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Comments: I'm glad I moved up a couple corrals because as it was I was constantly passing people. It was easy to pass though, it was crowded but not as bad as BolderBoulder. Winding through the streets of downtown and passing the bands was fun. There were spectators for most of it too, with some funny signs. At one point I passed a woman holding a sign that said "you can dooooooo eeeeeet" and from then on my Manatees were with me. About a mile in I tossed my gloves. I couldn't believe the quality gear that people were leaving on the course! I had a pack of PowerGel Chews in my pocket and had figured I'd eat one about every 15 minutes. Without my watch, and because they were hard to chew, I opted for one every 2 miles. There were aid stations every couple miles or so and I was feeling good so I'd walk just a few steps to get some water/Gatorade down then back to running. Run keeper was giving me splits in the low 9's/high 8's. "She" was about a 1/4 mile ahead of the course markers but I figured the splits would still be pretty accurate. I was leapfrogging the 4:15 marathon pacer for quite a while too. At one point, inside city park a spectator with a dog on a leash decided to jump in and run with her friend. The problem with that was that the dog was all over the place and nearly tripped several runners. I gave them a wide berth and sped up to get around them. At about mile 10 I started to feel the fatigue of the miles. I was still running but started to slow. I allowed myself to walk the mile 11ish aid station and my pace was continuing to slow. The hills started to be a struggle (BTW this thing was pretty much uphill for 12 miles and down for the last one). I was sooooo happy to see the 12 mile marker! Finally we started to go downhill and I knew that the people saying we were getting close were (finally) telling the truth. In the last mile my calves (yes, both) decided to seize up so it was a very stiff run for the end. And finally the finish line!!!!!!!!! I crossed the line, got my bling and started to look for DS2. I started to get lightheaded so I sat for a bit then continued my search. Grabbed a Gatorade, then sat again, then a choc milk, and sat again. I was hoping that DS2 had wait in the finishers chute for me so we could get a picture together. Finally DH called out to me and I walked to him (he on the outside of the chute, me on the inside). He told me DS2 was still out on the course and had stopped at an aid station for a while. Good thing we paid the 2.99 for the athlete tracker! I started to get cold so I grabbed a mylar wrap for myself and one for DS2. We waited a while, watching the finishers but when we didn't see him DH walked to our pre-planned meeting place to see if he was there. Unfortunately he was. I'm glad that he made the call to DNF instead of making the injury worse but it makes my race time.... less sweet. He made it to the mile 7ish aid station (about the time I was looking for him because there was an out n back) and stopped at first aid because of the ankle pain. He will get it checked but his sports medicine buddy thinks it's a stress fracture and that there will be no running for DS2 for a few months. He's not happy. We both looked forward to this race for several months. He wants to redeem it with a RnR 1/2 AND a full next year. What would you do differently?: I am mostly happy with my race. 2:10 was my conservative goal. I missed a few weeks of running because of injury and had to ramp up faster than I would have liked. I've hit a wall at 10 before in my training but I've also done runs where I went past that with no issue. I didn't get as many training runs in the 13.1 range as I would have liked and maybe I didn't get enough calories in, there were still 3 (slimy) chews in my pocket when I finished.  Post race
Warm down: Walked back to the train, freezing with my mylar wrap around me. What limited your ability to perform faster: I'm happy with my training progress but I still need work. Considering the fact that I also bike and run I'm pretty happy with my placing. I was: 3512/8244 OA 111/436 AG 1832/5455 Gender This was also a nearly 10 minute PR over my previous HM. Event comments: Rock N Roll is a great race. I was afraid it would be difficult to maneuver in such a large crowd but the corrals made it busy enough to be exciting but not overly crowded. We didn't stick around to enjoy the festivities because DS2 was hurting, physically and emotionally but there was a lot going on to enjoy. The bands were fun and the aid station were well staffed. Traffic, in downtown DENVER, was stopped and there were police/volunteers keeping us safe so we could just enjoy our race. DS2 and I will be doing another RnR in 2014. Profile Album Last updated: 2013-06-11 12:00 AM
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United States
38F / 3C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 3512/8244
Age Group = W45-49
Age Group Rank = 111/436
The day before the race we picked up DS2 from the airport and headed to the expo. Each of us went to our respective lines to get our packet then I headed over to the corral change table. I was set for the 2:20 and thought I might be closer to 2:10 so I moved up a couple corrals. Then we got our t-shirts and explored the expo.
DS2 was complaining of pain in his ankle and looked at a brace but we ended up getting him a pair of compression socks (komen pink) instead. Then as we walked around he tried a new muscle roller that he really liked (better than the rolling pin he's using now) so we got that too. Then we got gels for the race and tried some samples of other stuffs at the expo (shot blok chocolate cherry is AWESOME).
After the expo we headed up to my brothers house where the family had gathered to see us. So we hung out there the rest of the day and ate brats and potato salad. I think DS2 had some cheesecake too.
Headed back to the MIL's house at about 9 to make sure we both got plenty of rest before the big day.
Woke up at 4:30 and started layering clothes. We stopped at SBux where I got a dirty chai and a bagel with cream cheese (apparently they don't keep PB in stock) and DS2 got some yogurt and an evolution sweet greens. We then drove to the light rail, bought our tickets and sat down for the ride down town.
Oh, so cool, as we drove from SBux to the train I was scanning radio stations for good pre-race music and stopped on a classic rock station. As we drove the radio started to play "Today is Your Birthday" which was REALLY cool because it was DS2's birthday!
I ate the bottom half of my bagel, as I expected, and DS2 ate his yogurt and the rest of my bagel. We boarded at the first stop and as the train got closer to downtown more and more Rock N Roll-ers joined us. It was pretty cool. A man sat down next to DS2 so we chatted with him some. Turns out he's from Albuquerque but now lives in Denver. Small world.
We got downtown and shuffled off the train with everyone else and walked the few blocks to the race start. First thing we hit the port a john. After that we kinda-sorta looked for the gear check but decided to skip it when DH offered to hold our bags. So we wandered over toward DS2's corral and he decided to go ahead and line up.
There were still a few minutes left until the start and I was in corral 10 so I decided to hit the port a john one more time, in spite of the ridiculous line. So we got in line and waited as it slowly crept forward. The bike tour started and still we waited in line. After the national anthem corral one started, and we waited. Then corral two, still waiting and getting nervous. Of course, I figured if I didn't get to the front of the line in time I could jump in my corral but I was hoping to not need to stop on the course. Then they combined corrals three and four for a start (nooooooo), then five and six (there goes DS2). I finally made it in to and out of the port a john but barely had time to give my sweat pants to DH (wasn't tossing my fave sweats), peel off my hoodie (tossed) and tie my hair back before we were off and running. Somewhere in there I realized I'd forgotten my watch. Crap! Now I had to rely on RunKeeper for splits.
zero. zip. zilch. Had planned to but didn't with the port a john wait.