Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Rock N Roll San Antonio 10K race recap

I signed up for the Rock N Roll San Antonio Half Marathon as the third of my 3-pack Tour Pass. When I later heard about that weekend's Remix Challenge (a 10K on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday), it sounded like a good idea. If I'm going to pay all the travel costs to visit San Antonio for a half marathon, might as well throw in the 10K, right?

The good news: I finished both races healthy and with a smile on my face.
Half marathon and Remix Challenge medals!
On the flip side, I don't think I will be attempting any challenges like that again in the future. Basically, I let my ambition win out over anything else.

Never say never, of course, because I didn't make the smartest decisions. Most notably, I didn't do anything to train for a back-to-back race series. I also ran the Saturday 10K at a harder effort than I should have. Doh!

But enough "woulda coulda shoulda." I'll talk about the 10K today, and will cover the half marathon in another post. 

The 10K
On the first of a back-to-back race challenge, I knew it would be best to go conservative. I had every intention of running the 10K at a nice, easy pace. I figured I would try to finish just under 60 minutes.

The course was a point-to-point route starting at the Alamodome and finishing in front of the Alamo. This was the view from the start line:


When I registered, I had given an estimated completion time of 58 minutes. Therefore, I was surprised to be seeded in Corral 2. Of course I went with it, but all the while I realized it had to have been a mistake!

I was further convinced of this when I learned Meb Keflezhigi would also be in Corral 2. He was pacing the 7:30 group (which, as we all know, is his version of a total snail's pace). Wow! In the below picture, that's him holding the yellow "Meb" sign:


When Corral 2 got released, I did briefly try to keep pace with Meb. Obviously I didn't last long!

This also meant I came out of the gate much more quickly than originally planned. I told myself to slow down. To a certain extent, I did. But I still let myself get swept up in the roaring excitement of the crowd.

This was actually a pre-race photo, but it captures the essence of how I felt!

I ran with my phone in my hand, poised to take pictures; however, I didn't see a lot of noteworthy scenery. We went through some semi-industrial areas, followed by a few residential neighborhoods. There was a relatively sharp hill around mile 3.5, but otherwise the course was pretty flat.

Another runner pacing near me was stopping to greet every police officer along the route. What a great gesture! I decided to follow suit. I made it my focus to look for and thank every officer I could.

I tried to keep the pace steady. My left piriformis started alerting me of its presence around the halfway point, but I didn't want to slow down. My splits all fell between roughly 9:05 (the first mile) and 9:25 (Mile 4 with the hill).

The final stretch of the course went through downtown San Antonio. Here, the backdrop got more interesting. The crowd support rose dramatically in the final mile.

Check out this "perfectly-timed" snapshot of me nearing the finish:


For photo purposes, I've learned to avoid dealing with my Garmin until well after clearing the finish line - but to get caught doing it beforehand!?!?!? Argh!!!

Here is a much better finish line snapshot: =D


My official time was 57:35.

The finish line setting at Alamo Plaza was full of energy and festivity:

The white building you see peeking out between the Christmas tree and the red med tent is the Alamo.

I already talked yesterday about my photo opp with Meb, which was awesome. It was by far the best moment of the post-race festival. I was also happy that my hotel was only a few blocks away from the finish, which made for a super-easy journey back.

Time to go see the city! I spent the rest of the day walking around and sightseeing (travel highlights available here). Explore now, rest legs later.

After dinner, I came back to the hotel and did what I could to prepare for the next morning. I spent the rest of the night stretching and foam-rolling in a valiant attempt to freshen my legs.

Coming up: Recapping the Rock N Roll San Antonio Half Marathon

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Linking up with Patty, Erika, and Marcia for Tuesdays on the Run.

21 comments:

  1. Nice job! Isn't San Antonio such a fun city?

    Looking forward to your recap of the half!

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    1. Thanks Wendy! Yes, San Antonio is a very festive city. Until this past weekend, I had no idea it was the 7th largest city in the U.S.!

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  2. Congrats on the finish! I've enjoyed seeing your photos from SA. Bummer the course wasn't as eye catching as you had hoped.

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    1. Thanks Xaar! I was disappointed about the lack of scenery along the 10K course, too, but the Alamo finish was great. The half marathon had much better scenery, thankfully!

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  3. I really don't understand how races choose which corrals to put people in! Although, it's pretty cool that you got to start with Meb!

    I hope the course for the half was more interesting than the 10K. Guess I'll find out when you post your race recap :-)

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    1. Thanks Erin! Likewise - I would be really curious how folks are assigned to corrals. Although, at RnR it's not like they were enforcing the corrals anyways. Hello, walkers who line up at the front! And yes, the half course was better than the 10K course. Just posted my half marathon recap. =)

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  4. Hey, still a very respectable finish - and you get to actually claim you kept pace with MEB! :-D

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    1. Thanks Natalie! Note that I wasn't joking when I told you earlier that it was only for about 2 seconds. ;-)

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  5. LOL at the photo of you checking your watch!

    I hope the HM had less boring parts! Was it not warm there? You look like you are dressed for running in the 30s!

    I like to thank officers for marshaling the course too. I don't stop though, I keep running, lol :)

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    1. Can you believe the timing (no pun intended) on that photo? Unbelievable! The HM had a much nicer course, thankfully. The temp was in the 40s at the race start, but the day's high temps got up into the 60s! If I have to choose between overdressing and underdressing, I prefer to err on the side of being overdressed. Remember our Prairie State pictures where you were in shorts and a tank and I was in capris and a L/S pullover? =D

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    2. Ha ha ha! Yes, I do remember! :)

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  6. Nice work! I did the Remix Challenge in Chicago, but that only involved a 5K the day before the half, not a 10K! (Plus it was eleventy zillion degrees outside, so I knew I wasn't going to have that great of a half marathon anyway.) I think a 10K would be much more challenging.

    Bethany @ Accidental Intentions

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    1. Thanks Bethany! I remember reading about your RnR Chicago Remix Challenge. Wow! I only did the half marathon that weekend and those zillion-degree temperatures were BRUTAL. What an accomplishment for you to do both races in that oven-like heat!

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  7. Nice job! I was thinking about looking at SA next year for their 10k, but I'm still not sure. Vegas is winning that potential battle.

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    1. Thanks Lesley! I totally hear you, if I had to pick between Vegas and San Antonio, I admit I would go with Vegas, too. =)

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  8. So cool that you were in the same Corral as Meb! Way to go under your pre-race goal! Too bad about the uninteresting course. Maybe they could have had a portion of it along the Riverwalk! :)

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    1. Thanks Pete! I am really curious how they determined the corral assignments - in what world would an estimate 58-minute 10K seed in with Meb!?!?!? But hey... what the heck. It would have been fantastic to run along the Riverwalk! I think I read somewhere that San Antonio does host some popular annual races on the Walk, which would be super fun! Although, what I saw of the Riverwalk has no barriers or fences to the water. So runners would need to be careful not to fall in, especially going around some of the tight turns!

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  9. Love the photo of you looking at your watch.

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    1. LOL! Thanks Zenaida! That picture was a pretty clear capture of real race life, yes?

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  10. Great job!!!! I was stationed in SA for 6 1/2 years, and did my first half marathon there which was the R-n-R half!! How awesome that you got to be so close to Meb!! ;-)

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    1. Thanks so much, Michelle! Oh wow - you must have gotten to know SA really well during your 6.5 years there! I bet you have some great memories of your first half there. The city really comes out to support the runners - it's wonderful!

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