Where to begin this Rock n Roll Half Marathon Race Report? There is always so much leading up to the actual race. Or, how about a little bit of my history with Rock n Roll? You all may know this, but I ran the very first Rock n Roll Marathon back in 1998! Not just the first in San Diego, but the first ever! I then ran it the next five years in a row. They didn’t have a half marathon then, but I probably would have run the full anyway. I ran my second best time there in 1999 (3:23, a PR at the time).
Then, after hurting my knee, taking time off, and running a lot fewer marathons, I skipped the next 10 years or so until Alan and I decided it was time to get back to it and we ran the marathon in 2014. Since then, I’ve happily run the half marathon. I was a member of the Rock n Blog team for four years but decided not to apply this year.
Anyway, blah, blah, blah, here’s my 2019 Rock n Roll Half Marathon race report.
2019 Rock n Roll Half Marathon Race Report
Rock n Roll Half Marathon – Saturday
Alan and I drove to San Diego on Saturday morning and headed directly to the expo. We really try to get there early because it just gets so crazy as the day goes on, but we failed at that this year. Still, it wasn’t too bad. We picked up our race packet, skimmed through the race shop and headed into the expo. There had been a glitch with the race shirts so they weren’t available at the expo and could be picked up after the race. I had three things on my agenda.
- Stop by the Pro Compression booth because they were holding my race day socks for me (Cotton Candy, so pretty!).
- Pick up the parking pass and shuttle tickets that I’d prepaid for (and thank goodness that I did! The line was really long but I was able to go straight to the front!)
- Sign up for next year’s race. The price was awesome so I couldn’t resist signing up a year in advance. I thought I’d save on the active.com fees by signing up at the expo, but no, I still had to pay an extra $10. It was still a great deal. So good, in fact, that I signed both Alan and myself up for the full marathon! At $69 ($79 with the fees), it was too good to resist!
We finished all that around 1:30 and we were both famished! Aside from a few protein bar samples (and a really long line for the free So Delicious ice cream sample), there aren’t a lot of plant-based choices at the San Diego Convention Center. So, we hopped in our car and drove a few miles to Evolution Fast Food, one of my favorites in San Diego. Everything there is vegan, so when I say I had the spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich and Alan had the Pesto Chicken Sandwich you will know we weren’t cheating on our diet lifestyle.
After a very delicious lunch, we headed north to Encinitas, which is about a 20-minute drive from San Diego (assuming there isn’t any traffic. It took us about a half hour to get there). While it might be more convenient to stay downtown, both Alan and I love North County and always stay there when we travel to the San Diego area.
We kicked back for the rest of the day. I laid out my flat runner, we grabbed a few pre-race breakfast items from the market across the street and got to bed pretty early. It was going to be a very early start the next morning!
Rock n Roll Half Marathon – Race Day
After the fiasco that was parking at last year’s Rock n Roll Half Marathon, I told Alan that we needed to be at the parking lot by 4:00. Yes, you read that right. I was scared that if we got there later we’d be stuck in traffic again for over an hour and just barely make it to the race start, let alone the Pro Compression/We Run Social meet up at 5:30.
That meant getting up at 2:45 and leaving the hotel at about 3:40. We were a little late getting out, but our timing was perfect. No traffic to speak of. Just in case you think we were crazy, we weren’t the only ones there that early. I expect they’d gone through what Christina and I had last year.
By the time we parked the car, walked to the shuttle stop and got to the park, it was around 5:00. Just enough time to use the portapotties, wander a bit, and get over to the meet up at 5:30! It’s always fun to meet up with people I only see a couple of times a year. We also met up with one of Alan’s clients, Mike, who was using the half marathon as a training run.
