Rocking and Rolling in San Diego. My Rock ‘n’ Roll Recap

If I have one takeaway from my Rock ‘n’ Roll race experience it is that half marathons are awesome. Of course, I’ve said that before, but it was reinforced on June 5 in San Diego.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon: The Recap

One of the best things about the Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon is that it was not 26.2 miles, which is the distance I originally signed up for. But, between coming back from an injury and laziness lack of time, I didn’t even start really training until about five weeks before the race. So 13.1 miles was perfect. Even though my training was insufficient, I was able to run, enjoy, and finish. What more could I ask?

Alan and I headed down to San Diego on Saturday morning and went directly to the Rock ‘n’ Roll expo. Believe me, after 36 marathons and countless half marathons, my usual goal with a race expo is to get in, pick up my stuff, and get out. But of course, we had to cruise the aisles first!

Amazingly it wasn’t really crowded, so, aside from a long-ish line to pay for parking, we didn’t take too much time. I stopped by the booths of a few businesses that I’ve worked with before just to say hello (Alan saw Bob’s Red Mill, Daiya, and Manitoba Harvest all in a row and said, “wow, here are all your sponsors!).

As we were walking through the @runrocknroll expo, @alantwoodruff says, wow, all your sponsors! Not exactly, but I have worked with these awesome companies at one time or another.

A photo posted by Debbie Woodruff (@coachdebbieruns) on Jun 4, 2016 at 2:18pm PDT

After we left the expo we headed to Encinitas, where were staying for the night. I love San Diego and yes, it would be convenient to be able to walk to the Rock ‘n’ Roll start line, but my heart is in Encinitas. I love that little town.

We were starving, so before we checked in we headed to the Lotus Cafe for lunch. I’m talking about my weekend food below, so for now, just “yum.” Then we checked into the hotel.

The afternoon was spent taking it easy, a quick trip to the beach (a must!), and laying out my “flat runner” for the race. I had, of course, followed my own advice and packed a couple options, but I ended up going with the shorter, flirty Skirt Sports Jette skirt (Tantrum print for the win!), Kelly tank, and of course my bright pink Legend Compression socks.

The weather was supposed to be hot for the race, but I was hopeful that with a 6:15 start even I could finish a half marathon before it got too bad. If Saturday was to be a predictor, the June gloom was still holding on into the evening, which I thought was a good sign, even if it meant no sunset.

The downside of staying in North County is that it’s about a half hour drive into the city. Rock ‘n’ Roll has made some great provisions for using public transportation, including the trolley and the Coaster, but since we weren’t regular users we felt a little hesitant about trying something new on race day (which is a great rule!). We ended up doing it the old-fashioned way, getting up really (really) early and driving in.

Another thing that Rock ‘n’ Roll has planned is parking. We pre-purchased our parking tickets at the Rock ‘n’ Roll expo, so we drove straight to the downtown reserved parking area, waited briefly in the line to get in, then hopped on a shuttle bus to the start line. Yes, we woke up at 3:00 am to do that, and got to the start line at about 5:00, leaving us an hour or so to use the porta-potties 10 times hang around.

It wasn’t too cold, even for this desert rat, so we just wandered around, took a couple photos, and turned in our warm ups fairly early. The time went quickly and the only thing I felt bad about was that I didn’t see any other Rock ‘n’ Bloggers. Finally, the time came to head to the start line.

I was supposed to be in corral 18, and Alan was assigned to 16. Fortunately, no one seemed to mind that I slipped in with him (confession!).  I certainly wasn’t the only one who moved up a little.

I couldn’t really see the start line from our corral, but I could hear pretty well what was going on over the loud speakers. Alan and I settled in to wait. Because of the wave start, our corral wouldn’t get started until about 6:50.

There is no better way to kill time than to chat with the other runners around you. We were standing next to a woman that Alan said could be my sister (because she had big feet like me!). She was also blond, had a peace sign jacket (which matched my peace sign necklace), and was just a few years younger than me.

She was running her very first marathon with a group called Wear Blue: Run to Remember, which honors the memory of fallen soldiers and their families. She had lost her son in Afganistan; most of the runners from the group had lost a loved one. I feel great respect for what they were doing. I can only imagine the pain that she felt.

I also spoke to a young woman who was running her fourth or fifth half marathon. Her goal was to finally break that two-hour mark. I tried to give her a few tips without sounding like a know-it-all. I didn’t get her last name so I have no idea if she succeeded. She had purchased the Tour Pass and said she’d be running Rock ‘n’ Roll Los Angeles and possibly Las Vegas, so I may see her again so I can ask.

Finally, it was our turn. It was 6:50 am and we were off!

