Rock N Roll Seattle Half Marathon Activities Report

Rock and Roll Seattle Marathon Expo, Run Like a Mother House Party and the OnlineShoes.com and Brooks Running Girls’ Night Out

Click the link for my 2012 Seattle Rock N Roll Half Marathon Race Report.

Run Like a Mother, Train Like a Mother House Party

I read Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell’s Run Like a Mother book, their first book, on the recumbent bike and the elliptical while recovering from a stress fracture over the summer of 2010. I was pretty sad about not being able to run, but reading about running helped (and reading about how Dimity trained for a marathon on the bike helped, too).

So, naturally, I read their second book Train Like a Mother. And then when I heard they were throwing a house party to promote it Thursday night before Seattle Rock and Roll, I wanted to go. Except then I heard it was in Seattle. Oh, Seattle. So close, yet so far away with traffic.

I live in the suburbs. It takes 25 minutes to get to the 405 freeway from my house. Then I have to get on another freeway – I5 – to get to the city. When the traffic is light, it only takes about 40 minutes to get to downtown Seattle. But during rush hours or lunch hours, you can double that.

So I wasn’t sure if I would be able to go to the party – especially after a full day of work. Not that my line of work (writing), is strenuous, but I have to be there early so I’m up at 5:30 at the latest on work days. I assumed I probably wouldn’t get home from Seattle until 10:30 or 11 p.m. That’s a long day.

Anyway, luckily I have awesome friends who said I could meet them and carpool at a meeting spot only about 15-20 minutes from my house. And Jill said she’d drive. I was in!

We overestimated how long it would take to get there (which you have to do with Seattle traffic), and we arrived early. Sarah and Dimity put us to work right away! I helped set up the Run Like a Mother t-shirts (I really want the one that says “I Run Things” – so awesome), and Run Like a Mother and Train Like a Mother books that would be for sale, putting out nametags, etc. Then people started arriving – people I hadn’t seen in a while, so I was chatting and chatting and being loud and laughing, etc. I didn’t know there were giveaways I needed to enter.

The rest of the evening the authors read some excerpts from Train Like a Mother and did giveaways. Yeah. Sad face for me when I realized I was supposed to have put my name in for stuff. Sometimes I should use the advice I give to my son: close your mouth and open your ears. He is obviously my child.

But the night was a ton of fun – I was completely exhausted from laughing so much!

Click the following links for more info:

• About and Where to Buy Run Like a Mother the book
• About and Where to Buy Train Like a Mother the book
• Another Mother Runner Website (featured bloggers, about Run Like a Mother books, running giveaways on their blog, etc.)
• Sarah Bowen Shea (SBS) on Twitter
• Dimity McDowell on Twitter
• Download Another Mother Runner Podcasts

Rock N Roll Seattle Marathon Expo

Last year, I took T Junior to the Rock and Roll expo with me prior to my first full marathon (click the link to read my race report for the 2011 Rock N Roll Seattle Marathon). BIG mistake. He whined and pulled on my leg the whole time. This year, no.

Will Run for Food‘s Chelsea invited a few of us to stay the night at her house near Seattle on Friday, and then offered to drive us to the start. So, I had to pack everything for that before leaving for the expo since there’s no way I was driving to Seattle, driving home and then driving back to Seattle for the OnlineShoes.com and Brooks Girls’ Night Out event, and then driving to Chelsea’s again (northwest of Seattle).

So I dropped T Junior off at day care on my way to the expo (Mr. T would pick him up). I cried after dropping him off. One night I would be away. And I cried. Such a mom thing to do.

Seattle traffic was, thankfully, light in the middle of the day and I got to Century Link Events Center with no issues, so I was feeling good…until I pulled into the parking garage and saw they wanted $15*. Seriously? What a rip.

The expo itself was good. Rock and Roll has a good marathon expo, in my opinion. Lots of vendors, lots of different things to see. I wandered over to the Nuun Hydration booth to say “Hi” to Zoe (Run, Zoe, Run), and then got to see lots of the very nice Nuun employees I met during Hood to Coast Relay in 2011. Every time I see them, they always make me feel like part of the family. Nice people!

