I can't believe that I just posted about what it would be like to get stopped in the middle of a race, and that is just what happened this weekend for many of my friends running the Savannah Rock N Roll Half and Full Marathons. It was the biggest news of my running world weekend, so I wanted to start off with that.
This weekend marked the end of "marathon season" for me, as I think all of my friends have finished up all the marathons that they were training for. For some, that was a race a few hours from here in the Rock N Roll series. There was both a full and a half marathon, and I knew many people doing both. However, this weekend experienced some unseasonably warm weather of about 80 degrees and even higher humidity. It turns out the race just was not prepared for this and what runners would need.
From what I hear, they ran out of water along the course and runners just got incredibly dehydrated. People were throwing up, passing out, the medic tents were full, and they ended up having to shut down the full marathon and stop people from finishing. One runner I know in Atlanta was stopped at 24 miles during his first full marathon that he's been training for. So heartbreaking and disappointing! I felt terrible hearing the stories from Savannah this weekend and wanted to send my best wishes out to them!
I thought it was ironic since I just posted about this, and also ironic because of the weather that we had in Atlanta! Today I did 9 miles in 45 degrees and rain. It was definitely an effort to get myself out of the house and to run these miles!
Once I got moving, it really wasn't bad. I felt good and finished with about a 9:30 pace average. The hardest part was waiting at the end for all my friends to finish when I was wet and cold. My fingers were numb at the end and I cranked the heat in my car to warm up and then took a long, hot shower at home. It is getting to be that season yet again!
Doing all my long runs has been a bit of a challenge lately as I've been trying to do my best to also fit in some social activities and make the most out of living in Atlanta. I turned down social events in trade of early nights in throughout the summer as I was working towards Chicago Marathon. However, as I am past that goal, turning in early in order to get up and run (without a major goal coming up) has been tough to motivate myself to do.
As we move into the holidays, it is hard to be away from home, so I want to keep reminding myself why I am living in Atlanta and all the awesome things to do. So I spent both nights this weekend out being social and had a really good time and did some fun things!
Friday night I went to a coworker's apartment building with a big group to hang out in their rooftop lounge. It was pretty amazing location and if I lived in this building, would hang out here pretty much every day! The views were gorgeous, despite this crummy weather we have been having in Atlanta. I swear, when it rains in Atlanta, it doesn't just rain for one day, it rains for days and days on end.
Saturday morning, I spent some time at the gym (although sleeping in through the classes I had originally wanted to attend) and then met up with some friends at Atlanta VegFest. It was a festival all about veganism and vegetarianism that my friends who cooked for me last weekend were working at. I am happy to go anywhere with free samples, so I went there and enjoyed my fair share of vegan chocolate, cheese, and whatever snacks I could get my hands on. Except for the fake meats. I passed on that. Something about that freaks me out.
And then that evening I went out to a really cool event in Atlanta called Flux Night where in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, there were a number of art displays and performances going on. The art is all about experimentation so there were lots of different types of visual displays, music performances, and interactive exhibits. The streets were shut down and you could walk around from one display to the next and check them out. They all seemed to be about social justice, equality, etc. which makes sense given the history of the neighborhood (which is where a lot of civil rights movement activities took place.)
I saw a true-to-life and sound recreation of Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech, explored visual storytelling breaking down stereotypes around black males, interactive displays showcasing where people are from around the world, choir performances in MLK Jr's back yard, a performance by a band whose instruments are all made of old weapons, and got to do some really awesome people watching as well. The event went until midnight and the bars in the neighborhood were all packed as well. It was a very cool night!
Today mostly revolved around the run, cooking food for the week, and also finally officially swapping my summer and winter clothes in my closet. An exciting Sunday, indeed :)
I was laughing at myself Saturday afternoon at VegFest because it was such a funny thing to tell people I went to. It is definitely safe to say that my activities and interests have changed over the years! Many of the people I hung out with on Friday night were quite a few years younger than me and I am so glad I am beyond that point in my life and am pretty happy as a late 20-year old. Let's see if my feelings stay the same in that way when I hit 30 next August though :) Hope you had a great weekend as well!
