General Discussion Race Reports! » Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply

Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
St. Petersburg, Florida
United States
Competitor Group, Inc.
36F / 2C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 40m 2s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Every year some of my friends and I escape Illinois and crash at our friend Karen's house in North Tarpon Springs while taking in a half marathon. We have traditionally done the Gasparilla Half but chose to try out the new RNR Half this year.
On Friday, Mary, Penny and I flew out of Springfield on DirectAir to Lakeland Airport. It was cold in Springfield when we left and it was cold in Florida. Also there were some pretty heavy winds with rain and some lightning conveniently as we were landing in Lakeland. This made for an exciting ride. It rained hard and solid all the way to Karen's house. Once there we got settled in and went to sleep.
Saturday we went to packet pickup at the Tropicana Stadium. Jeez oh peez, what's with the $15 to park? The race was an expensive half to begin with. Got packets, shopped a little at expo. Weather was not looking good and none of us had packed cold weather running gear. Why would we? This is Florida!
That evening Karen dug out her old winter gear. She has lost a ton of weight so had a variety of things for everyone to try. I cobbled together a race outfit of Karen's capri length tights (well capri length on her, I am 5' 8" so they looked pretty dorky. Decided to wear running shorts over these as an additional layer. Short sleeve running shirt and a lightweight jacket were sufficient for above the waist coverage. Borrowed a bondi band from Karen for my ears and she also found gloves for all of us.
We made pasta and retired early. I slept pretty well considering I was on a couch in a friend's living room. Woke once during the night and thought I heard a tornado, but it was just the gale force winds in the palm trees outside. Ugh...
Event warmup:

Got up at 4, made coffee and ate a bagel with turkey lunchmeat. We were in the car and on the highway by 5. Got the car parked and the four of us sat inside, trying to stay warm. It was really, really cold and very windy. Temps were in the 30s with wind chill in the 20s. Finally we jogged up to the porta potties, hit those, jogged back to the car and stayed warm a bit longer. At 7:15, headed up to the corrals.
An iconic moment was seeing a young woman standing in line for the porta potty shivering so violently that it looked like she was having a seizure.
Did jumping jacks to stay warm.
Run
  • 2h 40m 2s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 12m 13s  min/mile
Comments:

With it being early in the season, I didn't have many long runs under my belt and really didn't have any thoughts of PRing. But my PR in a half marathon is 2:38 and it seemed I was pretty much on track for a small PR but eventually relegated myself to the fact that I had to stop to pee or things were going to get really bad. The cold weather just made things rough. I lost 3 minutes waiting in line at the porta potty. For a bit I thought maybe I could make up the lost time.
The highlight of this race is an out and back on the long pier. Very beautiful on a not-so-windy day. I had been playing leapfrog with an older fellow running my pace. He was a tall, stocky guy so I was kind of drafting off of him and this helped immensely. The wind on the pier was just terrible and he sort of faded so I went around him and said something stupidly encouraging in passing. Heard the sound of tripping and stumbling and turned to see my pace guy flailing like a windmill, falling in slow motion. He had misstepped and was going down like a big airplane in slow motion. Another lady nearby saw this and we both managed to grab the guy and keep him from face planting. It was amazing teamwork. He fell onto his side pretty hard but we had death grips on his upper arms which probably saved him from a very nasty wreck.
He got up and kind of dusted himself off and thanked us, but stopped at the restroom. So I had lost my pacer dude. I didn't really realize how much I had been relying on following this guy until he wasn't there.
Mile 10 was mismarked, it was actually 9.89 miles. This kind of sh*t will mess with your mind in a race. The wind had me really tired and I was slowing down. Got through the last three miles by singing 99 bottles of beer to myself, taking a short walk break every 20 bottles.
What would you do differently?:

Needed a couple more 10+ mile runs to keep from fading in the last miles. Otherwise not too much, nutrition seemed good, hydration was fine. I was just COLD.
Post race
Warm down:

Got my medal and mylar blanket, ate a banana and got some frozen strawberries which were a nice treat. Flo Rida was the main act at the post race party. I am 50 years old so didn't know much about the band but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Cold. Lack of training. Cold.

Event comments:

this was the inaugural year for the race. Very nice expo. Great technical shirts and a very nice medal were given out. Volunteers were fantastic and there were a lot of spectators. Bands along the way were great, especially given the crappy weather. I am not happy about the high price to park at expo, the $10 parking fee for race day and the $5 shuttle charge. These costs should have been disclosed up front at registration. Post race food was fruit and bagels. For this kind of money I expect a sandwich at least. Beer line was insane. We skipped the free beer and grabbed food on the way home.




Last updated: 2011-11-21 12:00 AM
Running
02:40:02 | 13.1 miles | 12m 13s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Average
My Garmin measured 13.34 and from what I could gather, this was other people's experience. The course was a bit long. Not a big deal.
Course: Course was pretty much flat except for a couple of small rises and a small bridge. It was beautiful, going through St. Petersburg, both commercial and residential areas. It was just so freaking cold that it was hard to enjoy it.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

{postbutton}
2012-02-13 7:58 PM

User image

Expert
1694
1000500100252525
Illinois
Subject: Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon


2012-02-13 8:18 PM
in reply to: #4045866

User image

Royal(PITA)
14270
50005000200020001001002525
West Chester, Ohio
Subject: RE: Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon

Awesome work in less than ideal conditions!