Pretty soon it was time to wander over to the stage for the blogger meet up hosted by Tall Mom on the Run Mel and John Bingham, the “running penguin” known for his Runner’s World magazine column, The Penguin Chronicles, and author of The Courage to Start book, as well as one of the greatest running quotes of all time:

“The miracle isn’t that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.”

He had a lot of writer-type jokes, which I related to so I laughed a lot, which I caught crap for later.

Aaaanyway. After that we mingled for a while and I got to chat with some cool running bloggers from in and out of Washington state. Seriously one of the biggest benefits of having this running blog has been making friends. So thankful for that. It makes running races so much fun!

Then it was time to wander through the expo booths a little more. We stopped off at SofSole running socks and the Run Like a Mother booth to chat with Dimity and SBS, and I learned that I didn’t get a package of SofSole socks in my gift bag that I received at the Run Like a Mother House Party on Thursday. The SofSole people are incredibly awesome and let me just take a package of their running socks. So nice! (And I’ve been living in them ever since.) Of course, we also stopped by the Brooks and Moving Comfort areas and shopped a little.

I didn’t actually purchase anything at the expo this year, though. I did, however, buy the entry to the 2013 Rock N Roll Seattle Marathon — the half marathon, people. You think I’m crazy? Not going to make the mistake again of not registering at the expo. The Rock and Roll series gives a pretty significant expo discount. Still. With tax and the expo discount, the 2013 half marathon was STILL $71. (And then add expo parking — $15. Not that I’m bitter.) Crazy. I realize they put on a well-run event, and the medals are heavy and quite nice, but dang. At least I’ll have chip timing next year.

At about 5 p.m., those of us headed to Girls’ Night Out decided we better head on over to OnlineShoes.com in order to get into their parking garage before 6 p.m. Their office is several blocks away from where we were, and traffic, you know. Zoe needed to stop by the Nuun office to pick up her knee brace first, so I offered to drive her over. It’s only a couple blocks away. Yeah, would’ve been faster for her to walk probably. Yikes.

Once there, she realized she’d given her key card to another employee who was still at the expo back at the Century Link Events Center. Oops. We were standing there in the rain, trying to figure out what to do when a man, who we’d just seen come out of the building, drove up to us in his Volvo. “Do you need to get in?” he asked.

“YES!” It was obvious Zoe worked for Nuun since she’d worked at the expo and was wearing Nuun-logo stuff. This guy didn’t work for them, but another company in the building. He held out his wallet. “Here, just take this and hold it in front of the card-reader.”

Um. What? You’re giving us your wallet? The door was around the corner from where we were. Zoe took the wallet, we jogged around the building, and she held it in front of the card reader, then passed the wallet to me and I ran it back to the man. Meanwhile, another man (who appeared to be homeless) stood under the awning next to the building’s front door watching the goings-on while smoking pot. Awesome.

Zoe was quick getting her stuff and then we were back in our separate cars trying to figure out the least painful way to drive to OnlineShoes.com. We only had 30 minutes. Zoe is more familiar with the city, so I followed her. It was rush hour, so Seattle traffic was a mess. It took us 15 minutes to move one city block at one point. I did not think we were going to make it. But we pulled into their parking garage at 5:59. Whew!

We were the lucky ones. Lots of people got stuck in traffic.

Click the following links for more information:

• Nuun Hydration electrolyte drinks
• My Nuun Review
• Race Report – Hood to Coast Relay 2011 with Nuun Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV
• SofSole running socks and insoles
• Moving Comfort sports bras
• John Bingham author of books on running

Girls’ Night Out with Brooks Running and OnlineShoes.com

What a fun night! Both companies — Brooks Running and OnlineShoes.com — made us feel like rock stars. When we walked into the conference room (that had a view through the misty, rainy sky of the Space Needle), we saw that each place setting had a name card, a schedule and a gift bag from Brooks filled with goodies including a coveted VIP potty pass for race day, and a Brooks t-shirt that said Keep Calm and Rock On, and a collapsible cooler (that my husband is probably going to steal) from OnlineShoes.com.

It was also great to meet Lindsey from OnlineShoes.com in person since I’ve worked with her a few times for shoe giveaways and reviews, etc. She’s the most organized person I’ve ever worked with when it comes to blog giveaways, and always pleasant. Love her!

