Happy Wednesday! I had a very eventful weekend at Rock ‘n’ Roll Philly and I want to tell you all about it!
Today I’m linking up with Annmarie from The Fit Foodie Mama, Jen from Pretty Little Grub, Michelle at Fruition Fitness and Nicole from Nicole from FitFul Focus for Wild Workout Wednesday!
The Expo
We arrived in Philly on Friday afternoon. After checking into the hotel we headed over to the Expo at the Philadelphia Convention Center. Luckily I was able to pick up my bibs and race shirts very quickly as it wasn’t too crowded. I didn’t take too many photos at the Expo because I wasn’t there that long, but it was a typical Rock ‘n’ Roll expo. It was smaller than the San Diego and Chicago expos, but there were still plenty of vendors. Here are a few photos from the Expo.
The Brooks merchandise was awesome! I did restrain myself from purchasing anything, but their hats and shirts were super cute!
5K Race
Saturday morning arrived quickly and we were off to do the 5k. I grabbed half a bagel from the free breakfast offered at the hotel, which I think helped me very much during the race. Before the race I was super happy to see Dani, Sara and GB. It’s so much fun to see running buddies before a race!
The weather was pretty decent for the 5k so I figured I would have a good time. The course was a nice and easy out and back MLK Jr Drive. I was actually familiar with this route because of the Hot Chocolate Philly 15K race that I ran back in April. The scenery leaves much to be desired, and there wasn’t too much crowd support (until the very last .1 of the race), but I appreciated that it was a simple route.
So I was supposed to run this race very easy since I had 16 miles to complete the next day. Well I didn’t look at my watch and ran by “feel” which was very dumb. I was “feeling” the race energy a little too much and ran about 90 seconds faster per mile than I should have – whoops!
Even though I foolishly ran too fast, I still really like the race.
#WeRunSocial Meet Up
On Saturday afternoon I attended the #WeRunSocial meet up at Reading Terminal. It was fun to catch up with friends and to also meet Dani in person! I also ran into Stef and it was great to chat and catch up with her as well! Garmin and Momentum Jewelry provided some great giveaway items and I was lucky enough to win items from both companies!
I’ve been looking at different fitness trackers but I could never decide on which one to purchase. Now I don’t have to decide!
Half Marathon Race
I had 16 miles on my training plan for Sunday so I opted to run the extra miles before the race. I thought it would be a great warm up before the race. I had checked the weather the night before and I knew it was going to be brutal. On race morning it was 90% humidity with a 70 dew point. Let’s just say it was not ideal running conditions.
I was running late on race day morning so I missed the #WeRunSocial group photo before the race. I was SUPER bummed because I underestimated how long it would take me to get to the race start. The good news is that I was able to meet up with my IG friend Terry-A right before the race. This was my second time running in her city, so we just had to meet!
Before I knew it we were off. I was pretty much soaked by the second mile, but I was surprisingly running pretty well and ahead of my long run pace, but around mile 7 the wheels starting coming off. Ultimately the humidity started to get to me and the course got a little boring at that point.
The first half of the course was through the city so the crowd support was awesome! I loved seeing all the sights on the city, then we started running on Kelly Drive. I appreciated that it was flat but noticed the lack of crowd support so it was very quiet running along that route. If I didn’t have my music, it would have made things even worse! I’d also like to add that this is NOT a flat course. I swear everyone I talked to said this was a flat course, but it was not! Even though it wasn’t overly hilly, it definitely wasn’t flat!
I went into this race with the mindset that I would treat it as a long run so I was really trying to nail my long run pace. I fell short of this goal because of how I ran during the last half of the race but I have to be happy with the fact the I got in 16 miles in less than ideal weather conditions.
I think these two photos pretty much sum up my race experience.
Before I close my recap of the half marathon, I need to give a shout out to my mom. She completed her FIRST half marathon this weekend, and she did it as part of the Remix Challenge. I’m SO proud of her!!
Overall Pros and Cons (for both races)
Pros
Crowd Support – I really enjoyed the fantastic crowd support during the first half of the half marathon race. People were SO supportive and you could tell that they genuinely enjoyed supporting all the runners on the course.
Volunteers– I think I mention this in the “Pro” column in all my race recaps but it’s because I feel so strongly that volunteers are the backbone of a good race. Every single volunteer that I came across was smiling ear and ear and cheering on all the runners. I never had to wait to grab water and it seemed like every water station had a great system. I was really, really impressed!
Bands – I think this Rock ‘n’ Roll race probably had the most bands, and they were good bands too! The music was awesome for both the 5K and Half Marathon race. At one point I wanted to stop and dance but decided to just keep plugging along!
Cons
Race Shirts – I’m sorry, but Rock ‘n’ Roll missed the mark with both race shirts. I personally think that they are both hideous so I was really disappointed, especially since the San Diego and Chicago shirts were both so cool!
Finish Area (Half Marathon) – The finish area was really congested. I was confused on where to go so I just kept following the crowds, lol.
