What a great event! From the moment we registered and got our bib and goodie bags–all the way to the free beer on the beach at the end of the race–I was thrilled to be a part of the Rock n Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon!

After we registered, we walked through the expo at the convention center.  There were great booths with plenty of samples, ranging from smoothies to energy bars.  We also stopped by the Rock n Roll Las Vegas Marathon booth and registered! We saved $15 each by signing up at this race.  We also sat in on a clinic featuring Greg Meyer,  the last American winner of the Boston Marathon, as he talked about running and proper nutrition.  We met Angie Goff and her husband Robert at the expo, walked around a bit and took a few photos.  After the expo, we headed to our hotel in Norfolk (about 15 miles away) and tried to get to bed early for the 4:30am wake-up call.

The next morning after we found a decent parking spot, we used the porta potty and headed toward the starting line.  With 22,000 runners, you think I’d feel like a number, but that wasn’t the case.  I don’t know how they managed to make each and everyone feel special running this.  The temperature was cool in the beginning, but it started heating up quickly, and by race start it was in the low 70s.  It was about 20 minutes after the gun fired before I crossed the starting line.

The first mile felt a little slow because the running crowd was still very dense.  But after the first mile, it broke up quite a bit.  I’ll always remember the older couple speed walking, and how they were pacing better than me.  I could not catch up with them, but I overhead they were shooting for an 11:00/mile pace.  There were 20 bands on 14 stages through the race, along with 17 cheerleader squads that were cheering us on non-stop.

After the second mile, I stopped thinking about what mile I was on, and I enjoyed the run itself, listening to conversations and the bands playing.  I brought my headphones, but never put them on.  I saw the Kenyans and Ethiopians fly past us (on their Mile 10) on the way towards the finish line, and everyone running gave them a big round of applause.  By the third mile, I was still running non-stop, and felt good enough to run another mile or two and asses my strength on whether to take a walk break or not.  I skipped the first water station, but grabbed Cytomax/water on each station thereafter.  I liked the taste of Cytomax, so I will probably get a few bottles of it as I continue to train for the marathon in Las Vegas in December.

Around Mile 5, I passed a guy wearing a big cowboy mascot suit.  Holy Hell it must’ve been hot in there.

By the halfway point, it was getting pretty hot, and my pasty white skin felt like it was starting to burn.  I took my Gu at the halfway point, and still didn’t feel like taking walk breaks.  I was surprised I made it this far without stopping.  I kept going with the flow, passing people occasionally, and finding people who paced the same as me.  It felt great to run with the slower runners; all of my training sessions up to this point have been with runners who fly by me, and I always feel like I’m dragging.

After I got to the 9th mile, I still had not stopped to take a walk break, and by this point, I figured I might as well stick it out and endure any pain for the next 30 minutes, since I was close to the end of the race.  The mile markers were getting fuzzy at this point.  When I though Mile 11 was coming, it was actually Mile 10, so that threw me off a bit.  Around Mile 10, there were people spraying runners with hoses and a few misting stations to run through.  The cheerleaders were as enthusiastic as ever, and the bands were really jamming.  They look at me and wonder how I can run for 2 1/2 hours straight, but wonder how they’re able to keep up their positive spirit for just as long.

The last two miles were down the main strip at the beach, with the final mile running on the boardwalk with the ocean on the right side.  The breeze from the ocean felt great!  But getting to Mile 13 felt like forever.  I could not stop at this point, no matter what. I can’t believe I had run the entire race without stopping!! I did slow down during the watering stations, but that was so I didn’t spill it all over me.

After I crossed the finish line, the race volunteers really took great care of the finishers. They provided water and Cytomax bottles, bananas, Popsicles, the big hunk of metal for finishing, and  towels drenched in ice-cold water.  I finished the race non-stop at 2:46:04. I was so exhausted at the end, I walked around for a good 30 minutes with that ice-cold towel over my head.  It also kept the sun from burning me.  I met Lindsey at the family reunion station, and we drank our ice cold beer together on beach.  It was free Miller Genuine Draft light beer (64 calories).  And Lindsey broke her personal record finishing at 2:12:00.

We drove back to our hotel, took showers, avoided sleeping like the plague, then ate Olive Garden before heading back to the ocean front to meet up with Angie and Robert for happy hour.  The SkyLine Hilton was a beautiful bar, and I drank several Maker’s Mark and Coke and had dessert.  It was so much fun talking to Angie outside of work and to also get to know her husband better.  After happy hour, we walked the boardwalk a bit, sat on the beach, then drove to the Waffle House across from our hotel for a small meal before calling it a night.  Lindsey is exhausted, and her right leg hurts pretty bad, so I tried massaging it as best I could.  I don’t feel any pain, other than my joints near my ankles hurting.  My face is pretty hot, because I got sunburned, and my contacts were drying up all afternoon.  Alright, time to get some shuteye.

Summary:

Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Conditions: Warmer, 73-85
Goal: 13.1 miles
Results: 13.1 miles non-stop
Time: 2:46:04
Pace: 12:40/mile
Total Training Miles to Date: 104
Click here to view my complete training schedule

Thoughts:
Like I mentioned in the beginning, I was very impressed with this race.  It was the most organized race I’ve ever run, and the people behind the scenes were fantastic.  I enjoyed the bands, the cheerleaders, even the neighbors along the race trail who came out with their own boomboxes and cheered us on.  I hope this is a good indication of how great the Las Vegas Marathon will be in December.  We have 3 months from today to double our miles.  I ran a half-marathon in only 5 weeks of training, but the next 13 weeks will be the real endurance training.

What I’ll remember most:
Grabbing that ice cold wet towel after the finish line and walking around with it on my head to cool me off. AAAAAHHHHHH