The first half mile or so is uphill on 6th street, heading towards Hillcrest. It was a little hard to gauge how I felt simply because of the uphill. I find these days anyway that it takes me a least a mile to “settle in,” find my pace, and take note of how I feel.

Here are some observations about the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon

A Half Hour Wait at the Start Means Finding a Porta-Potty Early. 

We both had to stop a mile or so into the race. As did a lot of other people so (yes I timed it) we added 2.5 minutes to our time. We also stopped once more, adding another 1.5 minutes. Which, of course, I mentally subtract from my race time. That’s fair, right?

Lots of spectator support on the course.

A lot of the race rambled through neighborhoods in Hillcrest, North Park, and Normal Heights, but there was a ton of crowd support throughout. A lot of residents were out there with music, water, oranges, and encouragement.

Thank you, San Diego, for the awesome weather.

In spite of the heat warning, the June gloom held and it actually got cooler during the race. Perfect! Cloudy with a nice sea breeze.

Music makes everything better.

Just when you think you’re tired, you round a corner and there’s another band to get you going again. Probably reason number one that I love the Rock ‘n’ Roll series so much.

Running with your husband/wife/friend also makes everything better.

Just yes. Especially when you are not trying for a PR and just want to run and enjoy the day and the company.

The memorial at mile 5 was inspiring and heartbreaking.

The Wear Blue: Run to Remember group had a memorial that started right before mile five. Along both sides of the road, there were large posters with photos of soldiers who had died in service to our country. Most were so young! As it went on it brought home the tragedy of war, and made it difficult not to break into tears.

Exercise Induced Asthma Sucks.

Even though I have dealt with it for years, it is my exercise induced asthma that holds me back these days. I am afraid to push too hard because I know what might happen. Yes, getting in better shape will help, but it is always there, will I have an asthma attack that will cause me to have to drop out (or walk the rest of the way)? Yes, it sucks.

A Downhill finish is wonderful.

Enough said.

I am thankful I did NOT do the #Fontana2SD.

So there was this thing, where a group of the We Run Social people ran the Fontana Half Marathon on Saturday, then headed down to San Diego to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon on Sunday. So, a full marathon spread over two days.

The downside for them was that there was record-breaking heat in Fontana on Saturday, so they basically cooked while they ran that race. Then many suffered through a seven-hour drive home because of traffic caused by a brush fire along the freeway in Temecula.

While they were lucky that the weather in San Diego was cool, the previous day’s efforts had obviously taken a toll. When I passed a few along the course (which says a lot about their struggle right there) I could tell they were pretty much toast. I’ll bet they slept well on Sunday night!

13.1 > 26.2

This is coming from someone who has run 36 marathons and will probably run another at some point. Yes, a half marathon is better in many ways than a full. Especially when you are just recovered from an injury and didn’t train enough. With a half marathon, you can have fun, enjoy the experience, and, after a short nap and a meal, be ready to go to a graduation party in the evening, as we did. If we’d done the marathon…well, we may have still been out on the course we wouldn’t have made the party.

I want to do it again. And again.

I had a great time at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. I can’t wait for my next Rock ‘n’ Roll race (in Los Angeles on October 30)! I plan to train appropriately for that one and get closer to my 2:00 race of a couple years ago than my 2:28 finish time (minus 4 minutes for potty breaks!) and Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego.

A one-mile walk after a marathon (or half) is not necessarily “walking distance.”

This may be my only complaint about the race. The literature said that the parking lot was walking distance from the finish festival. It turned out to be a little over a mile. It may depend on your opinion, but that is on the borderline of “walking distance.”

I am a member of the 2016 Rock ‘n’ Blog team, and I recieved a Tour Pass as part of my compensation. All opinions are my own. I participated in Rock ‘n’ Roll races long before I became part of the team. I actually did the very first one, in San Diego, in 1998!

Another benefit of being part of the team is that I get to offer my readers a discount on most Rock ‘n’ Roll marathons and half marathons. Simply use the code COACHDEBBIERUNS at checkout to receive $15 off! Some restrictions apply.

This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase after using my links I will make a few dollars. Thanks in advance!

The Food

Just a quick bit about my weekend food. Staying in Encinitas, which is suddenly becoming quite a vegan hotspot, gives us several options, so we took advantage.

From the top left: Falafel Pita at the Lotus Cafe, Bistro Steak Sandwich at Native Foods, Smoky Corn Bisque at the Veggie Grill, Korea Town Tacos at the Veggie Grill, Buffalo Mini Wraps at the Veggie Grill, and French Fries!

 

How was your weekend? Any races, competitions or other fun stuff going on?  Have you even done a Rock ‘n’ Roll race? Let me know in the comments!

 

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