The Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah half marathon was one of the most memorable race experiences of my life.
Why?
Because Ryan and I finished together in LESS THAN TWO HOURS!!!
I can hardly believe it.
We woke up a couple of hours before the race start to eat something (I ate a Snickers marathon bar sample from yesterday’s race expo) and quickly changed into our running outfits before layering our throwaway clothes on top.
I talked Ryan into buying matching sweatshirts yesterday at WalMart for only $5.50 each so we’d look really cool. My headband/ear warmer was a little less than $2 from WalMart and I ended up stashing it before the race along with my horrible velour purple sweatpants. They will surface again, my friends!
After taking off our sweatshirts at the start, we laughed when we saw a woman immediately grab one to wear. It was a chilly morning, but not insanely cold. It was the perfect running weather.
Yesterday at dinner, Ryan started to talk about running a sub-two hour half marathon. I knew he could do it on his own, but since he said his plan was always to run with me, that meant I had to run a sub-two hour half marathon. A daunting task!
I didn’t admit it to him at the time, but ever since I signed up for the race, running it in less than two hours was a goal I had for myself in the back of my mind.
Thank goodness for Ryan and his “big ass monkey legs.” (<—Awesome nickname I gave his legs, huh? I named them this during the first half marathon we did together in 2007 when I looked over and saw that one of his strides is like two of mine.) Without Ryan and his pacing and encouragement, there is absolutely no way I would’ve finished in 1:58.
At 7:30 a.m., the race began!
When we started running, we saw the 3:50 marathon pacer and tried to stay with that group for the first four miles. It was definitely faster than I was used to running on a long run, but I felt good and my breathing wasn’t strained. I took water at every station but two and ate Gu Ghomps at miles 5 and 7.
I wish I had more to say about the race course itself like I did when I ran the Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll half marathon last August, but I felt like I was watching the back of Ryan’s shirt almost the whole time, so I saw a whole lot of Nike dri-fit blue t-shirt. He kept dropping back to run with me, but I liked it when he ran slightly ahead of me because it pushed me into running at a faster pace to keep up.
I do remember loving the support of the spectators and the people of Savannah. Spectator support and energy motivates me so much and makes a run so much more exciting and fun.
My favorite spectator signs?
- Run faster! She farted! (with an arrow pointing at the guy’s wife)
- Word Parade Ever
I also love it when spectators bring dogs along. We saw a few German shorthair pointers that looked a lot like Sadie, prompting Ryan to say, “If we finish in under two hours, Sadie will be at the finish!” I called him a liar and told him he was slowly killing me by making me run that fast! (And no, Sadie wasn’t at the finish line, but we did see a vizsla!)
The last few miles of the race were the hardest for me, likely because I didn’t really pace myself in the beginning like I usually do during long runs. About 0.2 miles from the finish line, I called out to Ryan, “We’re gonna do it! We’re gonna beat two hours!”
It felt awesome to be running toward the finish line knowing that we were about to achieve a goal I honestly didn’t think I was capable of achieving. I know two hours isn’t an incredible time for amazing runners, but it is an incredible time for me.
I really don’t consider myself a natural runner and no run – whether it be two miles or 13.1 miles – is particularly easy for me, so I’m always just excited to finish a race!
During the run, I said a couple of things to myself repeatedly:
- It’s okay to be uncomfortable
- Think of how awesome it will feel to beat two hours
Just thinking of how I’d feel if I beat two hours was enough to make me run faster. Two hours of running and pushing myself harder than I ever have during a race was more than worth it for the high I am feeling right now!
Once we finished the race and we got done celebrating at the finish line, we headed over to the VIP tent for some food and water.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Maya, the wonderful social media manager for the Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon series, and she gave me and Ryan access to the VIP tent which was such a treat. (Maya also got engaged two weeks ago! Congratulations again, Maya!)
Surprisingly I had a really hard time eating much right after our run. Though the food looked delicious, I wasn’t at all intrigued by the desserts which is absolutely crazy for me. All I wanted was SALTY food and I ate roast beef, two pickles, chicken salad and three plums.
I don’t know where the plums were from, but they were the best plums I’ve ever had in my life. (Perhaps that’s a famished runner talking?) I also ate a Snickers marathon bar and chugged two bottles of water before we left the tent and headed into the crowds to explore the site a bit and enjoy the band that was playing in Forsyth Park.
Eventually we made our way back to our hotel where we showered and immediately hopped into bed to relax for a few hours before heading out for more food (aka cookies ‘n’ cream milkshakes and hot dogs) to fuel us until dinner.
And on that note, it’s off to dinner! I’m not sure how my feet are going to feel when I slip on the heels I plan to wear tonight!
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How awesome! I wish my fiancé ran with me-he’s not a fan of running, just cycling. Oh well, that’s what girlfriends are for! 🙂
Congratulations Julie!!! It kinda made me tear up to read that Ryan and you ran together!! It must have been amazing to have each other there for support. What a special memory! Thanks for being such an awesome role model!
Huge CONGRATS!!! Very special he stayed with you and pushed you to the end!
congrats!
You are so inspiring. You and Ryan accomplished something together and pushed each other throughout. Aw, how romantic!
Great job, Julie! You did great!
Wow congrats Julie! That is such an amazing accomplishment! I loved reading this recap. 🙂
Congratulations to you both!!! Great great job 🙂
Congrats Julie! That is a great time. It must have felt SO good afterwards knowing that you really pushed yourself. You guys are awesome.
A sub-2 hour marathon is no joke! Well done to both you + Ryan! I’m glad all that training paid oFf 🙂
Awesome job!!!!!
