diego Rock 'N' Roll 5K.


I signed up for it a while back when I saw there was a Remix Challenge being added (meaning run the 5K on Saturday and either the Half Marathon or Full Marathon on Sunday and get an extra medal). Well, you know I have a hard time turning down bling, so I jumped at it.

Source

Friday afternoon Ryan and I made our way down to San Diego to hit up the Expo and hang out with friends. With a Padres game in town, it being a Friday, and then add runners trying to pick up bibs, (free) parking was horrendous, but hubby was nice enough to drop me off and then meet up with the crew (about an hour or TWO later - NO JOKE!).

After craptastic Friday traffic, I MADE IT TO THE EXPO!

OBVIOUSLY this sign (and Brooks in general) was MADE FOR ME!

I will NEVER "break the tape" in real life... This is
as close to it as I will probably ever come...

The sweet Suzanne at the Pro Compression booth

That time Linzie and I won the mountain climber battle
(and then I beat him in the championships!)

THUGS - SarahDaniLinzieMarlonBrian, me and Bethany
Source: Pavement Runner

After the Expo we made our way to the Stone Tasting Room for some drinks and "food" (remind me to actually EAT DINNER the night before a race). We played a couple rousing rounds of Jenga and shortly after I knocked down the tower Ryan and I had to head out (we still had to drive home which is about 45 minutes north of SD).

Source: PavementRunner's Instagram Feed

Linzie's nerves couldn't handle the pressure of the Jenga tower, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't record the fun:


Oh yeah, and I still had to lay out my Flat Carlee! (Had to wait till AFTER I got home because I was grabbing the new BLACK AND GOLD Run All Day tank from Pavement Runner!)

Flat Carlee consisted of a Yellow Sparkle Athletic Skirt, Black and Gold Run All Day Tank, Marathon Yellow Pro Compression Socks, Gold Wide Sparkly Soul Headband, Garmin Forerunner220, Yellow RoadID Sport, Brooks PureConnect 2 that include a Sparkle Athletic set of Lightning Bolt Shwings

The 5K started at 7am, but because I was driving down that morning AND THE PARKING WAS OVER A MILE FROM THE START, I figured I should probably aim to leave the house by 5am to give me enough time. Unfortunately for me, my fibromyalgia was KICKIN' MY BUTT Friday night and I got maybe a total 40 minutes of sleep before I finally just got out of bed around 3:50am.

Never even got close to the alarms going off...

With my lack of sleep, bad eating and being on my feet the day before I decided on the drive down that I would just take the 5K as a "fun run". Obviously there weren't going to be any characters on the course like a runDisney event, but I thought I would trot along with friends and use the mileage to shake out my legs for Sunday's half.

Some of the beauty that is Balboa Park

Well, Mr. Pavement Runner had different ideas... He said, "Let's race". I looked at Leslie, who had won an entry to the race and was originally planning on taking it easy, and we both figured "Sure, why not?".

The "racing" crew. Me, Brian and Leslie.
Source: Brian

Obviously with the #WeRunSocial crew out and about for the RnRSD weekend we HAD to get some pre-race pictures. The only issue was, we didn't really notice the race was getting started so had to book it over to the corral. This is where Leslie and I lost Brian...

I guess these legs were made for running... So that's
just what they'd do...
But can we be real for a minute - how HUGE are these bibs?!

Some of the #WeRunSocial Crew!
Source: PavementRunner's Instagram Feed

LOOK! It's Team #ThursdayTriumph!!
Photo: Smitha

I love running into local friends at races!!
Source: Henry

The one and only DAVE! With me, MichaelAndrea and Jessica (photo-improving)
Source: Dave_Mari

The race started and Leslie and I decided we would try to stick near 7:30 pace for the beginning. Leslie mentioned to me that Linzie told her this was a "flat course", but within the first half mile I knew someone may have been telling jokes.


I did appreciate that portions of the course you could see the runners on the other side. Leslie and I were able to spot Brian (who was still racing, but had started a ways behind us... You know, sometimes selfies prevent you from getting to the start in time ;)), cheer on Linzie, Sarah, Rob, and Dani, wave to Smitha, holler at Henry, make faces at Dave, and try to encourage all of the other racers out there.