After our group photo, it was time to head to the gear drop and (after one more potty stop) go to our corral. Mike and I were both assigned to corral 18, so Alan gave up his nine spot to stay with us. Looking around, I wasn’t quite sure why I was that far back. With a goal time of 2:10 I couldn’t figure out why the 2:30 pacers were in the corral ahead of us. But, since Alan, who is getting over a weird knee and foot thing, wasn’t quite as well-trained as he’d like to be, we figured we’d be just fine.
Well, I’ll say one thing. Starting that far back will keep you from going out too fast! The race started at 6:15, but with different wave times we didn’t cross the start line until about 7:00. And I felt ready for another potty stop! Anyway, we all started together, staying in about a 10-minute pace or so for the first two miles. It was crowded and we kept having to go around other runners, but it wasn’t too bad. Mike peeled off at about mile four to use the bathroom and we didn’t see him again until the finish.
Alan and I continued together. As I said, Alan wasn’t in his best shape and told me to go ahead. At that point, we were just fine together and I figured I could make that decision later if needed. Alan needed to use the bathroom at about mile five and I figured I might as well use it too. (That will be the last time I talk about toilets, I promise.) There was a bit of a line and I tried not to stress as we waited. I still hadn’t decided whether I was racing or hanging with my hubby for the day.
A lot of the Rock n Roll Half Marathon route takes you through the different neighborhoods of San Diego. There aren’t a lot of spectators, but the ones that are there are very enthusiastic. The locals have music playing and set up aid tables, including the famous (infamous?) 4.5-mile bar, which serves a variety of shots for those runners who want to partake. I did not, so we just ran by, though I enjoyed the spirit of it all.
Speaking of music, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of it out there on the course. Aside from the residents with their boom boxes, three Mariachi bands (within a quarter mile of each other), I only noticed two bands that were actually playing some type of rock & roll music. There was a bluegrass “band” (two people that were trying), one band that apparently had induced a runner with a really bad voice to grab the mic, and that was about it. It was disappointing. This is the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon after all!
We were in mile six when Alan told me he needed to walk. His foot and knee felt fine, but he felt like he was running faster than he should for his fitness level and needed to slow down. We walked for about 20 seconds, then he was ready to go again. This was the point that I decided I’d stay with him for the duration. It is more fun with a friend!
I haven’t written about this but I’ve changed my approach to race fueling in the last few months. In the past, when I’ve written about my issues (faining at Ragnar, a bad dizzy spell at Rock n Roll last year, and other similar things), I’ve always blamed it on my exercise-induced asthma. Generally speaking, I can take a puff on my inhaler and I feel better pretty quickly.
Some of my brilliant readers suggested it might be a fueling problem. It’s true that I tend to have a hypoglycemic reaction if I go too long without food (for me that’s like three hours!). Thinking about this made me wonder if eating gels might cause a sugar rush then a drop, leaving me with that dizzy, lightheaded feeling. So I started adding a few almonds to my mid-run fuel, adding a little protein and fat with the objective of keeping my sugar levels more level.
Note: I’m not diabetic and I’ve had this low sugar reaction for years. I get a little dizzy, shaky, and sweaty, but as soon as I eat something it goes away.
I actually planned to make my own gels, following the idea of adding a little protein/fat to them. I’ve made regular gels before but I never found the time to get it done during training and I didn’t want to experiment on race day. So, next time. I’ll probably add a little ginger too since I have this tendency to get a little nauseous during marathons (not half marathon so much). For now, I carry ginger chews, which are really helpful.
So with the objective of staying well-fueled, I took my first gel at mile 5, along with a few almonds. I also carried a handheld bottle of Nuun Endurance (<–affiliate link) and had an extra packet with me. Nuun Endurance has carbohydrates in the mix, along with electrolytes, which makes it great for longer runs.
Alan and I continued along, feeling pretty good. He took a couple more walk breaks, as did I, and walked through the aid stations. The course is pretty level, with a few good hills and an amazing downhill finish. We stopped at mile 10 to take our only mid-race photo with the Rock n Roll guy! That’s right before the long downhill back to the city, so we were feeling pretty perky! I had taken more almonds and another gel around mile nine, so I’m sure that helped.
