San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon - Swag Bag Review

Mik, Kat and I went to the San Diego RnR Expo this afternoon...to new runners (if there are any out there), my advice is to ALWAYS go to a race expo on Friday if you can. We walked in, got our bibs, t-shirts, and swag bag in probably less than 10 minutes...nice

Mik, Kat and I w/our swag. We literally spent less than 30 minutes at the expo, then got a security boy (he musta been about 12) to leave his post to take our picture. You know runners...an unruly bunch!

So...here I am...feel free to stalk...but GAH! my name is spelled wrong (it's Cindi with an I).  

Competitor came to a track club workout a few months back and we got a discount on our registration. The representative made a big-huge-effing-deal out of making sure that WE spelled our name correctly on the entry form because there were problems last year. And I must have spelled my name correctly because my name was spelled correctly on EVERYTHING ELSE but my BIB...registration, shoe tag, gear check tag which is DIRECTLY ADJACENT to the bib! GAH again!

I'll stick with Aka Alice next time. I guess there's only one way to spell Alice.

Also...a comment on the bag...suhweet. Very nice, cloth, reusable, and larger than your usual swag bag. It'll have enough room for a post-race dry shirt and shorts (and yes, I will change after the race, even if it has to be between two UPS trucks).

Yeah...I know. It's a really blurry shot of the shirt...another black one and a mens cut, so that means Turbo gets another t-shirt. Geez...$100+ for a race and they can't do both mens and womens shirts? WTF?

We pretty much sped through the expo because Mik had to get to an all-star little league game (her sons are amazing athletes) and I had to get to the SDTC Pre-race Pasta Dinner (more about that in a bit), but we did take time to wander a bit to see if there was anything new.

One More Mile had some new t-shirts. This one made me smile. 

A woman next to me was also taking a picture of this shirt and was texting it to her husband... We laughed, but neither of us bought the shirt...

It actually wasn't too crowded this afternoon, but this area was...the line for the MGD 64 light water beer. I'm always surprised to see people stand in line for the stuff.

Tonight Walter and I went to the SDTC's Pre-race pasta dinner. For one reason or another, I've never gone to this event before. It was really nice to see everyone all dressed up (or at least cleaned up. Most of us were in jeans and t-shirts).

I never know what to make of it when people say "WOW! You look GREAT!" I mean, I know that track club peeps typically see me at the butt-crack of dawn and I have no makeup on and my hair is under a hat, but do I really look THAT BAD?

I guess makeup and a brush does make a difference.

I don't have any good pix from the night, but Irene took plenty, so I'll just have to wait for her or Doreen to post some on FB and I'll borrow from them.

BTW...thanks Irene for saving seats for Walter and me. ((hugs))

When I got home, I unpacked my swag bag to see if there was anything worth taking a second look at. I LOVE swag. I admit it. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE free shiz, and I'm often entertained by what vendors want to give away.

So...here is my first ever


SWAG BAG REVIEW!

BTW...lots most of the power-bar vendors were giving away samples that were not pre-wrapped. In other words, you had to sample it . Bad marketing move I think. I took about two bites of some various stuff and now I don't even remember what it was. I certainly wasn't going to sample everything. if somebody did, they'd have a pretty serious gut-ache I'd bet.

Anyway, I think its a better move to give away a "fun size" then I'm likely to try it at home and maybe purchase it later, but that's just me, your average consumer who REALLY, REALLY LIKES FREE SHIZ.

Back to my review, we didn't spend much time there, so most of this is what was pre-packed in the bag. In addition to the multitudes of postcards and flyers about upcoming races and the GAZILLION events in the Competitor Rock and Roll series, there were some items of interest...or at least stuff I hadn't seen before.

Like peanut butter. Seriously, there's an actual sample of PB inside! I got a loaf of bread at the Carlsbad expo a couple years ago...I think we should get both next time.

Deodorant...not new, but always appreciated.

Really? A song download from Geico? Don't they do car insurance? Odd.

Just YUM! 

I've heard of this stuff...it's like an ice pack, but it doesn't need to be frozen. Has anyone used this stuff? Does it work? I'm thinking my knee could use it after the race, so I'm leaving it in the bag. 

One of the GAGILLION race flyers, but this was the only one with an event in Puerto Rico...I'm thinking ROAD TRIP!

One more day. One more day. Tomorrow is all about taking it easy and getting my race gear together and relaxing and not stressing out too much. I'm oddly keyed up about this race. I think its because I'm actually hoping to do well, but I don't want to hope too much and then be disappointed. 

At the Pasta Dinner tonight, several of the speakers talked about just enjoying the race, going with the flow, taking it all in and I want to do that, but I also feel like I'm more ready for this race than, perhaps, I've ever been for any race...but I also don't want to jinx it.

Oh yeah...I'm going to be a hoot to be around tomorrow. Is it Sunday yet?

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On a completely separate note...Walter's business partner has started a fitness blog. Last year (to this day actually) he had a heart attack as he was driving home from the gym. John was 44. Anyway, check out his blog, Hart Tack Tales. He tells the story better than I do, and follow along as he gets himself fit and healthy.