Philly Rock 'n Roll Half- Race Recap

Philly Rock ‘n Roll Half

Race Date: September 18, 2016

Weather: Cloudy, 76% humidity, 76 at start of the race, little windy.
 
Race Website: http://www.runrocknroll.com/philadelphia/

Goodies: Shirt, small free samples in the race bag and snacks at the end of the race.

Long Race Recap coming up- and this is the abbreviated version,
without the fight on leaving at 5:30 am and who forgot what ... 
but summary at the end. Feel free to look at the pictures and
read the summary,

I won't judge.  

 

Bib Pick up

 

Bib Pick up was in Philadelphia on Saturday and Friday. We headed out there on Saturday, after soccer.  Rock ‘n’ Roll races are so large, that they only allow bib pick up during the Expo days. I asked and pleaded for DC, this is how I learned this.

This was the second time I’ve taken my son to a running expo, and he LOVED it! He carried my sister’s bag and told everybody he came across that he would be running the Half Marathon, and that it was his first. All of that caused those people to give me a very concerned look, at first I explained that he wasn’t really running it, but he was telling so many people that I gave up and ignored the looks.
 

 

He got a lot of different freebies at the booths, a cooling pack and a pair of flip flops, coloring pages, a cowbell, free samples of energy bars, pins, stickers, a water bottle, candy, and his absolute favorite, an inflatable electric guitar.
 

Heading to Philly

We left O-Town later than planned… everybody was to blame a little for this, so nobody complained. Again we got breakfast at McDonalds, because it was the only thing opened.

Sister #3 dropped us off about .75 miles from the start line, and went to park the car. I was so grateful that she was there to do this without us having to panic and rush to find a parking deck.

The bathroom lines were long, but more manageable than DC. They were pretty rank by the time we got there, so that called for lots of hand sanitizer and water.

The Race

Everybody was in different corrals. Roger put himself down to finish under 2 hours, which put him in corral 11. I set my time for 2:03 ( which I set in June) and corral 15, and Nina (aka) Sister #2 put her goal time at 4 hours, and was down at corral 22.
 

 

 

The Race started on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, for anybody who is not from Philly, this is the street that has all the country flags along the street. When Sister #3 was looking for me and Nina, we were texting each other what flag we were under. So I was completely blown away that the flag at the start line was Mexico!
 

I wore my Mexican Themed skirt for the race, in honor of Mexican Independence Day few days before

I have walked a lot of Philadelphia many times before. There is an immigration office there, as well as the Mexican Consulate, and we have visited for many other reasons. I visited with 3 different uncles, two who sadly passed away and one who was in a terrible accident many years ago, so the memories of walking this streets with my uncles many years ago, brought tears to my eyes. Then I told myself to dedicate this run to them, because they no longer can run. My uncle Martin, may he rest in peace, used to call the William Penn Statue "La Mona" (The Doll), and to this day we still call it La Mona.... like Mr. William Penn "La Mona"
 

A Shot of La Mona the day before the race

 
 

running by City Hall

 

Most of the race was flat, but my goal was to finish it in 2:10, 11 minutes slower than my last Best Time in a Half Marathon, but 7 minutes faster than my BIH Half the weekend before.
 
One of my favorite things about Rock 'n' Roll races is that there is so many people and such amazing energy all around! Also the bands along the route are absolutely amazing, for the 5 seconds I get to hear them.

 
I had to stop and pee at mile 2, and I was in such a rush, that I didn't lock the portable toilet, so a man opened the door as I was getting ready to jump out. Oooops!!
 
I loved the entire course,  even when it felt like Kelly drive was never going to end. But it was so cool to run next to the river and the mountain, this was a part of Philadelphia I had not seen before.
 
I passed Roger at mile 6. My shorts keep riding up my butt, and it felt like I spent mile 6-9 picking a wedgie. This caused my shorts to chafe my leg.
 
Everybody around me was drenched in sweat, some men were even losing their shorts because they were heavy with sweat, and I saw a couple hairy butts.
 
Between mile 9 and 13, I saw two collapsed runners. I always feel bad for not stopping to help, but both were surrounded by so many people, that I didn't want to be on the way and kept moving.
 
I crossed the finish line at 2:04 something, according to my watch.
 
I went to get water and chugged it really fast, doing this gave me stomach cramps. I stumbled around the finisher area not knowing what to do with myself. Roger and Nina were still out in the course and I wanted to be there at the finish line, but I also wanted to take off my wet clothes. I walked around the finisher area and grabbed whatever snacks they handed me.

 
Roger finally crossed the finished line about 20 minute later, and Nina 6 minutes after. They were both proud and excited to have completed their race.

 
After we all found each other, we stretched for a bit and started to walk back to the car. I reluctantly collected my Eastern Odyssey medal. (RnR allowed runners who couldn't make it to VB to complete the 13.1 miles on their own to still qualify for Eastern Oddyssey)
 
Post Race 
 
Once we got to the car we changed out of wet clothes and headed to my parents house.  And guess what I forgot to pack? My underwear! and accidentally threw my clean and dry sports bra with my wet clothes and couldn't find it.... this is a problem because 90% of my clothes are black, and things often get clumped together. So I was only wearing 1 layer of clothes all the way back home.
 
Everybody napped on the drive back, except for me, because I was the DD... does anybody else do this? have a Designated driver post race? It seems to always be me.
 
I am eternally grateful for my mom's post race food! She is amazing! I love her!

 
On the drive back I started to feel the pain of the chaffing from my heart monitor... it all hurt so bad! It wasn't until I was home inspecting my wounds that I realized how awful the chafing on my boobs was..... we didn't have time to shower at my parents, so we had to wait and shower at home. My boob on the right got it worse and has a huge cut under it. I had put body glide, but sweated so much that it didn't help, I should have put a lot more. I'm not wearing my heart monitor until my boobs are healed.

A look at our recovery stations at home

My water and Nuun... The Fiji is Roger's, I don't like Fiji water

 

The Gu and Gatorade are Roger's

 
Summary
* Bib pick up was far, but easy.
* My son got lots of freebies at the Expo
* My sister was amazing for dropping us off close to the race and finding a place to park.
* The day was cloudy, but humid. It didn't feel hot until we stared running.
* The start line was under the Mexican Flag
* I dedicated this Half Marathon to my Uncles
* The course was mostly flat and a beautiful
* Everybody was really sweaty, so sweaty they were losing their shorts.
* I saw hairy butts
* Kelly Drive is beautiful, long, but beautiful
* I saw two collapsed runners on the course
* I finished before my expected time
* Tacos for recovery are the best
* I was the post race DD
* My boobs were terribly chaffed from my Heart monitor

This will go down and one of my favorite races, and I'm contemplating doing it again!

Do you have a post Race DD?
Do you dedicate races to family?
Have you seen Hairy butts at races?
What do you do when you see collapsed runners on a race?