When I say a long downhill I mean it. It starts just after mile 10 and continues until mile 12, where it levels out (which feels like uphill after all that running down). It’s not too steep, but you can feel the pounding, especially after two miles. Of course, when it stops you know that you’re just a mile from home!
At this point, we were tired but still feeling pretty good. I felt like they threw in an extra turn and an uphill stretch before heading toward the finish, but that is probably just my faulty memory. Finally, though, we made a turn and could see the finish line ahead of us. We were feeling so good we were able to pick up the pace and finish strong!
Last year after I finished and was waiting for Christina to join me, my calves cramped up so badly I could hardly walk, and they continued that way for almost an hour afterward. I was worried about that this year, but I didn’t have any problem. I think carrying my own fluids really helps. I always do for full marathons and now I will for half marathons too.
I also had no dizziness, exercise-induced asthma, or fainting spells! Whether that is because I was running a little slower and taking walk breaks, or because of my change in fueling or staying better hydrated, I don’t know. I’ll just take it and be grateful.
We walked the long walk down to the park where the post-race festivities are held. We picked up our race shirts, grabbed our gear, found our friend Mike, and hung out for a while. Time flies after a race and we needed to head north so we could check out on time (well, with a one-hour leeway our hotel allowed). Plus we needed to walk to the garage where our car was parked then figure out how to get out of town with so many closed roads, so it wasn’t long before we headed out.
I love the Rock n Roll Half Marathon and always have a good time there. As I said, I’ll be back next year (hopefully) running the full marathon again. But, sometimes big races can lose track of some of the important things. Here are some of my thoughts on the good and the bad parts of Rock n Roll.
Rock n Roll Half Marathon: The Good
Organization: Rock and Roll has this part down. At the expo, runners are fed in through packet pick up, filtered through the race store, then released out to the Expo. There are plenty of volunteers everywhere. The race starts on time and there are plenty of porta-potties. The gear check is organized and easy. The aid stations are well-stocked.
The Expo: It was really easy to get in, do what I needed to do, and get out again. They had quite a few vendors and it was easy to get around.
The Parking Plan: Hosting a big race downtown in a big city is a challenge. Getting people in there and parked could be a nightmare (as it was last year but that wasn’t their fault). Rock n Roll encourages the use of public transportation, including the Coaster (which I used two years ago), trolleys, and the red line. They presell parking passes and assign parking lots so you know exactly where you’re going.
The Finish Line Festival and Concert: Rock n Roll has an excellent finish line festival. There’s a beer garden, a race store, food you can buy, The post-race concert is held directly after the finish. Back in the day, you had to go back for the concert. The first year (or maybe the second) they had Hootie and the Blowfish but the concert was held in the evening, downtown, with no place to sit! Much better this way, even if I haven’t heard of most of the headliners.
Rock n Roll Half Marathon: The Not-So-Good
The On-Course Bands: I was disappointed with the quantity and quality of the bands this year. Seriously, bringing a (terrible) singer up on the stage? Playing low-key music on a race course? Even the volume of the music was too low. I felt more inspired as we ran through the neighborhoods and folks blasted music for us.
The Race Shirts: I understand that there was a shipping problem but that is not my issue with the race shirts. No, my issue is that they are probably the ugliest shirts I’ve ever received! The color of the women’s shirts is somewhere between neon yellow and green (the men got dark blue, so no problem there). Chartreuse? I’m sorry if that’s your favorite color, but for this blonde, it just sucks the color right out of me. The graphics are fine but the color? No way! I doubt I will ever wear it.
The Photos: With so many races offering free photos, I just wish Rock ‘n’ Roll would consider that or at least offer photos at better prices. My pictures were fair, even accounting for the low-res. Are they worth $50 for the digital download? Not to me. Maybe for someone running a PR or their first half marathon. It’s a download, for heaven’s sake. Wouldn’t they do better if they reduced the price and sold a lot more?
