Rock 'n Roll Savannah 1/2 marathon

Rock 'n Roll Savannah 1/2 marathon - 8th 1/2 marathon

11/5/2016

Savannah, GA

Time: 2:28:06 (PR!); average pace: 11:18

Place: Overall 4744/18600; Div (F40-45) 394/865; Female 2794/5833

I really enjoyed this race! I was a little worried about how I would do since I didnt get in a ton of running since the marathon but I actually had a PR! I could have had a better PR if I didnt waste 4 minutes waiting in line for the port-o-pottie. 

 I realized that in the past year I had peed outside in several different states. Should this be a new goal? I'm the most grown up 43 year old ever. I forgot about my new goal as I watched a bunch of guys and gals try to hide themselves to pee outside while I waiting in line for the port-o-pottie.

I should have gone to pee alongside the trees like these girls

All I kept hearing was how hot this race was last year. It was so hot they even cancelled the marathon portion of the race mid-race. The weather on this day was amazingly perfect. I expected Savannah to be warmer than Chicago since it was in the south. I automatically think any place south of Chicago is significantly warmer. 

The start of the race was pretty cold. I didnt think to bring a throw away shirt and we walked from the hotel to the start line without intentions of checking gear. The body heat from the corals helped a bit and of course once once I got going I warmed up. 

I got cold again once I stopped running. I found a spot in the sun after the race in the park while waiting for Beth but the cool breeze cancelled out the sun. Still not sure why I had a popsicle! 

 See how I'm looking down in the photo above? Well, that's because the streets in Savannah are old and many are uneven brick surfaces. The side walks are worse. This town was founded in the 1700s and I'm pretty sure the bricks were laid at the same time. The sidewalks have become uneven from years of erosion and never having been repaved. After walking on them for a few days I looked down during most of the race afraid I'd trip and fall.

These photos were taken with my little square "spy" camera. In a few previous races I wore it clipped on to the front of my tank top. The blurry photos I got were not that great; mostly the backs of peoples heads. This time I clipped it on the back of my hat. The photos still aren't that great. this camera isn't really made for motion and it needs a lot of light. Good thing I didnt pay much for it.

The night before I left for Savannah, the Cubs won the World Series. After 108 years, they finally did it. I honestly didn't think it was going to happen in my life time. As a Sox fan I couldn't have cared less and I wasn't going to jump on the bandwagon  just because they're a Chicago team. I was glad to be away from all the hype. To be spiteful, I wore my Sox shirt.

I was able to not do a run/walk for this race. I did allow myself to walk through the water stops. Most larger races have water stations that are about a block long. The water stations at this race were pretty short. Good that it added to my PR time but bad because I needed the friggin' break!

I was pretty impressed with myself when I looked at my Runkeeper app and saw that the majority of my splits were under an 11 minute mile! This race made me feel pretty good about myself. I had good splits, I wasn't dying or seriously struggling.

I went on this trip with Beth, who walked the half marathon. I got a text from her as I was crossing the finish line saying she was about 15 behind because she stopped to take some photos. Totally understandable; Savannah is one of the prettiest cities I have even been to.

I knew I had about 45 minutes to kill. It was kind of chilly out after I stopped moving but I don't recall them having heat sheets. I'm pretty sure if they did i would have grabbed one.

I grabbed all the goodies and sat on the curb in the finish shoot and chowed down. It was shaded and on this sunny day it was going to be the only place I could see my phone screen.

After a few minutes I got up and walked around the post party, grabbed a coffee popsicle and a grassy seat in the sun.

Met Beth after she finished and we walked in the direction of the hotel. We never talked about where we were going to eat after the race. Our comfy hotel room was so close, we decided to get food at the fancy gas station and head back.

Let me just tell you that this was no ordinary gas station. Upon first glance it doesn't even look like a gas station. The pumps are covered with an awning help up by stone pillars to match the building.  Inside is a gourmet food section, a hot bar deli and a place where you can get your growler filled. Oh and did I mention the section where you can buy candles and plush throw blankets?

I got a salad and some pasta from the deli counter. We went back to the room and stayed awake long enough to eat and shower.

I'm so glad I moved the dinner reservation back an hour. It took us a little longer that I expected to get our butts in gear for dinner.

