RocknRoll Chicago weekend is here and gone. Oh how summer flies. Despite some commuting challenges, it did not disappoint in the fun department. This was my 4th time taking part in the event, this year proudly part of the RocknBlog team.
I made the trek down to the expo Friday with the kids in tow. Thing 1 will take any chance she can get to be in the city. Thing 2 couldn’t care less but she has no choice. Rather than drive, I figured we’d take the Metra train to the city, walk the mile+ to the “el” and take that out to McCormick place, the scene of the expo.
That all went off like clockwork, except when we got off the el, there was still a pretty hefty walk over to Lakeside center, especially with whiny kids who’d already been traveling/walking/riding for hours.
The expo was fun, packet pickup was quick and easy. My main goals were to snag a RnRCHI pint glass (check) and load up on Nuun (half check). Expo pricing on Nuun has gone from $5/tube to $6 so I only bought half as much as I was planning.
The kids would’ve declared mutiny if I’d made them walk all the way back to the el so I succumbed to a cab to Millennium Park so we could have some fun.
We did the touristy things there, followed by lunch at the Plaza Grill, until it started to rain. Then hoofed it back to Union Station for the trip home. Overall a fun, exhausting but productive day.
Saturday – 5k
I never appreciate the 4:45 wakeup required to make it back down to the city for RocknRoll Chi but it is what it is. The day dawned cool (65!) for July! If only the half were today.
I used Spot Hero to book parking and had the car happily in a nearby garage an hour before the 7:30 start time. I had plenty of time to check gear, hit the potty (more than enough of those, thanks to a much larger race the next day) and head to Corral 2.
Goals: Easy breezy run for joy
That was basically the theme for the entire weekend. With tri training being my focus most of the year so far, I just haven’t worked much on speed or endurance up to this point.
I went with purple–surprise! Nike tank, Spandits Kotinos Boardies (SPANDITSLOVE saves you 10%) and Legend Compression socks (ambfriend16 saves you 15%). All the better to save my legs for the half.
We were off right on time and I made a concerted effort to hold back while seemingly everyone went blazing out of the gate. We made the turn onto Columbus, ran under the Millennium bridge then headed under that smelly, hot tunnel we all know so well for messing up our Garmins.
I never once looked at my pace. Don’t know, don’t care. I wanted to save myself for Sunday’s Half. I just ran by feel and felt great. After the tunnel we headed to the lakefront path for a quick out and back and before I knew it, I was approaching the finish. It all flew by so quickly, seemed like I barely broke a sweat.
Finish Time: 27:XX. I’d actually planned to run slower than this but ok.
Final Words. This was a fun race. The expo was great, the race course was nice and I couldn’t have asked for a prettier day in July. I think they hit it out of the park with the shirt and medal. Honestly I feel like the medal is “too nice” for a 5k. Haha! The only thing I noticed was the minimal snacks at the finish line. We got Propel Electrolyte water, banana and a bag of brown rice chips (which were awesome btw). Of course this is absolutely “enough” but in previous years, RnR has been known to have armloads of snacks.
Stay tuned for my RocknRoll Chicago Half Marathon report!
Did you race? Have you run a multiple race weekend?
I’m linking up for Wild Workout Wednesday: AnnMarie, Nicole, Jen, Michelle
So fun! Chicago is such a great city. I really wish I had been able to make it up for this one, but maybe next year! Can’t wait to hear about the half!
Ttoally agree with you about the medal – I actually liked the 5K medal better than the 1/2 medal LOL
Kimberly YES! Me too!
27 and change? That’s awesome!! I’ve been seeing everyone’s recaps of this race weekend and it has me really wanting to do it next year!
Congrats on the 5k finish and attaining that fancy schmancy medal. The one thing about RnR Chicago that is a drag is getting to McCormick Place and home. The time the expo is open: Friday afternoon and Saturday are nightmare traffic-wise downtown so it is a two hour round trip from the Northside. Plus parking is expensivo, so I park 1.5 miles away in a street spot, so all-in-all it’s about 3 hours just to pick up my bib and I live in the city! I don’t mind so much for the Marathon since its a full marathon and they have Thursday hours. Anyway, I guess it must all be worth it because I keep signing up year after year! 🙂
They do have the best medals! It’s fun to throw in a 5k sometimes just for fun. I could do without the early wake ups for races too
I cannot believe how cool it was! I was out of town and in 100+ degrees. Figures, right? Also, I love that shirt design!
I thought about all of you on Saturday and how much better the weather was from last year. Heck, even Sunday was much better except for the rain. I did 10 miles with CES and struggled the last 2 miles. Oh well. I’ve done multiple race weekends (Saturday and Sunday) and now that I think about it they’ve all been Disney races.
Ah, I still have never been to Chicago! I wish I could have done this race, congrats even though you took it “easy”!
RnR always has the best shirts and medals!! Sounds like a great 5K! I can’t wait to visit Chicago in October!
Sounds like a super fun (and great race) weekend!!! Congrats!
Awesome job on the run! It is nice going a little speedier felt easy breezy 🙂 and you had a nice day.
It is nice the girls went to the expo with you, fun bonding time.
I do love the shirt and medal 🙂
Congrats!
I love the nuun waterbottle! The medal and the shirt are also really great.
I definitely want to run in Chicago some time soon.
Like we’ve both said more than once, we couldn’t have asked for better weather! Sounds like the day of the expo you were about to make a fun day of it with the girls which is nice! They didn’t have anymore of the pint glasses when we went to the expo Saturday! The only ones I saw just said 13.1 on them! I just thought maybe they didn’t have the race specific ones this year! Darn!
Kayla Bummer they ran out of glasses!
I did the RnR CHi Remix in 2014 (there’s a blog post from it), I thought it was a great event. The 5K was over and done so fast (not that I broke any records LOL), and then the 13.1 was awesome (despite very hot & humid weather). The RnR peeps certainly know a thing or two about hardware….their medals are the best!!
I love Chicagp! Sounds like so much fun! I am glad you didn’t go to fast! HA! I will get there one day 🙂 That is a super cool medal and nice shirt for a 5K- they do it right!
Looks like a fun 5K. I want to run Chicago one day….I love the medal too! Great job!
Congrats on a well executed race!
Being a BOTP runner, RnR doesn’t usually have a whole lot of snacks left by the time I get there, but then again, I usually don’t care and have my own snacks.
Never done a multiple race weekend.
This sounds like so much fun! The shirt and medal are both really nice! I also love your purple outfit! you were rocking it!!
I am training for a 5K and a Half marathon in one weekend, the Bird in Hand Fireman’s challenge. We get an extra hat for it!
Nice job Marcia! I’ve never attempted a multi-race weekend, but hopefully will get the chance in Vegas. I really like that medal – definitely pretty sweet for a 5K!
Looks like so much fun!!! I was signed up to run but was unable to make the trip due to other work things. So happy the weather was nice and not too hot!
Sounds like fun, and 27:xx is a pretty darned good finish time for not trying. Looking forward to hearing about the half!
Sounds like a fun weekend with your girls!!! Glad you enjoyed!!