Wooooo! Another race weekend behind me and what a month it’s been! A 50k, a 15k, and now a marathon, yep I’ve gone crazy.
Now it’s time to relax a bit. I have a turkey trot in my future and then the Dopey Challenge in January! But enough about races to come, let’s get to the race weekend!
Expo
I love a good expo and the Rock ‘N’ Roll series has got this figured out. So many great sponsors and vendors come out for these events!
Want to test drive a Toyota? Yep, you can do that. Need nutrition? What kind do you need? Need some extra shoes? Shirts? Skirts? Stickers? You can get all of that too! This is one of the best parts of a “big name” race.
They are really good at funneling you through the important parts of the expo. I went after work on Friday and arrived at the National Western Complex around 5:30. The expo was pretty quiet so I filled out my waiver and grabbed my bib really fast. After grabbing your bib you wind around to the shirt pick-up.
One of the things I like best about the 2 Rock ‘N’ Roll races I’ve run is that instead of throwing all the samples and coupons into every bag, they put them in bins so you can grab what you actually want. I grabbed some tea, gummi vitamins, and a Sports Authority coupon and was on my way.
You are then funneled through the “official merchandise” area which is also part Brooks running store. It had a great selection and there were a few shirts that I thought were pretty cool but decided to save my money this time.
From there you went into the main expo area with ALL the vendors. It was packed with vendors! Everything you could want, any type of protein supplement you wanted to try, any charity you wanted more information about, they were there. It was quite impressive. Since I wasn’t really looking to buy anything I milled around a bit and then headed out. In total I was in and out in under a half hour!
Race-spectations!
I had mixed feelings going into the race. I was physically able to go the distance because I had run my 50k three weeks prior and I had tested my speed 2 weeks prior at the Hot Chocolate 15k, but I knew going into the race I was not at my peak performance. Life had wiped me out and my hip was still nagging me. Regardless, I went in with high hopes. It’s always possible that everything would come to gether for a great run!
Next up – Race Day!
English