For some weird reason we just walked to dinner, a long way, instead of Uber.

gas station gourmet for lunch

this gas station has EVERTHING

nicest gas station ever

Chicago Half Marathon

Seventh Half marathon

Chicago, IL 

9.25.16

Time 2:29:40

Place: overall 5741/8530; female 2969/5029; female 40-44 283/561

This race was kind of a mess from beginning to end. It started with resenting to have to haul my ass all the way to Soldier Field to pick up my packet. I only wanted to this race because of the giant medal. The course wasn't all that appealing. 

The following photos were taken using a tiny clip on camera, hence the lower quality.

 There was a free shuttle on which I was able to secure a seat. The race started at 7 and the friggin' shuttle was leaving near the Belmont red line at 5 am. Let's say it takes an hour to get down to Jackson Park, what was I going to do for an hour? I decided to take Uber instead so I could sleep.

 Regular Uber was $58.00!!!! Uber pool was $43.00. Either way a total rip off. I decided to save the extra dough and take the pool. The uber driver was not paying attention to his GPS so we had to circle around to pick up the other passenger. I was ultimately charged $27 so I'm not sure what happened there.

 I didn't want to be an ass but I had to let this guy know I was trying to make it to my race on time. I thought an hour would be enough. I thought wrong.

 The two exits before Jackson Park off LSD were closed because it was part of the course. Great! So as the driver is navigating around all of this the clock is ticking and I am panicking.

 He pulls up to a corner of Jackson Park that shows no signs of a race save for the few cops diverting traffic. I decided I needed to get out and hope I headed in the right direction.

 I asked everyone I encountered which way to the race start line and followed their fingers. One person told me I might be a mile away. Great! The farther I breathlessly ran the more runners I saw headed to the race. There was also a 5k which started later.

 I came to a clearing and saw what resembled a very empty race set up and I kept running as I struggled to find the gear check. I drooped off my bag and ran in the direction of the announcer - the same guy who announces every race in Chicago.

 About a super long block away I can hear the announcer yelling out, "you have 20 seconds to get to the start line or else it's a 5k." Dios Mio, I didnt come all this way to run a 5k but how was I going to run that block in 20 seconds?

 He must have seen my struggle and just let me pass. I wasn't the only idiot. There were 4 of us late comers crossing about 15 seconds apart. I was the last. The clock had 15 minutes on it.
 It took me about .42 miles to catch up to everyone and then I had to plow through the walkers.

The course wound through the streets for a mile or so and then on to Lake Shore Drive. We headed straight up to 31st street and then back down.

 I missed a PR by 41 seconds. Every time this happens I rehash all the time sucks that happened. The first was the bad start. I ran an 8 minute mile to get to the start line and I wasn't carrying water. I had to stop and catch my breath and put my arm band phone holder on. That wasted about 2 minutes.

 Since I hadn't gone pee since I left home I had to stop and do that too. I had to stop again for reasons I will spare you the details. So that's 3 time sucks which costed me probably a total of 5 minutes. I have my chance to get a PR in Savannah in November. I'm coming for you 2:25!

 I saw Sue and Chuck along the way. That was a nice surprise wince I didn't even know they were running it. Sue stayed with my for about 20 seconds. I didn't want to slow down nd talk as I was feeling that PR.

 I felt really good after the 20 miler the weekend prior even though I had a cold  and thought I'd forgo the run/walk on this half. I only walked through the water stops. The sun was out in full force and there was no shade on the course. It was a bit of a struggle the last 3 miles.

 This race had the worst finish chute of any race I had experienced. It was really narrow and completely bottlenecked as runners slowed down to grab their goodies. Bananas and Lay's. I liked the sweet and salt contrast.

 I stood with my cold rag on my head and waited for Sue and Chuck. Chuck got Sue VIP privileges and as charming as Sue is she couldn't get me access. But they didn't mind her grabbing goodies and bringing them out to me. We waited for Chuck and celebrated with beer and snacks.

 Chuck finally came along with Janine. It was nice to see her. She was in my winter half training group and I hadn't seen her since that horrible day of our last ling run when they didn't plow the path after a giant snow storm in April.

Next stop: Chicago Marathon.