Those are really my only complaints, which is why I’ll continue to do this race. I heard other people complaining about the bands, so I hope that Rock n Roll will remedy this next year. After all, I’ll be running twice as far so I’ll really need that extra musical motivation!
Post-Race
We had our late checkout, but we had one stop before we headed home. I’ve mentioned Christina a couple of times in this Rock n Roll Half Marathon Race Report and I had fun running with her last year. So you might wonder why she didn’t join us this year. Well, here’s the reason:
Meet Maya, born on April 27, 2019. This was the first time that Alan and I visited since Maya was born. Isn’t she beautiful? Christina is exhausted, overwhelmed and ready to get back to running as soon as she can. I’m pretty sure she will be with us next year!
If you’re still with me, I thank you. This has been a long race report. I just hope it convinces you to join me next year!
Have you ever run a Rock n Roll race? How about the one in San Diego?
I realized after publishing that I never shared my time! Alan and I ran together and finished in 2:23:17. That puts me 35 out of 218 in my 60-64 division and Alan 10 of 47 in his 70-74 age group. We were both in the top half of all runners and I was in the top third of all women. So we were both pleased with that.
Weekly Linkups
My weekly linkups! Please stop by and check out all of the great recipes, workouts, and information that all these awesome bloggers share every week!
Meatless Monday with Sarah and Deborah
All About Running with Janell
The Running Coaches’ Corner with Marc and Me!
The Weekly Run Down with Deborah and Kim
Congrats on another successful RnR San Diego! How fun that you and Alan ran together. I have to comment on your fueling issues–I used to have the same thing but once I started carrying my handheld (with Tailwind), that problem went away. It’s great carrying your own fuel and the aid stations are more than willing to refill your bottle.
Congrats again!
Way back when I started running marathons I had so many problems. I’d get the asthma and I’d feel so nauseous that I’d actually try to make myself throw up in order to feel better. After I started carrying my own bottle it got much better. I just never carried it for half marathons. I still don’t get that nausea in the half but if it helps keep me feeling better I’m all in!
Congrats to both of you! I love rnr races and I hear San Diego is the best one. Maybe one day. Interesting on fueling. When I get back to longer runs in the fall I may switch mine up as well
Yes, you should come do San Diego someday! It really is fun. I “know” so many people there from social media and my various ambassadorships.
Nice job! For your corral, did they still make you get in it at 6:15 even though you didn’t start until 7? I would have had to pee a few times and eat again just waiting around! That’s a great deal to sign up at the expo, although the service fee is a bit of a bummer.
They encouraged runners to get to the start line. I didn’t realize how long it would be so I might have waited. The problem is that as the runners start each corral moves up so it would be hard to know where yours is. I’m not sure they were vigilant about which corrals people gathered in.
Congrats you two! How fun to run together. RnR is such a barometer for the racing industry. I think I ran my first RnR race (Chicago) in 2008. Back then the race was packed with celebs and would sell out in a heartbeat. Now neither of those things is true. I’ve definitely noticed cost cutting measures in the past few years.
IMO they’ve never been great with shirts. I’ve run RnRs in at least 5 different cities and I swear the only shirt colors I ever get are blue or grey. So. Over. It. I’m glad you figured out your fueling issue.
I agree that the shirts are usually navy blue or grey. But why did they have to go with chartreuse? I do feel that there have been changes for the worse since RnR became a part of Ironman. I’m not sure why but it feels like the neglected little sister.
Great report! I’ve done several RnR’s and I’ve enjoyed them all. The race shirts are questionable….usually great colorful (and fun) graphics, but the cut has never fit me great. Like Marcia said, I think all of my RnR shirts have been royal or navy. A little variety would be nice 😉 Thanks for linking with us!
