Last weekend I ran the streets of San Jose. I ran the Rock'n'Roll San Jose Half marathon. I had heard it was a fast course and I could totally see how this course is one to PR since it is pretty flat. Unfortunately with the Chicago Marathon coming up, I was unable to race it so it was a fun and enjoyable run this time.
PACKET PICKUP: The expo was at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. We were staying at the Hilton San Jose for the night, so it was really great that we could walk to the expo from our hotel. It was so close that there was even a walkway from the hotel to the convention center.
The expo was a nice size. I got my bib and shirt quick and easy. Then we browsed the booths. The kiddos had fun playing the games and spinning wheels. The only purchase I made was some plus for nuun to use for the Chicago Marathon.
RACE DAY: I got up around 6ish or so. I slept pretty good and I guess it is nice knowing that it is going to be a training run rather than a race for time as I wasn't nervous or stressed about the run. The plan was to meet friends Laura and Ross in the lobby of our hotel and head to the werunsocial meetup at the fountain at Plaza De Cesar Chavez which wasn't far from the hotel. It is always fun going to these meetups and seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones.
I finally met Sue from Twitter. Pic below from left to right (Sue, Ross, Laura, & me).
After the meetup we headed to the start line. Some lines for the port a potty's looked long, but if you kept on walking there were others that weren't as long. We walked up to some where there were two sides of port a potty's and the line went pretty fast, which was really nice.
I was in a later corral for this run since I put down a slower finish time. I didn't realize how long it takes to actually start the run if you are in slower corral. However, there is still lots of excitement while waiting to cross the start. My plan was to stick with Ross and Laura. I wanted to make this a fun and enjoyable run. Before we knew it we were off.
The course was a little congested in the beginning. I noticed that the 10K runners started the same time as us and there were some walkers at the start so I had to dodge them and go around them. As most races, it didn't take long for the congestion to disappear.
I ran the whole race with Ross and we had a great time chatting throughout the whole run. The course is great. Always fun seeing this Brooks guitar guy on the course! :)
The bands made the course enjoyable. I normally listen to my own music with my headphones for races, but on this run I didn't wear them so I actually heard the bands on the course and it was a nice change for me.
We passed by the SAP center. It is where the San Jose Sharks play, their hockey team. I felt I had to take a shot since my 5 year old loves hockey and has come to take a liking to the Sharks. If only there was pic of their mascot outside, my son would have loved it.
It was nice running the streets of San Jose.
We ran through some really nice neighborhoods with some fancy houses.
By mile 12 I was feeling good. We were going at a nice comfortable pace.
PACKET PICKUP: The expo was at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. We were staying at the Hilton San Jose for the night, so it was really great that we could walk to the expo from our hotel. It was so close that there was even a walkway from the hotel to the convention center.
The expo was a nice size. I got my bib and shirt quick and easy. Then we browsed the booths. The kiddos had fun playing the games and spinning wheels. The only purchase I made was some plus for nuun to use for the Chicago Marathon.
I love the shirt for this race.
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| Credit: @werunsocial |
It is always great seeing Hubby and the kiddos cheering me on. I was very happy to see them. The pic below was taken right about mile 13 with only .1 to go. I made a nice sprint to the finish to end the good run.
My finish time was 2:12:55.
I was happy with the time and considered it a good training run since I knew the real race was in one week.
It was really great running the run with Ross and partly with Laura. Here we are with our finisher medals. We did get the usual water, Gatorade, bananas, corn crisps, etc. along with my favorite, chocolate milk at the end as we exited to the finisher's festival.
Have a great weekend!
Overall another great race by Rock'n'Roll marathon series! The bling for this one was pretty awesome too! I would totally do this run again and race for a PR next time, hoping I won't have a marathon to run the week after! ;)
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