I’ve ran a few races in Texas, but this was probably the first one that actually went well! Because of my previous trips, I didn’t go in expecting much, and I left the race really happy with everything. It was a big change from my previous performances in Texas!
It was a quick turnaround trip. I flew in early Saturday morning on a very turbulent flight. It was so windy that our plane circled the airport for almost 30 minutes before landing! Once landed, had my ceremonious In-n-Out, and checked in to my room, I finally headed to the expo. I forgot about how large the race was last year, and I saw that there were tons of corrals. Awesome! The expo had lots of vendors. The newest one I noticed was the Potato booth — literally, potatoes. They had some boiled, salted, and seasoned potatoes, which made a fine afternoon snack since I was starving!
I met with friends for a cozy dinner and settled in for face masks in the evening. After having closed the car door on my shin earlier in the day, I iced my leg for the rest of the evening and prepped my gear for the next morning.
I thought about the year, and how much it’s almost over but how much more there is to look forward to. I have the Honolulu Marathon in a week, and I’ve been off my feet for two weeks because of the cold I picked up the day before Rock n Roll Las Vegas. Coming into this race completely cold was an interesting experiment. I hoped not to exacerbate whatever was left of my cold.
Having a place to stay so close to the start and finish line was incredibly convenient. Last year, I had to drive in to the city. This year, I was a 10 minute walk away. It was so convenient! I slept in for as long as I could, threw my clothes on, and headed out with about 15 minutes to spare. The start line was buzzing! There were 18 or 19 (maybe more?) corrals. The corrals were a little smaller but it was about the same amount of people as last year. It’s interesting because you can see some races shrinking over time. In this case, San Antonio seemed just as crowded as last year.
The morning was very chilly, but it only took about half an hour to get comfortable. It was snowing in Denver a few hours before I left for San Antonio, so I suppose chilly is relative. Anyway, I debated wearing a jacket but I knew that it would heat up substantially during my run. I’m a bit on the slower side, and when looking at the weather report it looked like the temperature would jump nearly 15 degrees during my time on the course. I left the jacket behind and tried to consider it as training for Alcatraz. (This is going to be a regular theme between now and June!)
Once the race was underway, I was surprised at how well I felt. I haven’t had a chance to run for three weeks. There was so much course support (that I noticed) this time around. The local bands were great, and there were lots of people from the community that came out to support the runners. Some had their own aid stations set up, mostly for beer or pretzels or other snacks.
I ran the full marathon last year, but this year I ran the half marathon. There were significant improvements to the course! There were less construction areas, and more distinct districts/neighborhood. It was much more scenic and the finish line was very lively! I guess when you don’t finish closer to 8 hours there are still plenty of people at the finish line to cheer you on. This course had lots of crowd support, which is great. We even had an on-course Santa. It definitely seems like Rock n Roll San Antonio is one of their more popular races, so I might see myself there again soon!
Amara in Training 