Sunday, November 11, 2012

RnR Savannah Half Marathon:::: #8 of 12 in 2012


rock n roll savannah half marathon, savannah georgia
half mary # 9
race# 8 of 12 in 2012
time:  2:17:42
division:  557/1266
gender: 2933/7568

expo::::
we arrived in savannah on friday afternoon and after checking into our hotel we headed straight for the expo. i remembered reading nightmares regarding the expo from last year so i wanted to pad our travel time. the expo is at the convention center, which is on an island. your options are driving, taking a shuttle, or taking a ferry. 

i would have preferred to drive since we were already in our car, but the website really encouraged parking and taking the ferry. plus all the nightmares had to do with traffic onto the island. we paid $10 to park (every garage was in 'event' mode) and took the ferry. the ferry was free and only about a 4 minute trip. 

the lines to get your bibs, swag bags, and shirts were well staffed and the lines were super short. 


the expo itself was very large. pretty much every vendor you'd ever want to see. we got some free stuff at the Brooks' setup, and Brad got fitted for shoes while i checked everything out. 

i purchased some zippfizz at Rachelle's recommendation. then in stood in line FOREVER to get a race day parking pass ($10). i SHOULD have bought this online ahead of time, then i could have picked it up a lot more quickly. but oh well, you live, you learn. here's my loot:

i have no shame, i definitely went by the downy booth twice then made brad go! i love those unstoppables!! i also stopped by the ACA booth and made two bibs. i ended up just wearing the one for my aunt sherri. i think my granny would understand why i made that choice. 


race morning::::
race morning was a little more hectic than usual for us because we were packing up and checking out of our hotel room (unplanned, more on this in a separate post). also, due to road closings, we had to be parked in our garage by 530 a.m. traffic was minimal and we had no trouble parking, but then we had more than 2 hours to kill before the race. we sat in the car for awhile and i made my way towards the start line around 7 a.m. 

i had eaten some Ezekiel bread with PB in the car, but i was starving before the race started. luckily RnR had water, bananas and bagels out for us. i had a half a bagel and some water while i waited.  
the race started on time, but it was a wave start so i think i started around 820ish. i did have a mini panic attack right before the race started that went something like this:
  • i turn my garmin on before the race to allow it time to find satellites. then if it tries to turn itself off i just hit the light button to keep it on. 
  • i went to turn on my iPod and it won't play.
  • i proceeded to freak out and try to decide whether or not to use my phone for music (did this during the Flying Pig and it was not a good experience, plus i didn't have the playlist loaded).
  • while this was going on, apparently my garmin beeped at me but i was too busy freaking out to notice. when i finally get situated (my iPod actually DID end up working) my Garmin had turned off. and it was time for my corral to start. SIGH. 
  • i'm proud of myself for not completely losing it. i just hung back and waited for it to locate satellites. 
the race::::
i can't even describe to you how much i loved this course. it was mostly flat and beautiful. they changed the course from last year (after criticism about not really seeing the pretty parts of the city) and i was really happy with it. 

the course support along the way was first class. lots of water stations, GU station, and loads of bands, signs, crowds, and cheerleaders. i also saw a lot of first aid stations. 

this race flew by and i felt really good the whole time. i am also happy to report that aside from walking through water stations (i always do this, i'm not coordinated enough to drink and run at the same time) i ran this whole race!!! FIRST TIME EVER! [it only took me 9 half marathons to get to this point!! ;) ]


i'm not really sure why i thought i needed to put my hands up in every picture. all in all, this was an amazing race! great experience, great city, i'd definitely do it again. this was also my first RnR race. while i do enjoy the smaller race scene, they've definitely got it down and it went off without a hitch. 

what i'm wearing::::
under armour hat (from Suz)
nike sunglasses
lululemon run: swiftly tech long sleeve
nike running tights
mizuno wave riders (14s) with sweat pink laces
road id
iPod shuffle with yurbuds headphones
iFitness double pouch belt


my recommendations for this race::::
  • try to drive to expo unless you're staying downtown. if traffic's bad, park downtown and try ferry.
  • STAY DOWNTOWN if at all possible! everything's there! 
  • if you need a parking pass, reserve it online to avoid the lines at the expo!
  • find a bathroom before you get to the start line. 

10 comments:

  1. Ok let's plan to meet up next time we run the same race! Your time was awesome!! That's really pushing it! Love all the photos! Erica

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  2. Congrats!! Sounds like a fun race and the expo had lots of goodies:) Hope you like the Zipfizz:)

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  3. Awesome, it does sounds like a nice race course!

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  4. Yay, I'm so glad you had such a great race. Congrats on running the entire race! I'm not coordinated enough to run and drink at the same time either. I end up soaking myself with Gatorade. It sounds like RNR did a much better job with this course than they did with Nashville.

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  5. Congratulations on another half marathon! Great time!

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  6. Congrats on another half! You look great and so happy :) I'm hoping to run an RnR next year.

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  7. WOW nice half!!!!! and you look so great in the hat from Suz~!

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  8. woohoo! fellow drug dealer - or pharmacist, whatever - haha!
    I'm just not a fan of any type of work clothes!! lol
    Following you lady!

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  9. Wow! I am so glad you had such a great time. And there goes another one in the books. I like Zip Fizz too - and I discovered that I LOVE race expos!

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