They fed us delicious food from Buca di Beppo restaurant and then we got to hear some behind-the-scenes information from Dyana about the Brooks philosophy: Run Happy. I knew, but hadn’t really thought about, the fact that Brooks is ALL about shoes for runners. They don’t make shoes for other sports. They are 100% completely devoted to runners and running shoes, and that is way cool. When you are dedicated to one particular sport like that, you can become an expert in that area. In my opinion, some companies spread their knowledge too thin focusing on too many different areas, and trying to meet the needs of too many groups of people.

Afterward, Kira from Brooks talked about the new fall lineup of shoes in both the more minimalist line, Brooks PureProject (What is PureProject?) and their traditional running shoes line. I was extremely impressed with her knowledge and passion about shoes. Extremely! Shoes are the #1 most important piece of equipment for runners – duh – so we were all mesmerized during this part, I think. We also got a sneak peek at the not-yet-released PureDrift. Alma from the Average Woman’s Running Blog did an excellent post about them.

Then they announced we’d get to take home a pair of Brooks shoes – actually, as I found out a little later, TWO pair: one from PureProject and one from the traditional line!

I have been running in my Saucony Hurricanes since 2010. When I went that year to RoadRunner Sports to get a “real” pair of running shoes (my first pair in 2009, I just picked out randomly at DSW), I tried a lot of different shoes. I went home with the Saucony Omni 8’s. They weren’t for me and I took them back. Then I brought home a pair of New Balances. Not a fan. I remember trying on a pair of Brooks, but I don’t remember what turned me off of them or why I didn’t take them home to try out. Probably, I was already embarrassed for bringing back two pairs of shoes.

At last, I went with Saucony again, but this time the Hurricane 11, and bigger, I think. Once I got home, though, I felt like my left foot was slapping, but I didn’t want to go back to RoadRunner, and figured it was probably just the way I ran (which I know why now). I then fractured my shin, my left tibia to be exact (that’d be on the slapping-foot side), which led to custom orthotics, which helped with the fit of my Hurricanes. And ever since then, I’ve been afraid to switch running shoes. But I’ve wanted to try Brooks for some time because 1) they are a local company, which I want to support, and 2) all my friends have them! (I am weak.)

So this Girls Night Out event and getting to try two pair of Brooks shoes was huge for me. A chance to try something new risk-free basically. Brooks Guru Tiffany talked to me extensively about the different types of shoes and what would be good for me. I left with a pair of Adrenaline 12 in purple and white, and the Pure Cadence shoes in fluorescent pink, which you know I love. The PureCadence are a minimalist-type shoe, but with a little more support than something like the Pure Flow. The Adrenaline will offer me some support, but not too much since I have completely different feet (my left foot is flat and my right foot has high arch).

(I have yet to try the Adrenaline because I’ve been living in the Brooks PureCadence shoes. I cannot get over how much I love this shoe. I wear them to work, and I’ve worn them to run, although I’m easing into the running since I’ve been in custom orthotics so long. The first time I changed out of my PureCadence into my custom-orthotic’ed Hurricanes, it hurt. I seriously felt like the Hurricanes were binding my feet. My feet and toes feel like they have so much more freedom in the Brooks PureCadence.)

The night of the Girls’ Night Out even, I wore my shoes home like I was 4. Actually, I wore them to Chelsea’s (also I hadn’t had a sleepover in forever – so fun!).

A big thank you to OnlineShoes.com (and to Mel for getting the ball rolling, I think) and Brooks Running, and of course, Chelsea, who drove me, Running to Sanity‘s Jill, and Mel and Zoe to the start line Saturday morning for the start of Seattle Rock and Roll, and then cheered for us and brought us snacks and mimosas, and then fed us post-race.

Let’s just say, I felt spoiled!

Click on the following links for more information:

• Brooks Pure Cadence
• Brooks Adrenaline 12
• What is the Brooks Pure Project?
• Brooks Running on Twitter
• OnlineShoes.com on Twitter
• Brooks on Facebook
• OnlineShoes.com on Facebook

*And, like I mentioned in my Rock N Roll Seattle 2012 race report, Century Link’s parking garage changed the sign back to $6 on Saturday, and the course ran right by it. It’s like they were taunting us….