So I am on the ferry again and thought I would do a RUN down.. if you will. On my experience of the Rock and Roll Seattle. This was my 3rd full marathon and yes I did finish. Though it was a lot slower then I would have liked. 4 hours 30 min 42 seconds. But hey! I finished! I also had the best weekend I have had in a LONG time!
The Health Expo
This, by far, was THE best expo I have ever attended. Totally blew out Victoria and Vancouver. They had the best atmosphere, entertainment (videos and music), sponsers, and just amazing facility. I was really impressed. It felt like Halloween with all the different protein and energy bars I snagged! It was great!
Brooks sponsered the clothing aspect of it, and I wasn’t a fan of the shirts we were given for registering. But the clothing you could buy for the event was pretty shnazzy.
I was pretty happy to see my FAVOURITE compression sock brand was there (as they are at most expos). CEP by far is my favourite brand, they are so worth the money. They are expensive but I swear by them. I am going to try going for a 20 miler in them and see how that feels on my legs. I usually just use them for recovery after the race. They were about half the price that they normally are at the other expos too! So I bought a pair, went with black this time. No neon colours this time!
Garmin was also there which made me happy (and drool a little). I have been wanting to buy the Garmin I intended on buying before getting the one I got after my marathon in the fall. So I saw how much cheaper it was here and splurged a bit. I bought the Garmin forerunner 310X. SOOO hot :).
The Course
To be honest, I was really disappointed with the course. I HIGHLY disliked the 3 different out and back portions of the course. Its plain old tedious and boring to do those! I also disliked the tunnels we had to run through.. I felt like a chimney sweep! I had soot all over me after! Plus the air in those tunnels are just stale and its so dark and the road is uneven to run on! and running on a viaduct that long is so not fun.
However, mile 16 presented me with a nice surprise. US soldiers in uniform handing out water, now that was a pick me up! :P
The best part by far was running along the lake side and also coming off the viaduct to curl around the block an see the oh so glorious finish line. My parents met me around mile 26 so they were close to the finish. My dad got some great shots, Ill make sure to share them when I get them emailed to me.
I was impressed with the water stations and cheer stations. BMO Vancouver Marathon was lacking in that aspect. They tried to be environmentally friendly and did not have cups and majority of their water stations! That just is a drag for people like me who want to kick a new PB! (personal best). The Rock and Roll seattle had highschool cheerleaders throughout the race, soldiers, and SO many volunteers. So amazing to see people get together to work for something like this.
What I could have done differently
I know my biggest downfall as a new marathoner is letting my running ego get the best of me. I got FAR too fast because lets be honest here, I am a lot like a puppy.. I am easily excited by crowds and people in general. So lesson number one that is ALWAYS going to be in my mind
SLOW DOWN!
My second lesson for myself, that I though I was really good for...
USE MORE BODY GLIDE
I am not used to my body to be honest. My hips are much more bonier then they ever have been and I should know that the waist band on my shorts/capris always will chafe. But nope! I did not put as generous a serving of body glide as I should have.. so I have a lovely 1 inch deep cut into my right hip. Gotta love the burn... Not.
So since I was in front of the 4 hour pace bunny for over 27 km (see I told you I was going too fast.. I am a 4:20 finisher.. not a 4 hour..yet). I was VERY sore for the latter half of the race. So much so that I could barely get a shuffle out of my legs during the uphill portions. When I came around the bend to see my parents before the finish line, I was in total agony and very dehydrated. Though I had packed a lot of fuel, I was not fueling up on water, which was REALLY bad of me. Gatorade does NOT substitute for water on a run like this.
The Day After
As you can imagine, I was super sore. Definitely the worst stiffness I have had ever post race. Due to the dehydration, the quickness of my pace at the start, My quads were rock solid. Walking back to the hotel normally would have taken 10 minutes, but it took 40. Darn you downtown seattle and all your hills!
My dad and I got into our swim suit and shuffled down to the hot tub after the race. I should definitely have had an ice bath but I was bad and had a hot tub. SOOO GOOOD but sooo badddd. I also had a post race massage which was super painful to be honest. My IT bands and Quads and Hammies... OUCHIE. But it definitely helped with the day after recovery.
That morning we walked down to Pike Place Market, since I had never seen it before and wanted to see it before we left. It was a nice recovery walk but the hills KILLED my legs.
Being the 2nd day after the race, I am feeling much better. The worst part is standing up or sitting down for sure. But I will live!
All in all, it was a fun race. I wish I was smarter with my pacing but hey! its a learning experience. Oh and I think my Dad has caught the half marathon bug. He wants to do his first one and he is trying to get my Mom to hop on board. He wants to do another destination race so that would be sweet. A family affair!
I want to end this post by saying, there is seriously not a better feeling then running down the finish and across the finish line of a 26.2 mile long run. I can’t even put it into words, but I must say, it made up for all the mental and physical struggles I endured throughout that race that day.
Though I totally forgot this during the race, I can definitely can say I have found my passion. I love the marathon and I love running.
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