Monday, September 1, 2008

A big woo hoo for Nike and Roadrunner Sports!

I had SO much fun yesterday morning. It was quite possibly the best race I have been in.... and it wasn't even a real race! Well, virtually speaking, it was real. I decided to run the Nike Human Race at our local Roadrunner Sports. They mentioned on their website that they would be hosting a group and I thought that I would have better luck at getting a good time running with a group. I honestly expected a dozen or so people there.

There were at least fifty or sixty people there! They had a table set up for signing in, t-shirts, water etc. They even had a sports massage guy giving free massages. It was like a real race. In fact, it was better than some that I have been to! Remember, unless you are running in one of the twenty "real" races, the Nike Human Race is free. So I was a little skeptical walking up to the registration table. I asked if we had to pay. Nope. She then hands me not one, but TWO shirts!!! The red Human Race shirt is an awesome lightweight Nike dri-fit. In fact, I took off the shirt I was wearing and wore it during the race. The other shirt is a nice cotton Nike dri-weave. They also gave us a Nike nylon bag and an iTunes treadmill workout to download. SCORE (have I mentioned that I love free stuff??). EDITED TO ADD: I can't believe I forgot to mention that they had raffle prizes and I WON!! I won a FREE pair of shoes from Roadrunner!!! I just purchased a spare pair of Brooks Adrenalines that are being discontinued, but the free pair doesn't expire, so I am good for a year or so!

There were no clocks. There was no gun. There was a really friendly group of runners and a dozen or so volunteers along the course. We did a 5K loop through the industrial area around Roadrunner twice. At every turn or intersection there was a volunteer. I recognized several of them as Roadrunner employees. I was so thrilled by the unexpected race atmosphere that I turned into "Chipper Kim" (to steal a term from Jenn *wink*). I said "thank you" to each volunteer and "good morning" to a couple of joggers and walkers that we passed.

I wasn't sure how well I would do during my run. Honestly, it was hard to take it seriously as a real race, so I was WAY more relaxed than any other race. In fact, Saturday night I went to the San Diego State football game (tailgating beforehand) and then met an old friend for Mexican food and margaritas. I am now wondering if my pre-race routine should consist of a couple of beers, a Patron margarita and carne asada! I ran really well!

When we started, I took off fast. There was a bit of a hill that I sort of charged up. I did my first mile in 8:35!! When I looked at my Garmin (yes, I had both the Garmin AND the Nike +) I was shocked at the split and tried to slow down a bit. I didn't slow down much. My slowest split was around 9 minutes!

It was not too hot, but the humidity was definitely up there. I was really sweating buckets. In fact, at the end of the run, I think I was the wettest I have ever been after a run. But I have to say that the Human Race shirt dried super quickly. I can't say as much for my sports bra. Ick.

I thought my Nike+ had fixed itself. As I crossed over the finish line the first time, before starting the second loop, the lady said, "half way point." Cool. Unfortunately, as I finished up the second loop, she was telling me I had 400 meters to go as I was approaching the home stretch. Since this was an online race, I decided that my finish line had to be when the Nike lady told me I had completed the 10K. I must have looked pretty funny barrelling through the finish and continuing to sprint another 200 yards or so. Luckily, I am not the only one with goofy calibration and wasn't the only person to pass the finish line. So my Nike + time and the actual time I crossed the finish line are off by a little over a minute. Either way, I am taking it as an official PR!!!

Time (from Nike+): 55:07
Pace: 8:52
Rank: 9549 out of ??? (this is likely to change since people have until tomorrow to upload their run info)
Rank for women: 1840

According to my Garmin, I ran it in 53:53. Like I said, either way, I am THRILLED. Oh, and according to both gadgets, my last mile was my fastest! I am pretty happy about having a negative split!

All in all, a great experience. I hope Nike does more things like this. I am planning on participating "virtually" in the Nike Women's Half Marathon in October. I hope that Roadrunner Sports gets involved again. Did I mention they had orange slices, bagels and drinks at the end?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice job! I'm jealous that you got to participate in the Human Race with a group of other people. It would be fun to give it a little more energy and make it seem more "real". And you got freebies! I kind of wanted a Human Race shirt, but I didn't feel like paying $30+ online for it!

Jenn said...

Congrats on your race performance,that's awesome! I think your race was better organized than the Nike Chicago race! Kudos to Road Runner Sports.

Laura said...

Congrats on the PR!!!

But I have to say, the most shocking news of your post for me is that the Adrenalines are being discontinued. I'm about to retire mine, so I'm thinking maybe I should pick up a few pairs.

Kristin said...

Wow, what a great day for you! I had signed up for the "free" race but decided not to do it, in order to do a long, slow run instead. I didn't think I could do very well running on my own. I did spring for the shirt online! I am extremely envious of your free swag!!! And I think you should take the Garmin time! ;)

Alissa said...

Wow, you are getting fast girl! Congratulations! I am jealous of your freebies too! That looked like a nice shirt. There is a Roadrunner sports here that has organized group runs during the week. I'm thinking of checking them out. Especially after reading about your experience with them!

Anonymous said...

wow, that does sound like fun. I would have done the virtual race if I had not run the 18 miler the day before. Too funny you had both the Garmin and the Nike+ on, you are worse than me when it comes to gadgets! LOL.

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