Seattle Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 Marathon Weekend

Last year, my mom and I came up with the idea that it would be fun to train and participate in a 1/2 marathon.   My cousin Greg trained both my parents and me to run in the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 marathon starting last July.  However, with everything that was going on in my life at the beginning of the year, I fell off the training schedule.  Both my parents stayed dedicated to their workouts and we all were able to finish the race on Saturday and enjoyed a great few days in Seattle.

On Thursday, my friend Andrew drove me up to Seattle to meet my parents so we could check into the race.  The check-in was at the Qwest Field Event Center and after we picked up our bibs, we walked through and checked out all the vendors that were there.  Then, we headed down to my house and tried to relax for the remainder of the night.

On Friday, we left my house fairly early to pick-up Greg, Debbie and Trinity at the airport.  Once we got them, we headed into the city and found a little spot for breakfast.  Then, we walked quickly through Pike's Place market before heading back to the event center since we thought Greg and Debbie would like to look through the vendors (which they did).  After we were done there, we drove to the Westin in downtown Seattle and checked into the hotel.  My parents and I walked and found a little place for lunch and when we returned to the hotel, I took Trinity swimming in the indoor pool.  The weather was a little overcast and cold, so it was nice the pool was indoors.  For dinner, we walked to Pacific Place and ate at Gordon Birsch.  Since we had the race on Saturday, we all went to bed early on Friday night.

We had to get up bright and early on Saturday in order to take quick showers and leave the hotel by 5:30 to get dropped off for the race on time.  We got to the starting line in perfect time and were able to stand in a huge line for the bathrooms before finding our corral.  I snuck into corral 32 with my parents and we didn't cross the starting line until about 7:50 (the first corral left at 7:00).  For the first mile, I ran with my mom, but due to my total lack of training, I couldn't keep up with her for long so had to slow down my pace.  Luckily, by mile 2, my dad had caught up with me and so we ran together.

The race started near South Center mall in Tukwila, went along Lake Washington, across the carpool lanes on I-90, onto the Alaskan Way viaduct and finally ended at Qwest Field.  My dad and I jogged together until about mile marker 8 when I had to take a bathroom break.  It was a bummer that we had to wait in line but I couldn't hold it much longer.  Then, we continued on and were able to jog until about the I-90 tunnel around mile 9.  We were both getting a little sore and starting to hurt.  At mile 10, we started to jog again as we knew we were getting closer.  All I know is mile 11 and 12 were the longest two miles of my life.  My dad and I were able to cross the finish line together and managed to have the same exact time of 3:09:59.  My mom finished about a half hour ahead of us at 2:36:33.

I was really happy with my results.  I know that if I had kept up on my training, I would have done much better.  But, I didn't and I think that I did really good compared to what I anticipated.  I really thought I would finish closer to the 3:45 mark and part of me was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish at all.  I am glad that my dad and I were able to run together as he gave me motivation and I think it made the time pass faster.

After we crossed the finish line, we all got our finisher shirts.  Greg and Debbie took our medals and had our name and times engraved on the back which turned out really nice.  Right after the race, my butt muscles were really sore and Greg said that was a good thing since it means I engage those muscles when I run.  Now, a day later, my quadriceps are the sorest part on me.  I also had a little blistering on one of my toes and the nail is sore now.  I am hoping I won't loose the nail.

When we got back to the hotel after the run, we took quick showers and decided to pick up a bite to eat at the deli in the hotel.  Then, we went up to the hot tub and tried to soak a little.  Luckily, the sun waited  to come out after the race, so after a few minutes in the hot tub, I sat outside on the patio and enjoyed some sun (as well as a margarita).  After relaxing at the pool, my parents, Trinity, and I walked to Starbucks to get a coffee and then back at the hotel room, Trinity gave me a pedicure that included a foot and leg massage.

We made reservations at Ipanema for dinner.  It was really fun.  The restaurant is a Brazilian place where they walk around with 18 different meats on skewers and slice off thin pieces for you to eat.  It also had a standard type buffet with different salads and side dishes to compliment the meat.  It was fun to try all the different food and everything the served was really good.  On the way home from dinner, we stopped at the chocolate store and had some gelato.  When we got back to the hotel, my mom and I took another quick dip in the hot tub before heading to bed.  We were all a little tired from the busy day and so went to bed early again.

On Sunday morning, we took our time getting up and packing our stuff.  My parents and I walked about a block to a little diner for breakfast.  Then, we headed down to Pike's Place in hopes of getting some mini donuts.  To our surprise though, the mini donut place we closed.  My mom and I were both really bummed.  When we got back to the hotel, we finished packing and then checked out.  Greg and Debbie decided to take the hotel shuttle to the airport and my parents gave me a ride home.  We all had a great weekend and I am really proud of my parents and myself for our accomplishments.  Now, the only question is when is the next run?