Post-Race Food – For the 5K they were giving out huge bottles of water and bananas which was great, but I thought that the Herr’s cheestix were kind of an odd choice. The post-race food for the half marathon was okay, but again, it felt like a random assortment of items. The one thing that was cool was the frozen greek yogurt bars that Whole Foods were giving out toward the end of the finisher area – they were SO good!
Overall, besides the weather on Sunday, I really enjoyed my weekend. I think that Philly is a great city to run in with plenty of things to see and do.
Marcia says
Congrats on another Remix Kim and to your mom as well! That is awesome! Sorry humidity was a theme, as it seems to be so much this summer. I wish RnR would lose that grey shirt fabric already. So tired of it.
kookyrunner says
Thanks so much Marcia! I think that we should be getting a break from the humidity this weekend, yay!
My mom is still riding the high of completing the half marathon and I couldn’t be more proud of her.
I don’t mind the grey shirt but the graphic was just horrible.
Deborah @ Confessions of a mother runner says
Wow you ran both races and added extra miles as well?! That’s amazing. The humidity has just been terrible lately but hopefully fall will be here soon. Congrats to you
kookyrunner says
Thanks so much! Adding the extra miles on Sunday morning was mentally exhausting but I knew it had to be done!
Annmarie says
Wow girl you totally rocked all the miles this weekend- great job getting it done in that humidity! I am running RnR Brooklyn in a few weeks…interested to see how congested it might be, I am a little nervous.
Oh and HUGE congrats to your madre- that is awesome!
kookyrunner says
Ugh the one time you are near me and I’m not running that race! 🙁 I ran it last year and I had a few choice words for it, but I hear they have made a ton of improvements so I’m sure it will be better this year!
Wendy@Taking the Long Way Home says
I’ve read quite a few recaps about this race, and it seems that the humidity was really a factor for everyone. Glad you had a good time and got to meet up with some other run bloggers! I love the medals for both races!
Congrats!
kookyrunner says
I always love meeting new bloggers! It’s so much fun to get to speak to people in person.
Patricia @Sweet and Strong says
Congrats on finishing and to your mom as well! I love running through cities and getting to look at all the sites. Def makes the race more enjoyable, but boo for more hills than expected. I always struggle with the hills
kookyrunner says
The hills aggravate my IT band so they are very hard for me 🙁 I always enjoy running in a new city, its just so much fun!
Jen @ Pretty Little Grub says
First big congrats to your Mom, that’s awesome! Second way to run all the miles in one weekend, you’re a rockstar. Third, congrats on winning at the We Run Social meetup. Lucky girl. And lastly, those shirts you’re right are hideous. Usually their shirts are so cute. Totally missed the mark there.
kookyrunner says
Thanks so much Jen! It was a fun, jam packed weekend and I’m still sore, LOL. At least the shirts for Las Vegas are super cute!!
Janelle @ Run With No Regrets says
Congratulations to you and your mom doing the Remix! I wish I could have made it to the #WeRunSocial meetup Saturday, congrats on winning those prizes! Thank you for saying that the shirts are awful…I was really disappointed about that, even though they are great quality. And kudos to you knocking out 16 miles! The humidity was such a killer…and yes, Kelly Drive is NOT flat when you’re running on the road! That was really the worst part of the race for me.
kookyrunner says
I feel bad about not liking the shirts, because I usually do, but these were just awful. The colors were all wrong and the graphics were just bad. Bt like you said they are great quality.
Kelly Drive and I are NOT friends at the moment because my quads are still sore, LOL
Courtney @ Eat Pray Run DC says
It was REALLY humid on Sunday, so good job and kudos to your mom!!
kookyrunner says
Thanks so much Courtney!
Abby @BackatSquareZero says
You and I have already talked about the racing part so I will just say that you are awesome, your mom is awesome, and congrats on winning – got to love free stuff.
kookyrunner says
LoL thanks so much Abby!
James Gross says
That’s amazing! you ran both races and added extra miles as well?! That’s amazing
Congrats on finishing and to your mom as well! I love running through cities and getting to look at all the sites
kookyrunner says
Thanks so muich James! I think I was on auto pilot just knowing that I had to get all the miles in. Thanks for the congrats for my mom 🙂
Jennifer Lawrence says
You are amazing and your mother too! i know the feeling when we cross the city and being supported by crowd. That moment made me feel im a supper runner:)
Michael says
wow, this is so amazing !!!!
Thanks for sharing with us Kim.
Claudia Smith says
Congratulations! You and also your mother did a great job! I admire both of you. Thanks for your post!
kookyrunner says
Thanks so much Claudia!
Barbara J. Silverman says
You must have had a full of joy time at that event. Both you and your mother did very well. Congrats and keep updating to share with us.
Jack says
Congrats your mom! Such an effort from her. I also agree with you on the point that volunteers are the backbone of a race. Nice to see you really enjoyed the race. Btw, I like the medal of the race. It looked so hilarious.