The Rock 'n' Roll marathon series by Competitor.com that has at least 25 marathons and/or half marathons across North America. They also sponsor at least six races in Europe, and I think I've seen one in South America before as well. The concept is that they set up bands (usually local bands) along the course at every mile to motivate the runners as they go, and they usually have a headliner band(s) for a pre-race concert the night before and at the finish line.
This year, I have decided to run a series of Rock 'n' Roll marathons. They offer what is called a Tour Pass, which is one cost for as many Rock 'n' Roll races as you want to run in a year. To make the tour pass worth it, I calculated that I need to run at least five marathons during the year. The first marathon in the series in a state I hadn't already run was New Orleans in late February.
The Race: New Orleans Rock 'n' Roll marathon. New Orleans, Louisiana. February 24, 2013.
My Training Plan: My training plan this time around was a little slack. Okay, it was very slack. I had just finished Dallas in early December, so I didn't start training for this one until mid-December. By that time the holidays were rolling around. Rob had Chrysalis meetings on Saturdays leading up to the flight he was working over New Years', so I didn't have a lot of training time on weekends. I was transitioning jobs and was working until late into the night many nights not getting good sleep. Something would always come up. I didn't do any speed work, which is uncharacteristic of my typical training plans. I was planning on running at least two 20-milers, but ended up only running one. One time I went out for an 18-mile run, and was so tired that I stopped at 12 miles and went home. It was bad. In fact, I had totally written this race off and basically said "I'll just check this state off and focus on a PR in Delaware in May."
Weather: The weather was kind to us. It was raining the day we drove down to New Orleans and it stormed the afternoon and night after the race. But during the race it was upper-50s to low-60s with sunny skies. It was actually a little warm for me, but you really couldn't ask for a much better day!
Running Attire: I wore my Liz running shirt, purple and pink running shorts, pink Run for God visor, and iFitness belt.
Who I ran with: I didn't start out running with anyone, and didn't stick with many people. Around mile 13, I caught up with a guy from Oklahoma City named Bill. We ran together until about mile 18. Bill was running his second marathon in two weeks. He had run the Myrtle Beach the weekend before. And he was pushing me! He told me all about the amazing folks in the Oklahoma City running club. There are apparently around 500 people who regularly run with them!
The Course: The course was extremely flat. Around mile 19 there were a few rolling hills, but nothing bad at all. The course went through the better parts of town, and along the lake for several miles. There are a lot of out and backs. Overall, I'd say it was a great course.
Organization: Being a Rock 'n' Roll race, I expected nothing but good organization, and I was not disappointed. I received all the necessary information via email the week before the race. When I got to the expo, it was easy to tell where to go to get everything. They had the Brooks store there giving gait analyses, demonstrations, and prizes. The expo had a lot of good vendors, although not a lot of free giveaways.
My biggest complaint with the Rock 'n' Roll marathon series is that you have to be at the Expo in person to pick up your race number. They don't allow someone to pick up your number for you, even if you supply your drivers license and a note. This isn't as bad when the race is on Sunday, but for Saturday races, it can be hard to get to the Expo before it closes on Friday.
Swag: The swag for this race wasn't anything fancy. Technical shirt and medal were the only swag items.
Starting Line: The starting line was a little confusing. Everyone seemed to be gathered in one block park, but the start line was a block or so away. There weren't a lot of signs on how to get there. Once at the start line, they did have the corrals marked off very well, but I saw plenty of runners that should have been in corrals behind me going freely in and out of my corral. The volunteer at the corral was a woman smaller than me, so she didn't deter anyone from coming and going as they pleased.
Fans: The fans were mediocre for a race of this kind. With the bands and the size of the race, I expected more fans. And the fans that were there, didn't really cheer for you as much as other races. It was as though they were looking only for their runner and weren't interested in cheering for anyone else. Even though I wore my Liz shirt, there were not a lot of fans that called my name.
My own personal fan was great though! Rob came to cheer me on this time. I saw him at least four different times along the course. He even ran from one point to another point so he wouldn't have to figure out how to park the car at the finish line. Around mile 20 he told me I was on track for a 3:46 marathon (which would have been a personal record for me), and his encouragement helped me go faster. He even recorded me running some, which was nice to see afterwards.
Finish Line: At the finish line there was a band/concert playing. They gave out water, Gatorade, chocolate milk, bananas, and pretzels. They also had Powerbars, but only the peanut butter ones (which I don't like). I didn't stay long at the finish line before heading to the car, so I can't really speak to any of the other things they may have had there.
Results: As I said before, I had basically written off this race. But I felt good, and ended up with a 3:50:14 time, which is my second best marathon ever! Definitely better than expected!
How I felt: I didn't feel like I had trained well, but because I didn't think I was going to do well, I wasn't really nervous going into this race. Around mile 12, I could tell I wasn't going to make it the entire race without making a pit stop. I stopped at a porta potty next to a firehouse. The firemen were out cheering/watching the race, and told me I could use their bathroom, which I did. After stopping, I sped up so I could try to get back to where I was, but then I didn't slow down once I caught up with the people I recognized. That's when I met Bill, who was running a much faster pace than I normally would have run. I stuck with him for about 4-5 miles, and then slowed down a little. At mile 20, after Rob told me I was on track for a 3:46 marathon, I sped up again.
Shortly before the race, I had read an article about how the last 6.2 miles of the race are really when the race happens. With the elites, they usually "chill out" for the first 20 miles at a comfortable pace for them (which is still twice as fast as my pace) and then kick it up the last 6.2 miles. That article changed my mindset a little about marathons. In the past, I felt drained the further along the race I went. This time, I embraced that concept and really went faster during those last 6.2 miles.
Unfortunately, again I had to make a pit stop at mile 25. I'm not sure what caused the GI issues this race, since I ate the same meal as usual the night before and the morning of. Maybe it was the Raisinettes or Arby's I ate the day before during our road trip down. My body just would not last one more mile, so I stopped again at the mile 25 porta potty. Even with my GI issues, I finished in my second best marathon time.
Travel/Tourism: We drove down to New Orleans from Atlanta, which is about a 7.5 - 8 hr drive, and we stayed at Rob's fraternity brother's house. So we were not much help to the New Orleans economy during this trip. From what I saw of New Orleans, it's a pretty scary city. It seems like if we missed one turn, we were in the ghetto. If we got off at the wrong exit, we were in the ghetto. If we followed Google map directions from one place to another, we went through the ghetto. While the race course took us through some nicer areas of town, most of what I saw while I was there looked run down and scary. I would not want to live there by myself or drive there by myself or run there by myself.
Because of the long drive, we weren't in town long enough to go to any good local places to eat either. IHOP is my traditional pre-race meal, so that was our first meal in New Orleans - as far from a local place as you can get. For lunch Rob did get us something from a local sandwich shop, but it wasn't anything to write home about. We did have beignets for dessert after lunch on Sunday, which are supposed to be a local delicacy. To me they tasted like funnel cakes you get at baseball games or county fairs.
The open container law is pretty liberal in New Orleans, and drive-thru daiquiri places were everywhere. If we had been there longer, I definitely would have tested that concept out.
We did go to Bourbon Street on Sunday night after dinner. Unfortunately, it was raining, so we had to huddle under an umbrella to walk down the street and decide which bar to go in. We ended up at a karaoke bar, which was pretty fun - until people started smoking right next to us. Ugh, I had forgotten how nasty smoke is! I'm definitely glad to live in Georgia where smoking is not the norm (either that or I just never get out enough to notice).
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