Cool that your friend had clothig to loan everyon in those conditions!!


I might have to email the RD about those extra charges.  What a rip off about the parking fees both days plus the shuttle!  Ridiculous!

2012-02-14 12:26 AM
in reply to: #4045866

User image

Master
1539
100050025
Sin City
Subject: RE: Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon

Great job on your race, even with the lack of training! 

Good job on catching the guy before he face planted...:-)

 

2012-02-14 4:14 AM
in reply to: #4045866

User image

Pro
5123
5000100
Canandaigua NY
Subject: RE: Rock �n� Roll St. Pete Half Marathon

Nothing worse than planning on a warmer race in Florida on a nice get away from the cold weekend and having Florida be cold.  Happened to me at the Disney marathon a couple of years ago.  Sounds like you made the best of the weather and had a fun race!  Tough to PR in the bigger races with so many people. 

Great job Anne!

2012-02-14 8:24 AM
in reply to: #4045866

User image

Extreme Veteran
643
50010025
metro DC
Subject: RE: Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon

Major bummer about the weather... to look forward to a winter break in Florida & end up freezing....sigh. And to feel nickle/dimed...that's irritating...nobody likes to feel gypped. But the save...now THAT was pretty cool - can't believe you caught him, not to mention tag-teamed to boot. Very impressive. Remind me to try to run near you at Half-Full...oh never mind...not likely to even be CLOSE.

Don't want to hear you [it bleeped me!]/moaning about being slow anymore though, okay? Zero credibility in my book.

Tongue out

Welcome home!



Edited by MarlaS 2012-02-14 8:25 AM
2012-02-14 12:32 PM
in reply to: #4046099

User image

Expert
1694
1000500100252525
Illinois
Subject: RE: Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon
CyborgQueen - 2012-02-14 12:26 AM

Great job on your race, even with the lack of training! 

Good job on catching the guy before he face planted...:-)

 

Thanks D.J., it turned out all right!



Edited by abake 2012-02-14 12:32 PM


2012-02-14 12:33 PM
in reply to: #4046130

User image

Expert
1694
1000500100252525
Illinois
Subject: RE: Rock �n� Roll St. Pete Half Marathon
kenj - 2012-02-14 4:14 AM

Nothing worse than planning on a warmer race in Florida on a nice get away from the cold weekend and having Florida be cold.  Happened to me at the Disney marathon a couple of years ago.  Sounds like you made the best of the weather and had a fun race!  Tough to PR in the bigger races with so many people. 

Great job Anne!

Thanks Ken, I remember the year you are talking about, had a friend who went to Florida to run that race and she talked about having to buy some cold weather gear.

2012-02-14 12:35 PM
in reply to: #4046385

User image

Expert
1694
1000500100252525
Illinois
Subject: RE: Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon
MarlaS - 2012-02-14 8:24 AM

Major bummer about the weather... to look forward to a winter break in Florida & end up freezing....sigh. And to feel nickle/dimed...that's irritating...nobody likes to feel gypped. But the save...now THAT was pretty cool - can't believe you caught him, not to mention tag-teamed to boot. Very impressive. Remind me to try to run near you at Half-Full...oh never mind...not likely to even be CLOSE.

Don't want to hear you [it bleeped me!]/moaning about being slow anymore though, okay? Zero credibility in my book.

Tongue out

Welcome home!

Haha ok I won't whine anymore about being slow. It's all relative anyway. I have a feeling we will be pretty close at Half Full, so I will watch your back if you return the favor.

In all seriousness, I am glad we were able to stop that man's fall.

2012-02-14 12:46 PM
in reply to: #4045866

User image

Veteran
291
100100252525
Chicago
Subject: RE: Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon

Oh my gosh the cold! Good thing you were able to piece together some appropriate gear!

Nice job despite the conditions. And props to you for saving that guy from a nasty fall!

2012-02-14 8:30 PM
in reply to: #4047051

User image

Expert
1694
1000500100252525
Illinois
Subject: RE: Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon
ChiLakeShore - 2012-02-14 12:46 PM

Oh my gosh the cold! Good thing you were able to piece together some appropriate gear!

Nice job despite the conditions. And props to you for saving that guy from a nasty fall!

Thanks Lauren. The good thing is that we Illinois gals are used to the cold!

2012-02-15 6:49 AM
in reply to: #4045866

User image

Master
1477
1000100100100100252525
Southwest Chicago 'burbs
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon

"... taking a short walk break every 20 bottles."  Heh.  This made me laugh.  

Great job in adverse conditions!  Shame you didn't get better weather, though.

My experience with RnR races is that they are well run and a great race/expo experience, but expensive and the costs kind of seem to keep coming.  I'm not surprised about the parking/shuttle costs...



2012-02-16 10:10 AM
in reply to: #4045866

User image

Champion
14677
5000500020002000500100252525
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon

Middle Fla weather is dodgy in the winter. It can be beautiful or crappy. sorry you got the crappy. It sounds like less than an ideal race AND less than ideal conditions. I bet your pacer dude is thanking his lucky stars for his two angels!

Oh... and what Marla said. PTHTHTTHHT! on you being slow.

General Discussion-> Race Reports!
{postbutton}
General Discussion Race Reports! » Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Pete Half Marathon Rss Feed