A couple of weeks ago was the very first Vancouver Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon and 10km. The Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon series is hugely popular in the USA and races are held practically every weekend in a different city. I have raced in two of these events in the past year- both half marathons- one in San Jose and one in Arizona. I really enjoyed these two races and actually had fun running a half marathon! What makes the Rock ‘n’ Roll races so great is the positive energy and fun atmosphere, everyone there is having such a good time. There is awesome music and great food & drinks afterward. The events are always extremely well organized, which makes a big difference leading up to the race and especially on race day. There is less anxiety the morning of the race when you know exactly where to park, where to check your bags, what corral to start in, where the washrooms are, etc. Rock ‘n’ Roll does a great job with all of the finer details of running a smooth event, and they did not disappoint in Vancouver! Now let me tell you a little bit about my experience racing the RnR half marathon.
Last October I was at the big announcement event about the RnR races coming to Vancouver. I spoke on stage about my experiences as an elite athlete in their races and why I was excited about RnR coming to Vancouver. Because I was a part of RnR Van since the beginning I really wanted to race it. However, for the last 8 months I’ve been dealing with a nasty case of Plantar Fascitis and have really struggled with consistent training. I had not raced since March, so racing RnR Van would be my first race back after my injury. But, my injury was not gone. Just less annoying and painful than before. I wasn’t back to my normal training (running about 75km weeks instead of 130km weeks and only one hard session of running a week instead of three). So I knew that I was not in any sort of shape to run fast. But I wanted to be a part of RnR Van, even if it meant racing at less than ideal fitness level. I knew that I would not win this race, nor even challenge for the top few spots. I was okay with this, as I was just happy at this point to even be racing at all!
On race day I was not nervous- I was just excited to be part of a race again! Downtown Vancouver was packed with all sorts of runners, everyone buzzing with nervous energy. When the race started I did not even try to go out with the top 3 girls. I knew they would be running a pace that I just was not ready for yet. So I ran the race mostly by myself at a good, tempo like pace. The first 15km I felt great- I was so happy to be back racing! My heel was hurting a bit, but not too bad. This was good because I was worried that racing would cause it to flare up. But after 15km, general fatigue throughout my entire body started to set in. I just had not done enough training for a half marathon. I toughed it out and managed to finish 4th in a time of 1:16:45. There were tons of people along the course cheering and lots of great bands that kept me going. But oh boy did my body hurt afterward! I’m sure most people were pretty sore after racing, so I won’t complain…. I then watched the rest of the race to see some of my friends finish. There were thousands of people racing the half marathon, and it was amazing watching so many people cross the finish line with huge smiles on their face 🙂
I ran pretty much what I thought I was capable of at the time. I have a lot of work to do, and I really need to get rid of this injury for good before things will start coming together for me. It was really fun being part of a race again, especially one as awesome as RnR Vancouver.
If you are looking for a “destination” half or full marathon, I definitely recommend doing an RnR event. There are so many all over the USA, and even in Europe, you have tons to choose from. You know you are going to have a fun time racing and the event is going to be well organized. Plus you get a mini vacation, not just a race 🙂 Check out the RnR marathon series website- www.runrocknroll.competitor.com
Natasha Wodak
IF Sponsored Athlete
http://lifeinthetashlane.blogspot.ca/
Twitter @Tasha_Wodak