Shortly after we started, Meb jumped on the course. We were in front of him for a good 30 seconds or so (the ONLY time I will ever be beating Meb). I am pretty bummed at myself, but because we were "racing" I put my phone away beforehand so couldn't grab a shot of him. Soon after he jumped in, he sped by (was pacing around 7 minute miles "for fun"...). It was still awesome to be out on the course with him!

The course was through Balboa (not necessarily the pretty parts of it, but hey, there was still a bit of greenery to look at). At parts I felt strong and other portions I was reminded why I think the 5K distance is my LEAST favorite (man, it is HARD!). Thankfully Dave snapped a picture where I was still feeling a bit strong (oh, don't worry, Michael grabbed some where I was feeling the complete opposite ;)).

Source: Dave_Mari

Although I went into the race thinking it would be more of a "fun run", once Brian suggested we race I had a little twinge of "maybe I can PR" in the back of my brain. Once the up-ness of the third mile came I knew that was out the window, but I still wanted to put in a good showing. Before we knew it, the race was coming to an end, but not before seeing the #WeRunSocial crew along the finish line!

BIG THANKS to Michael for grabbing these photos!

BIG THANKS to Michael for grabbing these photos!

BIG THANKS to Michael for grabbing these photos!

My finish time was NOT a PR, but it sure was a heck of a lot stronger than I originally thought it was going to be. (5Ks ARE NOT MY JAM!) Brian ended up beating us (he is a freakin' speed demon), even though he crossed the finish line after us [I attribute his fast time to him wanting to catch us - JOKING!]. Once Brian, Leslie and I collected our medals and some water we hurried back over to the #WeRunSocial crew so we could cheer the rest of the runners in. (Sometimes spectating is just as fun as running! #FactsOnly)

Really hoping to break into the 21s soon...

#WeRunSocial TAKING OVER the Finish Line!
Source: PointOneMiles' Twitter Feed

Yes, this is a selfie Dani took WHILE running with the #WeRunSocial cheer squad!
NOW GO FINISH THE RACE GIRL ;)
Source: Dani


Leslie, myself and Linzie

Dani and I

Sometimes you just have to photo-improve someone's picture with a scary face...
Source: Michael

What can we say? The #WeRunSocial crew likes to #KeepItTight!
Source: Brian

Me and Brian

Brian, Linzie, Jayme, Michael, Smitha, Leslie, me, and Andrea
Photo: Smitha

Michael, me and Andrea

Bruce, Jessica, Leslie, Kelvin and I

Leslie, me and Smitha

THE BANNER!

Some of the crew!
Source: @WeRunSocial's Twitter Feed

The craziness is strong with this group!
Source: Pavement Runner

Come to find out, I actually got THIRD in my age group! Although it was a BIG NAMED race, it was the first year for the 5K and I would imagine that most folks were using the race more as a shakeout run for the following day's race and weren't "racing", but still... THIRD?! That's not too shabby, right?!

I swear the first 2 miles seemed a little more hilly than my Garmin's elevation chart give it credit for...

Obviously the PEOPLE are what can make or break races sometimes and thankfully they MADE this race! Although the time wasn't exactly what I was hoping for (once I decided to race it), I will definitely take a third place finish and the chance to meet up with so many amazing friends and runners!

Do you make game time decisions about racing? Or do you have a strategy in place for weeks leading up to a race?

5 comments:

Kc said...

Congratulations on an awesome race!! I find that sometimes the less pressure I put on myself, leading up to a race, the better I seem to do the day of! You totally rocked it!!

Linz @SharpEndurance said...

The course was totally flat!!!!! I told no lies HAHAHA! I love this recap! Love the pictures! You the best!

Elle said...

Love the photos, running with Meb even for a sec is awesomeness. I love that you fly in your photos, your feet are not on the ground. :)

Unknown said...

Looks like you had so much fun! Congrats on your third place finish.

Unknown said...

Game time! All pending how I'm feeling! Way to freaking ROCK, lady!!