Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh 2018
Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh
April 8, 2018
Disclaimer: I received free entry to Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!
What a race! I'll get into the details below but I'm feeling great about my first race of 2018! Since the race was exactly two weeks before my first marathon, you may remember that I was planning to run Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh as a "tune-up" race. I love the Rock 'n' Roll race series and especially love running their races in new cities. Raleigh was the perfect opportunity for me to explore a new city and shake out my legs before my marathon.
The Weekend
We had a pretty solid crew assembled for the race which consisted of my wife, her cousin, and me, the same group we ran with for Montreal last fall. We actually have family about an hour outside of Raleigh so we got to spend some time relaxing with them before heading into the city the day before the race.
As Friday rolled into Saturday, we headed back towards Raleigh to get settled in before the race and check out the expo. The expo was smaller than I'm used to for a Rock 'n' Roll race but I love the addition of a live band playing at the entrance. After grabbing our packets and perusing the Brooks shop we were in and out of the expo in about 15-20 minutes.
After that, the rest of Saturday was spent fueling up on delicious barbeque and hydrating with some local brews. We had tickets to go watch the Carolina Hurricanes play Saturday night so we were happy to kill time beforehand at Bond Brothers Beer Company just around the corner from the arena and catch up on the Master's Tournament.
The Race
I probably should mention that the starting corrals for the race were literally right outside of our hotel so getting ready in the morning was impressively easy. Not only that, but we were only a few blocks from the finish so we also didn't have to worry about gear check. On Sunday morning we woke up about an hour and a half before start time and definitely appreciated the ability to stay warm inside until about 10 minutes before the start.
The temperature at the start was about 34 degrees, colder than I was expecting but not unbearable given what the weather has been like in NY so far this year. The starting corrals were much less crowded than other Rock 'n' Roll events I've been to but that was also a nice change because, at the start, you weren't fighting your way through the crowd. Once we all crossed the starting line, the crowd spread out pretty quickly which made it so much easier to settle into a comfortable pace.
Miles 1-4
Similar to how most of my long runs have been going, it took me about a mile to really get my legs loosened up to find my zone. Having just completed my 20-mile training run a week prior, I wasn't too nervous about the half and was just enjoying running in a new city. I'd decided to listen to an old Mitch Hedberg album to start the course so the first four miles flew by relatively quickly as I was able to sort of zone-out listening to the stand-up set.
Prior to the race, we'd gotten plenty of communication from Rock 'n' Roll about what to expect on race day, but they had also announced a lot of changes for 2018 including more music on-course, and better signage.
I hadn't paid much attention to the promise of better signage, but passing the first water station, I was actually surprised at how convenient it was to have everything labeled. Stopping for water, Gatorade, or gels was so much less chaotic since you could tell where everything was from 100 yards away.
Miles 5-8
By mile-five I'd found my stride and my legs were feeling strong. I'd missed the adrenaline of race day and was starting to pick up the pace. The comedy album finished and my music kicked in which really got me going. The race might have been one of Rock 'n' Roll's smaller events, but there were plenty of spectators out on the course by this point.
Raleigh is a pretty hilly course but at the first big hill, there were signs EVERYWHERE offering words of encouragement and some just to make you laugh. I was so focused on reading them all that I hardly noticed the incline. I definitely started to feel the hills later in the race, but early on I appreciated all the distractions.
This was also the first Rock 'n' Roll race where I tried some of the on-course nutrition. I know it's a huge race day "no-no" to try something new on the course but I'd run out of gels the week before the race and forgotten to restock. Like I said, it was easy to spot the aid stations that offered gels so I made one quick pit-stop around the halfway point to give myself a little boost.
Miles 9-13.1
While running the ninth mile two things happened. First, just as I started mile nine, I saw a clock and realized if I pushed the pace for the last five miles I was going to crush my current PR and maybe even break into the 1:30s. Then as I was approaching the end of mile-nine, I saw another clock and realized my math had been WAY off. This tends to be a trend when I try to do on-course pace or distance calculations.
It wasn't a total loss, I still had a shot at a PR, it was just going to be about ten minutes slower than I'd originally thought. I was starting to feel the burn in my legs and remembered that this was supposed to be a nice easy run and that I had a marathon coming up in just two weeks! After some internal arguing throughout mile ten, I decided to keep pushing. My legs were hurting, but I figured the mental challenge would be good practice for the last six miles of the marathon.
The Finish
In the end, I shaved 25 seconds off my PR from Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas in November. Was it worth it? Considering Las Vegas is dead flat the entire course and I managed to beat that time by 25 seconds on the hills of Raleigh, I'm pretty excited by that result. I also wasn't even truly pushing myself until the very end so I'm even more excited by the prospect of really training for another half-marathon in the fall.
Walking (and slightly stumbling) across the finish line, I was happy to be immediately greeted with a mylar blanket and a cold bottle of chocolate milk. I never knew the glory of post-race chocolate milk until I ran my first Rock 'n' Roll race!
All of the BibRave Pros finished right around the same time so it was also nice getting to catch up and debrief post-race while enjoying all the free refreshments. After working through the rest of the finishing chute I was only a block or two from our hotel so I was enjoying a hot shower about 30 minutes after crossing the finish line.
All in all, Raleigh was another great course from the Rock 'n' Roll series, I'm glad I got the change to run it before it was discontinued. The new PR feels great, and I'm feeling more ready than ever for my upcoming marathon. My IT band is still nagging me a bit but I'm hoping it's nothing that a week of rest and ice can't fix!
It may be a bit soon but I'm already looking past the marathon and thinking about goals for the fall. After my performance in Raleigh, I'm itching to train for another half. I've only incorporated minor speed work into my training in the past so I'm actively looking for advice. What's your go-to training schedule look like? What are your favorite speed workouts? I just might work them into my fall training plan!
Official Splits
5k 24:54 8:02/mi
10k 49:53 8:03/mi
10-Mile 1:20:00 8:27/mi
Finish 1:45:45 8:04/mi