Soooo amazing!!!! Congrats!!!
Congratulations, Ryan & Julie, for such a great half! So awesome you beat your goal of 2 hours 🙂
Congratulations! What a great accomplishment and fabulous way to kick off a weekend! What pace did you train at to get the sub-2? that’s my goal for the SF half marathon and i don’t know how fast to do my long runs! any help would be fantastic! Thanks!
i think most of my long runs were between 9:15 and 9:45, but if i could go back, i’d train faster. it was a HARD 13.1 miles!
well done!! That’s amazing hun’, you must be so proud! After all your running posts I’m “considering” starting to run a little instead of just sticking with the treadmill!
Well done to you both! I also struggle with running and I know how you feel – so your time is amazing! Celebrate and enjoy x
Congrats guys…you have no idea your will power and mental strength until you run that far at one time, just finishing my first FULL marathon three weeks ago, I know that its so so hard to put into words how it feels to cross that finish line. congrats and way to beat the 2hr goal. Very hip!
Congrats to y’all! I was thinking about you and the other bloggers that were running the race yesterday morning. So fun reading the recaps! You ROCKED it! 🙂 Great job!!!
That is an awesome finish time, congratulations! I am a new PBFingers reader and just love your writing. You seem like such a fun person to hang out with:-) I like checking out what you are up to during the day. Also, my husband and I moved back to MPLS from Savannah last year where we lived for about 3.5 years. Such a lovely place!
CONGRATS girl! That’s so awesome! My secret running goal is a sub 2 half…can I maybe borrow Ryan for a race? haha!
Once again congrats! Coming from a “normal” runner I know that’s a great accomplishment!
Congratulations! That’s great!!
Congratulations, Julie! You rocked it, girl!
Congrats!
Congrats on your times, that’s pretty impressive!
Congrats on an awesome run! How great it must have felt when you realized you were going to reach your goal! 🙂
Way to go girl! If i can ever stop battling injuries its my dream to run a sub two hour half! Great inspiration!
Awesome job! You must be so proud! I’m impressed… about to go run 2 miles with my mom, maybe someday we’ll work up to a half!
Congratulations on your time, and completing the race! This inspires me not to complain when I’m running a 4.5 mile race in a couple of weeks :)!
Great job! I live just 20 minutes away in Bluffton, SC and also ran the half. It was incredible! I really wanted to get under 2 hours as well and ended up coming in at 1 hr. 53 minutes! My running buddies that I’ve been training with came in at 1hr 38 min, 1 hr 47 min. and 2 hours 12 minutes. We’re definitely not used to running with hills (even though they were baby hills) and I think it effected all of us. Congratulations on your accomplishment!
Fantastic job! This is so inspiring because I have the same 5k and 10k pace, but once I hit the 10M mark I slow down BIG time..I’ve only ran 10M once though and it took me 1hr 50min *eek*. I also walked the last half mile though I was so exhausted lol. Who knows though maybe one day I can be as speedy as you and Ryan :)!!!!
Congrats to you and Ryan! I think it’s wonderful that you ran a marathon together! 🙂
congrats!!
Congratulations! I’m running my first half next weekend and I was wondering where do you put your Gu chomps while running, nothing I ever run in has pockets
Congrats on your awesome race! I have no desire to run one mile, let alone over 13. 🙂
Congrats to you and Ryan on the sub-two!
Congrats on the sub-2 hour half!! That is awesome. I LOVE that you two ran this race together – my husband and I do the very same thing and it just makes it so much more special to cross that finish line right beside eachother. Awesome race to both of you!!
Congrats Julie & Ryan on a great half Marathon 🙂
Congratulations on finishing in 2 hours! It looks like you had a blast running this together. I had to laugh about spectator sign! That is too funny! You know there are some individuals out their ripping as they run!
Congrats on your race! I’d love to try one once, maybe one day I’ll follow your steps^^Have a good rest!
Congrats! I’ve always had a sub 2-hour half as my goal and this year i got super close…2:01:02! But no matter what time you get, there’s no way you can feel disappointed if you gave the race your all. So for me, that’s the ultimate goal.
Congrats to you and Ryan! That’s an awesome time!!
Congratulations you guys!! Honestly Julie I think I will be exactly in your footsteps this weekend. My hubby and I are doing our first 5k, and while our training for it has been really unpredictable with my shin splints and his crazy schedule he tells me being on week 2 of C25k that he’s running 3 miles already while I’m down to 2….because of the leg stride. He’s 6’1″ and I’m 5’4″, I should be staring at the back of his shirt the whole time too 🙂 Glad you finished under 2 hours, awesome!!!
Congratulations to you and Ryan on and AWESOME RACE! I really want to run a rock and roll…they seem so fun and entertaining!
hiii juliee!
i’m running the rock and roll marathon in march! this is gonna be my first, so I was wondering if you had any training tips? nutrition and mileage wise? thanks!
p.s i’ve been missing sadie..picture soon?! hahaha
congrats!!
Im planning on running my first 1/2 marathon in June next year at Uluru/ayres rock (australia) and sub 2 hours is my goal too!
Well done! 🙂
woooo! you did it! you guys rock 🙂 congrats!
I’m behind on all my blogs, so I meant to tell you earlier…congratulations on your awesome PR! You did AMAZING! I would be wearing a smile all week if I were you. 🙂
What a great achievement. You should be so proud. I haven’t done a half marathon yet but I have signed up to one in February and one in March. I am not fast and am just hoping to finish those two, maybe one day I’ll do a sub 2!