The fit is usually too small, though this year they seem to fit better (still won’t make me wear it). And last year was the 20th anniversary of all RnR and the shirt was so blah it was embarrassing!
great race recap!! and you guys still beat me even with walking! poor Alan , though – hope he’s getting his issues sorted?
I love San Diego so I think I would love this race! was it hot? or reasonably ok since it started so early? I haven’t done a recap for Liverpool yet but my TWO things I have to complain about are MUSIC (what happened to the bands? Ron said there were only about half the bands there this year and I made it to several parts of the course and only saw ONE band!) and the TEE SHIRTS – horrendous quality, design awful. I imagine this shirt to fall apart after about 3 washes…
Maya is gorgeous – Christina has a good reason for not being at the race this year 🙂
Alan has had an issue with his foot for over a year. The doc says it’s because he’s getting older and his arches are falling (and of course wants to sell him insoles). His foot has actually been better lately. The knee was a week-long thing and seems better now but it did put a crimp in his training.
The weather was amazing! It was overcast through the whole race (probably even for the full marathoners) and in the 60s (which is perfect for me). Not too humid, which is my downfall.
I’m sad that the lack of bands thing seems to be RnR brand-wide. It’s their core thing, so you’d think this would be imporant. As for the shirts, well mine probably won’t even go through three washes because I doubt I’ll wear it at all! 🙂
I enjoyed reading your RnR race report, Debbie. I have run several RnR half marathons, but no fulls and not the one in San Diego (I have run Chicago, VA Beach, Philly, and maybe others I can’t remember.) I don’t blame you for signing up for the full for next year. You can’t beat that price! More and more often, I am content to run races with my hubby too, rather than racing. It’s so much more fun, especially for the long ones like a marathon or a half. Congrats on another successful finish!
I’m a little disappointed in RnR right now, but I’d love to run Chicago someday. Yes, it was so much fun to run with my husband. We didn’t always run right together and we certainly didn’t chat after a while, but it was good to know he was right there. And I assume he felt the same way about me! 🙂
I’ve only done this race once but it remains in my top 3 list for half marathons because it really felt like a party from start to finish,a nd it’s always fun to meet up with the Pro Compression crew!
It did feel like a party! A lot of the Pro ambassadors made it a party too. They ran in big groups, stopped at all the little spectator “bars” that were available and generally had a great time!
Congratulations! I always enjoy your recaps. I had the same weird issue with my corral when I did RNR Nashville…somehow I was behind a 2:45 pacer despite having a goal of 2:20. It’s a shame they didn’t have more bands – I hope they do better next year!
The medal looks great but the shirt…I haven’t been crazy with the designs RNR has put out this year. I only run in those neon-colored race shirts when it’s dark out!
It’s fun when you get to run with your spouse, I wish Bret and I could do more runs together but I’m way too slow – he’d have to be injured, lol!
My husband used to be a lot faster than me too. He still is when he’s in shape. We have run a few races together though, and it’s always fun.
Thanks for the suggestion. At least I know I can wear my race shirt when I run in the dark!
Great birthday – April 27th is my birthday too! Congrats on the race. What’s your plan for making your own gels? I’d be interested to hear/see what the finished product looks like!
My mom’s birthday was April 28 so I’m all in on anything close! I will definitely write a post when I get around to creating my gels. I did make some a few years ago (without the extra fat/protein). https://coachdebbieruns.com/medjool-date-energy-gels/ They do have a little protein from the chia, but I will want a little more and some healthy fat in my new version.
Great race report, Debbie! The only Rock ‘N’ Roll race I’ve run was the Virginia Beach Half years ago and I remember having to go back later if we wanted to hear the main band play and it was Hootie & the Blowfish that year, too.
That ladies’ race shirt color? I have no words…
Funny that it was Hootie when you did it too. I don’t even know most of the “headliners” that they have now. Yeah, that going back for the concert was tough, especially when there wasn’t anywhere to sit down!