The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series has selected Raleigh as a new addition to its schedule beginning in April 2014. When I first learned of this, I thought Raleigh had hit the big time. I was excited about the news and thought I would run the race because my experience with the Rock 'n' Roll half in Virginia Beach was great. I wondered why the marathon would come here. I'm sure they did research about the numbers of runners here and studied stats about visitors to the city. Still, I don't think of Raleigh as an exciting destination. Perhaps the race will make it so. The Rock 'n' Roll half marathon in Virginia Beach is a destination race. A friend of mine recently participated in the Rock 'n' Roll half in Las Vegas. That's a destination race. And now we add -- Raleigh.
I would imagine the City of Oaks and Tobacco Road Marathon directors are nervous about how this new addition will affect these already established races. Rock 'n' Roll will be in direct competition with Tobacco Road because of the Spring race dates. I foresee many locals trying out Rock 'n' Roll the first year because of the excitement associated with the newness of the race. This most likely will detract from the number of runners for Tobacco Road. I don't foresee a large out-of-town presence for the race in its first year, but the Rock 'n' Roll staff will try to prove me wrong. After the glitz and glam of the first event, fans of Tobacco Road should be back to support our local, home-town race.
I am reading that some local runners plan to boycott Rock 'n' Roll. Runners can be loyal to races. Some of us go back to races year after year because of our familiarity with the course or because of the great time we've had at a race. We are fortunate to have two local marathons and numerous half marathons here already. Let's hope that this new addition serves to get more people in the Triangle running and grow the sport, and make all of the good races here even better.
In other news, I finished my first long run in several weeks and am thrilled. Additionally, I went to a physical therapist to determine why I had calf issues and how to avoid them. From the assessment, I learned that I have weak hip muscles, which is a contributing factor. Because of the muscle imbalance, my calves were having to do additional work. Now I am doing specific exercises for this and plan to do more strength training after the marathon. During the appointment, my calf was treated with a laser to stimulate blood flow and speed healing. Physical therapy will continue twice per week for the next week or two.
Training for the past week with 7 weeks until Boston:
Mon.: 5 miles, slow
Tues.: 6:36 miles at 8:49 pace + 30 mins. bike
Wed.: cycling class + 30 mins. bike
Thurs.: 7.35 miles at 9:10 pace
Fri.: cycling class + yoga class
Sat.: 15 miles at 9:16 pace
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