I have to start out by saying that it has been unusually hot here in the south this year. I expect temperatures in Florida to stay high possibly through the beginning of November, but usually once you get into Georgia it starts cooling off earlier. Well not this year! The first year I ran this race it was 40 degrees at the start and this year it was 70 degrees… with 100% humidity. Holy hell in a hand basket it was warm! But we will get back to that.
My bestie Karen was my travel buddy for this adventure and our original plan was to get up early on Friday and do the 4 hour drive to Savannah. But by mid-afternoon we were both ready to get the heck out of dodge. So after a couple clicks on Expedia we had a hotel room booked for Thursday night and plans to get on the road as soon as we possibly could. We stopped for a bite to eat and were snuggled into bed by 11 pm that night. It was great knowing that once we got up in the morning we were already where we needed, and wanted, to be.
We started Friday with breakfast at the hotel and then began our day of fun. We stopped for coffee at The Coffee Fox, a must visit coffee shop, peaked into a couple of stores on Broughton Street, and then headed over to the convention center to hit up the expo. For most races I really haven’t spent a lot of time wandering around the expo. I’m usually either there by myself, in a hurry, or with someone that isn’t all that interested in being there so its usually a get in and get out situation. But this year was different because Karen was fine with taking our time and checking out all the fun things.
We picked up my race packets, did a little shopping, took some fun pictures in the sponsor booths, and met a couple of my fellow Rock N Bloggers (Hi Dani and Larisa!). When we’d finally had our fill of the expo we headed back downtown for lunch. After a quick search on Yelp we decided to check out The Ordinary Pub. On our first pass we walked right by it. Why? Partially because we were on the wrong side and the street and partially because it was underground. How cool is that? They had a great selection of food, and beer, and everything was amazing. I got my card loading started early with a local brew and an amazing hamburger. But the best part of the meal had to be meeting Lauren from Visit Savannah who happened to be sitting at the table next to us and following my posts on Instagram. Its always weird, but cool, when someone walks up and says “Are you Meghan on the Move?”
The rest of our day was spent browsing shops, checking into the hotel, and then having a nice pre-race meal at Six Pence Pub. Shepards Pie and salad was the perfect meal to fuel me for the race the next day. We were back to our hotel at a reasonable time and in bed by 10 pm like good girls. Unfortunately I had my normal pre-race jitters and didn’t sleep well at all.
My alarm went off at 4:30 and since I’d laid out all my things the night before it didn’t take long at all to get ready. I grabbed a bottle of water on my way out the door and 20 minutes later I was parked at the convention center. I took the ferry across the river which landed me right at the Hyatt Regency, which is where the VIP area and my fellow Rock N Bloggers were. It was so fun meeting them in person and being able to grab some pictures before we all headed to the start line.
The race was fun, but super rough. I stuck with my friend and fellow Rock N Blogger Anna-Marie and we definitely walked more than either of us had really planned. Our goals for the race? To finish. The first half of the race was foggy and humid, while the second half of the race was sunny, super hot, and humid. Around 9:45 am Rock N Roll made the hard call and shut down the race course. While most of the 1/2 marathoners were able to finish, there were a lot of Marathoners that weren’t able to. As much as it stunk for those folks I really believe that it was the best call. The weather wasn’t what most people expected and there were people all along the course needing help from the medical staff. Even though I enjoyed the race I was definitely happy when it was over. Half marathon #9 definitely wasn’t my fastest, but it was another amazing race to add to my list of accomplishments.
The rest of the day consisted of lunch in the VIP area, a WONDERFULLY long shower, a celebratory cupcake from Back in the Day bakery, a #WeRunSocial meet up with fellow bloggers at Moon River, and ice cream at Leopold’s with new friends. I was in bed by 9 pm but it had been a wonderfully full day of running, new friends, and food (with a few beers thrown in for good measure).
Now it is time to do laundry and repack for my next adventure… Rock N Roll Las Vegas! I will be running the strip at night!
*Disclosure: As a member of the Rock N Blog team I received a complimentary entry to this race. As always, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.