#rnrsanantonio

Rock n’ Roll San Antonio 5k, Dec. 1, 2017 - 36:49

Rock n’ Roll San Antonio Half Marathon, Dec. 2, 2017 - 2:54:23

The dynamic duo was back at it again in Texas!  Maryellen decided to join me for my next half marathon as well as a few of the states on this road.  So she, Jorge, and her husband Rob were all with me in San Antonio.  This was my first Rock n’ Roll series race and it was really great.  Super organized, good routes, and beers at the finish line.  All in all, we had a great time.  

The 5k was the day before the half marathon, and began at an old railway station.  You went through downtown San Antonio and ended right in front of the Alamo.  Very cool.  The cobblestone streets at the end were a bit of a challenge to run over, but it was a fairly flat and uneventful race.  Then it was time for the big show.  Thousand upon thousand lined up for the half marathon in the morning.  Maryellen was a little nervous since this was her first half, but with so many people participating of all ages, it was hard to feel intimidated.  It took about 45 minutes just for my corral to finally make it to the starting line (I believe the full field was over 20k participants).  About three miles into the route, it started to drizzle.  And then it was just an all out downpour.  You had to slow down your pace to avoid slipping and falling, and boy did I see some people take a few nasty spills.  The rain was too hard to last incredibly long but now you had the added challenge of wet feet to contend with.  One of the most memorable parts of this race (or any for that matter) was going through one of the city’s parks.  I’d say about a quarter of a mile directly through the park was sponsored by the local veterans association.  It was lined with photos of fallen soldiers, their names and ages beneath the pictures.  Then, at the end of the span, vets and their families lined both sides of the route and held American flags over our heads.  It was incredibly inspiring and let me tell you ...you were running your ass off through that display.  

San Antonio was a great city and this was my fastest half marathon to date.  But there were a few rough spots to this race.  Remember those wet feet I told you about?  Yeah, I wound up with some nasty blisters by the end of the 13.1.  And like I said, the field had all kinds of runners, which is encouraging, but they didn’t really follow typical race etiquette.  Walkers were all over the route, so you spent a lot of time weaving in between slower runners to keep your pace, which wastes a ton of energy on these longer runs.  And then of course, there’s the issue of my time.  Now, my official time is listed above, but let it be known that according to my own watch, which kept a bit more accurate pace, I finished at 2:44:50.  Just saying.