Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon

Running on Empty

This past weekend, a few buddies and I ran a 1/2 marathon in downtown San Jose. It was the inaugural San Jose Rock And Roll 1/2 marathon ((http://www.rnrsj.com/home.html). I was excited about the race because I'm actually in pretty good shape after my recent dieting / exercise efforts. Also, my buddies and I had done a decent amount of training. So, early on Sunday Oct 8th, Larry, Kent, Steve, Heather and I drove downtown. We met Glenn and Ted at the Hilton downtown. After hanging around for a while, stretching, waiting for a while longer, and gabbing, we finally started the race and got going at 8am. Below are my observations, and then a few stolen snapshots of me on the course.

- The race was expensive! Reg fee was $75, and $85 if you register during the expo the day before the race (no race day reg!). Note that the reg fee does get you into a rock concert in the evening (Train was playing).

- The expo was pretty good. There was a lot of stuff for sale, etc. it was very annoying also that they make you go to expo to pick up the race packet.

- The race amenities before and after were well managed, i.e. port-a-potties, food, drinks, etc

- The race itself was nice. There were a couple of loops around downtown, including a great run through the Rose Garden area, which has a bunch of mansions that are fun to gawk at while running by.

- There were plenty of water stops, which had water as well as energy drinks. They also had water sprays at a few of them, and even had power gels at one of them.

- The course was flat and fast. There was just a couple of underpasses to deal with.

- This being the RnR 1/2 marathon, there was some great music, 11 bands I believe. There was a great mix of musical styles too. Also there were cheerleader groups and just a generally bigger crowd cheering. Really helps. I ended up with a pretty good time. Splits shown below:

7:33 (pretty crowded, still warming up, talking to Larry)

7:33 (more crowds, talking to Larry)

6:44 (Ok, I need to focus, hammer down)

6:50

7:01

7:05

6:58

7:02 (took a GU)

7:17

7:17

7:18 (took a GU)

7:18

7:12 (focus on not dropping pace)

0:53 Total time 1:34:06

Avg 7:14 per mile

Afterwards, we had a great breakfast at Denny's. I had chicken fried steak and eggs. Yummm.

Lessons Learned:

- For this race, and most races in downtown San Jose, the parking lot in front of the Hilton is a good bet.

- I should have gotten closer to start line, and been a little more aggressive after the start. I could have saved a minute or more.

- For this race, I needed to adjust estimated time in race reg application to start in a better grouping.

- I haven't used GU (power gel) in a while. I should have tried one or two on training runs.

- I should have done a little more training on asphalt to reduce pounding / pain on my feet during the race.

- Doing early morning training runs really helps get used to timing so that on race day it's not such a pain to get up and run.

- To watch the race, a good strategy is to pick a band location out on the course, park there, and walk between a couple of band sites, listening to great music and watching the runners. Here are some photos:

Ok, enough about me. It was a good time. Cheers,

Comments

[Brandon Fuller]

Nice Run, bro!