Last weekend I had the awesome privilege of road-tripping to southern France with two friends for the sole purpose of running in a race.
We went on a racecation.
Somehow our friend managed to score us free entries to the race, so we decided to see if we could pull off the rest of the trip on a shoestring budget! That meant that even though we could have flown there and back in a few hours, we chose to drive 16 hours roundtrip and pack a cooler with our own food. This was only the second time I've been on a true "road trip" here in Europe and while it does sound exotic and fabulous (which it is), driving on the Autobahn is pretty much exactly like driving on the Ohio Turnpike, except the tolls are WAY more expensive!
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| I begged Jacob to take us to Milano but he refused... |
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| We got cut off by Italians from BOTH sides while waiting for the toll booth! |
The Rock'n'Roll Marathon Series tours big cities in America and Europe hosting marathons, half marathons, and other events. The race we chose was the Rock'n'Roll Nice 10 Miles du Carnaval event, which was just a few miles shy of a half marathon. I'll admit, the thought of training for a midwinter race was rather daunting but thankfully we've had an extremely mild winter so it turned out to be very doable.
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| Carnaval in Nice (Photo: Megan) |
I would do this race every year for the rest of my life if I could - it really was that good. The scenery was amazing (um, hello, ten miles on the coast of the Mediterranean?!), the spectators were encouraging, and the camaraderie among the runners was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. Because of the Carnaval season, there was a costume contest for the runners. Being the amateur that I am, I didn't think that many people would participate. Boy, was I wrong! My friends and I actually looked out of place just for NOT wearing a costume. If you know me at all you know I live for a good costume so you better believe that next time I WILL be in costume, much to the embarrassment of my friends...
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| Warming up with Zumba (Photo: Jacob) |
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| I didn't think a sumo wrestler would run faster than me ... but these guys did! |
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| Found them. |
Anyway... the atmosphere of this race was incredible. The course was set up in such a way that allowed you to be in the middle of the action no matter how fast or slow you ran. There were about five or six different stages set up along the course where live bands performed, and the majority of the course was a two-way path, meaning there were always people running the opposite direction on the other side. I never felt like I was being left behind even if I was on the slower end.
The finish line was so festive, complete with paparazzi (seriously, there must have been a dozen cameras and not a single one got a flattering shot of my finish, haha) and music and a huge cheering section. In terms of pacing, I didn't have a specific goal, though based on my training runs I expected to finish shortly after two hours. As it turns out, I ran faster than expected and finished in 1:57! This made me really happy because it means a 2:30 half marathon time this summer isn't an unreasonable goal! I met up with Megan and Jacob, we posed for pictures, then took advantage of the bountiful refreshments: bananas, muffins, and water.
On our drive home, we decided to have a little fun and stop in each country for a picture. Yes, each country. Believe it or not, it was a faster drive (by at least an hour or more) to go through Switzerland and Italy than to just drive through France. So, over the course of nine hours we set foot in France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany - if you're counting, that's five countries!
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| France |
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| Monaco |
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| Italy |
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| Switzerland |
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| Germany |
Basically, the race was amazing and I am pumped to run another Rock'n'Roll race this summer. I signed up for Chicago in July, and I also won a free entry to another European race. I'm not sure yet whether that one will work out, but hopefully it will!
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