When GotChocolateMilk TeamREFUEL
offered me a free race entry to this spectacle I couldn't resist. The course
was as advertised, flat and fast. It's too bad I'm not; I'm more slow and
lumpy. I've been trail running so much lately, I wasn't really sure how to get
ready for an event like this. As a trail runner I'm used to looking at elevation
changes and planning what I need to eat and drink as the miles tick by. I knew
I can run a road half marathon, but how do I manage a decent pace and finish in
one piece. So of course I went out too fast, crumbled at the 10 mile mark and
scooted across the finish line with whatever I had left. So there's my race
report, now to get to everything else!
I know
Philadelphia pretty well and I was psyched to run through the city. Running
past City Hall where traffic is usually crazy was very cool.
Here I was in the center of the cheese steak universe running right down the
middle of the street and no one was blowing their horn at me. As I ran past Logan's
Circle and Eakins Oval I couldn't help but think of the annual pro
bicycle race and the late Jerry Casale. After
that, it was like a scenic tour on foot up and down the Schuylkill River. I was
really looking forward to running across the Falls Bridge; unfortunately that’s
where I started to feel like crap. My last time on that river loop I was
toddling along as a pacer for my buddy Jeff Thompson on his Back On My Feet 20 in 24 Ultra
Run last July. The memories of many fun times in Philly came back throughout
the run, even through the cloud of pain in the final miles.
This wasn't
the first event of mine where Janice volunteered, but this one was a bit
different. She needed to be at Eakins
Oval at 5:30am to get her assignment(s). Our hotel was just a few blocks away,
but as a volunteer she now had a most excellent parking pass to park behind the
Art Museum. Arriving with her at that
hour was no stretch considering I'm used to start times before sun up, so I
went along for the pre-dawn ride. With roads blocked off, the Rock N Roll
Marathon folks were hard at work building their event. Janice got her t-shirt and waited for her day
to start. Little did she know what would be on her schedule. She built cardboard trash cans, unpacked
medals, controlled corral #5(which I never knew darn it) and rounded out her
day handing out medals to the exhausted runners as they finished. I started a
few minutes after 8am and finished before 10, while Janice worked her tail off
from 5:30am till about 1pm. At a previous race, volunteers worked shifts while
yesterday the volunteers signed in before dawn and got a break when they were
done 8 hours later. Yep, she was exhausted. Every race has its “Janice
moment”. For Philly, I had a dream that
she got the job handing out medals and she was the volunteer who met me at
the finish. Dreams apparently do come true, at the finish there she was and I
made sure to get my medal from her. While other family and friends of runners
were behind barricades, I was stealing a hug and a kiss along with getting my
finisher’s medal. Pretty cool!
I did
prepare for this race. I now own an actual pair of road shoes, I studied the course and I even had an idea of
a finishing time I could deliver. What I couldn't plan for was running in a
pack of thousands, but let's back up a bit. This race had its own shopping mall
disguised as a race expo/packet pick up. While I'm used to running through the
woods with guys from PA, MD and NJ; The Philly Rock N Roll Half attracted elite
runners from around the world. Janice packs a cooler when we go to race with
low fat chocolate milk. This event had a TeamREFUEL chocolate milk refueling
station at the finish line. I'm usually the "chocolate milk" guy at
races. Yesterday I got to meet other TeamREFUEL members and staff. That
was very cool to find out that Facebook and Twitter friends actually are living
beings.
Low fat chocolate milk has been part of my workout recovery routine for 2 years. Jam packed with vitamins, protein, carbs, electrolytes and other good stuff I'd probably just spell wrong, low fat chocolate milk rocks as a refueling recovery drink. I recommend it to all. It was cool to have so many other runners ask me before, after and even during the race about refueling with chocolate milk. To top it off having the opportunity to help hand it out at the finish was very cool. One runner told me "this is my savior right here" as she held up her bottle of low fat chocolate milk. I hate to keep repeating myself, but I had an absolute blast being part TeamREFUEL at RockNRoll Philly!
Next up for
me, The Blues Cruise 50k
Trail Race around Blue Marsh Lake just outside Reading, PA. Back in the
woods with a hundred or so other trail crazies, Janice will be back to chasing
me in the Jeep from aid station to aid station and yep, I'll be the ONLY
"chocolate milk' guy at the event. Right now I’m gonna’ go for a run.