This weekend marked the end of "marathon season" for me, as I think all of my friends have finished up all the marathons that they were training for. For some, that was a race a few hours from here in the Rock N Roll series. There was both a full and a half marathon, and I knew many people doing both. However, this weekend experienced some unseasonably warm weather of about 80 degrees and even higher humidity. It turns out the race just was not prepared for this and what runners would need.
From what I hear, they ran out of water along the course and runners just got incredibly dehydrated. People were throwing up, passing out, the medic tents were full, and they ended up having to shut down the full marathon and stop people from finishing. One runner I know in Atlanta was stopped at 24 miles during his first full marathon that he's been training for. So heartbreaking and disappointing! I felt terrible hearing the stories from Savannah this weekend and wanted to send my best wishes out to them!
I thought it was ironic since I just posted about this, and also ironic because of the weather that we had in Atlanta! Today I did 9 miles in 45 degrees and rain. It was definitely an effort to get myself out of the house and to run these miles!
Once I got moving, it really wasn't bad. I felt good and finished with about a 9:30 pace average. The hardest part was waiting at the end for all my friends to finish when I was wet and cold. My fingers were numb at the end and I cranked the heat in my car to warm up and then took a long, hot shower at home. It is getting to be that season yet again!
Doing all my long runs has been a bit of a challenge lately as I've been trying to do my best to also fit in some social activities and make the most out of living in Atlanta. I turned down social events in trade of early nights in throughout the summer as I was working towards Chicago Marathon. However, as I am past that goal, turning in early in order to get up and run (without a major goal coming up) has been tough to motivate myself to do.
As we move into the holidays, it is hard to be away from home, so I want to keep reminding myself why I am living in Atlanta and all the awesome things to do. So I spent both nights this weekend out being social and had a really good time and did some fun things!
Friday night I went to a coworker's apartment building with a big group to hang out in their rooftop lounge. It was pretty amazing location and if I lived in this building, would hang out here pretty much every day! The views were gorgeous, despite this crummy weather we have been having in Atlanta. I swear, when it rains in Atlanta, it doesn't just rain for one day, it rains for days and days on end.
Saturday morning, I spent some time at the gym (although sleeping in through the classes I had originally wanted to attend) and then met up with some friends at Atlanta VegFest. It was a festival all about veganism and vegetarianism that my friends who cooked for me last weekend were working at. I am happy to go anywhere with free samples, so I went there and enjoyed my fair share of vegan chocolate, cheese, and whatever snacks I could get my hands on. Except for the fake meats. I passed on that. Something about that freaks me out.
And then that evening I went out to a really cool event in Atlanta called Flux Night where in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood, there were a number of art displays and performances going on. The art is all about experimentation so there were lots of different types of visual displays, music performances, and interactive exhibits. The streets were shut down and you could walk around from one display to the next and check them out. They all seemed to be about social justice, equality, etc. which makes sense given the history of the neighborhood (which is where a lot of civil rights movement activities took place.)
I saw a true-to-life and sound recreation of Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech, explored visual storytelling breaking down stereotypes around black males, interactive displays showcasing where people are from around the world, choir performances in MLK Jr's back yard, a performance by a band whose instruments are all made of old weapons, and got to do some really awesome people watching as well. The event went until midnight and the bars in the neighborhood were all packed as well. It was a very cool night!
Today mostly revolved around the run, cooking food for the week, and also finally officially swapping my summer and winter clothes in my closet. An exciting Sunday, indeed :)
I was laughing at myself Saturday afternoon at VegFest because it was such a funny thing to tell people I went to. It is definitely safe to say that my activities and interests have changed over the years! Many of the people I hung out with on Friday night were quite a few years younger than me and I am so glad I am beyond that point in my life and am pretty happy as a late 20-year old. Let's see if my feelings stay the same in that way when I hit 30 next August though :) Hope you had a great weekend as well!
OMG! How devastating to be stopped at mile 24.
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