Rock and Roll Philly 5K Race Recap

Hey, happy Wednesday!  I’ve been resting my body for the past few days but I’ve been bursting to share my recaps of the Rock and Roll Philly 5K and Half Marathon!  First up, the 5K!

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Rock and Roll Philly 5K

The Rock and Roll Half Marathon has been going on in Philly for a few years, but this year marked the inaugural 5K event which took place last Saturday, September 20.  The course was an out and back on MLK Drive along the Schuylkill River, a popular spot for races in the area.

As I mentioned in my race goals post, I wasn’t planning on racing this race.  That sounds silly, doesn’t it?  I really wanted to run for fun and get a couple of nice medals.  So the night before, I went out to dinner with an old friend from college, and I didn’t stress about a thing!

Race Morning

I woke up at 6 am and prepared some toast and strawberry preserves for breakfast.  The race started at 8 am.  I felt pretty relaxed and we headed over to the start around 7:30-ish.  There was a good amount of people participating in the race and the weather was clear and in the mid-60’s.  Good running weather for sure.

And We’re Off

I lined up pretty far back in the queue.  Why?  I have no idea.  An old lady pushed to get in front of me near the starting line, only to discover that she was power walking the entire race.  I ended up being in the back with all of the walkers!  Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I’ve never lined up at the very front of a race, but I do have to say that it is a very different vantage point when you’re bringing up the rear.  It wasn’t long that I was on the course before I already saw the winners heading towards the finish…we cheered them on as they ran their insanely fast 4-minute miles.

I really enjoyed taking it easy though.  I listened to some Passion Pit on Amazon Prime as I made my way down the drive. I could really take in what was going on around me. There were lots of Black Girls Run members and I even saw two guys wearing Black Men Run shirts.  Spiderman was there too and he was doing great!  Oh, and I almost got spit on.  That was a close one. I glanced at my Nike+ watch occasionally and saw that I was running around a 10-minute pace.  I really didn’t want to go that fast, but sometimes when I feel good running, I go with it.  I knew it would be all over soon enough and didn’t think I’d do any major damage.

Race Results

Finally we’re getting near the end and you have to come up this steep hill under the Spring Garden Bridge and make your way to the finish….so close but so far!  Thankfully I was feeling good and started “sprinting” to the end.  And there was Bret’s smiling face cheering me on.  I raised my hands in victory and that was that!  I couldn’t have been happier.  Official time:  30:38!

After the Race

Oh boy, was I winded!  I couldn’t figure out who was handing out the medals, haha.  As I was in a daze with my bottle of water I saw my friend Jim who had also finished, and was running the Rock and Roll Half, his first, the next day.  We caught up a bit and talked about race and pacing strategies.  We took a picture and wished each other luck for the Half Marathon.

Then as we were finishing up a couple of guys asked Jim if he could take a picture for them.  It was the Pavement Runner!  Haha, a running blogger celebrity!  I was definitely geeked out as I said, “Hey, you’re the Pavement Runner” LOL.  But I actually kept my cool and we got a nice picture together, shown below!

Breakfast Feast

After taking a couple of pictures, I didn’t linger much longer in the race area.  I had no desire to drink Michelob beer, even free Michelob, especially before 9 am, sorry!  Yes, I am a beer snob.  Bret promised that he would make me a special breakfast so we went home and he started cooking!  While I waited, I did a lengthy stretching routine, foam rolling, hip and calf stretching and foot rolling.  My quads were really feeling it….I guess that’s because I pushed myself a lot harder than I planned!  Then I started to worry…wait, I have to run 13.1 tomorrow!  I hope I didn’t bite off more than I could chew!  But at least I knew I could enjoy pumpkin pancakes, raspberries, pineapple, and a yummy egg, mushroom and veggie hash.  Thanks Bret!

The Rock and Roll Philly 5K was pretty nice!  The race was well organized and I had a fun time.  The finisher’s medal is absolutely gorgeous, which makes a routine run a little bit more special.  The weekend was off to a great start!  Next up I’ll be recapping the Half Marathon!

If you had any races last weekend how did it go?  Have you ever run a little too fast on a “fun” race?

Note:  I’ve also posted my review of this race on bibrave.com – it’s a free site 100% dedicated to race reviews.  I’m a BibRave Pro Ambassador for 2016, and I’d love if you considered joining the site!